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Published in IET Electric Power Applications
Received on 27th November 2012
Revised on 24th June 2013
Accepted on 1st July 2013
doi: 10.1049/iet-epa.2013.0109

ISSN 1751-8660

Optimal design of interior permanent magnet

synchronous motor considering the manufacturing
tolerances using Taguchi robust design
Sujin Lee, Kyuseob Kim, Sugil Cho, Junyong Jang, Taehee Lee, Jungpyo Hong
Department of Automotive Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea
E-mail: issue@hanyang.ac.kr

Abstract: The manufacturing tolerance of the permanent magnets (PMs) is inherent in the produce of the machine. These
tolerances influence back electromotive force (EMF), which is an important response of the motor. In order to enhance the
quality of the product, the authors need to reduce these tolerances, but it is very difficult and involves a number of costs.
Therefore, this study presents a robust design of the EMF characteristic analysis considering the manufacturing tolerances of
PM in the interior PM synchronous motor (IPMSM). Among the robust optimisation method, Taguchi robust design based on
orthogonal array was applied. Finally, the validity of the analysis result is verified by comparing the optimum design model
with present design model (mass production model) ones.

1 Introduction been widely applied to various fields [14]. Consequently, in

Interior permanent magnet synchronous motors (IPMSMs)
are widely used in home application, industrial, and electric
and hybrid vehicle propulsion, because of their high
efficiency, high torque density and wide speed range [1–7].
However, even though the electric motor is designed using
finite element analysis (FEA) [8], its performance is not
satisfactory in certain cases [9].
This is because the design approaches neglected the effects
of variation in the design variables such as the manufacturing
tolerances. In particular, variation of the material properties
and dimensional tolerances of the permanent magnet (PM)
influence the back electromotive force (EMF), which is an
important response of the motors; furthermore, products
cannot meet the required performance goals at times.
Therefore, the design techniques considering uncertainty, so
as to reduce the fraction defective of the motor, are necessary.
As the industrial environment becomes more and more
competitive, mass production with higher quality at lower
cost is significantly required. In order to enhance the quality
of the product, we need to reduce the tolerances, but it is
very difficult and involves a number of costs. In other
words, because tolerances of industrial products are
impossible to reduce at lower costs, designers have to tread
the tricky path between maintaining quality and keeping
manufacturing prices down through tolerance design.
Robust design technique which improves the quality of
products without reducing manufacturing tolerances can be
a sort of solution [10–12]. Many robust optimisation
methods have been developed to minimise variances of the
performances caused by tolerance [13]. Among that,
Taguchi robust design based on orthogonal array (OA) has
this paper, we confirm the critical design variables and
perform a robust design based on the Taguchi method by
considering tolerances in IPMSM. Finally, the validity of
the analysis result is verified by comparing the optimum
design model with present design model (mass production
model) ones.
2 Verification of the tolerance effect
2.1 Analysis model
The cross-section view of the analysis model and the motor
fabricated for the electric sub-water pump of the hybrid
vehicle is shown in Fig 1. The rated power and the rated
speed are 150 W and 3200 rpm. The detailed specifications
of this motor are listed in Table 1. This motor is driven by
rectangular voltage waveforms coupled with a given rotor
position. The voltage waveforms must be properly applied
to the two phases of the three-phase winding system to
keep the angle between the stator and the rotor flux close to
90˚ to generate maximum torque. To achieve this, the motor
requires electronic control for proper operation.
2.2 Analysis using FEA
Generally, time-stepping finite element method (FEM) is used
for the analysis of the magnetic field. The governing equation
for two-dimensional FEA is given by Kim et al. [15]




∂ 1 ∂A ∂ 1 ∂A ∂My ∂Mx
+ =− − − Jo (1)
∂x m ∂x ∂y m ∂y ∂x ∂y

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Fig. 1 Analysis model for applying the Taguchi robust design

