Optimal Design and Experimental Test of a SPM Motor with Cost-Effective Magnet Utilization to Suppress Torque Pulsations

This paper presents an optimal design for a surface-mounted permanent magnet (SPM) motor to suppress torque pulsations and save the magnet cost, by using multi-grade permanent magnets. Based on a conventional SPM motor with single-grade bonded NdFeB magnets, the proposed SPM motor is designed with two-grade bonded NdFeB and one-grade ferrite magnets, and then optimized by combining the Kriging method with a genetic algorithm, for further minimizing torque pulsations and saving the magnet cost by maintaining the high average torque. As a result, the cogging torque, torque ripple, and magnet cost of the optimized SPM motor are highly reduced compared to those of the conventional SPM motor. Furthermore, the optimized SPM motor is verified to have superior endurance against the magnet's irreversible demagnetization within three times of the rated current excitation. All motor characteristics, including airgap flux density, cogging torque, electromagnetic torque, and demagnetization ratio are first predicted with the aid of a finite-element method. Finally, the optimal design and analysis results are validated by the experimental results.