882 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 32, NO.

4, JULYIAUGUST 1996
ine
Federico Caricchi, Member, IEEE, Fabio Crescimbini, Member, IEEE,
Fabio Mezzetti, and Ezio Santini, Member, IEEE
Abstract-The design of direct-drive wheel motors must comply
with diameter restriction due to housing the motor in a wheel
rim and allow the achievement of very high torque density
and overload capability. Slotless axial-flux permanent magnet
machines (AFPMs) prove to be the best candidate for appli-
cation in electric vehicles as direct-drive wheel motors, as in
comparison with conventional machines they allow designs with
higher compactness, lightness and efficiency. The paper presents
a newly conceived AFPM which has a multistage structure and
a water-cooled ironless stator. In the proposed new topology
of the machine the space formerly occupied by the toroidal
core becomes a water duct, which removes heat directly from
the interior surface of the stator winding. The high efficiency
of the machine cooling arrangement allows long-term 100%
overload operation and great reduction of the machine weight.
The multistage structure of the machine is suited to overcome the
restriction on the machine diameter and meet the torque required
at the wheel shaft. The paper gives guidelines for the design of a
multistage AFPM with water-cooled ironless stator, and describes
characteristics of a two-stage prototype machine rated 215 N.m,
1100 dmin.
I. INTRODUCTION
OR LOW-SPEED high-torque machines devoted to the
use in electric vehicles as direct-drive wheel motors,
requirements such as very high torque density and overload
capability severely constrain the machine design because of the
restriction on the machine diameter due to housing the motor
in a wheel rim. Furthermore, mounting the motor within the
wheel is desirable but demands totally enclosed construction
of the motor to provide protection against the environment.
Conventional machines, either ac excited or brushed dc, are
ill-suited for application as direct-drive wheel motors due to
their poor torque density and overload capability compared
to brushless permanent magnet (PM) machines. Therefore,
brushless permanent magnet motors designed for low-speed
high-torque operation are emerging as the best answer to the
severe requirements posed by wheel direct drive, and to date
investigation on direct-drive wheel motors is developed toward
novel topologies of permanent magnet machine which allow
further improvements of the machine characteristics.
Paper IPCSD 96-07, approved by the Electric Machines Committee of the
IEEE Industry Applications Society for presentation at the 1995 IEEE Industry
Applications Society Annual Meeting, Lake Buena Vista, FL, October 8-12.
Manuscript released for publication J anuary 29, 1996.
The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University
of Rome La Sapienza, 18-001 84 Rome, Italy.
Publisher ItemIdentifier S 0093-9994(96)04160-6.
The availability of high-energy permanent magnets has
opened up possibilities for slotless designs of permanent
magnet machines with high torque-to-weight ratio for the
electric vehicle application. While slotless permanent magnet
machines retain all the advantages inherent to their slotted
counterparts, in addition they offer improvements in torque
ripple, reduced iron losses, more efficient heat removal from
the stator winding, and simple manufacturing.
Among a number of novel topologies of permanent mag-
net machine being investigated, slotless axial-flux permanent
magnet machines (AFPMs) prove to be the best candidate for
the application in electric vehicles, as their disc shape is well
suited to the direct coupling with a wheel, and they can be
designed for very high torque-to-weight ratio without loss of
efficiency. In the last few years, AFPMs have been proposed
for a number of low-speed high-torque motoring applications
[l], [2], as well as for use as direct drive generators [3]-[6].
Recently, a slotless axial-flux permanent magnet motor has
been utilized in a prototype of wheel direct drive for the
propulsion of an electric scooter [7].
Notwithstanding the remarkable characteristics of AFPMs,
the high overload capability and totally enclosed construction
needed in the electric vehicle application require a great
improvement of the machine cooling, and this can be best
accomplished with water-cooling of the stator winding. As
a result of the latest research activities on the application
of AFPMs as direct-drive wheel motors, this paper presents
a newly conceived AFPM which has multistage structure
and water-cooled ironless stator. In the proposed machine
arrangement the toroidal core of conventional AFPMs is
eliminated, and the stator winding consists of rhomboidal
shaped coils supported by a fiber-reinforced epoxy structure.
