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Electrical machines with high-temperature superconducting (HTS) armature windings can benefit from high power density and efficiency. Furthermore, by using permanent magnets (PM) on the rotor, the cryogenic system can be significantly simplified compared with the fully superconducting (SC) machines or the machines with SC field windings. Compared with the conventional electrical machines, the performance of machines with HTS armature windings can be more sensitive to the design parameters due to the interaction between the operating current and the flux density. In this article, the influence of stator geometry on the machine with HTS armature windings and PM rotor is investigated. By considering the interaction between the operating current and the flux density, an iteration procedure for calculating the operating current of the HTS armature windings is proposed. A 10-MW surface-mounted PM wind power generator with HTS armature windings is studied by the finite element analysis. It is found that machines with different coil angle have different behaviors when changing the tooth width and the dimensions of tooth tips, which is different from conventional electrical machines. A new design and optimization method is then developed. Finally, the optimal design is identified with global optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The second harmonic current injection method is recently developed to enhance the torque density of variable flux reluctance machines (VFRMs). This article investigates the feasibility and effectiveness of the second harmonic current injection method in VFRMs with different stator/rotor pole combinations. By using magnetic gearing effect, it is found that the second harmonic injection method can only be applied to the 6j/(6i ± 2)j (i, j = 0, 1, 2…) stator/rotor pole VFRMs for the torque density enhancement. For the other stator/rotor pole combinations, the second harmonic current has no contribution in average torque production but only leads to excessive torque ripple. Further, by using global optimization method and finite element analysis, 6/8 stator/rotor pole combination is proved to be the optimal stator/rotor pole combination for 6-stator-slots VFRMs with the second harmonic current injection method, being able to exceed the maximal torque density of conventional VFRMs by 12% at a fixed copper loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variable flux reluctance machines (VFRMs) are developed as magnetless electrical machines. To extend the application of VFRMs, the enhancement of torque density is a key during machine design. In this paper, a novel second-harmonic current injection method is developed for torque density enhancement for 6-stator-slot/4-rotor-tooth (6/4) VFRM. By using the analytical method, the optimal current profile with injected second-harmonic current is obtained. The average torque of 6/4 VFRM is improved by 20% with the proposed method under all load conditions. Moreover, the proposed current profile has fixed harmonic proportions and is easily applicable to machines with different specifications. All the conclusions are confirmed by both finite-element analyses and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the torque production and the torque ripple reduction of a six-stator/seven-rotor-pole (6/7) variable flux reluctance machine (VFRM). As a main advantage, the 6/7 VFRM produces higher torque density, but less torque ripple compared with the 6/4 VFRM. The instantaneous torque equation of the 6/7 VFRM is derived by considering the spectra of the winding inductance and current. Based on the derived equation, the average torque is found to be mainly produced by the mutual inductance between the field and armature windings. The even-order harmonics of self-inductance and odd-order harmonics in mutual inductance between the field and armature windings are eliminated due to the opposite polarity connection of the armature coils in each phase. This results in the elimination of the third harmonic torque ripple, while a multiple of the sixth harmonic torque ripple exists. In order to mitigate the sixth harmonic torque ripple, the harmonic current injection method is implemented into the field winding. The field harmonic current is calculated from the analytical torque ripple equation. The performance of the proposed methods is verified by both finite element analysis (FEA) and experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a harmonic field current injection method is proposed for torque ripple reduction in 6-stator/4-rotor-pole (6s/4r) variable flux reluctance machines (VFRMs). Initially, the torque production of VFRM is analyzed based on an analytical torque model and harmonic analysis. The torque ripple of 6s/4r VFRM is found to have multiples of third harmonics. Then, one finite-element analysis (FEA)-based and one analytical equation-based method are developed to calculate the magnitude of the injected harmonic current. Both methods are proved to be effective in torque ripple reduction. Finally, the influence of the inductance mismatch on the proposed method is investigated. It shows that the torque ripple reduction performance is not affected much unless the fundamental component of nominal inductance is underestimated. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methods are validated by both 2-D FEA and experimental test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]