Rotor for electric machine having a sleeve with segmented layers
View Patent ↗An electric machine system includes an electric machine and a companion device. The electric machine has a stationary member and a movable member that, by interaction of magnetic fields, at least one of moves relative to the stationary member or generates electricity when moved relative to the stationary member. One of the stationary member and the movable member includes a permanent magnet. The companion device is coupled to the electric machine to communicate mechanical movement with the movable member. In certain instances, the electric machine system has adaptations for operation of the electric machine system subsea and/or in a corrosive environment.
1. A rotor for an electrical machine comprising:
an elongate rotor core assembly comprising a rotor core and a plurality of permanent magnets arranged in a plurality of rings around the rotor core; and
a composite sleeve around the rotor core assembly, the sleeve comprising:
an outer layer; and
a segmented layer beneath the outer layer comprising a plurality of discrete, non-overlapping, spaced apart circumferential bands of composite material positioned orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the rotor core assembly; and
wherein the rotor axially thermally expands during operation and two or more adjacent circumferential bands reside in a non-overlapping relation when thermally expanded during operation.
2. The rotor of claim 1 , wherein the outer layer is a fiber-reinforced composite with a majority of the fibers being axially-oriented.
3. The rotor of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the circumferential bands is positioned over and substantially longitudinally coincides with a ring of magnets.
4. The rotor of claim 1 , wherein a coefficient of thermal expansion of each of the bands is substantially the same as a coefficient of thermal expansion of the magnets.
5. The rotor of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the circumferential bands is positioned over and substantially longitudinally coincides with one ring of magnets.
6. The rotor of claim 1 , wherein the number of circumferential bands is equal to the number of rings of magnets.
7. The rotor of claim 1 , wherein the composite sleeve further comprises one or more additional composite layers between the outer layer and segmented layer.