Modeling of Flux Reversal Machines for direct drive applications

Flux Reversal Machines can be easy to manufacture, are reliable and well suited for direct-drive applications. They also have the advantage that they can be controlled as standard synchronous PM machines. As for most of doubly salient machines, the machine design is relatively complicated due to the highly non-linear magnetic behavior that makes it difficult to device a general optimal design procedure. A simple hybrid approach, partly analytical and partly finite element based is proposed to address the main FRM design parameters influencing its performance. Based on the modeling approach, a prototype is designed and it is currently under construction, as documented in the paper.