Table 1 Specification of the analysis model EMF including harmonics can be expressed as a Fourier
series as in
Item Units Values

number of the pole — 4 

1  p 
number of the slot — 6 eph = En sin n vt (3)
rated power [W] 150
n=1
2
rated speed [rpm] 3200
residual magnetisation [T] 1.273
DC-link voltage [V] 12
where p is the number of poles and ω[rad/s] is the rotational
angular speed of the rotor. En is the peak value of the nth
harmonic of the back EMF. The result of comparing the
where A is the z component of the magnetic vector potential back EMF between the analysis and measurement value at
and μ is the permeability, σ is the conductivity of the 1000 rpm is shown in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig 3, the error
materials and Jo is the exciting current density of the stator between the test and analysis is 13.7% because of the
winding. The x- and y-direction components of manufacturing tolerance. In order to obtain the cause of the
magnetisation M are Mx and My of the PM, respectively. error, a motor was disassembled by stator and rotor. Finally,
The voltage equation per each phase can be written by Kim the manufacturing tolerance between the rotor and PM was
et al. [15] found. Fig. 4 shows cross- and side-section views that
confirm the manufacturing tolerance. According to the
dIa
Va = Ra Ia + La + Ea (2) results, the manufacturing tolerance of the PM is important.
dt For guaranteeing the product and reducing the fraction
defective, the relationship between the manufacturing
where Va, Ia, Ra, La and Ea are the input voltage, the current, tolerance and the characteristics is examined.
the stator winding resistance, phase inductance and back EMF
of each phase, respectively. As shown in, for example, (2), the
main parameters in the motor are the back EMF, phase
resistance and inductance. In particular, the parameter that
is significantly affected by the manufacturing tolerance of
the PM is the back EMF. Thus, the analysis of the back
EMF and the optimum design of the tolerance of the PM
using the FEA is the focus of this paper.

2.3 Reliability examination using experiments

The back EMF is used for comparison with the analysis and
test results to examine the reliability of analysis. Generally,
the back EMF is measured as follows. First, the test motor
and dynamometer are operated at a constant speed. The
voltage of one phase with an amplitude and waveform is Fig. 3 Back EMF of the test and analysis results regardless of
measured by oscilloscope. Fig. 2 shows the testing manufacturing tolerance
apparatus that is used to measure the back EMF. The back

Fig. 2 Testing apparatus for measuring the back EMF Fig. 4 Cross- and side-section views of fabricated rotor

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3 Robust design
Robust design technique, which improves the quality of
products without reducing manufacturing tolerances, can be
a sort of solution. When compared with deterministic
designs which are general design techniques not considering
manufacturing tolerances, it has a unique advantage. In
deterministic design, point 1 is considered as the optimum
solution, which is the minimum value in design space as
shown in Fig. 5. However, if variables have tolerances
which are called variation of variables, point 1 can
potentially violate the constraint. In robust design, on the
other hand, point 2 is considered as the optimum solution
that improves the performance as well as minimises the
variance of performances because of variation of variables.
Thus, point 2 never violates constraint despite tolerances
and therefore it is called the robust optimum. Many robust
optimisation methods have been developed to minimise
variances of performances caused by tolerance [13]. Among
that, Taguchi robust design based on OA has been widely
applied to various fields.
In Taguchi robust design, experiments are performed as
products of experimental point of inner array and outer
array. Inner array is OA made up of control factors and
outer array is OA made up of noise factors. Because each
combination of inner array is carried out as experiments, the
method can figure out the influence of variance of noise
factors on the response. The process of Taguchi method,
composed of OA with inner and outer array and the concept
of quality loss, is described in more detail in the next section.
4 Taguchi method
4.1 Selection of noise factors: manufacturing
tolerance
In the manufacturing process of motor, irregularly coated PM
is glued in the interior of the rotor rather than being pressed.
In addition, tolerance is caused by eccentricity and centrifugal
force in operation. Owing to these reasons, tolerances of PM
occur and have the possibility to generate defect products.
In this paper, variation of width, thickness and residual
magnetisation (Br) of PM are selected noise factors.
4.2 Selection of control factors
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Fig. 6 Control factors used in Taguchi robust design
selected control factors are listed in Table 2. Additionally,
the selected noise factors are shown in Table 3.
4.3 OA with inner and outer array
Taguchi robust design selects the most robust combination
from OA with inner and outer arrays. Inner OA consists of
control factors and outer OA is made up of noise factors.
The OA means experimental design which satisfies
orthogonality of each column, that is, factor, and
orthogonality means each factor is non-overlapping,
independent or uncorrelated to each other. Thus, OA can
obtain as much information as possible in the same
condition [16]. In this paper, we use the L18 OA for
control factors (7 variables with 3 levels) and the L4 OA
for noise factors (3 variables with 2 levels). That is, total 72
experiments are performed as listed in Table 4.
4.4 Quality loss function
Quality loss is one of the most important issues for quality
engineering to evaluate the quality of the products. Quality
loss function is a quadratic expression estimating the cost of
the average and then comparing it to the customer identified
target values and the variability of the product characteristic
in terms of monetary loss due to product failure. The loss
function L(y) indicates a monetary measure for the product
Table 2 Selected control factors
Nos. Control factor Units Array pattern

