Engineering with Magnets Book?

[acspain]

Good Morning All,

Does anyone have a suggestion for a book that would detail how to design with magnets? I am most interested in magnets that are not electro-magnets.

After 20 plus years of engineering experience, I need to design a simple fixture using a magnet to measure the motion of an un-observable component. I want to keep this simple (magnet on inside, ball bearing on outside) but finding information on how to calculate forces across an air gap seems near impossible resulting in running simple experiments with various magnets.

Thank you for your help.

 

[monkeydog]

Do a search on "books on permanent magnets"
Pick what you are looking for.

 

[MagMike]

I'm not aware of any book that would cover that exact scenario, but Practical Magnetic and Electromechanical Design by Mark A. Juds would come closest to giving the framework to start.

Amazon.com

I purchased a copy a few months ago, read it from cover to cover and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mark Juds has a wonderful way of explaining complex ideas.

Another option is to try the freeware 2D magnetic FEA program: FEMM (

https://www.femm.info/wiki/HomePage).

There is a very large knowledge/support base for the program. From your description, it should be straightforward to model.

 

[MagMike]

I forgot, I posted an FAQ on books on magnetism a long time ago: faq340-1436

I'll need to update it.

 

[acspain]

Thank you MagMike! Very helpful.

 

[EdStainless]

It is a very good list.
The biggest issue with magnetic design is wrapping your head around what is happening.
Many of us still picture field lines in our heads as we arrange parts.
What is ferromagnetic (and how much) and what isn't.
And then understand what you are trying to cause/measure/prevent.
There are decent 2-d design packages out there free or inexpensive.
Are you trying to sense the rotation of the ball bearing?
You know that this is how automotive (and truck and railroad) ABS systems work.
Depending on the sensor that you use often you don't need much variation in field for them to trigger.
The rest is electronic filtering.

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P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed