Analysis and Performance Evaluation of Axial Flux Permanent Magnet Motors

For special types of electric machines, it is essential and of utmost interest to develop a mathematical model, characterize a machine for performance evaluation, and test the machine for study and applications. A 2-D analytical method for the performance evaluation of axial flux permanent magnet (AFPM) machine has been presented in this paper. The method computes the electromagnetic torque, magnetic field distribution, cogging torque, and back-electromotive force of the machine using quasi-3-D modeling. Fourier Transform is used for the solution of Maxwell's equations in different regions of the AFPM machine. A surface mounted AFPM motor is designed and developed and tested. Experimental results are demonstrated and compared with the results computed from the analytical model to validate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method.