The Collaborative International Dictionary
Eddy current \Ed"dy cur"rent\ (Elec.) An induced electric current circulating wholly within a mass of metal; -- called also Foucault current.
Wiktionary
n. (context physics English) An induced electric current formed within the body of a conductor when it is exposed to a time varying magnetic field; utilized in induction heating and in some braking and damping systems.
Wikipedia
Eddy currents (also called Foucault currents) are loops of electrical current induced within conductors by a changing magnetic field in the conductor, due to Faraday's law of induction. Eddy currents flow in closed loops within conductors, in planes perpendicular to the magnetic field. They can be induced within nearby stationary conductors by a time-varying magnetic field created by an AC electromagnet or transformer, for example, or by relative motion between a magnet and a nearby conductor. The magnitude of the current in a given loop is proportional to the strength of the magnetic field, the area of the loop, and the rate of change of flux, and inversely proportional to the resistivity of the material.
By Lenz's law, an eddy current creates a magnetic field that opposes the magnetic field that created it, and thus eddy currents react back on the source of the magnetic field. For example, a nearby conductive surface will exert a drag force on a moving magnet that opposes its motion, due to eddy currents induced in the surface by the moving magnetic field. This effect is employed in eddy current brakes which are used to stop rotating power tools quickly when they are turned off. The current flowing through the resistance of the conductor also dissipates energy as heat in the material. Thus eddy currents are a source of energy loss in alternating current (AC) inductors, transformers, electric motors and generators, and other AC machinery, requiring special construction such as laminated magnetic cores to minimize them. Eddy currents are also used to heat objects in induction heating furnaces and equipment, and to detect cracks and flaws in metal parts using eddy-current testing instruments.
Eddy Current is a twelve issues comic-book series created in 1987 by Ted McKeever and published by Mad Dog Graphics.
This and Transit were later tied into McKeever's Metropol world.
Usage examples of "eddy current".
The backward-jetting ship, H-55, shot past, creating an eddy current that shook Heem's vessel.
But the coral used a strong eddy current to jam the stopper back, trapping Grundy outside.
He was about to ride back to carry the word to his commander, when he saw a special eddy current in the larger swirl of the battle.
Now we must wait for the eddy current to take us into the next bay.
The breeze rustling through the trees grew louder for a moment, and he saw the sausage slice rock gently as an eddy current slipped through the mesh door.
I picked up a suitable eddy current near the ground and zoomed along it.
Normally, eddy current and hysteresis losses in the transformers would keep the station toast-warm.
When you apply those from the power source, you'll get eddy current heating inside the rock from hysteresis effects.