Current, Foucault

A current produced in solid conductors, and which is converted into heat field, or by altering the strength of a field in which they are contained. They are the source of much lo of energy and other derangement in dynamos and motors, and to avoid them the armature cores are laminated, the plane of the laminations being parallel to the lines of force. (See Core, Laminated.) The presence of Foucault currents, if of long duration, is shown by the heating of the metal in which they are produced. In dynamo armatures they are produced sometimes in the metal of the windings, especially if the latter are of large diameter. Synonyms--Eddy Currents--Local Currents--Parasitical Currents.