Abstract:

Electromagnetic brakes (EBs) are widely applied in commercial vehicles for their characteristics of
contactless, fast response, and simple controlling. The principle and research situation of EBs were given to
expand their application scopes and functions. The application status, the structure, the working principle and
the control method of EBs were discussed to three main EBs including the eddy current retarder, the rotary eddy
current retarder, and the self-excited retarder for commercial vehicle. The results show that the key technologies
are the external and inner characteristics of the electromagnetic brakes, the matching designs and the design
of control strategy and the controller of united braking system of both electromagnetic and friction. Technology
focus for electromagnetic braking will be the integrated system of electromagnetic brakes and frictional brakes,
and function extension of electromagnetic brake system.

Key words: automotive engineering, electromagnetic brakes (EBs), eddy current retarder, united brake, integrated brake