Reverse Engineering of a Prototype Electromagnetic Hybrid Propulsion System for an Underwater Vehicle

Abstract

The development of marine equipment for deep-sea applications is provided by the development of special electric machines operating in high-pressure conditions with a high switching frequency. The use of direct current machines on underwater autonomous or remote-controlled vehicles faces difficulties in transmitting direct current energy to great depths. The placement of batteries leads to excessive weight and complexity of the layout of underwater equipment. The use of AC 3-phase power supply is more preferable, as it enables to get high indicators of the specific power of a machine to its weight. However, the resulting problems of high switching multiplicity in underwater conditions require the development of engines with improved characteristics. General-purpose engines are usually well developed in large production runs, have high utilization rates of steel and copper, are technologically advanced, and for these reasons have a low cost. The paper proposes a reverse technique for designing and creating an electric machine for special underwater use based on a general industrial prototype with the introduction of permanent magnets on rare earth metals into the design. High switching multiplicity is achieved by introducing permanent magnets into the rotor of an electric machine. Installing permanent magnets in the machine rotor allows the machine stator to be made with improved insulation, which reduces the requirements for tightness inside the electric machine.