A Review of State-of-the-Art Multiphase and Hybrid Electric Machines

Abstract

In the realm of electric machines, there has been an increasing interest in multiphase (greater than three-phase) and hybrid excited machines. The benefits of multiphase machines include improved power density, efficiency, reliability, and fault tolerance, while for hybrid electric machines, the literature offers a variety of topologies, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. In essence, the term hybrid for electric machines is used when there is more than one source of excitation, e.g., permanent magnet (PM) excitation combined with or assisted by wound field (WF) excitation. This paper presents an extensive review of the latest topologies in hybrid machines. It explores fundamental principles, multiphase winding, and the advantage of multiphase over three-phase, as well as a comparison of ripple in the DC link for different numbers of phase winding. Additionally, this review discusses applications across industries, including automotive, aerospace, marine, and renewable energy systems. This paper later studies the motoric and generator modes of hybrid machines while considering the machine characteristics in both of these modes.