Electromagnetic Performance of an 18-Slot/10-Pole Fractional-Slot Surface-Mounted Permanent-Magnet Machine

This paper investigates the electromagnetic performance of an 18-slot/10-pole fractional-slot surface-mounted permanent-magnet (SPM) machine and compares its performance with conventional fractional-slot 9-slot/10-pole, 12-slot/10-pole, and integer-slot 30-slot/10-pole SPM machines by 2-D finite-element (FE) analysis (FEA). The winding factors of the 18-slot/10-pole machine are first analyzed, and then its back electromagnetic force, average torque, cogging torque, and torque ripple are investigated. In addition, the influence of stator current excitation on the average torque and torque ripple, the impact of end windings on the average torque, the flux-weakening capability, the fault-tolerant capability, the magnet loss, and the mutual coupling between phases are also studied by 2-D FEA. The results show that the torque ripple can be suppressed in the 18-slot/10-pole SPM machine, whereas the average torque can be improved compared with the 12-slot/10-pole SPM machine. The unbalanced magnetic force in the 9-slot/10-pole SPM machine can be eliminated. Although the flux-weakening and fault-tolerant capabilities are reduced compared with the conventional 9-slot/10-pole and 12-slot/10-pole machine, the mutual coupling between phases can be eliminated. The magnet loss is slightly higher than that of a 30-slot/10-pole machine but significantly lower than those in both 9-slot/10-pole and 12-slot/10-pole machines. Finally, the experimental results are given for validation of theoretical analyses and FE results.