Design and Optimization of a Flux-Modulated Permanent Magnet Motor Based on an Airgap-Harmonic-Orientated Design Methodology

In this article, an airgap-harmonic-orientated design method is proposed, where the airgap harmonics are newly acted as the effective bridge between the three key elements of permanent magnet sources, modulators, or armature windings and the motor performances. In the proposed design method, the airgap harmonics play couple roles of design objectives and variables, which are not only served as the design variables for the motor performances, but also considered as the objectives for design parameters. For extensive investigation, a V-shape flux-modulated permanent-magnet (V-FMPM) motor is selected as a design example, which has a potential application for the electrical vehicles. In the optimization process, the sensitivity analysis of different airgap harmonics on the torque performance is conducted to select the leading airgap harmonics. Meanwhile, the sensitivity degrees of the design parameters on the leading harmonics are calculated to pick out the sensitive design parameters. Then, the performances of the V-FMPM motor are evaluated for validating airgap-harmonic-orientated design method. Finally, a prototype motor is built and tested. Both the theoretical analysis and experimental results verify the effectiveness and reasonability of the proposed design method and the V-FMPM motor.