Different Arrangements for Dual-Rotor Dual-Output Radial-Flux Motors

Abstract

This paper describes different arrangements for a dual-rotor, radial-flux, and permanent-magnet brushless dc motor for application to variable-speed air conditioners. In conventional air conditioners, two motors of appropriate ratings are usually used to drive the condenser and evaporator separately. Alternatively, a motor with two output shafts may be employed, and this is studied here. The motor has inner and outer rotors with a stator in between which is toroidally wound or axially wound with inner and outer slotted stator surfaces. The power sharing on the two rotors is designed to meet the requirement of the condenser and evaporator. Finite element analysis (FEA) is employed to verify the designs. A prototype is made and tested to evaluate the performance. Alternative windings are investigated to assess the possibilities of decoupling the rotors so that they run independently. In the final section, a new and novel arrangement is proposed, where one three-phase winding set and one two-phase winding set (both toroidal) are wound on the same stator to control two rotors of different pole numbers. The two winding sets can be bifilar or share the same set of phase windings. This design simplifies the winding (because it is toroidal) and reduces the copper loss or amount of copper required. The design is tested using FEA solutions, and the initial results indicate that this machine could operate successfully.