Rotor Layer Thickness and Arrangement for a 27 kW 100 krpm Axially Laminated Synchronous Reluctance Machine

Practical optimization of the rotor layer thicknesses and arrangement in a 100 krpm axially laminated anisotropic synchronous reluctance machine (ALAsynRM) for a micro-gas turbine generator is presented. The machine utilizes practically available rotor lamination thicknesses that can maintain the rotor's mechanical integrity at this speed. As straight metal sheets are used, a two-pole rotor is favorable from the manufacturing point of view. The rotor is manufactured from S355 and Inconel 600 sheets by vacuum brazing which does not allow any fine geometric details like semi-closed rotor slots and despite geometric limitations, in practice only allowing the selection of different layer thicknesses, the machine performance can be good. The targeted application for this machine is a micro-gas turbine generator. The possibility of using e.g, a permanent magnet-assisted ALAsynRM instead can be disregarded considering the cost, difficulty of manufacturing, and reducing the dependence on rare-earth materials. The ALAsynRM optimal rotor layer combination is formed when magnetic and non-magnetic layers alternate. The effect of the arrangement of various rotor layers and their thickness on the overall performance of the ALAsynRM is also indicated.