3D Modeling of All-Superconducting Synchronous Electric Machine by Finite Element Method

D. Hu[1], M. Ainslie[1], J. Zou[1], D. Cardwell[1]
[1]Bulk Superconductivity Group, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Published in 2014

This paper presents the electromagnetic analysis of an all-superconducting synchronous electric machine, focusing on AC loss calculations in high temperature superconducting (HTS) coils. The numerical analyses of two 3D models are shown, including the model of the machine and its HTS stator coils. The models use the H-formulation based on a B-dependent critical current density and a bulk approximation, implemented using COMSOL Multiphysics 4.3a. The magnetic boundary conditions for the 3D HTS coils are derived from the 3D machine model. The combination of these models allows the estimation of the total AC losses in the HTS coils. Finally, a method to decrease the AC losses of a 3D all-superconducting machine is investigated to improve the efficiency of the machine.