The Sinusoidal Air-gap Magnetic Field Design of Axial Flux Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors

C. S. Zhang, Y. Fan, G. G. Li, H. Y. Chu

Department of Electrical Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, 100044, Beijing, China
Abstract The axial flux permanent magnet synchronous motors have features of short axial length, high energy density and great torque. They have found applications in computer peripherals, electric vehicles in-wheel drive and flywheel energy storage devices. The paper research analytically three methods for forming sinusoidal air gap magnetic field, and put forward that the method with magnets of uniform magnetization, equal thickness and unequal width is the optimum choice. In the numerical analysis of air-gap magnetic field, the authors propose making magnets of equal thickness and unequal width equivalent to that of unequal thickness and equal width, and taking section at average radius as computation plane. The results of finite element analysis with ANSYS software validate the analytical design. Keywords Permanent magnet motor, axial flux, air gap magnetic field, finite element

unequal width is the optimum choice. In the numerical analysis of air-gap magnetic field, the authors propose making magnets of equal thickness and unequal width equivalent to that of unequal thickness and equal width, then taking section at average radius as computation plane. The results of finite element analysis with ANSYS software validate the analytical design. For the convenience of analysis, the hypotheses are made as following (1) Neglecting cogging effect. (2) Considering that magnetic circuit is not saturated. (3) Neglecting ferromagnet MMF drop in magnetic circuit. II. PERMANENT M AGNET IS THICKNESS!EQUAL, FANLIKE AND M AGNETIZED NONUNIFORMLY The magnet planform is as Fig.1. The profile chart of axial flux motors at the average radius of magnets is as Fig.2.

I. INTRODUCTION The axial flux permanent magnet synchronous motors have features of short axial length, high energy density and great torque, it is suitable for cases that the installation space is special (the axial space is limited) and high torque is required. The axial flux permanent magnet synchronous motors have been applied to computer peripherals, electric vehicles in-wheel drive, flywheel energy storage devices [1-4] and so on. In these applications, operation smoothness is important, so the air-gap magnetic field of axial flux permanent magnet motors should be designed sinusoidally. Literature [5] presented a method of determining optimal ratio of magnets thickness to winding thickness and estimated air-gap magnetic flux density in axial flux permanent magnet motor by a curve of second order. Literature [6] studied the influence of magnets shape on the harmonic torque. In [7], a 3-D finite element method was adopted to analyze air-gap magnetic field. A 2-D or 3-D vector potential analytical method was used in [8] and [9] respectively to predict air-gap magnetic field, and another analytical method, scalar potential method, was found in [10] to calculate air-gap magnetic field. Literature [11] divided the yoke into N rings, and took the section at average radius of every ring as computation plane, then fulfilled 2-D finite element analysis in N computation planes. The permanent magnet synchronous motors air-gap magnetic field waveform is determined mainly with the shape of permanent magnets. The paper research analytically three methods for forming sinusoidal air !gap magnetic field, and put forward that the method with magnets of uniform magnetization, equal thickness and

Fig.1 The magnet planform of axial flux motors

1 Stator iron 2 Air!gap 3 Permanent magnet 4 Rotor back iron Fig.2 Profile chart of axial flux motors at the average radius of magnet

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H m ( ) hm = H! (1) where Hm(") is permanent magnet magnetic field intensity at position ", hm is permanent magnet thickness, H#(") is air-gap magnetic field intensity at position ", is air-gap length.
The relation between permanent magnet flux and airgap flux is Bm ( )Am = k B ( )A (2) where Bm(") is flux density inside magnet at position ", B#(") is air-gap flux density at position ", k$ is leakage flux coefficient, %Am(") is permanent magnet area element at position ", %A#(") is air-gap area element at position ". Air-gap flux density and air!gap magnetic field intensity meet (3) B ( ) = 0 H ( ) (3) The flux density inside magnet at position " is (4) where Br(") is residual magnetic flux density at position ", &m is permanent magnet relative permeability. From (1), (2), (3) and (4), we have

The MMF balance equation is

Fig.3 The hysteresis loop and demagnetization curve of permanent magnet

magnetized uniformly and thickness!unequal permanent magnet to generate sinusoidal air-gap magnetic field. III. PERMANENT M AGNET IS FANLIKE # MAGNETIZED UNIFORMLY AND THICKNESS! UNEQUAL The magnetic circuit structure of thickness!unequal permanent magnet is as Fig. 4. In this case, (5) change to

Bm ( ) = Br ( ) m 0 H m ( )

