The Design, Assembly, and Testing of an Active Rotary Flux Compressor

A 20-cm diameter rotor active rotary flux compressor has been fabricated at the Center for Electromechanics, the University of Texas at Austin, (CEM-UT) to verify the predicted advantages of fully laminated ferromagnetic rotor and stator construction. An unsaturated flux compression ratio (Lmax/Lmin) of 46:1 has been achieved. Measured inductance values verify space harmonic magnetic field distribution code predictions. Under short circuit testing pulse widths less than 600 μs and current gains in excess of 15:1 have been obtained at a rotor speed of 63 percent of the first rotor critical speed.