Turbomachine equipped with an embedded electric machine having a segmented and movable stator

A turbomachine defining a radial direction, the turbomachine comprising:

• a rotating component;
• actuators;
• an electric machine, comprising:
• a rotor assembly rotatable with and operatively coupled with the rotating component;
• and
• a stator assembly having a stator split into stator segments, each one of the stator segments having a respective actuator of the actuators associated therewith, each of the actuators being operable to move their respective one of the stator segments between a first position and a second position along the radial direction, the stator segments each being closer to the rotor assembly along the radial direction when in the first position than when in the second position;
• a plurality of power converters, each of the plurality of power converters being electrically coupled to a respective stator segment of the stator segments;
• and
• one or more sensors associated with the electric machine;
• and
• a controller associated with the electric machine and communicatively coupled with the actuators and the one or more sensors, the controller being configured to:
• receive data from the one or more sensors associated with the electric machine;
• identify a fault with the electric machine based on the data;
• and
• cause the actuators to move their respective stator segments away from the rotor assembly along the radial direction in response to identifying the fault with the electric machine.

A method, comprising:

• operating an electric machine to convert electrical power to rotational power or to convert rotational power to electrical power, the electric machine having a stator assembly and a rotor assembly rotatable with a rotating component of a turbomachine, the stator assembly having a stator split into stator segments, wherein the conversion of electrical power is achieved using a plurality of power converters, each of the plurality of power converters being electrically coupled to a respective stator segment of the stator segments;
• receiving data from one or more sensors associated with the electric machine;
• identifying a fault with the electric machine based on the data;
• and
• operate the actuators to move their respective stator segments away from the rotor assembly from their respective first positions to their respective second positions in response to identifying the fault condition withing the electric machine;
• moving each one of the stator segments away from the rotor assembly along a radial direction defined by the turbomachine in response to identifying the fault condition within the electric machine.