On the Analysis and Torque Enhancement of Flux-Switching Permanent Magnet Machines in Electric Power Steering Systems

Modern road vehicles are more and more often being equipped with electric actuators. These are intended to play critical roles in passengers comfort and safety. Among the electrified components onboard road vehicles, one can distinguish electric power steering (EPS) systems, which have been the subject of intensive investigations covering both design and control aspects. The abilities of several AC motor topologies to fulfil the EPS systems’ requirements have been assessed by a large scientific community in both academia and industry. The present work was aimed at the prediction of the electromagnetic features of the flux-switching permanent magnet machines (FSPMMs), with an emphasis on the air gap flux density. The latter was firstly formulated while neglecting the slotting effect at both sides of the air gap. Then, stator and rotor permeance functions, taking into account the slotting effect and the PM flux concentrating arrangement, were incorporated into the derived flux density spatial repartition. Moreover, the accuracy of the latter was improved through two dedicated correction functions that take into account the rotor position and the magnetic saturation. The last part of the paper presents a simple approach to enhance the developed torque of FSPMMs in an attempt to meet the EPS requirements.