Second International Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering

ICECE 2002, 26-28 December 2002, Dhaka, Bangladesh

A MULTIMEDIA APPROACH TO ELECTRICAL MACHINE

DESIGN: A New Architecture of Software Development for
Electric Motors
M.A. Jabbar and S.W. Yeo
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
National University of Singapore
Kent Ridge, Singapore119260
Contact: elemaj@nus.edu.sg

Abstract - This paper describes a new architecture of
design software for electrical machines. This
architecture integrates design DATABASES and
DATABANKS with design calculations, and utilising
interactive GUI creates a virtual design office. This
software is built with Microsoft Excel as a platform
with VBA. The program structure is simple and very
interactive and flexible. All design work is done in
macros using VBA.
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The Data Centre presents and manages all
databases and databanks used in the package. All
design modules store data locally or collect relevant
data from the Data Centre. The stored data is used in
design calculations within the respective module only.
These stored data can be easily synchronised with the
Data centre as well.
Electrical Machine Design Centre

Design of electric motors requires repetitive

calculations for choices to be made. The complexities
of design require highly efficient algorithms to
generate optimal design for manufacture. During the
last few decades, many designers have developed
computer programmes to design electric motors [1-3].
Generally where all these design software go lacking
are in the lack of databanks and databases like those
catalogues and design information available in a
design office. The programs written are also non-
interactive and non-portable, using mainly main frame
computers. New developments of multimedia
facilities in desk top computers have been totally
ignored.
Our objective is to create a virtual design office for
electrical machines. This is an interactive package,
complete with different design modules for each type
of machines, with databases and databank, to be used
for the design of electrical machines. Data stored in
the databanks and databases can be updated by users
at ease. We tried to make use of available multimedia
facilities to create visual facilities for the designers.
Microsoft Excel with VBA is chosen as the platform
for the design software as it is the most popular
spreadsheet software. Excel intrinsic functions are
also easily available; management of data can also be
achieved easily. A module to manage the databanks
and databases is also created.
Data Centre
Design Modules
y Databases
y Databanks
Fig. 1. Structure of the Software Package
The components of the design package as modules for
different electrical machines are shown in 2. The
module of Electrical Machine Design Centre serves
as the portal to the rest of the modules. At the same
time it also provides information regarding the
operating parameters, e.g., ranges of power output,
operating frequency, etc. each module is developed to
design for. It also provides a short introduction to the
operating principle of each machine. A screenshot of
the machine design centre is shown in Fig. 2.
III. DATA BANK
The function of the Data Centre is to present and
manage the databases to making design decisions.
Data kept can also be updated easily with the built-in
updating wizard. Some examples of data kept in the
databank are provided here.
A. Classification of Insulation
The insulation material is classified by their
maximum operating temperatures. Classification is as
Table 1.

II. STRUCTURE OF THE PACKAGE B. Wire-table

The databank contains wire-tables for both round
The main architecture of the package is shown in Fig. conductors and rectangular conductors of wide ranges.

ISBN 984-32-0328-3 8

C. Lamination Materials
A database is created to store sets of lamination
materials with information such as classifications,
material densities, B-H characteristics and Loss
characteristics. A guided updating process is also
provided. The graphical representations as shown in
Fig.3 are provided for the users to make more
informed decisions.
Input sheet utilises the Excel built-in ActiveX control.
Specifications such as power, power supply, speed
and many other parameters can be laid down here. As
the specifications are changed, another group of
parameters, showing the merit of specifications, is
updated continuously.
Start

Table 1 Classification of Insulation Materials Input Synchronise with

(Specifying requirements) MD-Data
Class Y A E B F H C
Temp. 90 105 120 130 155 180 >180 Viewing
Updating
data
(oC) of Data

Design Calculations &

Data & Guides
Optimatisation
No

Output

Satisfy with Archive

Output? (Comparing of Outputs)

