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A typical flywheel energy storage system (FESS) includes an electrical machine, a flywheel, and magnetic bearings, which are independent of each other. Therefore, the structure of FESS is complicated, which leads to the problems of high cost and low integration. This article presents a novel stator PM excitation solid rotor machine (SPE-SRM) for FESS, which integrates an electrical machine, flywheels, and a magnetic bearing. The design method of the SPE-SRM is presented specifically. First, the structure and operation principle of the SPE-SRM are illustrated. Second, the design and optimization of the flywheel-rotor are presented with considering of power, energy storage, and mechanical strength. Third, the magnetic equivalent circuit of the SPE-SRM is established to simplify the design. Besides, the armature reaction and leakage flux factor are investigated. Fourth, the performance indexes, including torque, suspension force, no-load back electromotive force (back-EMF), losses, and temperature rise are fully analyzed by the finite element analysis. Finally, a 22 kW prototype is manufactured and tested. The rationality of the concept and design is validated by experiments. The SPE-SRM has the merits of high integration, robust structure, and low cost, so it has the potential for wide application in FESS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homopolar inductor machine (HIM) has caught much attention in the field of flywheel energy storage system (FESS) due to its merits of robust rotor, brushless exciting, and high reliability. Compared with permanent magnet HIM (PM-HIM), the HIM with field winding (FW-HIM) can effectively eliminate the idling loss caused by the no-load magnetic field by cutting off the excitation current, while the charge/discharge efficiency of the HIM would be decreased due to the copper loss of field winding. To address this contradiction, a novel PM-HIM with a mechanical flux modulator (MFM-HIM) is proposed to achieve low idling loss and high charge/discharge efficiency. First, the special structure and operation principle of the MFM-HIM are investigated. Afterwards, the characteristic of the equivalent magnetic circuit of the MFM-HIM is analyzed and the key structure parameters of it are derived and optimized. Moreover, the electromagnetic performance indexes of the MFM-HIM, including back electromotive force, flux weakening ability, losses, etc. are fully analyzed. Finally, a prototype of the MFM-HIM is designed, manufactured, and tested. Experiment results confirm those obtained by simulations. Results show that the proposed MFM-HIM inherits the merits of high charge/discharge efficiency of PM-HIM and almost no idling electromagnetic loss of FW-HIM. The MFM-HIM could be a promising candidate for the application of FESS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homopolar inductor machine (HIM) has been applied in the field of flywheel energy storage system (FESS) due to its merits of simple structure, high reliability, and low idling losses. However, the HIM features unipolar air-gap flux density, which makes its power density lower than that of the electrical machine with bipolar air-gap flux density. Addressing this issue, a novel outer rotor homopolar inductor machine (OR-HIM) is proposed in this article. First, the special structure and operation principle of the OR-HIM are illustrated. Then, the unit motors of the OR-HIM are obtained and investigated based on the magnetic equivalent circuit method to facilitate the design. Moreover, the performance indexes, including power density, output characteristics, losses, and rotor stress of the OR-HIM, are fully analyzed. Finally, a 13-kW prototype is designed, manufactured, and tested. The back electromotive force, load voltage, output torque, and efficiency are measured and compared with those obtained by the finite element analysis. The results indicate that the proposed OR-HIM is a promising candidate for the application of FESS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the design and analysis of a 12/7 (numbers of stator/rotor poles) hybridly excited asymmetric stator pole doubly salient machine (HEASPDSM) with a main focus on the special topology and operational principle by using the analytical and 2-D finite element analysis. A full comparison is conducted on the average torque, torque ripples, no-load back electromotive force and flux regulation capacity under the condition of different structural parameters, which can provide good references to the machine design. A 12/7 HEASPDSM is designed and the main performance indexes are analyzed in detail. Based on the parameters, the performance of 12/7 HEASPDSM is compared with traditional 6/7 doubly salient permanent magnet machine (DSPMM) with the same volume and thermal load. Finally, a prototype of the 12/7 HEASPDSM is manufactured and tested to validate the theoretical analysis. The results fully demonstrate that the HEASPDSM possesses the merits of strong flux regulation capability, higher torque density, and wider constant power speed range benefitted from the dc field winding than the traditional DSPMM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel hybrid excited asymmetric stator pole doubly salient machine (HEASPDSM) is proposed in this paper. The new topologies and operational principle are first investigated by using a simplified equivalent magnetic circuit model. The harmonic components of air-gap flux density are then analyzed. The influence of key structural parameters of the proposed machine on the flux regulation ability and torque is studied. A full comparison on main electromagnetic performance indexes of the proposed 12/7 (stator/rotor poles) HEASPDSPM and several traditional doubly salient machines is presented. A prototype is fabricated and tested to validate the theoretical analysis. The results well demonstrate that the HEASPDSPM possesses various merits, such as strong flux regulation capability, high torque density, low cogging torque, and low torque ripple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compensated pulsed alternators (CPAs) have good applications in high-energy lasers, electromagnetic rail guns, and other electromagnetic launch devices. Among various electrical machine topologies, homopolar inductor alternators (HIAs) have attracted interest as CPAs due to their merits of simple and reliable structure, brushless excitation, and high-speed operation. However, the length of the conventional HIA is difficult to expand because it is limited by the rotor diameter, and the rotor diameter is restricted by the maximum speed of rotor tip, which results in low-energy storage capacity of a single machine. Besides, HIA suffers from the relatively low-power density due to its unipolar air-gap flux density (UAFD). To solve these problems, two novel HIAs with