Investigation of a Surface Mounted PM Machine Concept with 3D-Flux Paths, Modular Stator and Amorphous Material

This paper deals with the design and investigation of a surface mounted machine concept targeted at the efficient recycling of rare-earth materials used in permanent magnets. The proposed machine has an outer rotor, single phase and a modular stator. In addition, the use of laminated iron based amorphous material is investigated. The implementation of this type of material in electrical machines is of interest due to their performance in terms of reduced losses when compared with standard electrical steel. However, the widespread use of amorphous materials is limited mainly due to their hardness and brittleness that make their processing (i.e. cutting and punching) a challenging task. Hence, an alternative for the use of such material is proposed in this paper, with the combination of both laminated C-shaped amorphous cores and a modular stator. 3D-FEM calculations of various parameters such as back-EMF, torque, inductance and losses, were validated with measurements performed on a demonstrator.