386 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 18, NO.

3, SEPTEMBER 2003

Analytical Model for Permanent Magnet Motors With

Surface Mounted Magnets
Amuliu Bogdan Proca, Member, IEEE, Ali Keyhani, Fellow, IEEE, Ahmed EL-Antably, Member, IEEE,
Wenzhe Lu, Student Member, IEEE, and Min Dai, Student Member, IEEE

Abstract—This paper presents an analytical method of modeling back-emf shape, etc. Although the common method of obtaining
permanent magnet (PM) motors. The model is dependent only on the air gap field density waveform is FEA, it is time-consuming
geometrical and materials data which makes it suitable for inser- even on powerful computers and it is difficult to be inserted in
tion into design programs, avoiding long finite element analysis
(FEA) calculations. The modeling procedure is based on the calcu- an iterative design procedure. It is therefore desirable to use al-
lation of the air gap field density waveform at every time instant. ternative methods to evaluate the air gap field density. Previous
The waveform is the solution of the Laplacian/quasi -Poissonian efforts were concentrated mainly on evaluating the field density
field equations in polar coordinates in the air gap and takes into of the permanent magnets. Miller [4] proposes a method of ana-
account slotting. The model allows the rated performance calcula- lytically calculating the EMF shape from geometrical data based
tion but also such effects as cogging torque, ripple torque, back-emf
form prediction, some of which are neglected in commonly used an- on BLv formula. The method is based on the single tooth coil
alytical models. rather then a full pitch coil. Sebastian [5] calculates the air gap
field density using FEA and assuming a constant airgap (based
Index Terms—Analytical models, finite element analysis, perma-
nent magnet synchronous motor design. on the fact that the rotor is skewed) corrected by Carter’s coeffi-
cient and then finds an empirical formula to describe its shape.
Then the flux is calculated by integrating on a surface as a func-
I. INTRODUCTION tion of the rotor angle. J. de la Ree and Boules [6] assume the
flux density in the air gap as known (from FEA) and develop
P ERMANENT magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) have
been around for many years, especially for low power ap-
plications, such as servomotors and alternators. Their main ad-
a method of studying the cogging and ripple torque for surface
mounted and buried permanent magnet motors. In [7], Boules
vantage, over comparable motors, is the absence of the excita- develops a model for the permanent magnet motor in rectan-
tion winding. gular coordinates and uses an equivalent pole-arc to correct the
The design of permanent magnet motors requires a series of variation of the circumferential depth of the magnet with the ra-
iterative computations based on the selection of different config- dius. Other analytical models for the magnetic field density in
urations. These include the choice of geometrical dimensions, the air gap were presented in [8]–[13]. Their major drawback
materials, parameter calculations, etc. The designer needs to as- is that they do not account for the effect of slotting and they
sume certain dimensions and materials and then calculate the consider the recoil permeability of the permanent magnets to
performance of the designed motor. The performance is then be equal to one. The most recent method was reported by Zhu,
compared with the desired specification. If the specifications are Howe [1]–[3] and consisted in solving Laplacian/quasi -Poisso-
not satisfied, the designer has to modify the design to improve nian field equations in polar coordinates on the air gap of the
the performance of the motor. Most designers use empirical re- PM machine. The effect of slotting is taken into account using
lations for motor parameters or simplified analytical models in either a 1-d model (the variable being the angular position) or a
the early stages of the design and then use finite element anal- 2-d model (dependent on both the angular position and the ra-
ysis (FEA) in second stages of the design for better performance dial position). Their approach is used in the present paper, but,
evaluation. rather then focussing only on the air gap field density, deriva-
The air gap magnetic field density provides valuable informa- tions for cogging torque, electromagnetic torque and back-emf
tion in evaluating motor performance. Knowledge of the field shape are also performed.
density will not only allow rated performance calculation but
also calculation of such effects as cogging torque, ripple torque,
II. PERMANENT MAGNET MOTOR MODEL USING THE AIR GAP
Manuscript received November 22, 2002. This work was supported in part by FIELD DENSITY
Delphi Automotive Systems and the National Science Foundation under Grant
ECS-9625662. Fig. 1 represents the permanent magnet model used in this
A. B. Proca is with Solidstate Controls Inc., Columbus, OH 43085 USA
(e-mail: [email protected]). paper for phase A. Similar models are used for the other two
A. Keyhani, W. Lu, and M. Dai are with the Department of Electrical Engi- phases. The voltage EA represent the self-inducted voltage of
neering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 USA (e-mail: key- phase A whereas EB and EC represent the voltages mutually
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]).
A. El-Antably is with Allison Transmission, Indianapolis, IN 46250 USA. generated by phases B and C. EPM represents the voltage gen-
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TEC.2003.815829 erated by the rotating permanent magnets fields on phase A. The
0885-8969/03$17.00 © 2003 IEEE
PROCA et al.: ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR PERMANENT MAGNET MOTORS WITH SURFACE MOUNTED MAGNETS 387

