Mike Howell, PE
EASA Technical Support Specialist

Most EASA service centers encounter very few axial-flux machines. They are rare enough that it is worthwhile to describe what they are and how they differ from the typical radial-flux industrial motor or generator. Figure 1 shows a cutaway of an axial-flux machine on the left and a radial-flux machine on the right. The gold regions represent the energized stator windings and the green regions represent the rotor windings or permanent magnets. Note that the axial-flux machine shown has two rotors; a rotor winding on either side of the stator. The radial-flux machine is what most EASA service centers are accustomed to; a rotor separated from a stator by an air gap in the radial direction and a magnetic field that crosses that air gap to link both windings (or windings and permanent magnets) in a way that can produce useful torque.

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Categories: Technical topics, AC motors, Design/theory/application

Tags: Motor design Axial-flux machines

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