International Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences (IJEMS) Vol. 8. (2023). No.

1
DOI: 10.21791/IJEMS.2023.1.6.

Simulation of BLDC Motor Drive Systems for Electric

Vehicles Using Matlab Simulink

D. NEMES1, S. HAJDU2
1Doctoral School of Informatics, University of Debrecen, 4028 Debrecen, Kassai Road 26.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Debrecen, 4028 Debrecen, Ótemető
Street 2-4., [email protected]
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Debrecen, 4028 Debrecen,

Ótemető Street 2-4., [email protected]

Abstract. The defining scientific developments of our time would not have been possible without the use of simulations.
The aim of the research is to create a simulation of a BLDC motor. When creating a simulation, great emphasis must
be placed on defining the purpose of the simulation. This basically determines the structure and complexity of the
model. The model discussed here was created so that an optimization task could be defined more precisely by inserting
it as a sub-model into a vehicle dynamics model. Scalability was another aspect, that is, to be able to increase the
accuracy of the model with measured data in the future, as well as to be able to validate it. During the research, a
BLDC motor efficiency map generation program was created, as well as an environment for testing the generated
data. The created system gives researchers the opportunity to use a shape-correct efficiency model when simulating
a BLDC motor even without measured data. This makes it possible to discover real relationships between model
parameters when performing optimization.

Keywords: vehicle, Matlab, BLDC, dynamic simulation, submodel, electric motor

Introduction
The purpose of this article is to introduce a simulation model suitable for analysing BLDC motor drives
used in electric vehicles. If the simulated motor is physically available, there is an opportunity to
measure the efficiency map. R. Wang and his colleagues measured the driving and braking efficiency
map of a pure electric ground vehicle (Wang et al., 2011). This method is unavailable to us, so another
solution must be used. H. Patel and H. Chandwani simulated a BLDC motor in Matlab Simulink and
verified it (Patel and Chandwani, 2021). The detailed simulation of the electric motor provides an
opportunity to achieve higher accuracy, but for this it is necessary to verify the simulated model. The
combined FEM simulations also have too much simulation time. A good example of this can be seen in
the research of R. Caramia and his colleagues (Caramia, Piotuch and Pałka, 2014). Our goal is to create
a flexible submodel that can be easily modified and can be run quickly. In the book of L. James and L.
John can be found a simple method to parameterise the electric motor losses based on the physical base
(Larminie and Lowry, 2012). In our research this method was used to model a series of BLDC motors.

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 International Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences (IJEMS) Vol. 8. (2023). No. 1
DOI: 10.21791/IJEMS.2023.1.6.

1. The BLDC motor simulation block

Due to our later research goals, the simulation of BLDC motor drives with several performance levels is
necessary. For this purpose, a series of BLDC motors were created with different power ranges. Later
these motors will be used in vehicle dynamics simulations. Table 1 contains the main parameters of
created motor series.
Table 1 Main parameters of created motor series

Maximum torque Maximum power

60 Nm 20 kW
100 Nm 40 kW
150 Nm 60 kW
200 Nm 80 kW
250 Nm 100 kW
This wide power range makes it possible to analyze the behaviour of the vehicle dynamics model in
extreme load cases. In order to analize the dynamic behavior of BLDC motor drive system a simulation
diagram is defined by using Matlab/Simulink, see in Figure 1. This simuation diagram represents a
measuring testbench. This simulation model - in addition to the BLDC motor - also contains the battery,
DC/DC converter, speed controller, inertial moment load, and sensors.

Figure 1 The simulation diagram of drive system

As can be seen in the diagarm above, the different physical domains are represented by different colours.
The blue color represents the parts of the electrical system, the green color represents the rotating
mechanical signals, the light brown color represents the general physical signals, and the black color
represents the Simulink signals. The inputs include the reference speed of the motor which is the input
signal of the motor controller. This controller creates the required torque signal for the motor. In the
simulation diagram the brake torque input can also be found which can be a step function or a ramp
function. During the simulation first the BLDC motor speed increases to the reference 3000 RPM and
then at 12 seconds the brake torque is applied. Between the active blocks, the voltage and current of
the battery and the DC-DC converter as well as the torque and speed of the motor were measured.

