Numerical analysis of magnetic gearbox for small wind turbine

High system torque densities are possible with mechanical gearboxes, but lubrication and cooling of the gears is often necessary and reliability can be a significant issue for a remotely working system such as wind turbines. This article presents a study utilizing the Finite Element Method (FEM) 3D of a permanent magnet gearbox model. Different simulations have been conducted for different gearbox designs, all co-axial and composed of three main components: internal rotor, modulators, and external rotor. NdFeB magnets have been used in all designs, just as 2 magnetic poles and 10 magnetic poles for the inner rotor and outer rotor respectively. 12 intermediate modulators also have been used to achieve a reduction ratio of 1:5. The simulation results focused on magnetic flux density and output torque, and a comparison has been made of the results obtained for each design. The results of the simulations provide numerical data to guide the optimization and design of permanent magnet gearboxes.