Design Considerations of a Transverse Flux Machine for Direct-Drive Wind Turbine Applications

This paper presents the design considerations and analysis of a double-sided transverse flux machine (TFM) for direct-drive wind turbine applications. The proposed TFM has a modular structure with quasi U-core stators and toroidal ring windings. The rotor is designed with ferrite magnets in a flux-concentrating setup to achieve high air gap flux density. This paper presents the different aspects of the TFM, taking into consideration the critical geometric parameters affecting the back-EMF waveform, phase inductance, torque density, and power factor. Three-dimensional finite element analysis (3D-FEA) was used to analyze and optimize the critical TFM design parameters to meet the performance specification. A proof-of-concept prototype was developed based on the proposed design considerations. The prototype was experimentally tested at different operating points and the results showed good correlation with the 3D-FEA results.