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 International Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences (IJEMS) Vol. 8. (2023). No. 1
DOI: 10.21791/IJEMS.2023.1.6.

2. Definition of the efficiency map for the BLDC motor drive system
The efficiency map for the BLDC motor drive system – due to the lack of measuring possibilities – was
created by using the following equation (Larminie and Lowry, 2012).

output power T∙ω

ηm = = (1)
optput power+losses T∙ω+kc ∙T2 +𝑘𝑖 ∙𝜔+𝑘𝑤 ∙𝜔3 +𝐶
Where:
𝑊
kc [𝑁𝑚2 ] – copper losses coefficient
𝑊
ki [ 𝑟𝑎𝑑 ] – iron losses coefficient
𝑠

𝑊
kw [ 𝑟𝑎𝑑 3
] – windage losses coefficient
( )
𝑠
C [W] – constant power losses
T [Nm] – motor torque
𝑟𝑎𝑑
ω [ 𝑠 ] – motor speed

By using Equation 1 a lookup table of efficiency map was created for simulation purposes.

3. Results
One of the aims of this research is to tune the kc, ki, kw C parameters to generate efficiency maps similar
like a catalogue efficiency map. Two of generated maps were shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Generated efficiency maps

(Maximum torque 60 Nm and maximum power 20 kW on left,

Maximum torque 250 Nm and maximum power 100 kW on right)

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 International Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences (IJEMS) Vol. 8. (2023). No. 1
DOI: 10.21791/IJEMS.2023.1.6.

In order to make it easier to follow the simulation, the input and the output data were plotted. These
can be seen in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Inputs and outputs of simulation

(The reference speed of motor and the brake torque on left,
The measured motor speed and torque on right)

It can be seen here that the motor speed increases to the reference RPM and then decreases. During this,
the brake torque continuously increases from 12 seconds. Figure 4 shows the efficiency map, the motor
curve and the simulated RPM-torque diagram.

Figure 4. The Efficiency map and the simulated RPM-Torque diagram

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 International Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences (IJEMS) Vol. 8. (2023). No. 1
DOI: 10.21791/IJEMS.2023.1.6.

4. Summary
In this article the dynamic simulation possibilities of a BLDC motor drive system was presented. A
simulation model was created by using the Matlab/Simulink simulation environment. The parameters
of the simulation model were set so that the simulation provided realistic results. The demonstrated
model later will be used for dynamic simulations and optimizations of electric vehicle drivetrains.

5. Acknowledgments
The research was supported by the Thematic Excellence Programme (TKP2020-NKA-04) of the Ministry
for Innovation and Technology in Hungary, within the framework of the (Automotive Industry) thematic
program of the University of Debrecen

References
[1] Caramia, R., Piotuch, R. and Pałka, R. (2014) ‘Multiobjective FEM based optimization of BLDC
motor using Matlab and Maxwell scripting capabilities’, Archives of Electrical Engineering, 63(1),
pp. 115–124. doi: 10.2478/aee-2014-0009.
[2] Larminie, J. and Lowry, J. (2012) James Larminie, John Lowry(auth.)-Electric Vehicle Technology
Explained, Second Edition (2012).pdf. Available at:
http://site.ebrary.com.vlib.interchange.at/lib/stategov/detail.action?docID=10579519&p00=el
ectric+vehicle+technology+explained.
[3] Patel, H. and Chandwani, H. (2021) ‘Simulation and experimental verification of modified
sinusoidal pulse width modulation technique for torque ripple attenuation in Brushless DC
motor drive’, Engineering Science and Technology, an International Journal, 24(3), pp. 671–681.
doi: 10.1016/j.jestch.2020.11.003.
[4] Wang, R. et al. (2011) ‘Development and performance characterization of an electric ground
vehicle with independently actuated in-wheel motors’, Journal of Power Sources, 196(8), pp.
3962–3971. doi: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2010.11.160.

2. © 2023 by the authors. Submitted for possible open access publication under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license
1. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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