A high-performance linear magnetic gear

K. Atallah, J. Wang, and D. Howe

Citation: Journal of Applied Physics 97, 10N516 (2005); doi: 10.1063/1.1853900

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1853900
View Table of Contents: http://aip.scitation.org/toc/jap/97/10
Published by the American Institute of Physics

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 JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS 97, 10N516 共2005兲

A high-performance linear magnetic gear

K. Atallah, J. Wang, and D. Howe
Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1
3JD, United Kingdom
共Presented on 11 November 2004; published online 17 May 2005兲
Currently, the demand for high force density linear actuators is being met almost exclusively by
employing a leadscrew and nut to transform rotary to linear motion. The paper describes an
alternative technology, viz., a linear magnetic gear, which employs rare-earth magnets, and which
simulation studies have shown to have a highly competitive force density. © 2005 American
Institute of Physics. 关DOI: 10.1063/1.1853900兴

I. INTRODUCTION concentric tubular permanent magnet armatures by the ferro-

The increasing demand for high force density actuators
is currently being met almost exclusively by employing a
leadscrew and nut to transform rotary to linear motion. How-
ever, the efficiency of such helical transformation systems
can be relatively poor, particularly for low helix angles. In
addition, wear and reliability can be significant issues, and
lubrication may be required. An alternative approach is to
employ a linear magnetic gear to increase the force capabil-
ity of a linear brushless motor. To date, such an approach has
received little, if any, attention.
The paper describes the design and performance of a
linear magnetic gear having the tubular topology shown in
Fig. 1, whose principle of operation is similar to that of the
rotary magnetic gear, which was described in Refs. 1 and 2.
It is shown that, when rare-earth magnets are employed, such
a linear magnetic gear can have a transmitted force density in
excess of 1.7 MN/ m3. Thus, when combined with a linear
permanent magnet brushless motor, such a magnetic gear
could offer significant advantages in many applications.
II. PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
Fundamental to the operation of the magnetic gear is the
modulation of the magnetic field produced by each of the
magnetic rings 共pole pieces兲, which are disposed between
them, such that the appropriate space harmonic having the
same number of poles as the other permanent magnet arma-
ture results. It can be shown2 that the number of pole pairs in
the space harmonic flux density distribution produced by ei-
ther permanent magnet armature is given by
pm,k = 兩mp + kns兩,
m = 1,3,5, . . . ,⬁,
k = 0, ± 1, ± 2, ± 3, . . . , ± ⬁, 共1兲
and the linear velocity of the flux density space harmonics is
given by
mp kns
vm,k = vr + vs , 共2兲
mp + kns mp + kns
where p is the number of pole pairs on the armature, ns is the
number of ferromagnetic pole pieces, and vr and vs are the
linear velocity of the armature under consideration and the
linear velocity of the pole pieces, respectively.
From Eq. 共2兲, it can be seen that the velocity of the space
harmonics, which result due to the introduction of the ferro-
magnetic rings, viz., k ⫽ 0, is different to the velocity of the
armature whose magnetic field they modulate. Therefore, in
order to transmit thrust force at a different velocity, the num-
ber of pole pairs of the other permanent magnet armature
must be equal to the number of pole pairs of a space har-
monic for which k ⫽ 0. Since the combination m = 1, k = −1

TABLE I. Parameters of linear magnetic gear.

Parameter

Number of pole pairs on high speed armature ph = 4

Number of active pole pairs on stationary armature pl = 9
Number of active ferromagnetic rings ns = 13
Airgap length 1 mm
Outside diameter 90 mm
Active length of high-speed armature 100 mm
Total length of stationary armature 144.4 mm
Total length of low-speed armature 157.7 mm
FIG. 1. Schematic of 3.25:1 linear magnetic gear.

