A comparison between the axial flux and the radial flux structures for PM synchronous motors

The aim of the paper is the comparison of the axial flux (AF) structures versus the conventional radial flux (RF) structures for PM synchronous motors. The comparison procedure is based on simple thermal considerations. Two motor typologies are chosen and compared in terms of delivered electromagnetic torque. The comparison is developed for different motor dimensions and the pole number influence is put into evidence. The paper reports the complete comparison procedure and the related results analysis. The obtained results show that, when the axial length is very short and the pole number is high, axial flux motors can be an attractive alternative to conventional radial flux solutions.