Design and Analysis of a Planar Flux-Switching Permanent Magnet Motor

In this paper, a planar flux-switching permanent magnet (PFSPM) motor, which is the first of its kind for planar motors, is designed and analyzed. First, the topology structure, modeling, and operating principle of the PFSPM motor are clarified. Then, the initial dimension of the PFSPM motor is determined in terms of its topology structure. Based on the initial dimension, the width of the iron core and the length of the permanent magnet are optimized to increase the thrust force and reduce the cogging force. In addition, a 3-D finite-element analysis (FEA) is performed. Finally, the experiments are conducted based on a developed prototype of the PFSPM motor with the optimized dimension. The results demonstrate that the thrust force is increased by 21%, and the cogging force is reduced by 56% via FEA; the thrust force of the experimental measurement is largely consistent with that determined via the FEA.