IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON APPLIED SUPERCONDUCTIVITY, VOL. 28, NO.

3, APRIL 2018 5201305

Analysis and Application of Discrete Halbach

Magnet Array With Unequal Arc Lengths and
Unequally Changed Magnetization Directions
Hailin Huang , Student Member, IEEE, Libing Jing , Ronghai Qu , and Dawei Li , Member, IEEE

Abstract—This paper presents a general process to analyze and

optimize the performance for an arbitrary discrete Halbach mag-
net array which is “unnormal” on magnetization direction and arc
length of each segment. Besides the original type, a new arrange-
ment of Halbach array is proposed, which does not have main PM
segments. Two-dimensional field analytical models for predicting
the air-gap field distribution of both arrangements are offered and
validated by an FEA method. Then, a multi-objective optimizer
was applied for different requirements, and comparison between
normal and optimized 3-segment Halbach array is given to verify
the effect of optimization. At last, some potential applications and
follow-up study are discussed.
Index Terms—Analytical model, Halbach PM array, magnetic
fields, optimization algorithm. Fig. 1. Structure of 3-segment Halbach array in one pole-pair.

I. INTRODUCTION
INCE Halbach PM array been proposed by Halbach [1],
S it gets a lot of attentions due to many attractive features it
offers: sinusoidal flux distribution, self-shielding effect, higher
fundamental field, low cogging torque and so on [2]–[5]. Com-
paring to the ideal Halbach array which has perfect sinusoidal
field but difficult to fabricate, the discrete Halbach array made
by segmented magnets has more application aspects. Similarly,
a conclusion was presented in [6] that a higher number of seg-
ments per pole improves the field distribution but also increase
the cost of fabrication. Hence, optimization is required to reach
the optimal compromise between cost and performance. Al-
though numerical methods is powerful in design, the time saving
is crictical when using reliable analytical model in a mount of
optimization. In conclution, finding accurate analytical models
and efficient optimization methods of discrete Halbach array is
the key to its wider utilization on machines.
The flux density distribution of segemented Halbach PM ar-
ray was first derived in [7], [8]. Then this simple Halbach array
Manuscript received August 25, 2017; accepted November 22, 2017. Date of
publication December 20, 2017; date of current version January 2, 2018. This
work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under
Grants 51707072, 51337004, and 51407082. (Corresponding author: Libing
Jing.)
The authors are with the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic
Engineering and Technology, College of Electrical and Electronic Engineer-
ing, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
(e-mail: jinglibing163@163.com).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TASC.2017.2785399
1051-8223 © 2017 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
were studied and applied into rotary machine [6], linier machine
[9] and magnetic gear [10]. To improve the performance and
reach a cost-effective design, unequal pole-pitch design of
2 segments Halbach array was proposed then [11], [12]. Recent
years, some compilcated Halbach arrays with mixed magnets,
unequal-magnet height or partition between poles were also
invesgated [13]–[16]. A general anlytical model with the
varia-tion freedom of magnet remanence, magnetisation angle
and arc length was proposed in [17], which considered one
pole as a pe-riod and no gap between the segments. However,
setting gaps between magnets can improve the quality of field
and is more practical, difference between N-pole and S-pole
is also possible in view of Halbach array’s one-side-field
effect.
In this paper, a general process is presented to design any
type of Halbach PM array with multi-parameters. This process
includes a universal analytical model and a multi-objective op-
timizer. The model in Fig. 1 is based on one pole-pair region
instead of one pole in [17] so the formulas of even and odd
segment Halbach arrays can be unified. In addition to the con-
ventional type, a new arrangement with gap-symmetry-axis was
also analyzed and validated by FEA. As shown in Fig. 2(b), it
replaces single radial magnetized PM segment with two sym-
metric segments, which appears different flux distribution and
may have some particular applications. At least m parameter
modules including arc of PM and gap, angle of magnetisation
can be individually varied in an m-segment Halbach array. With
this variety and a multi-objective genetic algorithm, higher fun-
damental flux density, lower THD and other requirements can
be achieved. As a case, a comparative study on a 3-pole-pairs,
5201305 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON APPLIED SUPERCONDUCTIVITY, VOL. 28, NO. 3, APRIL 2018

components and then Fourier expended as (4). Given the arc

and angle paremeters of each part, the components of M can be
expressed as piecewise functions when θ varies from 0 to π/p,
shown in (5) and (6), where M is the amplitude of M and can
be calculated as Br /μ0 [12]. The Fourier expension results are
shown in (7) and (8) shown at the bottom of next page.
M = Mr r + Mθ θ
 
