Linear Machines for Long Stroke Applications - A Review

Abstract

This document reviews the current state of the art in the linear machine technology. First, the recent advancements in linear induction, switched reluctance and permanent magnet machines are presented. The ladder slit secondary configuration is identified as an interesting configuration for linear induction machines. In the case of switched reluctance machines, the mutually-coupled configuration has been found to equate the thrust capability of conventional permanent magnet machines. The capabilities of the so called linear primary permanent magnet, viz. switched-flux, flux-reversal, doubly-salient and vernier machines are presented afterwards. A guide of different options to enhance several characteristics of linear machines is also listed. A qualitative comparison of the capabilities of linear primary permanent magnet machines is given later, where linear vernier and switched-flux machines are identified as the most interesting configurations for long stroke applications. In order to demonstrate the validity of the presented comparison, three machines are selected from the literature, and their capabilities are compared under the same conditions to a conventional linear permanent magnet machine. It is found that the flux-reversal machines suffer from a very poor power factor, whereas the thrust capability of both vernier and switched-flux machines is confirmed. However, the overload capability of these machines is found to be substantially lower than the one from the conventional machine. Finally, some different research topics are identified and suggested for each type of machine.