Rotor Eddy Current Loss and Multiphysics Fields Analysis for a High-Speed Permanent Magnet Machine

Abstract

High-speed permanent magnet machine (HSPMM) design is considered with particular attention paid to machine electromagnetic, thermal, and mechanical analyses. In this article, a 140-kW, 15 000 r/min HSPMM is designed with its power losses evaluated at first. Afterward, the machine temperature distribution is obtained based on computational fluid dynamics modeling. HSPMM is prototyped with experimental tests conducted to verify the calculation results. Mechanical strength analysis is performed for the HSPMM rotor structure with pole filler by finite-element method for the rotor at three operational conditions, while the influences from sleeve parameters on rotor strength are comprehensively studied for the HSPMM rotor at the most challenging condition. In this article, stator auxiliary slotting is extensively researched to reduce the rotor eddy current loss with little effects on machine output torque. The air gap flux density for HSPMM with auxiliary slotting is analytically predicted, while the working mechanism is illustrated in-depth. The effects from auxiliary slot dimensions, numbers and positions, on machine performances are further proposed and investigated. The experimental tests also validate the reduction of HSPMM rotor eddy current loss by the application of auxiliary slotting.