Design and Analysis of a Field Modulated Transverse Flux Linear Generator Used in Direct Drive Wave Energy Converter

Direct drive wave energy converter (DDWEC) needs fewer moving parts since the translator in the linear generator is directly coupled with the wave energy converter. Many linear generators are used to achieve high power density in DDWEC and transverse flux linear generator is a decent choice to achieve high power density, which is suitable to be used in typical low-speed high thrust application, like DDWEC. In this paper, a field modulated transverse flux linear generator (FMTFLG) is proposed. The magnetic gear effect is ensured by the interval arrangement of silicon steel sheets and nonmagnetic sheets and the machine operation principle and field modulation mechanism are discussed in detail. The results show that the air gap flux density distributions and harmonics can be modulated and the field modulated transverse flux linear generator is proved to achieve higher thrust density than its conventional counterpart.