Importance of Accurate Iron Permeability in Saturated Condition on Performance Evaluation of Flux-Switching Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines

Abstract

Traditional industrial electrical machines are designed avoiding strong iron saturation in the magnetic circuit. Flux-switching permanent magnet synchronous machines (FSPMSMs), however, differ significantly by their construction and magnetic circuit from the traditional PMSMs. In PMSMs, local saturation in the stator at no load can be avoided by a proper stator tooth and yoke design, but in FSPMSMs, the flux accumulates in the teeth toward the air gap, and the armature steel often becomes heavily saturated in the region close to the air gap. Therefore, it is difficult to avoid local saturation in an FSPMSM, and proper design tools are required to take this saturation into account when the machine is designed. This paper demonstrates the importance of accurate knowledge of steel properties in regions with heavy magnetic saturation. It is shown that especially the design process of an FSPMSM should be supported by an accurate $B - H$ curve of the steel up to 2.2 T and beyond (or at the point where the steel is completely saturated), because it has a significant influence on the overall performance of the machine.