(5) In order that the air!gap magnetic field distribution is sine wave, i.e., B#(")=B#cos". The residual magnetic flux density Br(") should vary cosinusiodally with ". The hysteresis loop and demagnetization curve of permanent magnet is as Fig.3. If the external magnetizing magnetic field intensity is greater than the magnet saturation magnetic filed intensity Hs, the magnet residual magnetic flux density is Br. In general, the external magnetizing magnetic field intensity is more than twice of the magnet saturation field magnetic intensity Hs for the magnetic stability of permanent magnet. At position ", if the required residual magnetic flux density B r(")=Ba, the external magnetizing magnetic intensity should be Ha. In engineering, it is almost impossible to implement different magnetizing intensity at different position in a piece of magnet, not to say making the residual magnetic flux density of magnet vary cosinusiodally with ". If it be possible, the residual magnetic flux density is not stable, and the residual magnetic flux density Br(")=Ba will retain not long time before demagnetization. Consequently, the air-gap magnetic flux density will be nonsinusoidal, and the motor will be encountered great torque pulsation and deficiency. In the method of forming sinusoidal air-gap magnetic field discussed above, permanent magnet is thickness! equal, so it is easy to manufacture permanent magnet and the cost is low, but the magnetizating techniques is difficult to come true. In section ", we will discuss using

k A Br ( ) = ( + m ) B ( ) Am hm

hm ( ) =

m hB cos k A Br + ( m ) B cos Am

(6)

where h is the distance between the bottom of stator iron and the top of rotor back iron. In order to form sinusoidal air !gap magnetic field, the magnet thickness must meet (6) at every position of permanent magnet. This is a complicated curved surface, the machining cost is high and efficiency is low, so it is not prone to produce in batch. The method discussed in this section make magnet stable saturated after magnetizing, but the magnets are difficult to be shaped. In next section, we adopt magnetized uniformly and thickness! equal magnet, which is convenient in both manufacture and magnetization of magnet, to establish sinusoidal air-gap magnetic field IV. PERMANENT M AGNET IS MAGNETIZED UNIFORMLY AND THICKNESS!EQUAL, THE S INUSOIDAL MAGNETIC FIELD FORM THROUGH SPECIAL DESIGNED M AGNET
SHAPE

The shape of permanent magnet which is magnetized uniformly and thickness!equal is as Fig.5.

Br ( ) = Br (7) The sinusoidal air-gap magnetic field is gained through changing %Am to %Am(") at position ", thus

In (5), Br(") is fixed at different position,

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and meet the need of engineering precision, i.e., thickness!equal and width-unequal magnets are equivalent to thickness!unequal and width-equal magnets, the section at average radius is adopted as the computation plane, and basing on the plane a 2-D finite element analysis of air-gap magnetic field can be implemented. The equivalent conversion from magnet shape as Fig.5 to the shape as Fig.4 base on the condition that the air-gap flux densities at position " in both cases are equal, so the equivalent magnet thickness can be calculated with (10)
Fig.4 The profile chart of thickness! unequal magnet magnetic circuit structure at average radius of magnet

hm ( ) =

m k A k A + m Am ( ) Am hm

(10)

the magnets equivalent thickness varies with position angle ". For the symmetry of axial motors, the air-gap is distributed periodically, so we choose a pole-pitch as computation area, the periodic boundary conditions are satisfied at the boundaries, and the computation workload can be reduced. Fig.6 is the equivalent finite element model at computation plane of one pole-pitch with finite element software ANSYS, in which A1 is silicon steel sheets, A2 is cast-iron, and A3 is permanent magnet. Form Maxwell's equations, we have
Fig.5 The planform of magnetized uniformly and thickness!equal magnet

2 Az 2 Az + = J z x 2 y 2
(8) where Az is vector potential. The boundary conditions are as following on AD and BC:

(11)

Am ( ) =

k A B hm cos Br hm 0 B cos

The width of magnet at position " can be calculated with (9)

where w(") is magnet width at position ", ri is magnet inner radius. The axial flux PM motors air!gap magnetic field is small at the submarginal area, so we select ri about 1.1 to 1.2 times iron core inner radius to keep the effective air! gap magnetic field passing through the middle part of stator iron. IV. INFINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS AND VALIDATION OF AIR-GAP MAGNETIC F IELD IN AXIAL FLUX PERMANENT MAGNET MOTORS In order to carry through accurate numerical analysis of air-gap magnetic field in axial flux permanent magnet, 3-D finite element analysis is needed [7], but 3-D finite element analysis is too complicated and time-consuming in engineering design. A simplified 2-D finite element method is proposed, which can reduce computation time

1 W 2 ( ) + riW ( ) Am ( ) = 0 2

Az = 0
on AB and DC:

(12) (13)

(9)

