Design and characterization of a cryogenic copper-wound linear tubular Actuator

The use of liquid nitrogen as coolant allows an increase in the power-density of copper-wound electrical machines. This work illustrates the design of a high thrust-density cryogenic copper-wound PM linear tubular actuator. The actuator model was analyzed and a design optimization procedure was envisaged. A short-stroke 160 N actuator was built. Standstill tests were carried out on a customized test rig. The experiments showed that both the shear stress and the ratio thrust to copper loss are advantageously higher than in conventional machines.