Modeling of a Tubular Permanent Magnet Linear
Generator for Wave Energy Conversion using
Finite Element Method
M. A. F. M. Hamim, T. Ibrahim and N. M. Nor
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
31750, Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia
taibib@petronas.com.my
Abstract— This paper presents the modeling process of
a tubular permanent magnet linear generator for the wave
energy conversion system. Two types of linear generator
technology namely the planar and tubular with different
on translator, stator and magnet arrangement are
identified but due to the high detent force, low flux density
and high fabrication cost, tubular excogitation is
preferable. Three linear permanent magnet generators
with different types of permanent magnet layout have been
proposed. Preliminary results for the number of turns and
varying speed proportional with induced voltage and open
circuit test are demonstrated and discussed are shown to
be as expected. Based on the overall findings, the shape of
permanent magnet in the excogitation affects the
performance of the generator.
Keywords-Wave energy conversion; slotless ; linear permanent
magnet generator; air gap distribution; open circuit test
I. INTRODUCTION
Increment use of fossil fuels for numerous application
worldwide leads to decrement of natural resources such as
crude oil, coal and gas that are used as fuels to power up the
industrial, home appliances, transportation applications. When
these phenomena largely happened, renewable energy was
introduced back from 1973 to 1983 during crude oil problem
[1].
Renewable energy resources such as wind, sea wave,
hydro and etc. From literature, sea wave is the least utilized
natural resources amongst others. This is due to the difficulty
in obtaining the suitable system for energy conversion. From
research, the total energy that can be harvested from waves in
world coasts is approximately 106 and only 2% of the amount
is needed to supply the whole energy demand [2,3]
Advantages of sea wave energy compared to wind and
solar energy are that it is predictable, higher energy density,
reduction in visual impact, higher extracted power to energy
converter only with small volume of wave and most
importantly provides higher concentrated and persistence [4,5]
978-1-4799-4653-2/14/$31.00 © 2014 IEEE
Direct drive linear generator has recently becomes popular
amongst generators that are investigated by researchers for
wave energy conversion. Linear generator is mainly useful for
linear motion application where linear generator has a
different topology from rotary technology but possesses
similar working principle. Table 1 tabulated the advantages
and disadvantages of a linear generator compared to rotary
generator. Wave energy conversion system has several types
of linear generator; however, only one will be considered
which is the linear permanent magnet generator [6]. The
objective of this work is to design an economical topology for
used in slottless linear permanent magnet generator with
different shape of magnet.
TABLE I. Comparison between linear and rotary generator [7]
Linear Generator Rotary Generator
Provide lifetime 20 years or longer Short lifetime due to the mechanical
error
Direct drive from linear motion Need gear box to convert linear
motion to rotary
Simple structure and robustness Small in size but complicated
structure
High efficiency, capability to convert Low efficiency and low reliability
calm wave
Large up-front cost and huge size Small initial cost but need frequent
maintenance
Voltage and frequency variation Large air-gap diameter; good in
mechanically
II. RELATED WORKS
Zhu Z. Q. et al. proposed the novelty of designing generator
using halbach for various applications. Along this paper is
reviewed the alternative ways to form halbach magnetized
magnet and typical application exist in the world. Halbach
produced sinusoidal air gap distribution; resulting cogging
force can be neglected. Rotor back-iron is not necessary for
halbach due to the self-shielding magnetization where rotor
mass and inertia impact can be reduced. Skew PM is not
required for halbach and non-overlapping windings can be
applied, so this can reduce manufacture cost. Alternative ways
to fabricate halbach magnet can be divided into three divisions
which are segmented anisotropic halbach cylinder, isotropic
bonded NdFeB Halbach cylinder and anisotropic NdFeB
halbach cylinder. Some of the typical application suits with
halbach are high-speed machine, servo motor, ultra-high In designing generator, induced voltage can be determined
acceleration machine, linear drives and passive magnetic as in eq. (1)
bearing. From comparison done between conventional radial
and ideal halbach, explained that radial offered high cogging 4.44 (1)
force and trapezoid back-emf waveform while halbach produce where = frequency of the moving magnet
smaller cogging force and sinusoidal back-emf waveform [8]. surface area of magnet
Hew Wooi Ping et al. presents the experience on designing = total number of turns in stator
generator for hybrid electric car engine. Two types of translator = maximum air gap flux density
design available which are long translator and short translator Three proposed excogitation with different layout of
where long translator is more preferable because of the better magnet for the linear permanent magnet generator in 2-
performance. Besides, moving mechanism consists of moving dimensional (2D) as shown in Reference [7]. Permanent
magnet, moving iron and moving coil where moving magnet is magnet becomes the priority as the cost of material is
chosen in a way of giving higher flux density in the same air expensive and also heavy.
gap and reduces of translator mass. Axial PM produced high
cogging force and replace with radial PM, hence quasi-halbach The first proposed excogitation as shown in Fig. 1. The
is used or applied in the design. Protection is done for the PM advantage of this design is the conventional rectangular layout
by placing tubular flanges on the casing [9]. of the permanent magnet which is easy to construct.
Juliani et al. discussed the desired ratio between magnet
and stator to gain maximum electromagnetic force for the
initial step of designing machine. Electromagnetic force
occurred in the air gap, poses interaction between magnetic
flux density and stator current. Tubular excogitation is derived
from planar where it pertain higher electromagnetic force and
absence of end effect. In this study, cogging force is neglected
due to slottless excogitation and cross section is round form
due to the tubular design [10].
Bianchi et al. discussed pertaining with tubular linear
permanent magnet machines associated to stator design and
permanent magnet arrangement. Some preliminary analysis Fig. 1. 3D design for the rectangular layout generator
explained for force, acceleration and cost. Moving magnet with
longer stator give better result compared to shorter stator. The second proposed excogitation as shown in the Fig. 2 is
While half-buried permanent magnet display higher force but called T-halbach layout since the shape of the permanent
also higher ripple compared to surface-mounted permanent magnet resembles the letter T. The advantage of this design is
magnet [11]. same as rectangular layout which is permanent magnet is easy
to construct. Both sides of the permanent magnet volume are
Parisi et al. introduces linear generator for marine equal to half volume of the rectangular layout and another half
application with implement tubular, iron-cored, axial volume is combining with the center permanent magnet. The
magnetized magnet parameters in the design. Tubular is chosen overall volume of this layout is remaining same as compared to
based on the advantages such as do not affected by boundary the others layout.
dissipation of magnetic field because of stator elements is
closed loop with translator. Tubular Permanent Magnet Linear
Generator (TPMLG) known in providing high efficiency and
power density, low cogging force and easy to manufacture
compared to the conventional Tubular Permanent Magnet
Generator (TPMG). This paper also presented the action taken
for identify the specific parameter by analyzing based on axial
and radial perspectives [12].
III. PROPOSED DESIGN
After taking into account from review, tubular excogitation
is selected as it offers constant air gap and higher flux density
[12]. For stator part, Iron-cored and slottless excogitation are Fig. 2. 3D design for the T-Halbach layout generator
chosen where it is provides higher magnetic flux density and
induced voltage [13] and also devote less detent force [12]. For The third proposed excogitation as shown in the Fig. 3 is
translator part, moving magnet is preferred as it offers superior known as trapezoid-halbach layout. The advantage of this
force potentially despite with different magnetization [14]. excogitation is trapezoid layout of permanent magnet that will
Halbach magnet arrangement is used as no ferromagnetic create the flux and focus more on the direction of the halbach
material is needed due to the self-shielding magnetized [14]. using full permanent magnet.
 term of induced voltage, flux linkage, thrust force and cogging
force. These comparisons are made based on the constant
parameters stated in Table III.
TABLE III. Parameter for the open circuit test
Parameter Value
Velocity 1.0m/s
Moving distance 10mm
Stop time 0.05s
Time step 0.001s
Step size 0.00005s
Number of turns 1000

