Design and Analysis of Rotor Structure Support for Spoke Type Superconducting Motor

The superconducting motor has prospects of a wide range of applications in aviation electric propulsion thanks to its advantages such as small size, high power density and high efficiency. However, the support structure design of superconducting motors is difficult to balance the structural strength and low heat leakage at high rotational speeds. In addition, by adopting the topological form of a spoke-type superconducting synchronous motor, the number of pole pairs in compact superconducting motors can be significantly increased and the power density of the motor can be improved. In this context, this paper proposes a spoke-type rotor support structure design for high-temperature superconducting (HTS) motors with consideration of electromagnetic properties, mechanical strength and cooling architecture. Based on the analysis of the electromagnetic topology, this paper demonstrates a modular assembly method for the rotor. In addition, the rotor core is connected to the ambient temperature shaft through a glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) bracket in order to ensure good strength, controlled deformation, and low heat leakage. To verify the feasibility of this structure, the rotor stresses are analyzed by three-dimensional (3D) finite element analysis (FEA). The results show that this structure has good mechanical strength, which is conducive to maintaining the electromagnetic, mechanical environment of the motor and protecting the HTS magnets.