Comparative study of partitioned stator flux-modulation motors with different permanent magnet arrays

Abstract

By incorporating the merits of partitioned stator and flux modulation techniques, the partitioned stator flux modulation motors featuring high torque, have attracted much attention. This paper investigates four partitioned stator flux modulation motors with different types of PM arrays, including surface-mounted type, consequent-pole type, Halbach-array type, and half-Halbach type. The influences of key parameters on the average electromagnetic torque is conducted and compared. Then, based on the optimal designs, four motors are compared in terms of magnetic field distribution, back-electromotive force, torque characteristics, loss and overload ability. The result reveals that the half-Halbach motor is capable of utilizing more PM to improve electromagnetic torque. Also, the consequent-pole motor achieves the highest torque per PM usage. In addition, performance comparison under the same PM usage is carried out. The result shows that the half-Halbach motor not only exhibits the highest average torque but also achieves the highest PM utilization. Last, the prototype of half-Halbach motor is built for experimental verification.