Reduction of Torque Ripple in Consequent-Pole Permanent Magnet Machines Using Staggered Rotor

Consequent-pole permanent magnet (CPM) machines have considerable potential for low-cost applications because they can improve the permanent magnet (PM) utilization ratio. However, the phase back electromotive force (EMF) of CPM machines with
N_s
/(
mt
) = odd (
t
is the greatest common divisor of the stator slot number
N_s
and the rotor pole-pair number
p
, and
m
is the phase number) is asymmetric, i.e., the phase back EMF has even-order harmonics, which will increase torque ripples. This paper utilized the staggered rotor to eliminate the even-order harmonics and reduce the cogging torque of CPM machines, thereby potentially decreasing torque ripples considerably. The axial flux barrier in the middle of the rotor was used and optimized using three-dimensional finite element (FE) analysis to reduce the axial leakage flux of the CPM machine with the proposed staggered rotor. Furthermore, the axial magnetized PM was embedded in the flux barrier, which improved the flux density of the airgap above the iron-pole and, consequently, further increased the output torque. The electromagnetic performance of the proposed machine, including the open-circuit airgap flux density, back EMF, average torque, torque ripples, and PM utilization, was compared with that of the conventional CPM machine. Results showed that the proposed machine obtained a similar torque and PM utilization ratio but a much lower torque ripple compared with the conventional one.