Introduction to EMC
Fields are also of crucial importance in Electromagnetic Compatibility, in power engineering and in the design of advanced electronic units.
Electrical Engineering has grown enormously during the last century in its number of technical applications and disciplines and is still continuing to expand. Fundamental aspects of electrical engineering tend to move to the background because many rivaling subjects compete for attention. One of the background subjects is that of electromagnetic fields. Electromagnetic fields are an essential element in Electrical Engineering and not just an annoying side effect.
The electromagnetic fields are more fundamental than currents and voltages; the fields in waves exist far away from currents in conductors. Fields are also of crucial importance in Electromagnetic Compatibility, inpower engineering and in the design of advanced electronic units.
Professor Piet van der Laan (from 1978 till 2000 professor in High Voltage engineering at the Technical University Eindhoven) has published an excellent and highly readable booklet with the title: Electromagnetic Fields in Electrical Engineering, understanding basic concepts.
The book is interesting for two groups of readers:
Practicing electrical engineers who are often confused by radiation and interference problems. Many of them have a rudimentary knowledge of field theory and use only circuit theory, where the fields are hidden.
And for students that can use the book as an introductory course on electromagnetic fields.
Most books on electromagnetic fields follow the historical evolution, starting with electrostatics and permanent magnets,later introducing time-variation, induction effects and finally electromagnetic waves. The advantage of that approach is thatit follows the interesting historical development over more than two hundred years. Readers may however feel that this lengthy detour is irrelevant for the technology of today.
In Professor van der Laan’s book an overall picture emphasizing the importance of electric and magnetic fields to all disciplines of electrical engineering is presented. Maxwell's laws in integral form are introduced early on and are used to demonstrate the similarities between the various disciplines of electrical engineering.
The focus is on basic concepts, on the story behind the equations rather than on detailed mathematics. Too much mathematics in field theory has - unfortunately - convinced many people that circuit theory is more practical and relevant.
The reader should be familiar with circuit theory, an important and valuable tool in electrical engineering. The basic equations of circuit theory are derived from field theory. The book also shows the limitations of circuit theory and makes clear when field theory should be used.
To show the significance of electromagnetic fields all examples are taken from electrical engineering, rather than from physics experiments.
A pdf from the booklet can be downloaded from the website of the publisher:
https://www.shaker.de/de/content/catalogue/index.asp?lang=de&ID=8&ISBN=978-90-423-0271-6