Fig. 1. PM motor model per phase.

above voltages can be expressed as

(1)

(2) Fig. 2. Cross-section of the motor.

wave shape of the magnetic field density referred to the rotor

(3) also changes with position. In order to obtain a position inde-
pendent mapping, an approach similar to the one in [3] was
used. The authors mapped the air gap field density to the di-
(4) mensions of the motor assuming a slotless stator. The field den-
sity function was then multiplied with the relative air gap per-
where is the total number of slots, is the number of meance function, as described in [3] for a 1-D model. Fig. 2
coils per phase, is the length of the rotor, and is its speed. It shows a motor section and the stator and rotor references used
is assumed that the phase resistance can be easily calculated throughout this paper.
from the winding data. The leakage inductance is approxi- Using the same variables as in the picture, the instantaneous
mated as in [14] and is of little interest in this study. In the first value of the permanent magnet field density in the air gap is
equation, represents the average instantaneous magnetic
field density created by coil of phase A in slot of phase A.
Equations (2) and (3) are represented in a similar fashion. In the (5)
fourth equation, represents the average field density cre- where is the field density function for a slotless
ated by the permanent magnets on slot of phase A. stator, is the angular position on the rotor surface, is the
The advantages of using such a model over other existing rotor displacement, and is the position referenced to the rotor.
models is that it can predict parasitic effects in the permanent is the relative air gap permeance function that accounts for
magnet machine, such as cogging torque, ripple torque, and non- slotting and is based on the assumption that the magnetic flux
sinusoidal back-emf. To be able to use the above model, knowl- lines have semicircular paths in the slots with radii equal to the
edge of both the permanent magnet field and the ar- shortest distance to the tooth edges as shown in Fig. 3.
mature field ( , , ) variation as a function of angular The relative permeance function can be derived as
position is needed.
(6)
III. ASSUMPTIONS
Certain assumptions have to be taken into account for this and outside the slots, where is the distance between
model. The magnets are surface mounted and are magnetized point where the field is evaluated and the closest tooth edge,
radially. The stator slots are either rectangular or trapezoidal as is the air gap length, and is the magnet depth. The instanta-
shown in Fig. 2. Also, the following material assumptions were neous field density distribution of one magnetic pole
used. assuming a slotless stator, is calculated as in [1]. The permanent
• The ferromagnetic material of the core has a linear B-H magnet magnetization, shown in Fig. 4 for a pair of poles, is de-
curve. composed in a Fourier series of odd terms as follows:
• Saturation is neglected.
• The spacer between the magnets has the same perme- (7)
ability as the magnets.
where is the magnetic remanence of the permanent magnet
material, is the magnet pitch/pole pitch ratio, and
IV. PERMANENT MAGNET FIELD is the number of pair of poles.
The permanent magnet field density of the motor is affected By solving the magnetic potential distribution equations in the
by slotting. Slotting is dependent on the rotor position and the air gap in polar coordinates [1], an expression for the permanent
388 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 18, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2003

Fig. 5. Current sheet distribution for a coil.

Fig. 3. Approximation of the flux line paths in a slot.
V. ARMATURE FIELD
The armature field density of one phase can be modeled as
a summation of the field densities created by each coil of that
phase. For example, the armature field of a phase of a three-
phase, six-pole, and 18-slot motor (as shown in Fig. 2) can be
derived as

(10)

where the three coils sitting in slots 1 and 4, 7 and 10, and 13
and 16 all contribute to phase A flux density.
To calculate the armature reaction field density of a single
Fig. 4. Magnetization of permanent magnets. coil, the stator is first assumed slotless, and the armature field
is calculated. Then the relative permeance function is estimated
magnetfielddistributionatthestatorsurfaceresults:(Seeequation as in the permanent magnet field section. The product between
atthebottomofthepage)where istheradiusatthestatorsurface, the slotless stator field and the relative permeance function will
is the radius at the magnet surface, and is the radius at the provide the expression of the armature reaction field for one coil.
rotor core surface and . For the case in which For the slotless stator armature field calculation, it is assumed
the product (fundamental of the field density of a twp-pole that the current density sheet is uniform along the slot opening,
motor), (8) cannot be used. The solution of the magnetic potential as shown in Fig. 5.
distribution equations in the air gap yields Using the coordinate system of Fig. 2, the Fourier series ex-
pansion of the current density sheet results in

