UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES Mechatronics Research Group A Linear to Rotary Magnetic Gear By Thang Van Lang Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2020 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES Mechatronics Research Group Doctor of Philosophy A Linear to Rotary Magnetic Gear By Thang Van Lang Although magnetic gears are more expensive and larger than mechanical gears for a given power rating, they are more efficient. They also offer the advantage of physical separation between the driving and driven shafts which can be in different environments, e., in water and in air. Recent research has focused on rotary magnetic gears, with limited work on linear to rotary and vice versa motion conversions, which is desirable in many applications such as wave energy harvesting. This thesis focuses on the development of the theory and design optimisation of a novel linear-rotary magnetic gear derived from a variable reluctance permanent magnet (transverse-flux) rotational machine topology.
The configuration of a linear to rotary magnetic gear is developed and discussed. A design optimisation methodology is implemented based on finite element analysis. Using this methodology, optimal proportions and dimensions of a linear to rotary magnetic gear demonstrator are determined. It is shown that increasing the magnet thickness results in the increase transmitted torque, but with diminishing returns.
The optimal results showed that the maximum torque density obtained about 11. The proposed design methodology is successfully applied to the design of a two-pole (on the rotor) magnetic gear. A demonstrator is built and successfully tested, and theoretical predictions are validated. Based on the demonstrator in this study, the use of a linear-rotary magnetic gear for applications such as wave energy harvesting looks promising.
i ii Table of Contents ABSTRACT. i Table of Contents. iii List of Figures. vii List of Tables.
xiii Declaration of authorship. xix Chapter 1 Introduction .1 Motivation and problem statement. State of the art of magnetic gears. Overview of magnetic gear topologies.
Converted magnetic gears. Field modulated magnetic gears. Associated linear topologies of MGs .3 A linear to rotary magnetic gear based on transverse-flux machine .4 Aims and objectives. 22 Chapter 2 Magnetic Field Theory .2 Basic magnetic field theory .1 Biot-Savart law .2 Ampere’s circuital law .3 The magnetic circuits .4 Leakage and fringing effect .3 Magnetic field analysis .2 Finite element analysis .3 Calculation of the torque with FEA.
39 iii Chapter 3 A linear to rotary magnetic gear .1 Structure of a magnetic gear .3 Force and torque characteristics .4 Varying pole pitch topology. 69 Chapter 4 Design optimisation of the magnetic gear .2 Two-dimensional finite element analysis (2D-FEA) .3 Three-dimensional finite element analysis (3D-FEA). 95 Chapter 5 Prototype of the linear to rotary magnetic gear .3 Experiment set up. 109 Chapter 7 Future work .2 Dynamic modelling of the magnetic gear .3 Modelling of the proposed magnetic gear with an external excitation train .3 Dynamic model of the rotational harvester.
129 MATLAB-Simulink model. 154 v vi List of Figures Figure 1. 1 Involute magnetic gears [16]. Magnetic worm gears [17].
Radial parallel-axes spur MGs: a) External type b) Internal type c) axial type [23]. Magnetic torque couplers: a) Axial coupler; b) Coaxial coupler [28]. Magnetic planetary gear [37]. Perpendicular-axis MG [38].
A coaxial magnetic gear with ferromagnetic pole-pieces in between two rotors [40]. A coaxial magnetic gear proposed by Rasmussen et al. Axial-field magnetic gear [43]. An axial-field flux-modulated magnetic gear [44].
A schematic of a linear magnetic gear [50]. Configuration of wave generator using a linear magnetic gear [50]. A helical structure of linear-rotary magnetic gear [54]. Reluctance Rotary-linear magnetic gear [57].
A magnetically geared lead screw [59]. A phase of the transverse-flux machine including the rotor and stator. Path of the magnetic field depending on the current [9]. A rectangular magnet with the equivalent current loops [9].
Magnetic flux in a C-core for a single-phase transverse-flux machine. Position of the rotor with the C-cores a) aligned, b) unaligned. A schematic and 3D view of a magnetic gear suggested by Anglada [9]. Transverse-flux machine with replacing the windings by a magnet stack.
Structure of the magnetic gear a) front view, b) isometric view. Schematic view of a magnetic circuit [9]. Schematic view of a magnetic circuit with an airgap [9]. Magnetic flux in core and fringing effect.
Magnetic equivalent circuit of an induction motor [61]. A node with the reluctance branches and fluxes [63]. The process of finite element analysis [65]. Typical B-H or Hysteresis loop of a soft magnetic material [69].
Variation in permeability µ with B and H [69]. An illustration of a two-phase outer rotor VRPM machine showing a partial number of C-cores for clarity. The stator housing that holds the C-cores is not shown. A 2-pole variant of the transverse flux machine.
A linear-to-rotary magnetic gear derived from the 2-pole transverse flux machine. The final topology of the linear-to-rotary magnetic gear derived from a 2-pole VRPM machine. The cylindrical topology: a) with I-cores b) without I-cores. Unrolled cylindrical magnetic gear without I-cores.
A rotary-to-linear magnetic gear with 8 peripheral rotor poles. A two-phase magnetic gear. 9 Magnetic gear configurations: (a) arc segment magnets; (b) rectangular magnets. B-H curve of the steel_1008 material.
B-H curve of NdFe35 permanent magnet material [75]. Meshing models in ANSYS Electronics desktop. Flux distribution in vector and spectrum at 0 degree of the rotor position. Flux distribution in vector and spectrum at 90 degrees of the rotor position.
