A Fast Numerical Modeling Approach Based on Boundary Field Method for Calculating AC Losses in Superconducting Motors

Abstract

To improve the computational efficiency of the numerical methods for calculating ac loss in HTS motor, a new method called ‘Boundary field method’ is proposed in this article. This method combines the strength of ANSYS and COMSOL, which can reduce the complexity of modeling and computation time. In this article, three finite-element method based models, as case studies, were developed for a 100-kW superconducting induction motor. Model A models entire motor in COMSOL using A-H formulation, considering nonlinear <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">E–J</i> relationship of high temperature superconducting tapes, which can calculate ac loss of motor directly; Combining another two models: Model B (the same entire superconducting motor in ANSYS) and model C (only superconducting stator windings in COMSOL) can achieve new method for calculating ac loss. The AC loss calculation error between two methods for two-layer windings in one slot is 2.5% and 7%, respectively. These results conclude the effectiveness and accuracy of “boundary field method.” More importantly, the computation time reduces dramatically from 48 hours in Model A to only 2 hours for proposed approach. This accurate and computationally efficient new numerical modeling approach could be used to calculate ac loss in various types of superconducting applications in future.