Abstract
Because free piston Stirling engines (FPSEs) have no mechanisms such as cranks and cams, high system efficiency can be expected compared with conventional engines. The output power of the working gas is directly utilized as a linear alternator input, and then converted into the electrical power. Therefore, in the case of the FPSE, linear alternator is one of the most important devices. In general, the airgap exists in two places of the inside and outside of the magnet ring in a moving-magnet type linear alternator. Because the airgap in a magnetic circuit causes most of the reluctance, it should be reduced as much as possible. A new type linear alternator that has only one airgap has been designed and developed. In this study, the performance evaluations of the linear alternator that has one-airgap were conducted.