Characteristics of the magnetic gears: (a) rotor torque; and (b) translator force. Gear ratio vs pole pitch for FEA and analytical methods. A magnetic gear: (a) single core-back, (b) separated core-back, and (c) isometric break out view. Torque and force characteristics of the separated and single outer core-back: a) rotor torque; b) translator force.
Magnetic gears with single ferromagnetic pole-pieces: (a) single core-back and, (b) separated core-back, and (c) isometric break out view of (b). Rotor torque for three cases: (1) separated both core-back and ferromagnetic pole-pieces; (2) separated core-back and single ferromagnetic pole-pieces; and (3) single both core-back and ferromagnetic pole-pieces. A magnetic gear topology without I-cores: a) front view and b) isometric view. a) Torque and b) Force of the magnetic gear due to rotation of the inner rotor.
a) Torque and b) Force of each individual phase of the magnetic gear due to rotation of the inner rotor. A different poles magnetic gear with pi = 6 pole pairs, pt = 7 pole pairs, and ns = 13 pole pairs. Cross-section view of the magnetic gear showing pole pitch for rotor, translator and I-cores. Flux density lines of a 2D model of the different pole magnetic gear shown in the axial direction.
Torque and force on different parts of the varying pole magnetic gear. Flux line in the magnetic gear with equal magnet thicknesses on rotor and translator: (a) aligned (b) non-aligned (c) half-way. Front and cross-section views of the magnetic gear. 2D-FEA model of the magnetic gear.
Magnetic flux distributions in 2D-FEA model. Variations of the pull-out force versus I-cores’ thickness, t, for several values of magnet thickness. Variations of the pull-out force versus I-cores’ thickness for several values of magnet thickness. Variation of the pull-out force versus magnet width for several values of magnet thickness.
Pull-out force versus magnet coverage for several values of magnet thickness78 ix Figure 4. Variations of the pull-out force versus air gap lengths for several magnet thickness. Parameters scheme of the proposed magnetic gear. Variation of force versus pole pitch length with several values of magnet thickness.
Variation of the maximum torque with different magnet thicknesses: D = 30, LT = 40, λ = 10, t = 6, l = 20, h = 2 and g = 1 constant (all units in mm). Variation of maximum torque with different magnet coverages: LT = 40, λ = 10, t = 6, l = 20, h = 2, d = 5 and g = 1 constant. Variation of the maximum torque with different air gap length: LT = 40, λ = 10, t = 6, l = 20, h = 2, and d = 5 (unit: mm) constant. Variation of the maximum torque versus magnet thickness and air gap length: LT = 40, λ = 10, t = 6, l =20, and h = 2 constant (unit: mm).
Variation of the maximum torque with different steel thicknesses: LT = 40, λ = 10, l = 20, h = 2, d = 5, and g = 1 constant (unit: mm). Variation of the maximum torque with different I-core length: LT = 40, λ = 10, t = 6, h = 2, d = 5, and g = 1 constant (unit: mm). Variation of maximum torque with different I-core heights: LT = 40, λ = 10, t = 6, d = 5, and g = 1 constant (unit: mm). Geometric Parameters of the magnetic gear.
Variation of torque with varying a) rotor radius and b) active length. Variation of torque density with varying: a) rotor radius; and b) active length. Cross – section dimensional parameters. Variations of translator force versus the outer rotor magnets radius, rio, for iteration I, inner rotor magnet radius, rii = 8 mm, and varying outer I-core dimensions, rs.
The trade-off between volumetric force density and force-per-kg magnets as function of inner rotor magnets radius, rii, for (rio, rs) = (16, 19) mm. Ripple torque and force of the magnetic gear: the rotor radius is 50 mm and the active length is 120 mm. A 3D-FEA model of the prototype. 3D isometric view of the prototype.
A frame to hold the ferromagnetic pole-pieces. Magnets for the prototype: a) rotor magnets and b) translator magnets. The demonstrator of the linear to rotary magnetic gear. Nut and screw mechanism to move the translator.
Load cell installation for measuring a) torque and b) force along the rotor’s axis. Load cell digital indicator for displaying the measured torque and force values. Moving the translator to show working principle. Rotor torque in comparison between simulation and experiment.
Translator force in comparison between simulation and experiment. View of a linear to rotary magnetic gear; (a) 3D view, and (b) side view. Characteristics of the magnetic gears; (a) rotor torque, and (b) translator force. Variations of rotor torque versus translator position at zero degree of rotor position, θ = 0.
Rotor position during a rotor oscillation test obtained from nonlinear and linearized analytical models: (a) rotor starting from -90 degrees, (b) rotor starting from -30 degrees. Simulated response of the system when both z and θ variation. Schematic diagram of an energy harvesting system consisting of a sprung mass coupled to a generator through a ball screw [74]. Maximum power versus load resistance.
127 xi xii List of Tables Table 1: Torque density of different gears [10]. 5 Table 2: Parameters description. 47 Table 3: Simulated design parameters. 51 Table 4: Gear ratio comparison between FEA and analytical caculations.
55 Table 5: Geometric dimensions and material values. 67 Table 6: Geometric design parameters of the proposed magnetic gear. 81 Table 7: Geometric and material parameters. 92 Table 8: Iterations of radial dimensions in the design optimisation process.
93 Table 9 : Parameters of the prototype. 102 Table 10: Geometric and material parameters of magnetic gear .