The space formerly occupied by the toroidal core becomes
a water duct which removes heat directly from the interior
surface of the stator winding.
The ironless arrangement of the stator winding results in
very high compactness and lightness of the machine, as well
as in reduction of the machine power loss. Machine losses
are mostly 12R loss in the stator winding, but the high
efficiency of cooling directly the winding coils by circulating
water allows long-term overload operation over 100%. The
multistage structure of the machine is very well suited to meet
the torque required at the wheel shaft with a machine diameter
restricted within the wheel rim. Further to that, since the stages
of the machine may be connected either in series or parallel,
for a given range of the machine speed such an additional
0093-9994/96$05.00 0 1996 IEEE
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CARICCHI et al.: MULTISTAGE AXIAL-FLUX PM MACHINE FOR WHEEL DIRECT DRIVE
~
883
INTERMEDIATE ROTOR MECHANICAL COUPLMG
/
EPOXY-
BODY
- _ - .
MAGNET
IRONLESS
WILNDXNGCOIL
I
COOLING DUCT
- EXTERN
ROTOR
FLUX
PATH
AL
Fig. 1.
ironless water-cooled stator winding.
Cross section of two-stage axial-flux permanent magnet machine with
degree of freedom in the machine supply allows the use of a
power converter with reduced kVA rating.
Characteristics of a multistage AFPM with water-cooled
ironless stator are discussed in the following together with
guidelines for the optimization of the machine design. Finally,
the paper describes design and construction of a two-stage
prototype machine rated 220 N.m, 1100 r/min, which has
been designed for application in the propulsion system of an
innovative concept city car.
11. MACHINE LAYOUT
A. Multistage Arrangement
In AFPMs, the electromagnetic torque is mainly a function
of the machine outer diameter. If the available space is too
small a diameter, then the torque required at the machine
shaft can be achieved by means of a multistage arrangement
of the machine, as shown in Fig. 1 for a two-stage machine.
In a multistage AFPM, if j is the number of stages, then
the machine has j stator windings and ( j +1) PM disc
rotors. The ( j +1) rotors share a common mechanical shaft,
whereas the terminals of the j three-phase windings may be
connected either in series or parallel. If the connection among
the machine stages can be suitably modified during variable-
speed operation, then an inverter with reduced kVA rating can
be used to supply the machine.
In fact, as most PM motors, AFPMs have excellent per-
formance for constant-torque operation, but they do not lend
themselves to constant-power operation because of the particu-
two stages two stages
in parallel in series
1
0.75
, toraue
/
I
_ _
I
0
0 0.5 1 .o 1.5 20
machine speed [P.u.]
Fig 2 Per-unit EMF and torque versus speed of a two-stage machine with
switching fromseries to parallel of the connection between the machine stages
during variable-speed operation.
larly low value of inductance which requires a large amount of
current to offset the magnet flux with stator reaction flux. Thus,
variable-speed operation beyond the speed at which the line-to-
line motor electromotive force (EMF) gets near the inverter dc
input voltage (i.e., the base speed of the motor) are generally
not allowed since the maximum current which the inverter
can deliver is fixed. However, for a given kVA rating of the
inverter the multistage arrangement of the machine allows to
extend variable-speed operation over the base speed, as shown
in Fig. 2 for a two-stage machine.
Machine speeds up to the base speed are achieved with con-
nection in series of the machine stages, so that the maximum
current which the inverter can deliver is used to produce the
rated torque of the machine. When the line-to-line motor EMF
gets near the inverter dc input voltage the connection between
the machine stages is switched from series to parallel by means
of a contactor. As the voltage at the motor terminals suddenly
reduces to a half, the dc voltage available at the inverter input
can still be used to deliver the maximum current of the inverter
and produce half the rated torque of the machine for machine
speeds up to twice the base speed.