In general, motors have complex shapes and characteristics 0 1 2

depending on the change of shape of each part. In this
paper, we select the control factors influencing variation of x1 slot opening (mm) 1.50 2.25 3.00
back EMF as listed in Table 1 and description of x2 rib angle (°) 45.0 90.0 135.0
x3 rotor inner radius (mm) 6.00 5.00 4.00
parameters is listed. Fig. 6 shows control factors. The x4 eccentricity (mm) 0.00 1.00 2.00
x5 chamfer (mm) 0.00 0.30 0.60
x6 tooth width (mm) 5.20 6.40 7.60
x7 yoke thickness (mm) 3.60 4.40 5.20

Table 3 Selected noise factors

Nos. Noise factor Units Array pattern

0 1

1 Tolerance of PM (x) (mm) 11.80 12.00

2 Tolerance of PM (y) (mm) 2.80 3.00
3 Br value of PPM (T) 1.273 1.298
Fig. 5 Concept of robust design against the optimum design

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Table 4 Taguchi orthogonal inner and outer array
Outer array (array of
noise factors)

Number L01 L02 L03 L04

Number Array 000 011 101 110

pattern

inner array (array L01 0000000 1 2 3 4

of control factors) L02 1111110 5 6 7 8 Fig. 8 Taguchi’s loss function block diagram of a product/
L03 2222220 9 — — — process: P-diagram
L04 0012120 — — — —
L05 1120200 — — — —
L06 2201010 ∼
L07 0102211 The P-diagram represents the schematic relationship
L08 1210021
L09 2021101
between the factors and the product. The noise factor is one
L10 0220111 that the designer cannot control even though it causes
L11 1001221 variability. In a general design, tolerances are considered
L12 2112001 — — — — noise factors. In a parameter design, control factors are
L13 0121022 — — — — determined to reduce the effect of the noise factors.
L14 1202102 53 — — —
L15 2010212 57 58 — — Therefore, since noise factors are not directly considered,
L16 0211202 61 62 63 64 the parameter design is able to improve the quality of a
L17 1022012 65 66 67 68 product without cost increase.
L18 2100122 69 70 71 72 When the target value of a response is given as illustrated in
Fig. 8, the Taguchi method determines the optimum setting of
control factors, so that the variation of a response is
minimised, although uncontrollable factors, called noise
characteristic value against the target value. High quality and
factors, exist. For example, (5) can be regarded as the index
low cost are two fundamental requirements for product design
to find a robust design. Suppose we have a scale factor s to
and manufacturing. In an assembly, critical tolerance must be
adjust the current mean to the target value. The scale factor
guaranteed for functional requirements. Taguchi has
s is described as s = m/μ. When the current mean is adjusted
suggested that the tolerance should be determined by
to the target value, the average loss function of s is changed to
trading off quality loss and cost. A quadratic function
shown in Fig. 7 could provide estimation for the economic 
2
2 
loss. The expected value of the loss function is defined as m m s2
Qa = k m −m + s = km2 2 (6)
m m m
L(y) = K(y − m)2 (4)
To enhance additivity of the effect of the control factors, (6) is
where K is the constant to define the loss and m is the target transformed to (7)
value. The expected value of the loss function is defined as
 
m2
Q = E L(y) = K s2 + (m − m)2 (5) h = 10 log10 (7)
s2
where μ is the mean of y and σ is the standard deviation of y. For example, (7) is the ratio of the power of the signal factor μ
The symbol y represents the response or objective function in and the power of noise factors σ. Thus, it is called the SN ratio
a general design and E is the expected value. which means signal-to-noise ratio. Maximising (7) is
Fig. 8 is called the P-diagram and is used to explain the equivalent to minimising (6). To evaluate robustness of
procedure of the Taguchi method from another viewpoint. each inner array, SN ratio is used in Taguchi method.

