A Review of Recent Developments in Permanent Magnet Eddy Current Couplers Technology

Abstract

Permanent magnet eddy current couplers (PMECCs) have the characteristics of contactless torque transmission, removal of torque ripple, smooth dynamic process, and adjustable speed, and can be used as couplings, dampers, brakes, and speed governors. Their applications in industry, vehicles, and energy fields are gradually expanding. At the same time, the requirements for the torque density and dynamic performance of PMECCs are increasing. Therefore, a large amount of research work has focused on the fast and accurate modeling, design, and optimization of PMECCs. This paper provides a survey on the development of PMECCs technology. The main topics include the structure and classification of PMECCs, modeling methods, loss and heat transfer analysis modeling, and optimization design. In addition, this paper shows the future trends of PMECCs research. All the highlighted insights and suggestions of this review will hopefully lead to increasing efforts toward the model’s construction and the optimal design of PMECCs for future applications.

Multi-Objective Optimization Design of Permanent Magnet Eddy Current Coupler Based on SCG-BP Neural Network Modeling and the ONDX-NSGA-II Algorithm

“…Among all losses, copper disk eddy current loss accounts for the main proportion of PMECC energy conversion and has the most important impact on the performance of PMECC. Therefore, we chose copper disk eddy current loss as one of the optimization objectives without calculating other loss terms for PMECC, such as PM loss and iron loss [25]. In addition, the cost indicators of PMECC cannot be ignored.…”

Modelling and analysis of the intersecting axis permanent magnet eddy‐current coupler

“…The radial-flux PMECs have a smaller rotational inertia and larger torque density and do not generate axial force; however, the corresponding axis alignment accuracy requirement is higher than that of the axial-flux PMECs [12]. The axial-flux PMECs have larger rotational inertia and lower alignment requirements, but they will generate axial force, which reduces their bearing life [12]. Additionally, innovative structures have been developed based on these designs, such as the double-sided radial-flux type [5,[13][14][15], double-sided axial-flux type [3,16] and radial-axial combined type [17,18].…”

“…Currently, many structures of PMECs have been proposed, and there are primarily two fundamental configurations: radial‐flux and axial‐flux types. The radial‐flux PMECs have a smaller rotational inertia and larger torque density and do not generate axial force; however, the corresponding axis alignment accuracy requirement is higher than that of the axial‐flux PMECs [12]. The axial‐flux PMECs have larger rotational inertia and lower alignment requirements, but they will generate axial force, which reduces their bearing life [12].…”

3D electromagnetic analytical model for radial-flux eddy-current couplers

“…, 2020; Canova and Vusini, 2003). The electromagnetic computation and analysis of magnetic eddy-current couplers can be performed with numerical or analytical methods (Wang et al. , 2023; Li et al.…”

“…To reduce computation-time, 2D and 3D analytical models have been proposed (Wang et al. , 2023; Li et al.…”