0021-8979/2005/97共10兲/10N516/3/$22.50 97, 10N516-1 © 2005 American Institute of Physics

10N516-2 Atallah, Wang, and Howe
FIG. 2. Variation of radial flux density due to high-speed permanent magnet
armature in airgap adjacent to the stationary armature.
results in the highest asynchronous space harmonic, the num-
ber of pole pairs of the other armature must be equal to 共ns
− p兲. The gear ratio is then given by
ns − p
Gr = 共3兲
p netostatic finite element analysis has been employed to pre-
when the modulating ferromagnetic rings are held stationary,
i.e., vs = 0. On the other hand, if the other permanent magnet
armature is held stationary, the thrust force is transmitted to
the ferromagnetic rings and the gear ratio becomes
ns
Gr = . 共4兲
p presence of the ferromagnetic rings results in a number of
This may be the preferred operating arrangement since it
simplifies the overall mechanical design of the gear and en-
ables a higher force to be transmitted, the increase being
dependant on the gear ratio, which changes from that which
results with stationary ferromagnetic rings, i.e., Eq. 共3兲 com-
pared with Eq. 共4兲.
FIG. 3. Space harmonic spectrum of radial flux density due to high-speed
armature in airgap adjacent to stationary armature.
J. Appl. Phys. 97, 10N516 共2005兲
FIG. 4. Variation of radial flux density due to the stationary permanent
magnet armature in airgap adjacent to high-speed armature.
III. SIMULATION STUDIES
Table I gives the parameters which have been assumed
for the linear magnetic gear shown in Fig. 1, which is
equipped with sintered NdFeB permanent magnets having a
remanence of 1.25 T. Two-dimensional axis-symmetric mag-
dict the flux density wave forms and the torque transmission
capability of the gear.
Figure 2 shows the variation of the radial component of
flux density due to the high-speed, low pole number perma-
nent magnet armature in the airgap adjacent to the stationary
high pole number armature, while Fig. 3 shows the corre-
sponding space harmonic spectrum. It can be seen that the
asynchronous, viz., k ⫽ 1, space harmonics, the largest of
which is the nine pole-pair space harmonic 共m = 1 , k = −1兲,
which interacts with the nine pole-pair permanent magnets
on the stationary armature to transmit a thrust force.
Similarly, Fig. 4 shows the variation of the radial com-
ponent of flux density due to the permanent magnets
mounted on the stationary armature in the airgap adjacent to
FIG. 5. Space harmonic spectrum of radial flux density due to stationary
permanent magnet armature in airgap adjacent to high-speed armature.
10N516-3 Atallah, Wang, and Howe J. Appl. Phys. 97, 10N516 共2005兲

FIG. 7. Variation of system force density with gear ratio for a linear mag-
netic gear force density of 1.7 MN/ m3.

FIG. 6. Variation of maximum force on low-speed and high-speed

armatures. the system force density for a gear ratio as low as 3.25:1 can
be 100% greater than that of a naturally cooled linear motor
and 50% greater than that of a liquid-cooled linear motor.
the high-speed armature, while Fig. 5 shows the correspond-
Therefore, combining a linear magnetic gear with a perma-
ing space harmonic spectrum. It can be seen that the pres-
nent magnet linear motor results in a system having a sig-
ence of the ferromagnetic rings results in a dominant four
nificantly higher torque density than the latter.
pole-pair asynchronous space harmonic 共m = 1 , k = −1兲, which
interacts with the four pole-pair permanent magnets on the
high-speed armature to transmit thrust force. IV. CONCLUSIONS
Figure 6 shows the variation of the maximum thrust
A high-performance linear magnetic gear has been pre-
force, which is exerted on the low-speed and high-speed ar-
sented. It has been shown that, by employing rare-earth mag-
matures as they move linearly. As can be seen, a force of
nets, a thrust force density of ⬃1.7 MN/ m3 can be achieved
⬃1600 N can be transmitted, and given the active dimen-
for the proposed magnetic gear. It has also been shown that a
sions of the gear, a force density of ⬃1.7 MN/ m3 can be
high system 共i.e., combined linear magnetic gear and linear
achieved. Figure 7 shows how the system force density of a
electrical machine兲 force density can be achieved, even with
combined linear magnetic gear and a linear permanent mag-
a relatively low gear ratio.
net brushless machine varies with the gear ratio and the force
density of the linear machine, 0.3 and 0.6 MN/ m3 being 1
K. Atallah and D. Howe, IEEE Trans. Magn. 37, 2844 共2001兲.
typical for naturally cooled and liquid-cooled permanent 2
K. Atallah, S. D. Calverley, and D. Howe, IEE Proc.-Elect. Power Appl.
magnet linear brushless motors, respectively. As can be seen, 151, 135 共2004兲.