The influence of rotor configurations on the performance of an regenerative permanent magnet retarder

Retarder has become the essential device for automotive braking system, especially for heavy vehicles. Permanent magnet retarder is a new auxiliary braking device developed in recent years and it is the most competitive retarder for the future. Regenerative permanent magnet retarder is actually a permanent magnet generator. Rotor configurations strongly influence the performance of interior permanent magnet electrical machines. So rotor configurations will affect the performance of the retarder. The aim of this paper is to compare and evaluate different rotor configurations for regenerative permanent magnet retarder. Based on the requirements of a heavy vehicle, radial, V-type, U-type and W-type rotor configurations were designed under the same stator parameters and the same volume of permanent magnets. Corresponding torque capability of the configurations was compared.