multistage stator cores (HIA-MSCs) are proposed in this paper. One is HIA with UAFD (HIA-UAFD) and the other is HIA with unipolar and bipolar air-gap flux density (HIA-UBAFD). First, the structure and operation principle of HIA-MSCs are illustrated. Then, the key parameters of HIA-MSCs are derived, and the corresponding models are built. Finally, the electromagnetic performances of HIA-MSCs are investigated by 3-D finite-element analysis method. Compared with HIA-UAFD, HIA-UBAFD has relatively higher discharge current and output power, which indicates that HIA-UBAFD is a better candidate for the pulsed alternator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An axial-flux permanent-magnet (PM)-assisted claw-pole generator (APCG) is designed based on an equivalent magnetic circuit model (EMCM). It is designed for generating power in vehicle with the merits of high power density, no brush, and wide airgap flux density modulation range. This paper mainly focuses on establishing the EMCM of the APCG and designing a set of optimal structure parameters. First, the topology and operation principle of the APCG are introduced in detail, including material, fabrication, and magnetic flux distribution. Second, the magnetic circuits in claw poles are simplified and the relationships among the key parameters are discussed. Finally, based on the simplified model and the relationships among the key parameters, the EMCMs of current and PM excitation are established, respectively. According to the EMCM, a scheme of a 4 kW APCG is carried out. Comprehensive investigations demonstrate that the EMCM is time-saving and relatively accurate when compared with a finite element method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An automobile generator has stringent requirements on its weight and volume. As a combination of permanent magnet and electric excitation motor, hybrid excitation machine has the merits of small size, lightweight, and adjustable output voltage, which can meet the requirements of the vehicular generator. In this paper, a novel axial flux stator partition hybrid excitation brushless synchronous generator (ASHG) is proposed. First, the structure and the operating principle of ASHG is illustrated. Afterward, the shape of the magnetic pole is optimized to obtain the air-gap flux density with low harmonic component. Finally, the regulation performance of the magnetic field and output voltage are investigated by using the 3-D finite-element analysis method. The result indicates that the ASHG has a good ability to adjust the terminal voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The homopolar inductor machine (HIM) is of particular interest in the field of flywheel energy storage system, where it has the potential to significantly reduce self-discharge associated with magnetic losses. However, the conventional HIM suffers from low power and torque density due to its unipolar air-gap flux density. Besides, the air-gap flux density of HIM is limited by the cross section of rotor, and the rotor diameter is limited by the maximum tip speed of the rotor. Thus, the maximum effective length and diameter of rotor should be within a certain range, which constrains the output power and stored energy of the HIM. To solve these problems, a novel multi-unit out-rotor HIM (MO-HIM) with bipolar air-gap flux density is proposed in this paper. First, the structure and operating principle of MO-HIM is illustrated. Then, the characteristics of the proposed machine are analyzed, indicating that MO-HIM can be regarded as a superposition of multiple unit machines. Finally, to verify the superior performances of the proposed MO-HIM, it is compared with a unipolar out-rotor HIM with multi-segment stator cores in terms of air-gap flux density, back electromotive force, and output torque. Results show that the proposed MO-HIM has larger fundamental air-gap flux density, higher power, and torque density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, one novel heteropolar radial hybrid magnetic bearing (HRHMB) is proposed for flywheel energy storage system. First, its structure and working principle are introduced in detail. Then, its fundamental equations are derived based on magnetic circuit model, such as displacement stiffness, current stiffness, and load capacity. Furthermore, its suspension performance and magnetic coupling are analyzed based on the 2-D finite-element analysis. Finally, the comparison of main performance indexes between the proposed HRHMB and conventional one under the same constraints is made. It indicates that the displacement stiffness can be reduced by the novel structure. In addition, the rotor core loss of the novel HRHMB is just 22.53 W, which is only 41.6% of the conventional eight-pole HRHMB with the same load capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulsed alternators have the merits of high energy and power densities, which are applied to a wide range of applications, such as the electromagnetic launch, the pulsed laser, and the pulsed high magnetic field. A new type of high-speed and high-frequency pulsed alternator integrating an alternator and a motor, is proposed in this paper. A solid rotor which is made of high-strength alloy steel with high yield strength is used in the pulsed alternator, so it can work at a high tip speed. This machine consists of two alternators and a motor which share one rotor and one field winding. According to different voltage levels and operation frequencies, the motor and the alternators with different stack lengths and pole-pairs are designed, respectively. Therefore, it has the abilities of being driven by low-frequency current and discharging high-frequency pulses. In this paper, the basic structure and fundamental of the pulsed alternator are introduced, the specific parameters of the prototype are given, and the performances are verified by the simulation. The results show that the machine proposed in this paper is suitable for the applications that require high-frequency pulsed discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One novel 4/6 stator/rotor single-phase doubly salient permanent magnet machine with asymmetric stator poles is proposed in this paper. The stator poles of proposed machine are distributed non-uniformly along the circumference of the stator yoke. First, it investigates the new topology and working principle in detail. Then, the presented structure is optimized based on 2-D finite element analysis. Finally, full comparison of electromagnetic performance indexes of the new machine with those of the traditional one is also presented. It indicates that the novel structure has a much higher torque density, lower cost of permanent magnet, and a much better starting capability than those of the traditional one under the constant volume and electrical load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]