Study on magnetic adsorption based on Halbach array for wall-climbing robot

LIU Feng1, ZHONG Shun-cong1,3, FU Xi-bin2, CHEN Man1, XU Zong-huang1, HUANG Xue-bin2
(1.School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Fuzhou University,Fuzhou 350108, China;2.Xiamen Special Equipment Inspection Institute, Xiamen 361000, China; 3.School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China)

Abstract: Aiming at the problem of low adsorption efficiency of the permanent magnetic tracked wallclimbing robot, a new type of permanent magnet adsorption unit based on Halbach array was designed, and its adsorption characteristics were studied. The finite element simulation of the magnetic adsorption unit was conducted by Ansoft Maxwell software. The characteristics that the magnetic induction lines converge on one side of the Halbach permanent magnet array were studied. An experiment was designed to verify the simulation. Based on traditional Halbach permanent magnet array, a yoke was added on the weak magnetic side to prevent the leaking of magnetic field. The parametric scanning function of Ansoft Maxwell software was used to analyze the key structural dimensions of the adsorption module independently. The influence of the width, height, thickness of the magnet array and the height of the yoke on the adsorption force and efficiency was studied. The optimal sizes were chosen based on the above analysis to maximize the adsorption efficiency. The results indicated that the optimized average adsorption capacity per unit weight increased by 60% to 1 413 N/kg, magnetic adsorption efficiency was increased significantly. It provides a basis for the design and optimization of wall climbing robot.
Key words: wall-climbing robot; magnetic adsorption; Halbach array; Ansoft Maxwell; finite element simulation