Analysis of vertical strip wound fault-tolerant permanent magnet synchronous machines

This paper investigates the behavior of a vector- controlled, fault-tolerant, permanent magnet motor drive system adopting a vertically placed strip winding (VSW) which can limit inter-turn short-circuit (SC) fault current to its rated value regardless of the position in the slot containing the shorted turns. The drives’ dynamic behavior is simulated using a per-phase equivalent circuit model with the winding inductances and resistances analytical calculated based on the machine geometry and fault location. A simplified thermal model is also grafted into the system model to effectively simulate the dynamic behavior of the machine during healthy, inter-turn SC fault and post-fault controlled scenarios. The SC fault current limiting capability, the additional losses and thermal behavior of the winding are studied and compared with conventional winding adopting round conductors winding (RCW). The proposed winding design is verified with Finite Element (FE) analysis and then validated experimentally. Results show that the VSW inherently limits the SC current, reduces its dependence on the position of the fault within the slot but results in an increase in AC losses

Turn-turn short circuit fault management in permanent magnet machines

This paper presents a systematic study on turn-turn short circuit fault and ways to manage them to provide a basis for comparison of the various options available. The possible methods to reduce the likelihood of the winding SC fault and the fault mitigation techniques related to such faults are discussed. A Finite Element (FE) analysis of a surface-mount Permanent Magnet (PM) machine under application of different mitigation techniques during a turn-turn fault is presented. Both machine and drive structural adaptations for different fault mitigation techniques are addressed. Amongst the investigated fault mitigation techniques, the most promising solution is identified and validated experimentally. It is shown that the shorting terminal method adopting vertical winding arrangement is an effective method in terms of the implementation, reliability and weight

Modeling and analysis of eddy current losses in permanent magnet machines with multi-stranded bundle conductors

This paper investigates the influence of eddy current losses in multi-stranded bundle conductors employed in out-runner permanent magnet machines, by adopting an analytical model. The analytical model is based on a sub-domain field model that solves the two-dimensional magnetostatic problem using the separation of variables technique for each of the non-magnetically permeable machine sub-domains: PM, airgap and slots. The validity and accuracy of the proposed model is verified using finite element analysis and then used to investigate the eddy current losses. The machine considered for the analysis has 36 slots and 42-poles previously designed for aircraft taxiing. The influence of the number of turns and the conductor cross-sectional area are investigated. It is shown that efficiency can be improved considerably by the choice of multi- stranded bundle conductors

Design optimization on conductor placement in the slot of permanent magnet machines to restrict turn-turn short-circuit fault current

In Permanent Magnet (PM) machines, a turn-turn Short-Circuit (SC) fault is the most critical fault to eradicate. The fault introduces high SC current in the shorted turn which may consequently lead to secondary faults unless the fault is appropriately controlled. This paper proposes feasible conductors’ placement in a slot of PM machine to minimize such turn-turn fault current. In order to minimize the fault current, the conductor arrangement in a slot is optimized using multi-objective Genetic Algorithm (GA) incorporating with both analytical and Finite Element (FE) numerical tool. The possible combinations of conductors’ placement are set as variables and optimized for a given machine which is designed for safety critical applications. It is shown that the fault current associated to a single turn fault can be significant for the random winding placement even though the remedial strategies are put in place. It is also shown that the fault current can be limited significantly by rearranging the winding placement in a way to share slot-leakage fluxes. This is confirmed via experiment on E-core. Influences of the winding arrangement on both frequency dependent resistances and windings capacitances are experimented. It is demonstrated that adopting the winding arrangement that shares the slot-leakage flux effectively benefits to minimize the AC losses in addition to improved fault tolerance. But it increases the turn-turn capacitances whose effect however can be neglected as the resonance frequency occurs beyond the operational frequency range of the machines of interes

High speed solid rotor permanent magnet machines: concept and design

This paper proposes a novel solid rotor topology for an Interior Permanent Magnet (IPM) machine, adopted in this case for an aircraft starter-generator design. The key challenge in the design is to satisfy two operating conditions which are: a high torque at start and a high speed at cruise. Conventional IPM topologies which are highly capable of extended field weakening are found to be limited at high speed due to structural constraints associated with the rotor material. To adopt the IPM concept for high speed operation, it is proposed to adopt a rotor constructed from semi-magnetic stainless steel, which has a higher yield strength than laminated silicon steel. To maintain minimal stress levels and also minimize the resultant eddy current losses due to the lack of laminations, different approaches are considered and studied. Finally, to achieve a better tradeoff between the structural and electromagnetic constraints, a novel slitted approach is implemented on the rotor. The proposed rotor topology is verified using electromagnetic, static structural and dynamic structural Finite Element (FE) analyses. An experiment is performed to confirm the feasibility of the proposed rotor. It is shown that the proposed solid rotor concept for an IPM fulfils the design requirements whilst satisfying the structural, thermal and magnetic limitations

Modular Permanent Magnet Machines with Alternate Teeth Having Tooth Tips

This paper presents single layer modular permanent magnet machines with either wound or unwound teeth with tooth tips. The structures with wound teeth having tooth tips are suitable for modular machines with slot number higher than pole number to compensate for the drop in winding factor due to the flux gaps in alternate stator teeth, accordingly to maintain or even to increase their average torques. However, the structures with unwound teeth having tooth tips are suitable for modular machines with slot number lower than pole number to increase the winding factor and hence to further improve the machine performance. The phase back-EMF, on-load torque, iron and copper losses as well as efficiency have been calculated using finite element analysis for different slot/pole number combinations, and for different flux gap and tooth tip widths. It is found that by properly choosing the flux gap and tooth tip widths, both the on-load torque performance and the efficiency can be optimized for the investigated machines with different slot/pole number combinations. Experiments have been carried out to validate the finite element results