Tubular Flux-switching Permanent Magnet Research Articles

Performance Comparison of Tubular Flux-Switching Permanent Magnet Machines Using Soft Magnetic Composite Material and Hybrid Material Magnetic Cores

The magnetic core of a conventional tubular flux-switching permanent magnet machine (TFSPMM) is made of axially laminated silicon steel sheets. The laminated direction is consistent with the motion direction of the mover. According to the flux-switching principle, a large amount of eddy current loss will be generated when the alternating flux passes through the silicon steel sheets vertically. The soft magnetic composite (SMC) material is magneto-thermal isotropy and has low eddy current loss, which can be used in TFSPMM. However, the permeability of SMC is much lower than that of silicon steel sheets, and the hysteresis loss is large at low frequency. When the two materials are used as the hybrid material magnetic core in the machine, their respective advantages can be used to improve the thrust force of the machine and reduce core loss. In order to study the effect of SMC core and hybrid material magnetic core on the machine, the performances of TFSPMM with different kinds of cores are calculated and compared by finite element method (FEM), including magnetic density distribution, permanent magnet (PM) flux linkage, back-electromotive force (EMF), inductance, detent force, thrust force and core loss. Finally, a prototype machine with hybrid material magnetic core is made and experimental verification is carried out.

Analysis of the operation principle for tubular flux-switching permanent magnet linear machine

PurposeThis study aims to unveil the generation mechanism of the thrust force in a tubular flux-switching permanent magnet (PM) linear (TFSPML) machine; the operation principle of the TFSPML machine is analyzed.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the air-gap flux density harmonic characteristics excited by PMs and armature windings are investigated and summarized based on a simple magnetomotive force (MMF)-permeance model. Then, the air-gap field modulation theory is applied in analyzing the air-gap flux density harmonics that contribute to the electromagnetic force. In addition, a simple method for separating the end force of the TFSPML machine is proposed, which is a significant foundation for the comprehensive analysis of this type of machine. As a result, the operation principle of the TFSPML machine is thoroughly revealed.FindingsThe analysis shows that the average electromagnetic force is mainly contributed by the air-gap dominant harmonics, and the thrust force ripple is mainly caused by the end force.Originality/valueIn this paper, the operation principle of the TFSPML machine is analyzed from the perspective of air-gap field modulation.

Detent Force Minimization of a Tubular Flux-Switching Permanent Magnet Motor Using Un-Equal Width Stator Slots Based on Taguchi Method

The detent force caused by the cogging effect and end effect will seriously affect the operation of a tubular flux-switching permanent magnet motor (TFSPMM). This paper proposes a method to weaken the end effect and minimize the detent force and force ripple of a TFSPMM using un-equal width stator slots. To overcome the problem of excessive calculation, the Taguchi method is performed to find the optimal combination of stators with unequal slot width. The proposed method can significantly decrease the detent force and force ripple and keep the thrust force basically unchanged. The permanent magnet flux linkage, detent force and electromagnetic force are calculated by the two dimensional (2D) finite element method (FEM).

Computation of Cogging Force of a Linear Tubular Flux-Switching Permanent Magnet Machine Using a Hybrid Analytical Modeling

Permanent magnet flux switching machines are gaining more and more interest due to their relatively good characteristics. Indeed, the presence of all magnetic field sources in the stator (armature windings, permanent magnets and/or field windings), which implies a completely passive rotor, makes it suitable for a large variety of applications [1] [2]. Different flux switching machines topologies have been studied in scientific literature. In this contribution, a relatively new modeling approach [3] based on the coupling of mesh based generated reluctance networks (MBGRN) and analytical models (AM), based on the formal solution of Maxwell’s equations, is used for the accurate prediction of cogging force of a linear tubular flux switching machine. This type of machines could be favorably used in oceanic renewable energy conversion. Figure 1(a) illustrates how the two approaches are combined for the case of a tubular linear flux switching structure. In this example the analytical solution is used for modeling the mechanical air-gap, and inner and outer airs, and the RN method is used to model the moving and static armatures. In order to have a more generic approach, the stator and moving armatures are modeled using mesh based generated reluctance network (MBGRN) technique [3]. This technique, as classical RN method, can be used with a minimum number of reluctances for regions where flux tubes are not highly affected by topology changes. As for finite elements analyses (FEA), the studied domain in MBGRN should be finely meshed in some regions (air-gap for example) and coarsely meshed in other regions. However, in contrast to FEA, the mesh relaxation in MBGRN can be done more easily conducting to reduced system matrix dimensions, and consequently reduced computation time. Indeed, while in FEA two adjacent elements should share an edge, it is no more necessary for RN method, as illustrated in Fig. 1(b). This new modeling approach has been used to analyze the performance of different electromagnetics devices (2D and 3D) [3]–[7]. In this contribution, this technique is used for the computation of cogging force of a linear tubular flux switching permanent magnet structure, something which has never been reported yet, to the best of our knowledge, in scientific literature. The goal is to further extend the investigation of this technique for the computation of relatively sensitive quantities, such as the cogging force, in more complex structures. Another goal is to highlight advantages of HAM as compared to other modeling techniques, and more particularly FEA, in order to obtain reduced order equations system [8] [9].

Cogging force reduction in linear tubular flux switching permanent-magnet machines

Abstract The aim of this paper is to explore the possibility of using linear tubular flux switching permanent magnet machines in a free piston energy conversion (FPEC) system. In FPEC systems, acceleration and therefore speed are often relatively high, which impose to have a reduced number of poles, meanwhile the cogging force will be relatively high. In order to reduce the cogging force two techniques are combined. The analysis is done using finite element method.

Optimization of the Thrust Ripple of a Tubular Flux-Switching Permanent Magnet Linear Motor

The effective optimization methods are needed to reduce the thrust ripple for the tubular flux-switching permanent magnet linear motor (TFSPMLM), which is significant for reducing the vibration, and improving the reliability. The auxiliary teeth and core bridge are set and analyzed for the bipolar and single-polar winding structures. On this basis, this paper focused on a new method of the secondary pole pitch fine-tuning which can overcomes the disadvantages of increasing the volume, decreasing the average thrust, adding the cost, and so on. The influences of tuning the secondary pole pitch on the average thrust and the thrust ripple for the different winding structure motors are calculated and analyzed. The conclusion can provide reference for the application of the method of tuning secondary pole pitch to the TFSPMLM for different background demands.