Six-Phase Double-Stator Inner-Rotor Axial Flux PM Machines With Novel Detached Winding

This paper proposes a novel detached winding configuration for asymmetric six-phase double-stator axial flux permanent magnet machines aiming at fault-tolerant applications. Due to the machine unique double-stator structure, the six-phase winding can be separated into two three-phase windings with 30 electrical degree angle shift and arranged in different stators, which is the basic idea of the detached winding. In this paper, the connection of detached six-phase winding is first given, followed by a comprehensive comparison of the conventional six-phase winding and the detached winding in aspect such as the winding factor, electromotive force, inductances, rotor eddy current loss, and torque in normal condition. Performance under fault-tolerant operation is investigated by the copper loss minimization control strategy. The results show that by applying the detached winding instead of the conventional winding, rotor eddy current losses could be reduced by 25% and 70% under normal and fault-tolerant operation, respectively, without sacrificing torque output. This implies that under fault operation, the excess heating in rotor could be reduced and the machine durability can be enhanced. A prototype machine is built to validate the performance of the detached winding design. The experimental results match well with simulation analysis.