The described technique is suitable for use in electric
vehicles with direct-drive wheel motors, since in such a motor
application the rated torque of the machine is only required at
low speeds, whereas a reduced torque is generally needed at
the maximum speed of the vehicle. Switching the connection
between the machine stages during variable-speed operation
allows a reduction in the cost of the motor drive, as an inverter
with kVA rating equal to the rating power of only one stage of
the machine has to be used. As shown in Fig. 2, the torque-
speed characteristic of a two-stage machine is a combination
of two constant-torque regions, and this is very near the
mechanical characteristic achieved at the wheel shaft of a
conventional vehicle with a two-gears drive train powered by a
thermal engine. If the machine has more than two stages (e.g.,
a machine with four stages), the use of multiple connections
among the machine stages (i.e., the connection in series,
or series-parallel, or parallel) during variable-speed operation
allows a wide range of speed with reduced kVA rating needed
for the supply inverter. However, while a machine with more
than four stages would require a quite expensive device for
commutation among possible connections of the machine
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884 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 32, NO. 4, JULYIAUGUST 1996
stages, on the other hand, it would generally not needed to
meet requirements of the electric vehicle application.
B. Water-Cooled Ironless Stator
AFPM's with multistage structure may have either iron-
cored or ironless stator winding. However, in the design of
direct-drive wheel motors with torque ratings over a few tens
of newton meters, the machine cooling poses great problems
if the winding is placed on an iron core. As high overload
capability and totally enclosed construction require water-
cooling of the stator winding, this can be best accomplished
if an ironless arrangement of the stator winding is used.
In a multistage AFPM the flux driven by magnets passes
axially from a north-pole on one rotor to a facing south-pole
on the other, as shown in the preceding Fig. 1. Thus, only
the external rotor discs must be made of material with good
magnetic properties (typically mild steel), since they are used
to provide a path for flux. The intermediate, on the other hand,
are used merely for mechanical support of the magnets, and
so lightweight nonmagnetic materials can be used for their
construction, thus enhancing the compactness and lightness of
the machine.
In an AFPM with ironless stator winding the space once
occupied by the toroidal core is utilized for a toroidal duct
which allows either natural or assisted circulation of water
within the winding in order to remove heat from the inner
surface of the winding coils. The high efficiency of such a
cooling system permits totally enclosed construction of the
machine and dramatically improves the machine capability for
long-term overload running conditions. On the other hand, the
ironless arrangement of the stator winding allow an improve-
ment of the machine characteristics in terms of compactness,
lightness, and efficiency.
The ironless winding requires coils lying on the transverse
plane normal to axis. The active sides of the coils must lie
in two separate parallel planes, in order to leave space for
the cooling duct. Then, the flux driven by the magnets thus
interacts with the current in the active coil sides. All forces
resulting from the interaction between stator current and the
rotor flux act tangentially and produce torque. Heating due to
current flowing in the winding coils is removed by cooling
liquid passing between the coil sides.
C. Shape of the Winding Coils
In principle, the coils may have the trapezoidal shape shown
in Fig. 3(a), as this is the coil shape which is found if the
rectangular-shape coils of an iron-cored winding are merely
rotated by 90" and placed side-by-side on a plane. However,
such trapezoidal coils have end-windings of significant length
if compared with the length of the active side conductors.
Therefore, trapezoidal coils lead to a low value of torque
produced per unit of 12R, which is generally undesirable for
most machine applications.
On the other hand, much higher values of torque per
unit of 12R can be achieved by means of winding coils of
rhomboidal shape as shown in Fig. 3(b), since in this case
't
Ro \
,,,\
1
\ IRi
(a) (b)
Fig. 3.
(a) Trapezoidal coil. (b) Rhomboidal coil.
Coil shapes for AFPM's with ironless water-cooled stator winding.
the length of the end-windings is greatly reduced due to the
inclined arrangement of the coil active sides. The geometry of
rhomboidal coils is characterized by the inclination angle Q
and the ratio K, between inner radius, Ri, and outer radius,
R,. For given values of the outside diameter and of the
magnetic and electric loadings, machine important parameters
such as torque, torque-to-weight ratio and efficiency are greatly
affected by the coil geometry, and so design optimization
requires selection of optimum values for QI and K,.
