Performance improvement of a novel sandwiched permanent magnet switched flux machine with flux barriers

This paper proposes a novel sandwiched permanent magnet switched flux (SPM-SF) machine with flux barrier to improve the electromagnetic performance. The machine topologies and operating principle are given firstly. Then, the basic electromagnetic characteristics, including open-circuit performance, torque characteristics, field-weakening capability, losses and efficiency, are comparatively investigated and calculated by finite element analysis (FEA). The simulation results show that the proposed SPM-SF machine with flux barrier design exhibits a significant improved air-gap field working harmonics and hence resulting a higher torque capability than the conventional counterparts.