Design of a Coreless Multi-Phase Electric Motor Using Magnetic Resonant Coupling

Abstract

With the emergence of electric vehicles and electric aircraft technologies, lightweight motors have become a requirement. Conventional motors are generally made up of coils, permanent magnets, heavy iron stators, and rotor cores. This article presents complete analytical modeling and design of a novel coreless multi-phase magnetic resonant motor (MMRM), conceptualized through the approach of magnetic resonance coupling. The removal of magnetic iron cores drastically reduces the weight of the resulting motor. The stator and rotor cores of the motor are made of reinforced plastic fibers and can be 3-D printed. Unrelated to the general operating principle of the existing conventional electric motors, resonant wireless power transfer (WPT) is the key feature of these motors. All the essential machine characteristics, such as self-inductance, mutual inductance, torque, and frequency domains, are fully developed. The mathematical modeling of the machine’s physical phenomena is linked to its operation by simulation. This article shows the design concept and discusses the simulation procedure used to verify the developed analytical model through a finite-element analysis (FEA) from the established modeling topology equivalent to the proposed configuration motor model. Although the design is straightforward, an accurate analytical modeling and analysis are significant challenges to consider.