Fractional-slot Permanent Magnet Motor Research Articles

A New Flux-Concentrating Rotor of Permanent Magnet Motor for Electric Vehicle Application

This article presents a new interior permanent magnet (IPM) rotor structure/ assembly, which inherits from the Halbach magnet configuration and spoke-type IPM rotor to achieve a high saliency ratio and high torque/ power density. With this rotor structure, the torque density and power density are improved obviously, while the rotor inner diameter can be maximized to reduce core material and increases internal space in the rotor. Accordingly, the electromagnetic performance of three motors consists of a unified stator but different rotors, namely flux-concentrating rotor, Halbach array permanent magnet (PM) rotor and spoke-type IPM rotor is compared by finite element analysis. Nevertheless, due to the segmented structure of flux-concentrating PM rotor without magnetic bridges, the mechanical challenges are analyzed in detail for electric vehicle application to hold the pole pieces validate the structural feasibility at 7200 r/min. Finally, a 72-slot/ 16-pole fractional-slot PM motor with new flux-concentrating rotor is manufactured and tested to verify its performance and feasibility. It can be concluded that the new rotor is superior to the spoke-type IPM and Halbach array PM rotor in terms of torque density and PM utilization.

Influence of Pole and Slot Combination on Torque Characteristics and Radial Force of Fractional Slot Permanent Magnet Machines

The fractional slot concentrated winding structure effectively solves the difficulty of low‐speed and high‐torque permanent magnet (PM) machines with a large number of poles and slots, but it also brings a wealth of magnetomotive force (MMF) harmonic. The winding function method is used to compare and analyze the stator MMF distribution and harmonic content of the fractional slot PM machines with different pole and slot combinations, and the cogging torque waveform and torque ripple are calculated by the finite element method. The influence of pole and slot combination on radial force and vibration modes of fractional slot PM machines is studied. The main vibration mode can be determined from the lowest order of radial force harmonics. The results show that in a fractional slot PM motor, the radial force is the main cause of noise and vibration, rather than the cogging torque and torque ripple. The dominant radial force is mainly produced by the interaction of rotor field harmonics and armature reaction field harmonics, and the vibration and noise will significantly increase with the decrease of the dominant vibration mode order, which largely depends on the pole and slot combination. This paper provides a certain reference for the selection of pole and slot combination in the electromagnetic design process of low speed high torque fractional slot PM motors. © 2021 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Modeling and Investigation on Electromagnetic Noise in PM Motors With Single- and Double-Layer Concentrated Winding for EV and HEV Application

The radial force and the torque pulsation are identified as two main causes of electromagnetic noise and vibration in permanent magnet (PM) motors for electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid EVs systems. The aim of this paper is to systematically investigate the influence of pole and slot number combinations on noise and vibration characteristics of fractional-slot PM motors with either single- or double-layer concentrated windings. Preferentially, the explicit magnetic field equations are developed for analyzing the radial vibration force and the torque pulsation by the aid of Schwarz-Christoffel conformal mapping. Subsequently, an in-depth investigation of pole ( $2p$ ) and slot ( $Q_{s}$ ) number combinations is carried out to provide a detailed finding of noise behaviors due to the electromagnetic origins. The investigation on the electromagnetic noise is performed depending on the several major $S_{\mathrm{ pp}}$ families. Finally, the relationship between the vibration mode order and the torque variation is established to provide the comprehensive characteristics of the electromagnetic noise.

Remarks on Torque Estimation Accuracy in Fractional-Slot Permanent-Magnet Motors

In permanent-magnet (PM) synchronous machines, when using integral-slot windings, the torque computed by using the d-q -axis theory is almost independent of the variation of the flux linkage with the rotor position. This is not verified when fractional-slot PM motors are used. The iron saturation greatly affects the torque behavior, increasing the torque ripple significantly. Particular care is necessary to determine the average torque and the torque ripple when dealing with fractional-slot PM motors. The analysis is carried out by means of a finite-element (FE) model. Since, in synchronous PM machines, the current control imposes constant d- and q-axis currents, the FE solutions are strictly related to the classical d- q-axis theory. The impact of iron saturation is taken into account, comparing a 24-slot 4-pole integral-slot machine and a 24-slot 20-pole fractional-slot-winding machine. Particular attention is given to the interior PM machines.

A Quantitative Comparative Analysis of a Novel Flux-Modulated Permanent-Magnet Motor for Low-Speed Drive

A novel low-speed flux-modulated (FM) permanent-magnet (PM) motor that breaks the traditional design rule, which stipulates that the number of stator pole pairs and the number of rotor pole pairs must be the same, is proposed. The FM motor has a special physical structure with iron segments in the air gap to modulate the magnetic field. In the design, the free space between adjacent stationary iron segments also acts as ventilating ducts to help improving the heat dissipation and ventilation of the motor. Its cogging torque is very small. In this paper, a rule for comparing the power density of electric motors is proposed. The performance of the FM motor is compared with those of a magnetic-geared PM motor, a traditional PM motor, and a fractional-slot PM motor by using magnetic field finite-element analysis.