Collaborative Optimization of Dynamic Characteristics and Armature Structural Safety in Electromagnetic Repulsion Mechanisms

As a driving mechanism, the electromagnetic repulsion mechanism has been widely used in mechanical switches, such as circuit breakers, current limiters, and bypass switches, owing to its high closing speed and large output force. The dynamic characteristics and structural safety of electromagnetic repulsion mechanisms are critical to the stable and reliable operation of mechanical switches. However, the dynamic characteristics of electromagnetic repulsion mechanisms are affected by multiple factors, including coil parameters, energy storage parameters, armature structural dimensions, and air gaps. Moreover, strong coupling exists among these design variables. Parameter optimization that focuses solely on operating speed or electromagnetic force may lead to local stress concentration and edge vibration of the armature, thereby compromising the operational reliability of the mechanism. To address the difficulty in synergistically optimizing dynamic characteristics and structural safety, this paper proposes a two-stage optimization method that combines the series armature equivalent method, genetic algorithm-based multi-objective optimization, structural shape optimization, and topology optimization. In the first stage, a series armature equivalent model is established, and design parameters are optimized by the genetic algorithm to obtain a parameter combination that satisfies the requirements for displacement, closing speed, and operating time. In the second stage, under the constraints of dynamic performance, armature shape optimization, topology optimization, and combined shape–topology optimization are separately conducted to reduce edge vibration and local stress concentration of the armature. The dynamic characteristics, edge vibration displacement, and stress under different optimization schemes are comparatively analyzed. The results show that the proposed two-stage optimization method can effectively improve the structural response of the armature while ensuring that the dynamic characteristics of the mechanism satisfy the design requirements. In particular, after the combined optimization, the edge vibration of the armature is reduced to 41.8% of that before optimization, and the local stress concentration is significantly alleviated. The proposed optimization framework realizes the coordination between parameter design and armature structural optimization of electromagnetic repulsion mechanisms, providing a reference for improving the dynamic characteristics and structural reliability of electromagnetic repulsion mechanisms.