= Mr n cos (npθ) + Mθ n sin (npθ) (4)
n n

Mr (θ) =
⎧
⎪
⎪M cos (−θ) 0 ≤ θ ≤ α1 /2
Fig. 2. Two arrangement of Halbach PM array. (a) PM-symmetry-axis model ⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪M cos (β2 − θ + γ2 ) γ2 − α2 /2 ≤ θ ≤ γ2 + α2 /2
(b) Gap-symmetry-axis model. ⎨
· · ·
⎪
⎪M cos (βm − θ + γm ) γm − αm /2 ≤ θ ≤ γm + αm /2
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪−M cos (−θ + π/p) π/p − α0 /2 ≤ θ ≤ π/p
3-segment Halbach array with original and optimized param- ⎩
0 others
eters was presented. Other potential applications of proposed
design process were also mentioned. (5)

II. DEVELOPMENT OF GENERAL ANALYTICAL MODEL Mθ (θ) =

⎧
A. Arrangements and Parameters of Halbach Array ⎪
⎪M sin (−θ) 0 ≤ θ ≤ α1 /2
⎪
⎪
In order to clarify the magnetizing angle β of each PM pieces, ⎪
⎪M sin (β2 − θ + γ2 ) γ2 − α2 /2 ≤ θ ≤ γ2 + α2 /2
⎨
we define the radial direction as β = 0, and anti-clockwise as · · ·
growing direction. The following assumptions are also made to ⎪M sin (βm − θ + γm ) γm − αm /2 ≤ θ ≤ γm + αm /2
⎪
⎪
⎪
obtain the analytical solution of air-gap field distributions: ⎪−M sin (−θ + π/p) π/p − α0 /2 ≤ θ ≤ π/p
⎪
⎩
r Back iron has infinite permeance. 0 others
r The end-effect and slot-effect are not considered. (6)
r PM pieces are parallelly magnetized and have the same
magnetization intensity. 2) Gap-symmetry-axis Halbach Array Model: As Fig. 2(b)
1) PM-symmetry-axis Halbach Array Model: Two models shows, there is no main PM segment in the new type of model
of Halbach array are discussed in this paper. The conventional and each segment has the same status, which makes the functions
arrangement of Halbach array is shown in Fig. 2(a), which con- of M much simpler than (4) and (5). In this case we choose the
sists of two main segments (N and S), and many side segments middle of gap as the symmetry-axis, whose arc-length is defined
in one pole-pair region. Assuming the pole-pairs of Halbach as δ0 . Similiarly we define γ to consider the position of PM, the
array is p, and divided number of each pole is m. To keep the parameters of new model satisify:
radial magnetisation component Mr axisymmetric, the axis of m
 −1 m
π δ0 + δm
θ = 0 is set at the middle of the main PM segment. The arc = + δi + αi (9)
p 2
length of PM segments are named from α1 to αm in sequence, i=1 i=1
the magnetisation angle from β1 to βm , and the arc length of i−1 i
gaps from δ1 to δm . Besides, the arc length and mag-netizing δ0   αi
γi = + δk + αk − (10)
angle of S main segment (on the edges of the region) are defined 2 2
k =1 k =1
as α0 and β0 . To define the center line of each PM pieces and
Through similar methods, the Fourier expension of Mr and
simplify the equations, the parameter γ is calculated by α and
Mθ can be written as (11), ‘+’ is for Mr n and ‘−’ is for Mθ n .
δ. Apparently, the parameters satisfy the following conditions:
m 
m 2pM  sin (0.5 (np + 1) αi ) cos (npγi − βi )
π α0 − α1  Mr n , Mθ n = ·
= + (δi + αi ) (1) π i=1 np + 1
p 2 i=1 
sin (0.5 (np − 1) αi ) cos (npγi + βi )
β1 = 0 , β0 = π (2) ± (11)
np − 1
i
 α1 + αi
γi = (δk + αk ) − δi − (3) B. Calculation of Air-gap Flux Distribution
2
k =1
Through solving the governing Laplacian/quasi-Poissonian
In the polar coordinate, owing to the symmetry, the residual field equations in the airgap and magnet regions, the whole ana-
magnetisation vector M can be divided into radial and tangential lytical model of magnetic field distribution in surface-mounted
HUANG et al.: ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION OF DISCRETE HALBACH MAGNET ARRAY WITH UNEQUAL ARC LENGTHS 5201305

