Impact of SMC Property on Axial Flux Machine Employing Ferrite PM in Traction Applications

This paper investigates impact of soft magnetic composite (SMC) properties on an axial flux permanent magnet machine (AFPM) employing ferrite permanent magnet (PM) in traction applications. In general, as iron loss of SMCs gets smaller, the efficiency of AFPMs can be higher. However, the torque and output power of AFPMs are reduced due to the decrease in magnetic permeability because there is a trade-off relationship between the iron loss and permeability of SMCs. In this paper, many virtual SMC materials with different iron loss and permeability are used for simulations of the proposed AFPM in order to investigate sensitivity to material properties. First, the impact of the permeability on the torque and output power is investigated because the output power is very important in traction applications. Additionally, the total energy loss of the AFPMs employing various SMCs is evaluated by WLTC driving cycle. Finally, this paper shows the newly developed SMC materials and discusses a suitable SMC property from the perspective of the efficiency and output power in traction applications.