This paper presents a control strategy to improve the output power for a single-cylinder two-stroke free-piston linear generator (FPLG). The comprehensive simulation model of this FPLG is established and the operation principle is introduced. The factors that affect the output power are analyzed theoretically. The characteristics of the piston motion are studied. Considering the different features of the piston motion respectively in acceleration and deceleration phases, a ladder-like electromagnetic force control strategy is proposed. According to the status of the linear electric machine, the reference profile of the electromagnetic force is divided into four ladder-like stages during one motion cycle. The piston motions, especially the dead center errors, are controlled by regulating the profile of the electromagnetic force. The feasibility and advantage of the proposed control strategy are verified through comparison analyses with two conventional control strategies via MatLab/Simulink. The results state that the proposed control strategy can improve the output power by around 7–10% with the same fuel cycle mass.

This article presents a low detent force double-sided permanent-magnet synchronous linear motor (DS-PMSLM), which contains two flat-type stators and a mover. The mover is constituted of a fiberglass support plate and Halbach array permanent magnets attached on both surfaces of this plate, which provides a large thrust force and low mover mass for high dynamic response. For the sake of reducing the thrust ripple, a modulation method of the cogging and end forces is proposed based on the destructive interference. The even-order harmonics in cogging and end forces are reduced by adjusting the width of the side slots and the lengths of end teeth, respectively. In order to reduce the odd-order harmonics of the detent force, the cogging force and end force are modulated to reverse phases and identical amplitudes by changing the equivalent lengths of four end teeth. An integrated subdomain analytical model considering the cogging and end effects is built to optimize five structural parameters of the stators for low detent force. Finally, the prototype and testing platforms are set up and the experimental results validate that the proposed DS-PMSLM can achieve a low thrust ripple of less than 1.5 $ \%$ .

The Free-piston linear generator (FPLG) is a novel energy converter which can generate electrical energy and is regarded as a potential technology for solving the restriction of the short driving range of electric vehicles. Getting rid of the crank and flywheel mechanism, FPLG obtains some advantages of a variable compression ratio, compact size, and highly-efficient power generation. Linear electric machine (LEM) design and piston motion control are two key technologies of FPLG. However, they are currently the main obstacles to the favorable performance of FPLG. LEM being used to drive the piston motion or generate electric energy is an integrated design including a motor/generator. Various types of LEMs are investigated, and suitable application scenarios based on advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The FPLG’s controller is used to ensure stable operation and highly-efficient output. However, cycle-to-cycle variations of the combustion process and motor/generator switching make it difficult to improve the performance of the piston motion control. Comments on the advantages and disadvantages of different piston motion control methods are also given in this paper.

In high-end testing and manufacturing equipment, a trend exists whereby the traditional servo feed system with a ball screw and rotary motor will gradually be replaced by a direct drive system. The precision motion system driven by a permanent magnet linear synchronous motor (PMLSM) offers several advantages, including high speed, high acceleration, and high positioning accuracy. However, the operating precision of the feed device will be affected by the PMLSM robustness to nonlinear and uncertain disturbances, such as cogging force, friction, thermal effects, residual vibration, and load disturbance. The aim of this paper was to provide a survey on disturbance analysis and suppression approaches to improve the dynamic performance of PMLSM motion systems. First, the origin and inhibition methods of thrust ripple and friction are presented. Second, the mechanisms, modeling approaches, and mitigation measures of thermal effects are introduced. Additionally, the residual vibration characteristics and suppression methods are discussed. Finally, disturbance observers of periodic and aperiodic loads are introduced. These suppression methods from structural design and control compensation are then discussed in order to improve the dynamic response and steady-state accuracy of PMLSM.

This paper presents a novel linear generator structure of three-phase tubular staggered transverse flux permanent magnet linear generator (TSTF-PMLG) for wave energy conversion. Compared with conventional TF-PMLGs, the new structure has a simpler magnetic flux path, high mechanical strength, low cogging force and more suitable for low-speed direct driven situation. In the primary of TSTF-PMLG, a nonuniform teeth steel sheets structure is used and steel sheets of different phases are in different angel so that the groove can be separated by staggered steel sheets in the plane perpendicular to the direction of movement. By the analytical model, the operation principle of the proposed linear generator is explained. Then through the finite element analysis, the distribution of the main flux and leakage flux, the no-load characteristics and output power of TSTF-PMLG are analyzed in detail. And the influence of the lamination factor on the output characteristics of the TSTF-PMLG is obtained. Subsequently the appropriate design parameters of the TSTF-PMLG are selected. During the TSTF-PMLG processing, the method of mixing silicon steel sheets and fiberglass board is used to limiting the lamination factor. Finially, a prototype of 150 W rated power and 79% rated efficiency is presented. And the experimental results verify the theoretical analysis.

This paper presents an accurate analytical model to compute the magnetic field in short moving-magnet linear motor with any pole and slot combinations. Two kinds of end effects caused by the finite length of the stator and mover are considered. The stator end effect is addressed by an equivalent slotting subdomain based on the subdomain analytical method. The mover end effect is analyzed with a virtual mover consisting of the mover and two additional virtual units. The length of virtual unit is given according to the effective motion stroke and magnetic circuit, and the remanence of PMs in virtual units are specified as zero. A linear motor with 8poles/6slots and Halbach array is used to verify the correctness of the proposed analytical model. Compared with the results from finite element analysis and previous subdomain analytical model, the proposed analytical model shows high accuracy on the calculations of the magnet flux density, cogging force, and normal magnetic force.