(11)
where is the instantaneous value of the current, is the slot
opening, and is the coil opening angle. By solving the mag-
(9) netic potential distribution equations in the air gap in polar co-
ordinates [2], an expression for the armature field density of a

(8)
PROCA et al.: ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR PERMANENT MAGNET MOTORS WITH SURFACE MOUNTED MAGNETS 389

coil (distributed in slots k and l) is obtained • is similar for phases B and C;

• if is outside the
slot opening.

The ripple in the electromagnetic torque has three main

causes. The first is the nonsinusoidal shape of the currents in
most brushless dc motors. The second cause is the mismatch in
shape between the back-emf shape and the current shape. The
third is given by the presence of the stator slots. Equation (17)
(12) is able to predict all three causes. However, in our simulations,
the currents were presumed sinusoidal, and consequently, the
and when slotting is considered first component will not appear.
The cogging torque is the torque that results from the noncon-
(13) stant airgap reluctance due to slotting (i.e. due to the tendency
of the rotor to align with the low reluctance paths). The torque
is produced by the fluxes that enter the teeth walls, as shown in
Fig. 3. Using the notations of Fig. 3, the cogging torque expres-
VI. TORQUE CALCULATION sion results into
The instantaneous torque can be expressed as the derivative
of the co-energy in respect to the rotor-stator position in the air
gap

(14)

The co-energy can be expressed as

(18)
(15)

where is the component due only to the PM field (cogging

torque), is the component due to the interaction be- Numerically, the equation becomes
tween the armature field and the permanent magnet field (elec-
tromagnetic torque) and is the component due to the ar-
mature field only (reluctance torque). Assuming that the rotor
has no saliency (the filler has the same permeability as the mag- (19)
nets), the third term in the equation is zero. The electromagnetic where
torque can be calculated as the summation of the torques pro- and outside the slot opening;
duced by the current-field interaction at each slot and on the left side of the slot
opening;
and on the right side of the slot
(16) opening.

VII. BACK-EMF CALCULATION

Numerically, the equation becomes The back-emf is the voltage induced in the stator windings by
the variable magnetic field in the airgap. There are two common
definitions of the back emf in literature. One definition regards
the back emf as only the effect of the rotor magnetic field, where
(17) as the other one also includes the mutually and self-induced
where is the number of samples in which the evaluation is voltage between windings as part of the back emf. In this study,
performed the second definition will be used.
The back emf of one phase can be calculated as the summa-
tion of the voltages induced in each coil side of that phase

(20)

• if is in
a phase A slot and the current has negative direction; where is the magnetic flux in slot j. The numerical expression
390 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 18, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2003

(a) (a)

(b) (b)

(c) (c)
Fig. 6. Comparison with FEA for PM field density. Fig. 7. Comparison with FEA for armature field density.

of the above equation becomes

where if is a phase A slot and the direction of the
conductor is positive; if is a phase A slot and the
direction of the conductor is negative; otherwise.

VIII. COMPARISON WITH FINITE ELEMENT RESULTS

The analytical model developed in this paper was compared
with a FEA model. As a test case, a motor with three phases, six
poles, and 18 slots was chosen. Fig. 6 shows a comparison be-
tween the PM field density in the air gap for various dimensions
(21)
of the motor.
PROCA et al.: ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR PERMANENT MAGNET MOTORS WITH SURFACE MOUNTED MAGNETS 391

