Soft Magnetic Composites for AC Machines - A Fresh Perspective

Soft magnetic composites (SMCs) have opened up new possibilities for the design of both DC and AC machines. Since SMCs are isotropic, machine topologies such as claw pole machines, transverse flux machines and the like, which have three dimensional flux density patterns have attracted the most attention. Very little effort has gone into improving the performance of conventional AC machines such as cylindrical rotor permanent magnet machines. This paper proposes new options for design of conventional machines which efficiently utilize the SMC material.