Determining demagnetisation risk for two PM wind power generators with different PM material and identical stators

Ways to utilise ferrite permanent magnets (PMs), in a better way has been in focus the last couple of years since the use of neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) PMs has been debated. While ferrite PMs offer a low-cost alternative to rare-earth PMs, it is a trade-off for lower energy density. Depending on the type of PM and if the PMs are surface mounted or buried, the risk of demagnetisation during a fault condition can vary significantly between machines. In this study, the demagnetisation risk of two electrically similar generators with identical stators has been studied during several short-circuit faults at different temperatures. The study is simulation-based, and the results show that the generator with the ferrite rotor will suffer from a small but not significant amount of demagnetisation in the worst, three-phase-neutral, short-circuit case at a temperature of 5°C, whereas the NdFeB PMs will suffer from partial demagnetisation if a fault occurs at 120°C. For operational temperatures between 20 and 60°C both generators will sustain a short-circuit event.