111. DESIGN GUIDELINES
A. EMF Waveform
In an AFPM with stator winding rhomboidal coils the
EMF is nearly sinusoidal whereas iron-cored AFPM' s tend
to produce a trapezoidal EMF. Amplitude and frequency of
the machine EMF are proportional to the rotor speed, same as
in conventional permanent magnet machines. The sinusoidal
waveform is the result of using short-pitch distributed coils
as in a conventional three-phase ac winding and of the
rhomboidal coil shape which further suppresses harmonics in
the same way as skewed or herringbone coils. Both flux density
distribution at the machine airgaps and coil geometry influence
the peak value of the induced EMF, and thereby the machine
torque.
B. Airgup Torque
For each stage of the machine the torque developed at the
(1)
two faces of the stator can be expressed as
T =kt . 7 r . J . B. R:. K, . (1 - K:)
where J is the electric loading at the inner radius, B is
the peak flux density at the airgaps, and kt is a machine
constant depending on the machine design. Equation (1) is
the torque equation substantiated in literature for iron-cored
AFPM's under the assumption of square-wave flux density
distribution [3], but in addition it includes the constant k t ,
which is determined by the actual distribution of the flux
density at the airgaps and the geometry of the winding
coils.
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CARlCCHl ef ul.: MULTISTAGE AXIAL-FLUX PM MACHINE FOR WHEEL DIRECT DRIVE
~
885
The design constant kt can be viewed as the per-unit
torque of an ironless winding machine with respect to the
torque developed by an idealised machine having identical
both geometry and loadings, but square-wave flux density
distribution and trapezoidal coils. Due to flux leakage and
fringing the flux density at the airgaps is not a square-wave
in distribution, and therefore whatever shape and geometry of
the winding coils results in kt <1. In addition to that, the use
of rhomboidal coils produces a further reduction of kt because
of the inclination angle of the coil conductors.
By using results of a finite element method (FEM) numerical
procedure the actual distribution of the flux density at the
machine airgaps can be evaluated to calculate values of kt as
function of K, and a which are the important design parame-
ter. Fig. 4 shows results achieved from such a calculation, and
it can be noted that for any given value of K, the maximum
torque achievable from an AFPM with rhomboidal coils is
about 77% the torque developed by an identical AFPM with
idealised flux density distribution and trapezoidal coils. Whilst
it has been found that a nonsquare-wave distribution of the
flux density reduces to 87.5% the per-unit torque whatever
shape of the coils is used, on the other hand, a machine with
rhomboidal coils and square-wave flux density has per-unit
torque of 88%. By multiplying these two value of per-unit
torque, the value of kt indicated above is found for machines
having nonsquare-wave flux density and rhomboidal coils.
In comparison with conventional AFPM's, the reduced
value of kt related to AFPM's with rhomboidal coils is not
a significant drawback, as the great reduction of the 12R
loss together with water cooling of the winding allow electric
loadings which can be as much as twice those allowed in
an iron-cored AFPM. Therefore, AFPM's with water-cooled
rhomboidal coils may produce higher torque per volume of
active materials, and this also results in a significantly higher
torque-to-weight ratio if considered the reduction of weight
due to the lack of the iron core.
C. Eficiency
Being excited by permanent magnets, the machine rotors
suffer no significant power loss. Most machine losses are
found in the stator winding, being produced by the 12R and
eddy-current loss mechanisms. In principle, the eddy-current
loss may be significant since the winding is located in the
airgap and motion of the magnets past the winding causes the
field through each conductor to vary periodically. In practice,
however, the maximum speed of direct-drive wheel motors is
relatively low, and in most cases the thickness of the winding
conductors can be selected in such a manner that the eddy-
current loss is found to be negligible.
Hence, the 12R is the principal loss in the machine under
most operating conditions, and thereby the geometry of the
winding coils greatly affects the machine efficiency because of
the influence on the coil resistance. The use of the rhomboidal
shape for the winding coil leads to somewhat lower 12R loss
than would otherwise occur because of the very short end
windings. In this case, the length of the conductors depends
on K, and a, and for a fixed value of K, it is found that the
30 40 50 60 70
ct (degrees)
Fig. 4.
ter-cooled ironless winding with rhomboidal coils.
Curves of kt as a function of IC, and for AFPM's having wa-
12R loss decreases as U increases. However, high values of a
also lead to reduced torque and a compromise is required.