TABLE I
PARAMETERS OF THE FEA VERIFICATION MODEL

Parameter Symbol Value Unit

Pole-pair number p 3 -
Stator inner radius Ro 51 mm
PM outer radius Rm 50 mm
PM inner radius Ri 40 mm
Thickness of PM Dp 10 mm
Remaence of PM Br 1.25 T
Arc of gaps δi 0 degree
Arc of PM segments αi 20 degree

PM machine has already been proposed in [18]. Since the dif-

ference between Halbach array and radial PM array is only the
arrangement of PM pieces, in this paper we only present the
final expression of Br and Bθ and skip the derivation process.
Given Mr and Mθ , the calculation process of field distribution
on the air-gap are shown from (12) to (15).
Mn = Mr n + npMθ n (12)

Br = Br n cos (npθ) (13)
n

Bθ = Bθ n sin (npθ) (14)
n
Fig. 3. PM-symmetry-axis Halbach array. Comparison of FEA and analytical
air-gap flux distribution when m = 2, 3, 4. (a) Radial B r . (b) Tangential B t .
In (15) shown at the bottom of next page, the parameter r
represents the radius position on the air-gap. The plus-minus
sign ‘±’ in the expression differs the equations of Br n and Bθ n ,
‘+’ is for Br n , and ‘−’ is for Bθ n .
m = 2, 3, 4 in both types of Halbach array and compare the
analytically and FEA predicted air-gap flux density on one pole-
C. Finite Element Validationsion
pair, the results are shown in Figs. 3 and 4.
Since we build universal analytical models for two type of According to the comparaison results between FEA and an-
Halbach PM array and get the expression of air-gap field dis- alytical models, good agreements are achieved in air-gap flux
tribution, 2D-FEA simulation is then carried out to validate the distribution for both type of Halbach array. Although flux dis-
accuracy of the models. The design parameters of FEA model tributions of Halbach arrays in Fig. 3 and 4 appear to be quiet
are shown in Table I, which is typical with no gap and uni- different, the altitude of primary harmonic wave and total har-
form magnetisation and arc of PM. We set pieces of each pole monic distortion (THD) are exactly the same when the pieces

 
2pM 1 sin (0.5 (np + 1) α1 ) sin (0.5 (np − 1) α1 )
Mr n = +
π 2 np + 1 np − 1
 sin (0.5 (np + 1) αi ) cos (npγi − βi ) sin (0.5 (np − 1) αi ) cos (npγi + βi ) 
m 
+ +
i=2
np + 1 np − 1

np cos (0.5α0 ) sin (0.5npα0 − nπ) − sin (0.5α0 ) cos (0.5npα0 − nπ)
−
(np + 1) (np − 1)
 
2pM 1 sin (0.5 (np + 1) α1 ) sin (0.5 (np − 1) α1 )
Mθ n = − (7)
π 2 np + 1 np − 1
 sin (0.5 (np + 1) αi ) cos (npγi − βi ) sin (0.5 (np − 1) αi ) cos (npγi + βi ) 
m 
+ −
i=2
np + 1 np − 1

