MEC-based prediction to the loss of claw pole alternators

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the modeling of a claw pole alternator (CPA) by a 3D magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) taking into account the saturation and magnetic armature reaction effects then its utilization for the prediction of the machine losses.

Design/methodology/approach

Following the derivation of the proposed model, it is validated experimentally at no-load and load operations. Proposed MEC is applied to the investigation of a conventional CPA losses.

Findings

The CPA efficiency is affected by different loss mechanisms. Indeed, the copper losses are dominant at lower speeds, while the iron and ventilation ones are more significant at high speeds.

Research limitations/implications

An experimental validation of the losses computed by the MEC shall be treated in the future.

Practical implications

The CPA is equipping most if not all embedded generating systems of road vehicles. The improvement of its efficiency is of great importance.

Originality/value

The MEC-based prediction of the CPA losses represents the major contribution of the present work.

Citation

Ibala, A. and Masmoudi, A. (2015), "MEC-based prediction to the loss of claw pole alternators", COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering, Vol. 34 No. 6, pp. 1719-1730. https://doi.org/10.1108/COMPEL-06-2015-0216