PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to derive a force‐velocity characteristic for an eddy current brake with minor computational effort.Design/methodology/approachThe speed range is split into two domains. While in the low‐speed domain it is possible to achieve a closed form expression for the force‐velocity characteristic in the high‐speed region approximations have to be introduced.FindingsThe derived relation for the force‐velocity characteristic has been compared with measurement results. The comparison shows that the approach yields good results for not too large air gaps.Originality/valueA combination of analytical and approximative methods has been used for the determination of the force‐velocity characteristic of an eddy current brake with two pole pairs.