D. Design Optimization
From design optimization studies it is found that K, influ-
ences mainly torque and torque-to-weight ratio, whereas it has
a small impact on the machine efficiency. For given outside
diameter and loadings the torque is maximized if K, is equal
to l/&, but in most designs the maximum torque-to-weight
ratio is achieved with slightly higher values of K,. Therefore,
compromise values for K, are generally found in the range
from 0.6 to 0.7.
For a fixed value of K,, values of kt as a function of a
are found from curves such as those shown in the Fig. 4.
These curves clearly reveal that there is a value of cr which
maximizes kt , and thereby the torque. On the other hand, the
angle a affects the 12R loss, and therefore the achievement of
high efficiency requires that a is fixed at a value which results
in 12R loss as low as possible without producing significant
reduction of the torque. Hence, it has been found preferable
to use a coil geometry which allows a high value of the
ratio between the torque and the 12R loss. For most machine
designs it is found that optimum values of lie in the range
from 60 to 70".
E. Machine Cooling
The cooling system of the machine winding use deminer-
alised water, which combines best cooling characteristics with
safety in case of leaks. As shown in Fig. 5 for a single-
stage machine, the hydraulic circuit includes a water-to-air
heat exchanger with the capacity to maintain the inlet water
temperature below a specified upper limit while dissipating
the heat due to 100% overload operation of the machine. In
a multistage machine, the hydraulic circuits of the machine
stages can be connected either in series or parallel and share
a common air-to-water heat exchanger.
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886 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 32, NO. 4, J ULY/AUGUST 1996
\-2er?- ---./
Fig. 5. Layout of the cooling systemfor a single-stage machine
The power loss within the winding is removed by assisted
circulation of cooling water with water flow of few liters
per minute. This results in a relatively low overtemperature
between the inlet and the outlet of the cooling duct. The
distribution of temperature around the winding follows the
temperature gradient of the water along the cooling duct, but
there is an overtemperature of the winding with respect to the
cooling water because of the insulating enamel which coats
the winding conductors.
The machine winding is hottest near the outlet of the cooling
duct. For a given hydraulic radius (i.e., the thickness of the
water duct), proper selection of the water flow allows over-
loads along several minutes running with rise of temperature
in the machine winding which keeps well below the limits
allowed for the class F insulating materials used.
IV. PROTOTYPE MACHINE
The ironless water-cooled stator winding arrangement dis-
cussed above is being used in the development of prototypes
of multistage AFPM for application in electric vehicle drives.
To date, two prototypes machine have been constructed: the
first for laboratory testing, the second for installation in the
propulsion drive of a concept car.
Early investigations used a single-stage 16-pole AFPM to
prove the feasibility of the ironless water-cooled winding
concept. Details on construction and laboratory testing of
such a prototype machine were recently reported in a paper
companion of this [8]. Following the successful operation of
the first prototype machine, a two-stage 16-pole prototype
machine has been designed for application as direct-drive
wheel motor in the propulsion system of an innovative concept
city car. The construction of the two-stage machine prototype
has been recently completed and laboratory tests are being
carried out to evaluate the machine characteristics. Thereafter,
a second identical machine will be constructed to complete the
propulsion system of the vehicle for a road test program.
Fig. 6 shows an external view of the complete machine,
which has the design characteristics given in Table I. This
prototype machine has three disc rotors with surface-mounted
Nd-Fe-B permanent magnets. The two external disc rotors
are of mild-steel, whereas the intermediate disc rotor is of
Fig. 6. View of the two-stage machine prototype.
TABLE I
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TWO-STAGE MACHINE PROTOTYPE
Number of poles 16
Rated speed
Rated torque 215 N.m
Peak torque 430 N.m
Phase peak EMF (@ 1100 r/min) 127 V
Air gap flux density 0.6 T
Magnet thickness 8 mm
Winding phases 3
Winding coils 48
Outside diameter 320 mm
A-,. 0.6
a 65'
Conductor dimensions (copper strip) 4mmxl mm
Winding electric loading 65 kA/m
Phase resistance (@ 30OC) 0.13 0
Phase self-inductance 70 p H
Machine axial length 83 mm
Cooling water flow 8-12 i hi n
Stators weight 5.8 kg
Rotors weight (without PM's) 12.5 kg
PM weight 8.5 kg
Machine weight 26.8 kg
1100 r/min
Number of turns per coil 9
aluminum. The stator winding has 48 rhomboidal coils of
rectangular copper strip. The winding coils are placed side-by-
side in a toroidal fashion and then immersed in a fiberglass-
reinforced epoxy resin to form a rigid body, as shown in Fig. 7.
