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Modular (Segmented) Electrical Machines

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "F: Electrical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2020) | Viewed by 8882

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical Machines and Drives, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: variable reluctance machines; fault tolerant electrical machines; linear and surface motors; condition monitoring and diagnosis of electrical machines
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In general terms, modular construction means that distinctive portions of a system are made up of smaller subdivisions. These portions can be fabricated distinctly and later coupled together to obtain the final product. This approach is more and more commonly used in diverse high‑tech areas.
In the case of electrical machines, the modular approach denotes that their parts (the stator, the rotor, or both) are made up of distinctive segments. This approach can improve their design, manufacturing, efficiency, power density, and fault tolerance, achieving the following benefits:

  • Increased flexibility in design, as more complex and efficient (even three-dimensional) magnetic flux paths can be used;
  • Higher efficiencies because both iron cores and windings can be optimized, leading to diminished iron core and winding losses;
  • Increased power/torque densities due to the reduced sizes of the machine;
  • Less heat generated in the smaller components, making cooling easier and increasing the lifetime of the product;
  • Improved material utilization because the smaller iron core pieces can be placed in an optimum way on the raw material strip during punching to reduce material losses;
  • More facile integration with the drive circuits;
  • Improved fault tolerance by means of easily increasing the number of the phases and their magnetic independency;
  • Easier maintenance due to the piece-by-piece assembly and because the faulted coils can be more straightforwardly detected and replaced, even together with their iron core modules;
  • Simpler decommissioning and recycling processes due to the rapid and easy dissociation of the modular parts.

Papers covering the design and control of electrical machines having innovative modular construction are welcome. Additionally, submissions dealing with their manufacturing technologies are highly appreciated.

Prof. Dr. Lorand Szabo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bonding varnish technology
  • concentrated windings
  • fault tolerance
  • flux switching machines
  • integration with drive circuits
  • iron core segmentation
  • iron losses reduction
  • lamination stamping
  • magnetic flux path optimization
  • modular construction
  • net shape fabrication
  • non overlapping windings
  • permanent magnet synchronous machines
  • soft magnetic composites
  • switched reluctance machines
  • thermal optimization
  • transverse flux machines
  • vibrations
  • winding losses reduction

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 7939 KiB  
Article
Manufacturing Challenges of a Modular Transverse Flux Alternator for Aerospace
by Mehmet C. Kulan, Nick J. Baker and Simon Turvey
Energies 2020, 13(16), 4275; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13164275 - 18 Aug 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2978
Abstract
This paper presents the manufacturing challenges of a transverse flux alternator for an aerospace application. For fault tolerance, four independent isolated phases are required to deliver a specific power at low speeds, whilst at over speed, there is a strict limit on the [...] Read more.
This paper presents the manufacturing challenges of a transverse flux alternator for an aerospace application. For fault tolerance, four independent isolated phases are required to deliver a specific power at low speeds, whilst at over speed, there is a strict limit on the short circuit current. A transverse flux machine (TFM) was selected due to its high inductance combined with the modular nature of separate phases lending itself to fault tolerance. The stator consists of pressed soft magnetic composite (SMC) segments. The authors explore the electromagnetic, mechanical, and assembly design challenges of the machine. It is shown that mechanical design aspects of the segments are of equal importance to the electromagnetic design and optimization. Simple design choices have allowed the same component to be used as all the stator segments, despite the requirement of a 90° electrical phase difference between phases and a tooth offset of 180° electrical within each phase. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modular (Segmented) Electrical Machines)
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22 pages, 32754 KiB  
Article
Design and Experimental Investigation of a Hybrid Rotor Permanent Magnet Modular Machine with 3D Flux Paths Accounting for Recyclability of Permanent Magnet Material
by Adolfo Garcia Gonzalez, Dong Wang, Jean-Marc Dubus and Peter Omand Rasmussen
Energies 2020, 13(6), 1342; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13061342 - 13 Mar 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2178
Abstract
Rare-earth metals used for manufacturing Permanent Magnets (PMs) remain classified as critical raw materials by the European Commission. In order to secure the supply of electrical machines due to the increasing demand of Hybrid and Full Electrical Vehicles ((H)EVs), recycling has emerged as [...] Read more.
Rare-earth metals used for manufacturing Permanent Magnets (PMs) remain classified as critical raw materials by the European Commission. In order to secure the supply of electrical machines due to the increasing demand of Hybrid and Full Electrical Vehicles ((H)EVs), recycling has emerged as a valuable alternative. Hence, this paper presents the concept of a modular PM machine with a hybrid rotor and 3D flux paths, for application in ((H)EVs). The proposed machine topology is intended to facilitate the extraction of PM material towards a recycling process. The selection of a machine for prototyping is carried out by investigating the effect of the variation of the number of rotor teeth and stator modules on various parameters, with models developed in Finite Element (FE). Finally, the models developed of the selected combination were validated with a detailed experimental evaluation of the prototype. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modular (Segmented) Electrical Machines)
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17 pages, 5227 KiB  
Article
Design of a Novel Modular Axial-Flux Double Rotor Switched Reluctance Drive
by Pere Andrada, Balduí Blanqué, Eusebi Martínez, José Ignacio Perat, José Antonio Sánchez and Marcel Torrent
Energies 2020, 13(5), 1161; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13051161 - 04 Mar 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3155
Abstract
Nowadays, there is a renewed interest in switched reluctance machines and especially in axial-flux switched reluctance machines (AFSRM). This paper presents a comprehensive design procedure for modular AFSRM with an inner stator and two exterior rotors that have a new distribution of the [...] Read more.
Nowadays, there is a renewed interest in switched reluctance machines and especially in axial-flux switched reluctance machines (AFSRM). This paper presents a comprehensive design procedure for modular AFSRM with an inner stator and two exterior rotors that have a new distribution of the stator and rotor poles, resulting in short magnetic paths with no flux reversal. After a description of the proposed machine, the output torque equation is derived from a simplified non-linear energy conversion loop and guidelines for its design are given. Once the preliminary sizing has been carried out the different modules of the AFSRM, the magnetically active parts made with SMC, are reshaped or refined using 3D printing and 3D electromagnetic finite element analysis until they reach their definitive shape and dimensions. Finally, an AFSRM has been built following the proposed design procedure and has been validated by experimental measurements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modular (Segmented) Electrical Machines)
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