The objective of this thesis is to establish an electromagnetic energy conversion mechanism that is suitable for electric power generation from solar thermal energy. Based on the generator design and thorough electromagnetic path design, a tubular linear generator system design will be proposed. The stator armature with three-phase concentrated windings mounted on a slotless structure is targeted to be implemented for this structure of the generator design, and a special designed of two-segmental Halbach permanent magnet array will be installed on the mover to fulfill the desired tubular linear generator construction. From detailed magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) analysis and three-dimensional finite element analyses, the feasibility and applicability of the proposed machine system concepts will be verified. Finally, the steady-state operational characteristic of this generator have been estimated cinfirm the design objectives.

This thesis is a study on an unconventional slow speed direct drive permanent magnet (PM) generator. Unlike a standard permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) which has the copper coils wound around iron teeth, the work in this thesis will present a generator where the copper coils are directly mounted on the stator which eliminates the slots and teeth in the generator. By having a slotless design it is possible to eliminate cogging torque, iron losses in teeth and achieve a lightweight design. These characteristics can prove useful when developing generators for an application such as wind turbines, or more specifically vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) in remote areas where weight and serviceability is of concern. This thesis consists of two main parts where the main focus was on the design and simulation of slotless generators. The second part of the thesis was to investigate an available slotless axial flux machine. For the simulations, three different models were created in 2D using CAD software. Two of the models were double-rotor slotless generators and one was a single rotor variant. The electromagnetic properties of these models were analysed using FEMM and COMSOL. The results showed that the double rotor variant with the smaller magnets were more favourable considering the price of magnets and no iron core losses. The experimental results of the axial flux machine gave insight into the construction of commercially available axial slotless generators which could be used to further analyse these types of machines.

The introduction of inverters utilizing wide band-gap semiconductors allow for higher switching frequency and improved machine drive energy efficiency. However, inverter switching results in fast voltage surges which cause overvoltage at the stator terminals and uneven voltage distribution in the stator winding. Therefore, it is important to understand how next generation machine drives, with higher switching frequency, affect the voltage distribution. For this purpose, a lumped-parameter model capable of simulating winding interturn voltages for the wide frequency range of 0-10 MHz is developed for a slotless PMSM. The model includes both capacitive and inductive couplings, extracted from 2D finite element simulations, as well as analytically estimated resistive winding losses. The developed model of a single phase-winding is used to investigate how machine design aspects such as insulation materials and winding conductor distribution affects both voltage distribution and winding impedance spectrum. Validation measurements demonstrate that the model is accurate for the wide frequency range. The sensitivity analysis suggests that the winding conductor distribution affect both impedance spectrum and voltage distribution. For the slotless machine, capacitance between the winding and the stator is several times smaller than capacitance between turns. Therefore, the high-frequency effects are dominated by the capacitance between turns. Insulation materials that affect this coupling does therefore have an impact on the impedance spectrum but does not have any significant impact on the voltage distribution. / Nästa generations inverterare för styrning av elektriska maskiner, baserade på bredbandgaps komponenter, tillåter högre switchfrekvenser vilket skapar en energieffektivare drivlina. Nackdelen är att snabba spänningsflanker från den höga switchfrekvensen skapar överspänning på stators anslutningar och en ojämn spänningsfördelning i statorlindningen. Det är därför betydelsefullt att förstå hur dessa nya drivlinor påverkar lindningens spänningsfördelning. I denna rapport används en modell kapabel att simulera lindningens spänningsfördelning i det breda frekvensspektrumet 0-10 MHZ. Modellen är framtagen för en faslindning av en PMSM, utan statoröppning, som inkluderar både kapacitiva och induktiva kopplingar samt analytiskt beräknade lindningsförluster. Modellen används för att undersöka spänningsfördelningen i lindningen samt inverkan från designparametrar som isolationsmaterial och lindningsdistribution. Känslighetsanalysen visar att lindingsdistributionen har en signifikant påverkan på både impedansspektrumet och spänningsfördelningen. För den studerade maskintypen är det kapacitansen mellan varv som är dominerande för högfrekventa fenomen. Isolationsmaterial som påverkar denna koppling har en påverkan på impedansspektrumet men är liten för spänningsfördelningen.