Analysis of Flux Density and Iron Loss Distributions in Segmented Magnetic Circuits Made With Mixed Electrical Steel Grades

This article presents the potential contribution of segmented stator magnetic circuits of rotating permanent magnet electrical machines with concentric winding. Two magnetic materials are mixed: FeSi non-oriented electrical steel and FeSi grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES). The choice of using GOES is based on the high performance it offers in terms of permeability and iron losses compared to conventional non-oriented grain electrical steel (NOES), particularly when GOES is magnetized in the rolling direction (RD). The goal is to analyze the contribution of the mixed magnetic circuit on the losses and electromagnetic torque but also the drawbacks due to the cut process and the assembly. The behavior of the magnetic field at the junction between the segments is studied by comparing different geometrical connection shapes and compared to a reference magnetic circuit fully made with NOES sheets. This comparison is experimentally made with a model representative of the existing phenomena in an electrical machine. In addition, numerical calculations using finite elements software are carried out by considering both the magnetic anisotropy and the saturation of the GOES.