Design and performance of a Segmented Stator Permanent Magnet Alternator for Aerospace

In this paper, a permanent magnet alternator which presently relies on magnetic slot wedges is redesigned to give lower iron loss. The new segmented stator design is used as the basis for a validated loss study—comparing bonded lamination stacks with those held together with a punched notch. Segmentation is shown to improve the production process, reduce losses, and remove the need for wedges, while not significantly altering the acoustic performance. In the first series of prototypes, however, where notching is used to secure lamination packs, the process is shown to have adversely affected material properties of the nickel iron laminations and overall measured losses increased. In the second prototype, with thinner laminations and glued stacks, iron loss predictions and measurement agree and are less than the present slot wedge design.