Rotor Design Optimization of a New Flux-Assisted Consequent Pole Spoke-Type Permanent Magnet Torque Motor for Low-Speed Applications

A new flux-assisted consequent pole spoke-type permanent magnet (PM) synchronous torque motor is proposed in this paper. The proposed motor has fractional slot structure with a spoke-type rotor geometry and flux-assisted magnets. Initial design, rotor design optimization, detailed 2-D and 3-D finite-element analyses (FEAs), and structural and thermal simulations are all carried out. A prototype motor is built and tested. The optimized design is validated by 2-D/3-D FEA and experiments and compared with the reference conventional surface PM (SPM)-type torque motor. The results indicate that the proposed new motor has higher torque-to-magnet-weight ratio and wider constant power region than the conventional SPM synchronous torque motor.