Double-sided permanent-magnet radial-flux eddycurrent couplers: three-dimensional analytical modelling, static and transient study, and sensitivity analysis

Analytical models are widely utilised in the study and performance prediction of electric machines by providing fast, yet accurate solutions. By combining conventional magnetic equivalent circuit techniques with Faraday´s and Ampere´s laws, an analytical model for double-sided permanent-magnet radial-flux eddy-current couplers is presented that can easily handle complex geometries. The proposed approach is also capable of taking the three-dimensional (3D) impacts into account. The characteristics and design considerations are also studied for a surface-mounted permanent-magnet structure. Moreover, the 2D and 3D finite-element methods are employed to verify the results, as well as transient study of the device under two different scenarios. Finally, sensitivity analysis is carried out to investigate the influence of the design variables on the characteristics of the coupler, which provides valuable information in the current and future studies of such devices.