Influence of Stator Slotting on the Performance of Permanent-Magnet Machines With Concentrated Windings

The use of slotted stator permanent-magnet machines with concentrated windings is increasing in industry. In this paper, the effect of the slot opening on flux linkage, internal voltage, mean torque, rotor eddy current loss, and stator iron losses is evaluated. This gives new insight into the influence of slotting on the performance of machines with a small slot opening. In addition, the slot opening can be chosen to maximize the internal voltage and the mean torque while minimizing the total iron loss. The limitations of the traditional analytical design model with small slot openings for permanent magnet machines are reported. Carter factor expressions found in literature are evaluated by comparing them with finite-element computations. The finite-element computations in turn are validated using measurements on two machines with semi-open slots and one machine with fully open slots. The measured and simulated values for amplitude and waveform of the flux linkage and internal voltages are in good agreement.