PFI-TT: Redefining Electromechanical Energy Conversion Through the use of Magnetic Gearboxes

该PFI项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力与开发用于机电能量转换应用的高可靠性，低维护，低噪音磁力变速箱（MG）有关。MG可以在没有任何物理接触的情况下产生速度变化，因此不需要齿轮润滑。一个MG有固有的过载保护能力，以及没有反弹。通过消除大多数机械损失，mg提供了提高效率的潜力，同时提供比其机械对应物更长的使用寿命。该PFI将专注于将MG技术转化为可再生能源发电和机器人驱动领域的商业应用。人们越来越需要一种比现有的机械齿轮箱和直接驱动发电机更有效、更可靠的新型动力转换方法。例如，增加风力发电使用的一个障碍是动力传动系统的可靠性。通过开发一种新型的MG，动力传动系统的可靠性和效率可以大大提高，同时仍然是紧凑的尺寸。这将因此降低发电的平均成本。此外，越来越多的机器人执行器被分类为更可靠和具有兼容功能，MG提供了这样的功能。该项目旨在证明多级MG有潜力获得与传统变速箱相比具有竞争力的扭矩质量比和扭矩体积比，同时比现有的机械变速箱更可靠、更高效、更安静。拟议的项目将利用3d打印来提高设计改进的速度，可以对独特的哈尔巴赫转子MG类型进行改进。一系列的MG将进行测试，以完善和发展对MG相对于其机械同行的能力的更好理解。使用原型装置，MG技术相对于同等机械变速箱的直接成本性能分析将首次完成。MG可以在性能上与机械变速箱竞争，同时也具有更长的设计寿命，这可能会改变动力转换的完成方式。因此，MG可以在整个社会的无数应用中找到用途。参与该项目的研究生和本科生将通过与该项目相关的原型开发和商业化活动获得技术翻译和创业经验。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this PFI project is related to the development of a highly reliable, low maintenance, low noise magnetic gearbox (MG) for electromechanical energy conversion applications. A MG can create speed change without any physical contact and therefore no gear lubrication is required. A MG has inherent overload protection capabilities as well as no backlash. By eliminating most mechanical losses MGs offer the potential for increased efficiency whilst providing a longer service life than its mechanical counterpart. This PFI will focus on translating the MG technology towards commercial application in the areas of renewable energy generation and robotic actuation. There is a growing need for a new power conversion approach that are more efficient and more reliable than existing mechanical gearboxes and direct-drive generators. For instance, one barrier to increasing the use of wind power generation is the reliability of the drivetrain. By developing a new type of MG, the reliability and efficiency of the drivetrain could be greatly improved, whilst still being compact in size. This would thereby reduce the levelized cost of power generation. In addition, robotic actuators are increasingly being sort that are more reliable and have compliant capabilities, a MG offers such capabilities. The proposed project aims to demonstrate that a multistage MG has the potential to attain a competitive torque-to-mass ratio and torque-to-volume ratio with traditional gearboxes whilst also being more reliable, efficient and quieter than existing mechanical gearboxes. The proposed project will utilize 3-D printing to increase the rate at which design improvements can be made to a unique Halbach rotor MG typology. A series of MGs will be tested in order to refine and develop a greater understanding of the MG capabilities relative to their mechanical counterparts. Using prototype devices, a direct cost-performance analysis of the MG technology relative to equivalent mechanical gearbox counterparts will be completed for the first time. The demonstration that a MG can be performance competitive with a mechanical gearbox, whilst also have a significantly longer design life, could transform the way in which power conversion is accomplished. A MG could therefore find uses in a myriad of applications throughout society. The graduate and undergraduate student involved with this project will receive technology translation and entrepreneurship experiences through the prototype development and commercialization activities associated with this project.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.