A Counter-Rotating Double-Rotor Axial Flux Permanent Magnet Generator for Wind Turbine Applications: Design, Simulation, and Prototyping

This paper is focused on the optimal design, simulation, and experimental testing of a counter-rotating double-rotor axial flux permanent magnet synchronous generator (CRDR-AFPMSG) for wind turbine applications. For the optimal design of the CRDR-AFPMSG, the particle swarm optimization algorithm to maximize efficiency and power density and minimize total harmonic distortion of the Back-emf is used. Also, according to important parameters, such as efficiency, ease of manufacturing process, and copper consumption, the independent winding is selected as the winding of CRDR-AFPMSG. With the help of the three-dimensional finite element method (3-D FEM), the performance specifications of the CRDR-AFPMSG are analyzed. Finally, a 63 W, 1000 rpm laboratory sample machine is fabricated and its performance is evaluated by experimental tests. The obtained results confirm that the results of FEM have good adoption with the experimental results so that the difference between the results of FEM and the experimental tests is less than 4%.