Permanent magnet generator performance comparison under different topologies and capacities

This paper compares the magnetic, electrical, and mechanical characteristics of two permanent magnet generator topologies: single-gap axial flux and single-gap inner rotor radial flux. The study aims to identify how the key parameters fluctuate at each power capacity and investigate the trends in their values as power changes. The power capacities observed are 300 W, 600 W, 900 W, 1200 W, and 1500 W. Simulations used with the help of Ansys Maxwell software to obtain: i) magnetic characteristics without load, including air gap flux density, flux linkage, and induced voltage, ii) electrical performance, consisting of armature current, terminal voltage, voltage regulation, total harmonic distortion, core loss and output power, and iii) mechanical performance, including shaft torque and cogging torque. The last step compares the power density of both topologies. The simulation results show that the axial flux permanent magnet generator (AFPMG) has better air gap flux density, voltage regulation, total harmonic distortion (THD), efficiency, electromagnetic torque, and power density characteristics. Meanwhile, the radial flux permanent magnet generator (RFPMG) is superior in induced voltage and output power. These results conclude that, in general, AFPMG is exceptional from a technical point of view and is more economical when applied to hydro or wind energy systems.