Performance Improvement of Axial Flux Permanent Magnet Machine with Phase Group Concentrated Coil Winding

This paper suggests a method to improve the performances of the Dual Stator Axial Flux Spoke-type Permanent Magnet (DSAFSPM) machines with phase group concentrated coil (PGCC) windings, by incorporating continuous and discrete step-skewing along with a special winding connection. The purpose of the study is to mitigate the cogging torque and torque ripples while increasing the output torque so it ameliorates the machine performance at minimum cost for various applications such as wind power plants and electric vehicles (EVs). Cogging torque produces noise and vibrations which degrade the machine’s performance and reduces its life span. The proposed winding sequence enhances the output torque by improving its distribution factor along with the use of continuous skew and step-skew magnets. This research work improved the cogging torque and torque ripples with the help of skew techniques while output torque is increased by the proposed winding sequence. Further harmonics and ripples are also mitigated by the proposed winding sequence. The overall machine volume is kept constant along with the magnet size and the design parameters for fair performance analysis. Comparative analysis of these machines is performed using three-dimensional (3-D) time-stepped finite element analysis (FEA). Proposed model I and proposed model II reduce the harmonics by 42% and 23%, respectively. By using continuous skew and discrete step-skew magnets, cogging torque is reduced up to 81.5% and 75%, respectively. This reduction in cogging torque reduces the noise and vibration in machines which assists the machines to perform a smooth operation. The reduction in output torque ripples in proposed model I is 60.8% while that of proposed model II is 59.3%.