Design of a new non-rare-earth magnetic variable gear for hybrid vehicular propulsion system

Abstract

This study presents the design of a new non-rare-earth magnetic variable gear (MVG) with 16 electrically controlled gear ratios, which incorporates both the concept of the magnetic gear and the concept of the memory machine. The high-remanence low-coercivity permanent magnet material: namely, the aluminium–nickel–cobalt is adopted to realise the controllable gear ratios. The key is to design the stationary ring newly integrated with magnetising windings in such a way that 16 sets of gear ratios can be achieved so as to fulfil different driving requirements and road conditions. First, the original MVG, the improved MVG and the proposed MVG are discussed. Then, a comprehensive analysis of the proposed MVG is conducted. Consequently, the proposed MVG is extended to electronic-continuously variable transmission for hybrid vehicular propulsion. By using finite element analysis, the electromagnetic performances of three MVGs at various gear ratios are evaluated, hence validating the theoretical design. Moreover, the process of gear-ratio-changing is simulated and analysed. A quantitative comparison among these MVGs is also carried out. Hence, the corresponding validity can be further verified.