The impact of the selection of permanent magnets on the design of permanent magnet machines - a case study: Permanent magnet synchronous machine design with high efficiency

Considering that the natural sources of the earth are limited, it is necessary to produce economical electrical machines with a high efficiency through better design and a proper selection of materials. At present, magnets have a high energy product (BHmax) with suitable magnetic and physical properties for applications in electrical machines. This paper considers how an electrical engineer could take modern Permanent Magnets (PMs) into account when designing a PM machine. Also in this study, the magnetic and mechanical properties of synchronous PM machines are analysed via the Maxwell program based on finite element analysis. Furthermore, the simulation results of the designed PM synchronous motors with different magnet material types on their rotors are compared against each other according to their efficiency, torque, speed and output power. As the last step, the design was optimized to achieve maximum efficiency. Furthermore, this paper shows the price guidepost of modern PMs, which indicates that there will be a large demand for magnets unless alternative technologies prevail.