Design and Optimization of Magnetic Gear Composite Motor for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

A magnetic gear composite motor (MGCM) is designed as the propulsion machine of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The motor is integrated of permanent magnet synchronous machine and magnetic gear. Magnetic gear's characteristics of high efficiency, high dependability, and low noise are ideal for the design needs of an autonomous underwater vehicle's propulsion motor. In order to ensure the vibration and noise requirements of the AUV during operation, the thickness of the permanent magnets of each part of the motor is reasonably designed to reduce the radial magnetic density (RMD) at air gap and achieve the purpose of reducing the electromagnetic vibration and noise. For the purpose of accurately and quickly determining the best value of the thickness of each part of the permanent magnet, the response surface method is combined with the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, and a finite element model is established to analyze the changes in motor performance before and after optimization. The experiment results reveal that the motor performs admirably.