[5] T. Sebastian and V. Gangla, “Analysis of induced EMF waveforms and

torque ripple in a brushless permanent magnet machine,” IEEE Trans.
Ind. Applicat., vol. 32, pp. 195–200, Jan./Feb. 1996.
[6] J. de la Ree and N. Boules, “Torque production in permanent-magnet
synchronous motors,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 25, pp. 107–112,
Jan./Feb. 1989.
[7] N. Boules, “Two dimensional field analysis of cylindrical machines with
permanent magnet excitation,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. IA-20,
pp. 1267–1277, Mar. 1984.
[8] G. R. Slemon, “On the design of high-performance surface-mounted
PM motors,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 30, pp. 134–140, Jan./Feb.
1994.
[9] Q. Gu and H. Gao, “Airgap field for PM electrical machines,” Electrical
Machines and Power Systems, vol. 10, pp. 459–470, 1985.
[10] T. Sebastian and M. A. Rahman, “Modeling of permanent magnet syn-
chronous motors,” IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. MAG-22, pp. 1069–1071,
Sept. 1986.
[11] J. Y. Hung and Z. Ding, “Design of currents to reduce torque ripple in
Fig. 8. Comparison with FEA for cogging torque. brushless permanent magnet motors,” in Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng.–Elect.
Power Applicat., vol. 140, July 1993, pp. 260–266.
[12] M. A. Alhamadi and N. A. Demerdash, “The dimensional magnetic field
computation by a coupled vector-scalar potential method in brushless
DC motors with skewed permanent magnet mounts—the no-load and
load results,” IEEE Trans. Energy Conversion, vol. 9, pp. 15–22, Mar.
1994.
[13] H. R. Bolton, Y. D. Liu, and N. M. Mallinson, “Investigation into a
class of brushless DC motor with quasisquare voltages and currents,”
in Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng.–Elect. Power Applicat., vol. 133, Mar. 1986,
pp. 103–111.
[14] D. C. Hanselman, Brushless Permanent-Magnet Motor Design. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.

Amuliu Bogdan Proca (S’96–M’01) received the M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. degrees
in electrical engineering from The Ohio State University, Columbus, in 1997
and 2001, respectively.
Currently, he is with Solidstate Controls, Inc., Columbus. His research in-
terests include electric machines control, modeling, parameter estimation, and
Fig. 9. Comparison with FEA for total torque. design.

Fig. 7 shows a comparison between the armature reaction Ali Keyhani (S’72–M’76–SM’89–F’98) received the Ph.D. degree from Purdue
University, West Lafayette, IN, in 1975.
field density for various coil angles. Fig. 8 shows a comparison Currently, he is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at The Ohio State Uni-
between the cogging torque obtained using FEA and the ana- versity, Columbus. From 1967 to 1969, he was with Hewlett-Packard Co., Palo
lytical model for the test case for one slot pitch. Fig. 9 shows a Alto, CA, involved in the computer-aided design of electronic transformers.
From 1970 to 1973, he was with Columbus and Southern Ohio Electric Co.
comparison between the total torque (comprising of both elec- in computer applications for power system engineering problems. In 1974, he
tromagnetic and cogging) using FEA and the analytical model. joined TRW Controls and worked on the development of computer programs
Sinusoidal currents were used in the simulation. A torque angle for energy control centers. From 1976 to 1980, he was a Professor of Electrical
Engineering at Tehran Polytechnic, Tehran, Iran. His research interests include
of 30 was used to emphasize the ripple in the torque function. control and modeling, parameter estimation, failure detection of electric ma-
chines, transformers, and drive systems.
IX. CONCLUSIONS
Ahmed EL-Antably (M’02) received the M.S. degree in control engineering
A method for modeling permanent magnet motors has been and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Sussex,
developed in this paper. The model is based on the magnetic U.K., in 1975 and 1980, respectively.
field density in the machine air-gap. The model allows the Currently, he is with Allison Transmission, Indianapolis, IN. He worked in
various oil fields pumping stations from 1968 to 1973. He was also with West-
calculation of such effects as cogging torque, ripple torque, inghouse Electric Corporation from 1980 to 1989, involved in the design, anal-
back-emf form prediction, and effects usually neglected in ysis, manufacturing, testing, and service of electric drive motor systems. He is
commonly used analytical models. The model can be used in the author of 15 publications and the holder of four patents.
an iterative design program and reduces the use of FEA. Wenzhe Lu (S’00) received the B.S. degree from Xi’an Jiaotong University,
Xi’an, China, in 1993, and the M.S. degree from Tsinghua University, Beijing,
China, in 1996. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical engi-
REFERENCES neering at The Ohio State University, Columbus.
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[2] Z. Q. Zhu and D. Howe, “Instantaneous magnetic field distribution in
brushless permanent magnet motors, part II: armature reaction field,” Min Dai (S’99) received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering
IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 29, pp. 136–142, Jan. 1993. from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 1994 and 1997, respectively,
[3] , “Instantaneous magnetic field distribution in brushless permanent and the M.S. degree in computer science from the University of Alabama,
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vol. 29, pp. 143–151, Jan. 1993. He joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at The Ohio State
[4] T. J. E. Miller and R. Rabinovici, “Back-EMF waveforms and core losses University, Columbus, in 1999. His current research interests include electrical
in brushless DC motors,” in Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng. Elect. Power Ap- machines and variable speed drives, power electronics, and distributed power
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