Study of non-contact power transmission mechanism for unmanned underwater vehicle applications

A permanent magnetic coupling is investigated for unmanned underwater application. In this paper, face to face magnetically coupled thruster is developed to transfer torque between driver (motor) and driven (propeller) shaft. Permanent cylindrical magnets are mounted on the faces of couplings for power transmission. Comparison of torque transmitted at different air gaps with equal numbers of magnets is presented. The number of magnets is same but center to center distance between magnets and coupling is different in all the designs. The working prototype successfully demonstrates non-contact power transmission from the driven to the drive shaft without compromising on the desired thrust rating.