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    Modeling and Control Techniques for Motor Drives

    D06.5 - An Evaluation of Rare-Earth-Free External Rotor Permanent Magnet Assisted Synchronous Reluctance Machine for Micro-Wind Turbines

    Thursday, March 26, 2026
    12:00 PM - 1:45 PM CT
    Location: Poster 6
    This study assesses a rare-earth-free external rotor permanent magnet-assisted synchronous reluctance machine (REF-Ex-PMaSynRM) for wind turbine applications. Although high-power-density solutions are attractive for wind farms, the use of conventional permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSGs) in wind turbines is limited by the cost and supply risks associated with rare-earth (RE) permanent magnets (PMs). While RE PMs offer superior magnetic field strength, enabling high torque in compact designs, their high cost and vulnerability to demagnetization at elevated temperatures limit their effectiveness. This research explores the use of rare-earth-free (REF) PMs as a promising alternative, offering lower cost and better thermal compatibility. We present an outer rotor REF-Ex-PMaSynRM design, which was fabricated and initially tested in high-speed, low-torque situations. This paper then describes an evaluation of the performance of this topology when adapted for low-speed, high-torque wind turbine applications.