36 n GEARS AND GEARBOXES January 2026 www.drivesncontrols.com Magnetic gears: an attractive option? Energy efficiency and reliability are priorities for businesses wanting to cut their manufacturing, operating and maintenance costs, and to meet their sustainability goals. Magnetically geared motors offer a technological breakthrough when considering performance, durability, energy savings and decarbonisation. The torque transmission in standard gear systems relies on interlocking gears that suffer from physical wear. This technology can have drawbacks for modern applications, including its inefficiency, noise levels, maintenance and servicing requirements, and lifetime limitations. Magnetically geared motors operate differently. By integrating a magnetic gear within a permanent magnet motor, they eliminate mechanical contact. The magnetic gear is housed inside the stator, with the outer magnetic array attached to the stator’s inner bore. The copper windings drive an inner rotor, which is coupled magnetically to the lowerspeed pole-piece rotor, delivering contactless torque transmission. While the combination of low-speed operation and high torque density delivers levels of performance equal to, or exceeding, singlestage mechanical gears, a magnetic gear system does not degrade over time. Moreover, it is more efficient and less prone to mechanical failures. Magnetic systems offer design flexibility and more efficient power conversion to businesses needing motion controls and mechanical power transmission. Furthermore, easy installation, compatibility with standard power electronics, and a reduced need for vibration isolation, as well as for auxiliary cooling, mean that system integration is much simpler. Efficiency and sustainability Magnetically geared motors offer significant energy-saving potential. While traditional geared systems lose energy through friction, heat losses and misalignment, a magnetic system’s contactless transmission and minimal electrical resistance increase its efficiency and reduce energy consumption. Its lightweight, compact design can also reduce fuel consumption in sectors such as aerospace and e-mobility. Sustainability is further enhanced because magnetic gears have fewer mechanical parts, raw materials and manufacturing processes. These attributes make the technology attractive to sectors such as aerospace, energy and transportation, where uptime and sustainability are priorities. With a lack of mechanical gears, and an airgap between the input and output, magnetically geared motors are safe and reliable. Because they eliminate physical wear, their repair and maintenance overheads are lower, and the risk of operational breakdowns is reduced. Fault-tolerant versions can maintain full-load torque following the failure of a single phaseally-gearedbank in a duplex winding, because thermal, electrical, mechanical and magnetic isolation between the phases and banks provides built-in redundancy, and prevents wider system failures. Moreover, with the motors functioning as passively resettable torque fuses, operations can continue after a jam, because there is no requirement for a clutch or shear pins. Advanced thermal management, meanwhile, results in lower cooling If you’re looking for customised industrial drive systems that are energy-efficient, dependable and sustainable, magnetically geared motors offer significant opportunities. Gary Rodgers, CEO of Magnomatics, explains how magnetic motors can improve the efficiency, reliability and cost-effectiveness of applications across many industrial sectors. A Magnomatics wind turbine generator that combines a magnetic gear with a stator to create an efficient permanent magnet generator
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