Reduction of Magnet Eddy Current Loss in PMSM by Using Partial Magnet Segment Method

Compared with traditional induction machine and direct current machine, permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) holds many merits like higher torque ability and efficiency when high magnetic co-energy sintered NdFeB magnet is used. However, for the operation with high frequency, the resulted eddy current loss by the permanent magnet (PM) is very high and this kind of loss can bring the PM with high-temperature rise, making the PM face the risk of irreversible demagnetization. To reduce the PM eddy current loss, complete magnet segmentation is an effective method. However, taking this kind of method will increase manufacturing cost and reduce the mechanical robustness of the PMSM. Thus, a partial magnet segmentation method was proposed in the past. In this paper, a new annular partial segmentation (APS) method is proposed for the reduction of the PM eddy current loss, including single-side APS and double-side APS configurations. Considering that the additional process on the PM will reduce the mechanical robustness of the PM and the electromagnetic performance of machine, both the electromagnetic performance and the mechanical strength of the PM have been analyzed, based on 3-D finite-element method. It can be found that if the proposed new annular partial segmentation (APS) method is adopted, the eddy current loss in the PM can be reduced greatly, while the mechanical robustness of the PM can be guaranteed comparing with the traditional partial magnet segmentation method.