Influence of slot opening on optimal stator and rotor pole combination and electromagnetic performance of flux-switching PM brushless AC machines

The significant influence of slot opening on the optimal stator and rotor pole combination and the electromagnetic performance of the flux-switching PM (FSPM) machine is observed and investigated in this paper. A new FSPM brushless machine with remarkable slot opening relative to the magnet thickness is developed to reduce the magnet usage and increase the slot area. Its stator slot opening is almost several times of that in the conventional FSPM machine, but its magnet usage is only half. However, the new machine exhibits ~40% larger back-emf and electromagnetic torque than those of the conventional machine, while its cogging torque and torque ripple are significantly lower.