A cooling duct of about 4-mm thickness is left between the
active sides of the winding coils.
Extreme care was posed on mechanical design due to the
hostile environment in which the machine is expected to
operate. Solutions adopted for the design of the machine
parts and quality of the materials employed are expected to
drastically reduce any fault hazard. In particular, capability of
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CARICCHI et al.: MULTISTAGE AXIAL-FLUX PM MACHINE FOR WHEEL DIRECT DRIVE 887
Fig. 7. View of one stage of the water-cooled ironless winding.
the fiber-reinforced resin structure enclosing the stator winding
to withstand harsh mechanical operating was proved by both
computer stress analysis and laboratory tests. Nevertheless,
definitive proof of the whole machine reliability is expected
to be achieved from the road test program.
Laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate significant
machine quantities, such as EMF waveform, efficiency, and
overload capability. According to design predictions, the EMF
should be sinusoidal with negligible harmonic content. The
rated torque is achieved at 45-A rms current. At such a load
condition the machine efficiency was found to be better than
93%, whereas at 100% overload condition the efficiency is
near to 88%.
With reference to a water flow of 12 l/min and either the
rated load or 100% overload running condition of the two-
stage machine prototype, Fig. 8 shows curves of the power loss
and average temperature in one stage of the machine winding
as a function of the temperature of the inlet water. Depending
on the machine load condition and flow of the cooling water,
the overtemperature of the water at the outlet of the cooling
duct was found to be as shown in Fig. 9.
V. CONCLUSIONS
This paper has presented a newly conceived multistage
structure for AFPMs with water-cooled ironless stator. Sig-
nificant aspects of the machine design have been discussed
and experimental results taken from a machine prototype have
been reported. The novel arrangement proposed for AFPMs
allows machine characteristics such as very high compactness,
lightness, efficiency, and long-term overload capability, which
are required for the application in electric vehicles as direct-
drive wheel motors.
Although AFPMs with water-cooled ironless stator are be-
ing mostly investigated for application as a motor in electrical
vehicles, nevertheless, the characteristics of such an innovative
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
Power loss [wl Temperature pC]
1 12R (100% overload) I 70
Tc,(IOO% overload) Q 0 O-50
40
30
Tcu (rated)
1000 j I*R(rat ed)
O
500
I
0 1 0
20 25 30 35 40 45 50
inlet water temperature [C]
Fig 8
water in one stage of the prototype machine (water flow 12 l/min )
Power loss and winding temperature versus temperature of the inlet
~~~ -
AT PCI
35 ~~
I I
I
75% overload I
40% overload
rated load
/
I
6 7 a 9 I O 11 12 13 14 I S 16 17 l a 19 20
water flow [Ih ]
I L L - ~ L l -
Fig 9.
prototype for given steady-state running conditions.
Water overtemperature versus water flow in the two-stage machine
machine arrangement are found to be particularly advanta-
geous also for generator operation. Therefore, application of
the proposed machine as a generator is being considered for
the development of very light and compact generator unit sets,
such as those required for aerospace power generation.
REFERENCES
E. Spooner and B, J . Chalmers, Toroidally-wound, axial-flux,
permanent-magnet brushless dc motors, in Proc. Int. Con$ Electrical
Machines, vol. 111, pp. 81-86, 1988.
F. Caricchi, F. Crescimbini, A. Di Napoli, 0. Honorati, T.A. Lipo, G.
Noia, and E. Santini, Development of a IGBT inverter driven axial-flux
PM synchronous motor drive, in Proc. 4th European Power Electronics
Conf, vol. 111, pp. 482487, 1991.
