Investigation of Magnetic Effect in High-Speed Homopolar Inductor Alternator

Recently, electrical-based onboard aircraft systems have been used in space power systems, due to their different merits such as small size, high speed and reliable operation. A high-speed homopolar Inductor Alternator (HSHIA) is suitable for use in the space power system because of its high reliability in severe environments, high efficiency, and its capacity of operating at high rotating speed with high power density. These alternators allow better control of magnetic flux and induced voltage when compared to Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generators. Even though the High-speed homopolar inductor alternator is a synchronous generator, due to the asymmetric and complex structure of the rotor, the construction and theoretical principle of HSHIA are more ambiguous and need more exploration. Three types of analysis are required to analyse the performance of electrical machines magnetic, electrical, and thermal. As all the performance parameters depend on the flux distribution of the alternator, investigation of the magnetic field in different parts of HSHIA is essential. Due to the uneven magnetic field distribution in the non-uniform air gap, it is better to analyse the magnetic performance of the HSHIA using the Finite Element Method. The preprocessing step for the finite element analysis of HSHIA is the design of a High-speed homopolar inductor alternator with mathematical equations and its virtual modeling using Ansys Maxwell software. This paper presents the investigation of the magnetic field in six-phase HSHIA and its theoretical concepts are validated with simulation results. The performance parameters can be calculated from the magnetic analysis.