Design and Optimization of an Axial-Flux Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine for Railway Traction Application

It is well known that the synchronous machine with permanent magnets is one of the most efficient electric machines due to the lack of stator magnetization current and small losses in the rotor magnetic circuit. Besides these advantages, having a large number of poles and a large inner diameter of the rotor, the synchronous axial flux machine offers a compact integration in a direct drive propulsion system. This paper presents the 3D design and parametric optimization with finite element analysis of a three-phase permanent magnet axial-flux synchronous machine for railway traction to validate the performance indicators requested by the application.