Effect of Lamination Stack Ends and Radial Cooling Channels on No-Load Voltage and Inductances of Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Machines

The effect of lamination stack ends and radial cooling channels on the effective stator stack length, no-load voltage, and synchronous inductances of a permanent-magnet synchronous machine are studied using three-dimensional finite element analysis. The stack ends and the radial cooling channels decrease the equivalent electrical length of the machine, thus leading to the fact that a two-dimensional (2-D) approach overestimates the no-load voltage. The effect of stack ends and radial cooling channels on the electrical length of the machine can be compensated by making the rotor stack and permanent magnets longer than the corresponding stator stack. It is shown that in case of no radial cooling channels, synchronous inductances are typically overestimated with the 2-D approach. However, in the case of stator structure having several radial cooling channels, inductances are underestimated using the 2-D approach.