Electromagnetic Design and Modeling of a Two-Phase Axial-Flux Printed Circuit Board Motor

Size and cost reduction are among the main issues of electric motor design and fabrication. This paper proposes an original layout for an axial flux permanent-magnet motor with printed circuit board (PCB) winding. In contrast to other axial flux motors of the same type, which are generally made with a three-phase fractional slot winding, the proposed motor has a two-phase wave winding printed on either side of the PCB. This configuration allows increasing the number of pole pairs and the supply frequency so to reduce the stator and rotor core widths. The winding is also characterized by a large copper percentage on the board, which improves the torque density of the motor. The results of the mathematical analysis, of the numerical simulation and of the experiments are compared. A method for the computation of the phase inductances is also proposed and validated. The main dimensions of the magnets are optimized via the finite-element method. The experimental comparison shows the advantages of the proposed motor in comparison to the traditional shaded pole motor for household applications.