Design analysis of a new axial-flux interior permanent-magnet coupler

In this paper, performance of a new axial-flux interior permanent-magnet eddy-current coupler is analyzed, for which a magnetic equivalent circuit is also developed. The design considerations of the device are also presented. The proposed structure have advantageous over the couplers with surface-mounted PMs, e.g., the PMs are protected by the frame, there is no centrifugal force on PMs, the reaction fields do not have a significant demagnetization influence on PMs, the PMs do not directly face the heat originated from the currents inside the conductive-sheet, and also the low-cost rectangular-shaped PMs are utilized, all of which extend the machine life time and reduce its total production cost.. Three dimensional finite-element method is employed in the survey as well. Moreover, an experimental prototype is built to confirm the investigations. Finally, it is shown that the analytical, FEM and experimental results correlated well.