A new outer-rotor flux switching permanent magnet generator for wind farm applications

Abstract

In this paper a 1.5 kW flux switching permanent magnet (FSPM) generator is presented for direct drive small scale wind turbine applications. For maximizing induced voltage and the output torque while minimizing cogging torque and unbalanced radial magnetic force (UMF), the proposed machine exhibits a new 6/19 stator pole/rotor teeth number and an outer rotor configuration. At first, in the paper an analytical design has been developed, then a finite element method (FEM) analysis is carried out for validating the analytical procedure and for design improvement. The simulation results extracted by FEM confirm the theoretical analysis procedure and help in the understanding of the performance analysis of the machine against the variations of the design variables. Furthermore, an experimental laboratory prototype of the proposed FSPM is implemented to confirm the analytical design and FEM modelling approaches. A comparison of induced voltage, torque, UMF and cogging torque produced by different FSPM configurations present in literature respect to the proposed generator has been developed. The results show the goodness of the adopted methodology and prove that, because of suitable electromagnetic performance of the proposed FSPM generator, it could be counted as a proper candidate for small scale wind turbine applications. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.