Analysis and Experiment of a Novel Brushless Double Rotor Machine for Power-Split Hybrid Electrical Vehicle Applications

A novel brushless double rotor machine (BDRM) is proposed in this paper. The BDRM is an important component in the brushless compound-structure permanent-magnet synchronous machine (CS-PMSM) system, which is a promising technology for power-split hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) applications. Compared with common double rotor machines, the brushes and slip rings required by rotating winding have been omitted in the BDRM, thus there are no such problems as maintenance, friction losses and so forth. Firstly, the torque characteristics of the BDRM are analyzed. As the stator has ring-shaped centralized windings, the size characteristics of the BDRM are different from those of conventional machines. The new sizing and torque equations are analyzed and the theoretical results are applied to determine the main dimensions. Additionally, studies of the analytical magnetic circuit and finite element method (FEM) model show that the BDRM tends to have high leakage flux and low power factor. Although the scope for improving the serious flux leakage of the BDRM is limited by the special magnetic topology, a method to obtain higher power factor is provided. Finally, a 10 kW prototype machine was manufactured, assembly of the prototype is discussed in detail and experimental tests are performed to validate the analytical and simulation results.