Fig. 3. 3D design for the trapezoid layout generator Comparison on the first criteria is on induced voltage in
Fig. 4 indicates the schematic diagram for the general open circuit test for all designs are shown in Fig. 5 and
proposed excogitation with only different in the permanent tabulated in Table IV. From the results tabulated, it is seen that
magnet shape. The dimension is constant to make sure the T-Halbach layout produced lowest induced voltage due to the
comparison can be obtained. Table II tabulated the specific magnet volume for both sides used is approximately half the
dimension used in the design. value. However, Trapezoid layout produced highest value of
induced voltage due to the longer open surface facing the coil.
L Induced Voltage vs Distance Maxwell2DDesign1

hsys
ANSOFT
18.75
Curve Info
Convantional
Imported
T Shaped
Imported
Trapezoid
Imported
16.75

Re 14.75
Induced voltage [v]

G
hm Tmr2 Tmz Tmr 12.75

hym Rm 10.75

Tp
Ri
8.75
0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00

Fig. 4. Schematic design of the proposed design Distance [mm]

Fig. 5. Induced voltage vs. distance for proposed design generator

TABLE II. Specific parameter used in the design TABLE IV. Maximum and average value of induced voltage
Dimension Induced Rectangular T-Halbach Trapezoid
Parameter
(mm) Voltage
Outer radius of stator core, Re 45.1 Maximum (V) 21.11 20.66 27.76
Average (V) 16.67 16.24 21.41
Yoke thickness of stator core, hsys 3.3
Length of stator, L 18.4 The second criterion is flux linkage are shown in Fig. 6 and
tabulated in Table V for all layouts. The flux linkage
Outer radius of magnet, Rm 21
approximately increased in straight line where distance is
Radial thickness of magnets, hm 5 proportional with flux. From T-Halbach and Trapezoid layout
Radial thickness of supporting tube, hym 3.5 with reference from Rectangular layout, T-Halbach shows
lowest maximum value of flux line in the open circuit test than
Inner radius of supporting tube, Ri 12.5 Trapezoid. Flux linkage value is proportional to the obtained
Pole pitch, Tp 25 induced voltage.
Flux Linkage vs Distance Maxwell2DDesign1
Axial length of radically magnetized magnet at the centre,
ANSOFT
0.08