Az

AB

= AZ

DC

Fig.7 is the flux lines distribution, Fig.8 is magnetic flux density vector plot, and Fig.9 is air-gap magnetic flux density waveform. From Fig.9, we can conclude that the air-gap magnetic flux density waveform is almost sinusoidal wave with the magnets designed according to (8) and (9).
A D

B
Fig.6 the equivalent finite element model at computation plane with ANSYS

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REFERENCES
[1] A. H. Wijenayake, J. M.Bailey, P. J. McCleer, ( Design optimization of an axial gap permanent magnet brushless DC motor for electric vehicle applications,) in Proc. Thirtieth Conf. Ind. Appl., IAS 95, vol.1, pp.685 - 692 , Oct. 1995. [2] D, Patterson, R. Spee, ( The design and development of an axial flux permanent magnet brushless DC motor for wheel drive in a solar powered vehicle, ) IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 31, no.5, pp. 1054 ! 1061, Sept.-Oct. 1995 [3] G. H. Jang , J. H. Chang, ( Development of an Axial-Gap Spindle Motor for Computer Hard Disk Drives Using PCB Winding and Dual Air Gaps, ) IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 38, No. 5, Sep. 2002 [4] F, Sahin, A. M. Tuckey, A. J. A. Vandenput, ( Design, development and testing of a high-speed axial-flux permanent-magnet machine, ) in Proc. Thirtieth-Sixth Conf. Ind. Appl., IAS 2001, vol.3, pp. 1640 1647, Sept.- Oct. 2001. [5] H. Takano, T. Itoh, K. Mori, A. Sakuta, T. Hirasa, ( Optimum Values For Magnet And Armature Winding Thickness For AxialField Permanent Magnet Brushless DC Motors, ) IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol.28, no.2, pp.350 !357, Mar.-Apr. 1992. [6] P. C. Coles, D. Rodger, R. J. Hill-Cottingham, H.C. Lai, M. Lamperth, A.Walker, ( Design and analysis of an axial flux permanent magnet machine,) in Proc. Second Conf. Power Electronics, Machines and Drives, PEMD 2004, vol.2, pp. 840 ! 843, Mar.-Apr. 2004 [7] M. Aydin, S. Huang, T. A. Lipo, ( Optimum design and 3D finite element analysis of nonslotted and slotted internal rotor type axial flux PM disc machines, ) in Proc. IEEE Summer Conf. Power Eng., vol.3, pp. 1409 ! 1416, July 2001. [8] J. R. Bumby, R. Martin, M. A. Mueller, E. Spooner, N.L. Brown, B. J. Chalmers, ( Electromagnetic design of axial-flux permanent magnet machines, ) in Proc. IEE Conf. Electric Power Appl., vol.151, no 2, pp.151!160, Mar.2004. [9] E. P. Furlani, M. A. Knewtson, ( A Three-Dimensional Field Solution for Permanent-Magnet Axial-Field Motors, ) IEEE Trans. Magn., vol.33, no.3, may 1997. [10] A. Parviainern, M, Niemel+, J. Pyrh.onen, ( Modeling of Axial flux Permanent-Magnet Machines,) IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol.40, no.5, pp.1333-1339, Sep.Oct.2004 [11] E. P. Furlani, ( A Method for Predicting the Field in PermanentMagnet Axial-Field Motors, ) IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 28, no. 5, Sept. 1992 [12] D. J. Patterson, ( Contemporary finite element analysis techniques for permanent magnet brushless DC machines, with application to axial flux traction systems for electric vehicles,) in Proc. Conf. Power Electronic Drives and Energy Systems for Indu. Growth, vol.2, pp. 880 ! 885, Dec. 1998. [13] P. C. K. Luk, T. S. El-Hasan, ( Effects of magnet topology on the harmonics of slotless-ironless axial flux permanent magnet generators. )in Proc. IEEE International Conf. Magn. Intermag Europe 2002. [14] ANSYS Inc,$ ANSYS Electromagnetic Field Analysis Guide%

Fig.7 The flux lines distribution computed with ANSYS

Fig.8 Magnetic flux density vector plot

Fig.8 The air-gap magnetic flux density waveform computed with ANSYS

VI CONCLUSION (1) The authors propose the analytical design method of magnets for achieving sinusoidal air-gap magnetic field in axial flux permanent magnet motors. The results of finite element analysis with ANSYS software validate the analytical design. (2) In the numerical analysis of air-gap magnetic field in axial flux permanent magnet motors, the authors put forth a simplified 2-D finite element analysis method that make magnets of equal thickness and unequal width equivalent to that of unequal thickness and equal width, and take section at average radius as computation plane, the computation time can be reduced.

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