Mechanical Performance of Transverse Flux Machines at High Speeds of Operation

Static structural design challenges of a multi-segment Transverse flux machine (TFM) rotor with orthogonally directed magnets is studied in this work through von-mises stress and safety factor analysis. Impact of rotor sleeve thickness and material selection is considered during the design phase. The material selection for sleeve design is approached from both electromagnetic and structural design points of view. Moreover, TFM rotor and shaft vibration over the entire speed range of interest is studied using structural unit response analysis method in this work. Utilization of structural unit responses for fast vibration prediction of TFM rotors is a prime contribution of this work. The analysis shows a strong presence of spatial order 10 in rotor vibration and first bending mode resonance in shaft vibration spectrum. Based on the outcome of static structural stress analysis and vibration performance evaluation over the entire speed range of interest a maximum speed constraint is determined for the TFM rotor under study.