np sin (0.5α0 ) cos (0.5npα0 − nπ) − cos (0.5α0 ) sin (0.5npα0 − nπ)
− (8)
(np + 1) (np − 1)
5201305
Fig. 4. Gap-symmetry-axis Halbach array. Comparison of FEA and analytical
air-gap flux distribution when m = 2, 3, 4. (a) Radial B r . (b) Tangential B t .
of each pole are equal, which means both type of Halbach array
have practical values. THD can be calculated as follows:
Br22 + Br23 + · · · + Br2n
T HD = (16)
Br 1
It is noted that proposed 2-D analytical models do not con-
sider the stator slotting effect for the simplification of fomulars.
However, the derivation from slotless model to slotted model
of surface PM machine has already well solved by comformal
mapping method [19] or by subdomain model [20]. Moreover,
the cogging torque, electromagnetic torque, back-EMF in Hal-
bach PM machine can also be predicted through these methods
[21]–[23].
III. OPTIMIZATION METHOD FOR MULTIPLE OBJECTIVES
Instead of calculating FEA models, with the accurate analyt-
ical model, a time-saving optimizer can be built on a general
mathematical software like Matlab. The optimizer adopts the
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON APPLIED SUPERCONDUCTIVITY, VOL. 28, NO. 3, APRIL 2018
Fig. 5. Scatter diagram of the genetic optimization with 5 generations for
3-segment Halbach array.
TABLE II
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND OTIMIZED HALBACH MODEL
Parameter Orginal Optimized Effect
Primary flux density Br 1.295 T 1.310 T +1.2%
Total harmonic distortion 12.9% 10.2% −21%
genetic algorithm with multi-objectives, whose number of par-
ents and generations, as well as the weights of objectives, can
be well designed to reach a reasonable performance.
To verify the effect of optimization, a 5-generation genetic
optimized algorithm for a 3-segment Halbach array towards
higher primary flux density Br 1 and lower THD was tested.
As shown in Fig. 5, cases from different generations are dis-
tinguished by colors, and the Pareto front revealed by red line
offers researchers valuable tradeoff information between two
objectives. The yellow star locates the performance of normal
Halbach array with equal PM arc and no gap. It can be seen
that after 5 generations, the points on Br-THD graph are getting
closer to Pareto front and getting better than the normal type,
which illustrates the necessity and availability of the optimiza-
tion. One of the optimal results on the Pareto front was chosen
to compare with the original project, shown in Table II. Via the
optimization, the primary flux density increases 1.2% and the
harmonic distortion decreaces 21%, which proves the behavior
of unnormal Halbach arrays.
Since we proposed a general model with each parameter can
be either fixed or varied, and each component of magnetic field
can be individually obtained, it is more effective to reach special
requirements. For example, unnormal arrangement can be easily

 n p+1 n p−1 n p+1 

μ0 np Rm r Rm
Br n , Bθ n = ± Mn ±
μr (np)2 − 1 r Ro Ro
     2n p   n p+1

np − n1p M rn
Mn + 1
np + 1 1 − Ri
Rm + 2 Ri
Rm − 2
×   2n p   2n p  2n p  (15)
μ r +1 Ri μ r −1 Rm Ri
μr 1 − Ro − μr Ro − Rm
HUANG et al.: ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION OF DISCRETE HALBACH MAGNET ARRAY WITH UNEQUAL ARC LENGTHS
Fig. 6. Optimal Halbach array model with 1st and 4th as main flux harmonics.
(a) Flux lines on the FEA model. (b) Flux distribution and harmonic analysis
on one pole-pair.
achieved to produce more than one main flux harmonics, or to
reduce specific harmonics in flux distribution. Fig. 6 shows a
design that flux densities of 1st and 4th harmonics are both
greater than 0.8 T, which could be utilized in multi-working-
harmonic PM machines.
IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a general design process of arbitrary Halbach
arrays with accurate analytical models and a multi-objective
optimizer has been proposed. Both traditional and a new type
of arrangement in Halbach array was calculated and validated
by FEA, which are proved to be similarly effective. Through
combining accurate formulars with mathmatical software, a
simple and time-saving design optimization towards more cost
efficiency and more extensive use for Halbach array can be
achieved. The test on 3-segment PM array shows that after
parameter design, both fundamental flux density and THD of
“unequal” Halbach array is better than the “equal” one. Special
requirements can also be easily achieved through this process,
the Halbach array model with two main flux harmonics are given
as an example.
In the next researches, more design and performance parame-
ters will be included into this process through existing methods
for surface-mounted PM machines: stator slots, materials, mod-
ulating pieces, cogging torque, back-EMF, EM torque, etc. The
idea of using arbitrary analytical models and algorithm for de-
sign and optimization will be applied to more PM devices, such
as magnetic gear, venier machine, etc.
5201305
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