Energetic comparison between different configurations of a concentric magnetic gearbox for industrial applications

• Published in: Journal of physics. Conference series 2024-11, Vol.2893 (1), p.12035
• Main Authors: Amoresano, Amedeo, Roscioli, Silvia, Langella, Giuseppe, Iodice, Paolo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Configurations; Finite element method; Gear ratios; Gearboxes; Industrial applications; Permanent magnets; System reliability; Torque; Wind turbines
• ISSN: 1742-6588; 1742-6596
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/2893/1/012035

Mechanical gearboxes can achieve high torque densities. They often require recurring lubrication, cooling and maintenance, and reliability can be a significant issue, particularly for remote systems such as wind turbines, or during the operation of a ship under special conditions or circumstances that require an immediate response. For these reasons, a new type of gearbox is increasingly gaining ground, namely magnetic gearboxes (MG). It operates without contact between the moving parts and consists mainly of three concentric ‘rings’ with a number of permanent magnets and iron poles to achieve a specific gear ratio. This article presents an energy comparison in terms of induced torque between different configurations of a concentric magnetic gearbox in terms of material construction for the cores, magnets position and number of pole pairs. The data were realised using the two-dimensional Finite Element Method (FEM). The results show that although the polymer-based configuration shows some potential, the ferrous core with external magnets significantly outperforms it in terms of torque and efficiency.