Optimization of magnetic suspension devices by a surface current method

The paper describes the application of a code based on the surface current method to optimize a magnetic suspension device. The code can handle nonlin ear magnetic materials by an iterative adjustment of the values of the magn etic permeability, with a performance estimation which fairly agrees with n onlinear FEM analyses. Thanks to the code flexibility in the input/output m anagement, its application may be more straightforward than in the case of commercial FEM codes, with comparable accuracy and calculation time.