4.5 Analysis of the result

According to Taguchi, SN ratio is used; L14 array is the best

combination in the number of 18. In order to expect untested
combination, analysis of variance (ANOVA) is conducted and
we find optimal combination out of all capable combinations.
ANOVA is a statistical test for heterogeneity of means by
analysis of group variances and it tests effects of each
variable for response [17]. The result of ANOVA is shown
in Table 5. The slot opening, eccentricity and chamfer are
better in high level and rib angle, tooth width and yoke
thickness are better in low level. Finally, optimum
combination is presented in Table 6. To validate the result
of Taguchi robust design, additional experiments of optimal
design are performed and all the conditions of noise factors
are considered. The optimal results compared with present
Fig. 7 Taguchi’s loss function design and total experiments are shown in Table 7.

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Table 5 ANOVA (ANOVA of control factors)
Factor Degree of Level Sum of Mean of Contribution, F ratio p-Value Standard F
freedom square square % ratio
sum
0 1 2 F (0.01, 2,
57)

slot opening 2 −3.0307 −3.0412 −3.0194 0.0014 0.0007 0.4798 4.3669 0.02948 4.99811
rib angle 2 −2.9692 −3.0835 −3.0386 0.0398 0.0199 13.3463 121.4682 8.56 × 10−11 4.99811
rotor inner 2 −2.8948 −3.0984 −3.0981 0.1655 0.0828 55.5216 505.3182 7.21 × 10−16 4.99811
radius
eccentricity 2 −3.0716 −3.0491 −2.9706 0.0338 0.0169 11.3302 103.1197 3.12 × 10−10 4.99811
chamfer 2 −3.0838 −3.0369 −2.9706 0.0388 0.0194 13.0066 118.3770 1.05 × 10−10 4.99811
tooth width 2 −3.0052 −3.0265 −3.0596 0.0090 0.0045 3.0244 27.5257 4.67 × 10−06 4.99811
yoke 2 −3.0237 −3.0362 −3.0314 0.0005 0.0002 0.1596 1.4527 0.261548 4.99811
thickness
error 57 — — — 0.0093 0.0002 — — — —
total 71 — — — 0.2981 — 100 — — —

Table 6 Optimum conditions of Taguchi robust design

Factor Slot opening Rib angle Rotor inner radius Eccentricity Chamfer Tooth width Yoke thickness

optimum (level) 2 0 2 2 2 0 0

Table 7 Comparison between total average and optimum 5 Conclusions

result

Estimation Back EMF, V In this paper, the robust optimisation design of the EMF
characteristic analysis considering the manufacturing
Average Variance tolerances of PM in the IPMSM was performed. The
optimisation technique based on the Taguchi method has
present design 1.4380 0.0053 the following advantages:
optimum design 1.5984 0.0049
improvement, % 12.87 11.32
(1) Obtaining the robust optimal solution, which is
insensitive to the EMF characteristic of the uncertainty of
design variable.
Additionally, comparison using histogram between robust (2) Optimum design model is accomplished by the
design and present design is presented in Fig. 9. According proposed approach that EMF performance of the motor is
to present design, optimum design average is improved by improved as compared with that of the present design. In
12.87% and its variance is reduced by 11.32% in terms of other words, the proposed robust design is a technique that
back EMF. The optimisation is verified by comparison of can reduce the failure rate.
average and variance between robust model and initial
model according to the variation of noise factor. Therefore, it is expected that the proposed design method
can be effectively utilised in the manufacturing process
withrespect to a more exact tolerance. Additionally,
improvement in the quality of the product and reduction of
the cost in mass production are the expected applications of
this study.

6 Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the MSIP (Ministry of
Science, ICT & Future Planning), Korea, under the CITRC
(Convergence Information Technology Re-search Center)
support programme (NIPA-2013-H0401-13-1008)
supervised by the NIPA (National IT Industry Promotion
Agency).

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