With renewable energy an increasingly essential element in providing clean, abundant
energy and combating climate change, wave energy presents an enormous untapped
resource. Key to the challenges facing the industry are the high operation and maintenance costs associated with operating in offshore environments. A recent technological
development that could address this issue is the magnetic gear. The magnetic gear
allows for smaller and more efficient electrical machines while providing inherent protection to the drivetrain and requiring substantially reduced maintenance due to the
contactless nature of operation.
With magnetic gears now reaching a high technology readiness level there is a need
to develop accurate and efficient design methods. This work looks at developing these
methods, along with design tools, with a focus on application to wave energy devices.
This work introduces the concept and operating principles of magnetic gears and
gives a state of the art in the variations available. Following a discussion of design
considerations and methodology, the tools developed in this work are applied in the
design and development of two prototypes which are tested for a range of operating
conditions followed by a critical analysis of the results