15
Curve Info
Convantional

Tmr 0.07
Imported
T Shaped
Imported
Trapezoid
Imported

Axial length of axially magnetized magnet at two end, Tmr2 5 0.06

Axial length of axially magnetized magnets, Tmz 10

0.05

0.04

Air gap length, G 0.8

Weber

0.03

0.02

0.01

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 0.00

A. Open Circuit Test -0.01

0.00 2.00 4.00
Distance [mm]
6.00 8.00 10.00

Fig. 6. Flux linkage vs. distance for proposed design generator

An open circuit test as per discussed will enable to
determine the contribution of the 3 proposed excogitation in
 TABLE V. Maximum and average value of flux linkage design start to produce better induced voltage compared to
Flux Linkage Rectangular T-Halbach Trapezoid rectangular design which produced higher induced voltage at 1
Maximum (Wb) 0.06 0.05 0.08
Average (Wb) 0.03 0.03 0.04
m/s. Meanwhile, Trapezoid still produce the highest induced
voltage for the whole applied speed.
The third criterion is the thrust force in the open circuit test
TABLE VIII. Maximum and average value of cogging force
are shown in Fig. 7 and tabulated in Table VI. As depicted in Induced Voltage (V)
the figure, T-Halbach layout produced lesser force compared Design Speed (m/s)
Maximum Average
to the Rectangular and Trapezoid layout. The thrust force is 1 21.1102 16.6677
taken into account to identify the strength bond between coil Rectangular 2 24.3502 18.869
and permanent magnet. 3 38.0856 20.0460
Thrust Force vs Distance Maxwell2DDesign1 ANSOFT
1 20.6641 16.2336
T-Halbach 2 39.1898 27.6473
25.00
Curve Info
Convantional
Imported
T Shaped
Imported
Trapezoid
3 54.9323 29.4459
20.00
Imported
1 27.7611 21.4086
Trapezoid 2 50.5582 36.6735
15.00 3 78.5822 39.2813
Newton

10.00 Analysis on average voltage towards with number of turns

are shown in Fig. 9 and tabulated in Table IX. For this
5.00
analysis, Rectangular layout is used as the bench mark for the
other layout. From the obtained result below, average value is
0.00
0.00 2.00 4.00
Distance [mm]
6.00 8.00 10.00 increased when number of turns is increased. Thus, average
Fig. 7. Thrust force vs. distance for proposed design generator value is direct proportional toward number of turns.

TABLE VI. Maximum and average value of thrust force

Thrust Force Rectangular T-Halbach Trapezoid Average Voltage VS Number of Turns
Maximum(N) 24.12 19.80 23.07
36
Average voltage (v)

Average (N) 16.09 13.33 14.94 32

28
24
Cogging force is interaction between stator tooth and 20
16
permanent magnet attached with translator in the generator. 12
8
From Fig. 8, the result is approximately sinusoidal wave 4
0
between positive and negative value of force. Table VII on the 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000
other hand tabulate that T-Halbach produced highest force
compared to other designs. Average force is approximately 0N No of turns
for all layouts. Detent force is obtained even though slottless is
applied due to the longitudinal end issue.
Fig. 9. Average voltage vs. number of turns for the rectangular layout
Cogging Force vs Distance Maxwell2DDesign1 ANSOFT
100.00
Curve Info
Convantional
Imported
T Shaped
TABLE IX. Number of turns and average voltage for rectangular layout
Number of turns Average voltage (v)
75.00 Imported
Trapeziod
Imported

50.00 1000 16.28974

25.00
1250 20.37569
1500 24.45083
Newton

0.00
1750 28.52597
-25.00
2000 32.60111
-50.00

-75.00 V. CONCLUSION
-100.00
0.00 2.00 4.00
Distance [mm]
6.00 8.00 10.00
Trapezoid excogitation has produced inspiring result as
Fig. 8. Cogging force vs. distance for proposed design generator compared to the Rectangular and T-halbach based on the finite
element analysis. With the same amount of permanent magnet
TABLE VII. Maximum and average value of cogging force and impressive result were obtained and compared to the
Cogging Force Rectangular T-Halbach Trapezoid rectangular, however higher cost need to be considered during
Maximum (N) 45.23 82.70 29.01
fabrication. To obtain higher induced voltage, higher flux
Average (N) 0.19 1.02 0.97
density needs to be produced as velocity of wave is not
reliable. This may effect to the performance of wave energy
Table VIII tabulated induced voltage with the varying conversion system which may require generating more power.
speed applied in the analysis. In all layouts, when the speed In addition, the wave energy conversion system is also link up
increased, the induced voltage is also increased. Thus, speed is to the height of wave.
proportional toward induced voltage. From the table below,
when speed is varying from 1 m/s until 3m/s, T-Halbach
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank Universiti Teknologi
PETRONAS and Ministry of Higher Education for the
awarded of ERGS grant.
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