A Hybrid Analytical Model for the Electromagnetic Analysis of Surface-Mounted Permanent-Magnet Machines Considering Stator Saturation

Abstract

This article presents the process of building a hybrid analytical model (HAM) for surface-mounted permanent-magnet machines. The HAM couples a reluctance network (RN) model in the stator region with a magnetic scalar potential analytical model in the air gap and magnets regions. This hybrid model can deal with the slotting effect with straight teeth, and takes magnetic saturation into account in the stator iron material using the RN model. It is calculated under open-circuit and loaded conditions. The magnetic flux density, flux linkage, back electromotive force (EMF), and torque of the machines are also calculated. This hybrid model is compared with the subdomain method. It is also compared with the finite element method (FEM) both in terms of the size of the matrix that needs to be calculated and in terms of the torque error. We analyzed this method for two surface-mounted permanent-magnet machines, one with a symmetry factor of four and another with a symmetry factor of three. In both cases, HAM reduced the size of the matrix that needed to be solved compared to FEM. In the machine with a symmetry factor of three, when the matrix size of both FEM and HAM was around 1700 × 1700, the torque error of FEM was 2.62% compared to the high-mesh-density FEM simulation, while the torque error of HAM was only 0.17% compared to the same simulation. HAM also had significant advantages over the subdomain method, as it reduced the torque error from 16.8% to 0.08% in the case of high magnetic saturation. The HAM can, hence, play a significant role in the design and optimization of surface-mounted permanent-magnet machines, especially in cases where magnetic saturation is present.