Design and Manufacturing of a Modular Low-Voltage Multi-Megawatt High-Speed Solid-Rotor Induction Motor

Abstract

High-speed solid-rotor induction machines (HSIMs) are popular within high-speed applications because of their high rotor structural integrity and their fairly well-established manufacturing process guaranteeing high quality series products. Designing a new high-speed electric machine requires a multidisciplinary team to accomplish the machine performance desired. In case of a high-speed machine design, the components and applied materials often reach their physical limits at the rated operating condition. Therefore, the design process is highly iterative and thus a systematic approach has a high potential to reduce the time of the design phase significantly. In this study, a systematic design process is proposed for a modular, multimegawatt (MMW) HSIM with three radial active magnetic bearings. The process includes a traditional multidisciplinary design flow with extra critical aspects of MMW high-speed machines: manufacturability, bearing system, housing and operating unit. In addition, the manufactured machine is reported. The proposed systematic design process is described, including several multidisciplinary critical design aspects of high-speed machinery.