E. Spooner and B. J. Chalmers, TORUS-a slotless toroidal-stator,
permanent magnet generator, Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng., vol. 139, pt. b,
Nov. 1992, pp. 497-506.
0. Honorati, F. Caricchi, F. Crescimbini, and G. Noia, Gearless
wind energy conversion system using an axial-flux PM synchronous
machine, in Proc. European Wind Energy Con$, vol. I, pp. 814-818,
1991.
F. Caricchi, F. Crescimbini, 0. Honorati, and E. Santini, Performance
evaluation of an axial-flux PM generator, in Proc. Int. Con$ Electrical
Machines, vol. 2, pp. 761-765, 1992.
F. Caricchi, F. Crescimbini, 0. Honorati, and R. Vivarelli, Prototype
of a wind turbine directly-coupled axial-flux PM gcncrator, in Proc.
European Wind Energy Conj, Exhibition, 1994.
F. Caricchi, F. Crescimbini, E. Fedeli, and G. Noia, Design and
construction of a wheel-directly-coupled axial-flux PM motor prototype
for EVs, in Proc. IEEEIAS Annu. Meeting, vol. I, pp. 254-261, 1994.
F. Caricchi and F. Crescimbini, Axial-flux permanent-magnet machine
with water-cooled ironless stator, in Proc. IEEE Power Tech Conj,
Stockholm, Sweden, J une 18-22, 1995, pp. 98-103.
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888 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 32, NO. 4, JULYIAUGUST 1996
Federico Caricchi (M91) received both the B S
and Ph D degrees in electrical engineenng fromthe
University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy. in
1988 and 1994, respectively
From1988 to 1990 he was an Officer in the Italian
Navy and he was involved in the analysis of high
speed gen-sets Since 1991 he has been with the
Department of Electrical Engineenng of the Univer-
sity of Rome La Sapienza, where he is currently
an Assistant Professor His research interests are i n
the analysis and design of unconventional electric
machines, power electronic equipments and permanent magnet motor dnves
Dr Caricchi is a member of the Italian Association of Electnc and
Electronics Engineers (AEI), of the Italian Association for Naval Techniques
(ATENA), and of the IEEE Industry Applications Society
Fabio Crescimbini (M91) received both the B S
and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering fromthe
University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy, in
1982 and 1987, respectively
He was a Visiting Scholar at the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineenng, University of
Wisconsin, Madiqon, in 1986 His working expen-
ence includes telecommunication apparatus systems
as an officier in the Italian Army and design and
installation of UPS systems as an electncal engineer
in a private company Since 1989 he has been
with the Department of Electrical Engineering of the University of Rome
La Sapienza, where he is involved in research on power electronics and
machine drives His current research activities concern analysis and design
of permanent magnet motor drives and power converter topologies for
unconventional applications such as electric vehicles and renewable energy
systems
Dr Crescimbmi is a member of the IEEE Power Electronics Society and
of the IEEE Industry Applications Society Since 1994 he has been an active
member of the Industrial Drives Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications
Society
Fabio Mezzetti was born in Rome, Italy, on J uly
8, 1970, and received cum laude the B.S degree in
electrical engineering fromthe University of Rome
La Sapienza, Rome, Italy, in 1995. His degree
project was devoted to thermal design and stress
analysis of a multistage axial-flux PM machine with
ironless water-cooled stator winding.
His research activities are now also in the field of
digital control of power electronic converters and
motor drives
Ezio Santini (M91) was born in Rome, Italy, on
J anuary 31, 1956. He received the B S degree in
electrical engineering (cum luude) from the Uni-
versity of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy, in
1982
From1983 to 1990, he was an Assistant Professor
at the Department of Electrical Engineering of the
University of Rome La Sapienza Since 1991
he has been an Associate Professor of Design of
Electromagnetic Devices at the university of Rome
La Sapienza His research activities are in the
fields of electrical machines models, transient phenomena in transformers
and rotating machines, FEM analysis of electromagnetic fields in electrical
devices, and numencal methods in electrical engineering
Prof Santim is a member of the Italian Association of Electric and
Electronics Engineers (AEI) and the IEEE Power Engineering Society
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