Rough Design of a Double-Stator Axial Flux Permanent Magnet Generator for a Rim-Driven Marine Current Turbine

Abstract

This paper deals with the rough design of a Double-Stator Axial Flux Permanent Magnet Machine (DSAFPM) for a rim-driven Marine Current Turbine (MCT). The DSAFPM machine will be compared to a previously developed and realized Radial Flux Permanent Magnet Machine (RFPM); given the same rim-driven MCT specifications. For that purpose, a first-order electromagnetic design model and a thermal one are developed and used to compare active part mass, cost, and thermal behavior of the two machines. The obtained results show that such a structure of poly-air gap axial flux machine can be more interesting in terms of compactness and thermal behavior for rim-driven marine current turbines.