Structural modeling and validation of laminated stacks in magnetic gearing applications

摘要

Laminated structures are commonly employed in magnetic gears based on their ability to direct magnetic flux, while inhibiting eddy currents. Unfortunately, the stiffness of the laminated structure is much lower than a solid part, which can lead to unacceptable deflections, given the large magnetic forces and small air gaps in magnetic gears. Finite element analysis of laminations to accurately predict these deflections can be computationally expensive due to the small elements needed to model the thin lamination dimensions. These analyses also have some uncertainty due to the assignment of bonding stiffness. This paper presents a means of accurately modeling the deflection of a laminated stack with reduced complexity and computational time, which is compared to experimental results. The resulting methods are then used to assess the magnetic and mechanical advantages of different designs for the modulating pieces of a magnetic gear.