Structural Analysis and Lightweight Optimization of a Buoyant Rotor-Type Permanent Magnet Generator for a Direct-Drive Wind Turbine

Joon-Ha Hwang, Deok-je Bang () and Gang-Won Jang ()
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Joon-Ha Hwang: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea
Deok-je Bang: Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, 12 Bulsan-ro, Seongsan-gu, Changwon, Gyeongnam 642-120, Republic of Korea
Gang-Won Jang: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 15, 1-16

Abstract: This study presents a structural analysis and optimization for the lightweight design of a buoyant rotor-type permanent magnet (BRPM) generator, which was first presented in Bang (2010), and compares its structural performance to that of a conventional generator with a spoke arm-type rotor and stator. The main benefit of a BRPM generator is that it can be constructed as a bearingless drive system, free from the mechanical failure of rotor bearings, by using a buoyant rotor. Additionally, the deformation of the generator by blade vibration can be effectively suppressed using joint couplings between the blades and the rotor. For design optimization, the objective is set as the mass of the rotor and the stator, and the maximum deformation of the airgap clearance between the rotor and the stator by external forces is constrained below 10% of the gap width. The commercial software OptiStruct is used for the analysis and optimization. In this investigation, the analysis and optimization are conducted for a 10 MW wind turbine generator. However, the proposed methods can be extended to larger generator designs without requiring considerable modification. The mass of the optimized 10 MW BRPM generator is 160.7 tons (19.3 tons for the rotor and 141.4 tons for the stator), while that of an optimized conventional spoke arm-type generator is 325.6 tons.

Keywords: direct drive; buoyant rotor-type permanent magnet (BRPM) generator; topology optimization; lightweight design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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