Yes

Print out
End
Fig. 3. Overview of machine Design Procedure

This input sheet is also the control centre of the

Fig. 2. Main page of Machine Design Centre
D. Magnet Data
Nine sets of magnet data (discretised demagnetisation
curves) can be stored in this section, each set consists
of up to four discretised demagnetisation curves at
different temperatures. A wizard is also provided for
the guided updating process for checking and
interpolation of data. Information bout cost, material
density, maximum operating temperature and
maximum energy product (BmHm) of the magnet are
also stored.
E. The Input Sheet
The Input Sheet is the program driver. It specifies all
the input requirements for carrying out design. For
many quantities this input sheet also provides default
values to help the users. It is implemented on a
worksheet in an excel workbook. The requirements
for every type of machine are different, thus their
Input Sheets will also be different. As an example, the
Input sheet of BLDC design module is shown in Fig.
4.
design module. Various functions can be activated
here. The synchronising of data with the Data Centre
is activated here. So does the reviewing of various
design data and help and guild lines prior to laying
down specifications.
The presentation of data stored within each module is
the same as the Data Centre, except updating of data
cannot be performed in local storage.
F. Design Calculations
One or more worksheets are allocated for Design
calculations. Most calculations were performed with
the intrinsic excel function. VBA is usually employed
if looping or complex decision-making is required.
During the design calculations, the software ill
automatically lookup databases and databank for the
corresponding value as the software tries to generate
an optimum output. No user intervention is required
in this process.
G. The Output Sheet
Detail information about magnetic design, winding
design, dimensional aspects, calculated values of
various important parameters are presented in the The
Output worksheet. Screenshot of The Output Sheet is
shown in Fig. 6.

It can be seen from Fig. 4 that the controls on the

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 Fig. 4. Screenshot of the Input worksheet – Specifications and Corresponding Parameters.

Fig. 5. Screenshot of Archive (partially).

H. The Archive software have been very satisfactory. For example,

The Archive worksheet stores up to 5 recent designs
for comparison. Only essential parameters are listed
for comparison. The Archive is shown in Fig. 5.
Selected designs can be transferred to The Output
worksheet for a detail printout.
the module for the design of switched reluctance
motor was verified against an existing SRM made
Magna Physics (M124-010A001-14). Various
parameters of this SRM were measured and tested.
The main specifications of this motor are:

IV. EVALUATION Average Torque 1.78Nm

Voltage Supply 320V
The designs generated by various modules have been Operating Base Speed 4000 rpm
verified. Operations and the design generated by the No of Phase 4

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 No of Stator Pole 8 is different. This effect could not be considered in
No of Rotor Pole 6 the design calculations [4,5].

Fig. 7 shows the tested BH characteristic of the

lamination material used by the SRM.

The software is tuned to generate very similar

geometric and winding design to the actual SRM. The
results are compared in Fig.12. Results are in good
agreement.

Fig. 8. Calculated and measured efficiency vs Per

Unit Torque

V. CONCLUSION

The software has been tried and verified against

existing designs. The package uses multimedia
facilities provided by modern computing and is very
flexible and portable. It represents a virtual design
office

VI. REFERENCES

Fig. 6. Screenshot of Output (partially). [1] A.K.Sawhney, ‘A Course in Electrical Machine

Design’, Danpat Rai & Co., 1998
[2] S. J. Salon, ‘Finite Element Analysis of Electrical
Machines’, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995.
[3] P. Materu and R. Krishnan, ‘Estimation of
switched reluctance motor losses’, IEEE Trans.
On Industry Applications, Vol. 28, No. 3,
May/June 1992
[4] Miller, T.J.E, ‘Switched reluctance motors and
their control’ (Oxford Science Publications, 1992)
[5] Harris MR and Sykulski JK [1991] ‘Simple
method for calculating the peak torque of a
switched reluctance motor: a computational
investigation’. Proceedings of the International
Symposium on Electromagnetic Fields in
Electrical Engineering, 18-20 September,
Fig. 7. Tested BH Curve of lamination material Southampton, UK

As for the 5-10% discrepancy between the measured

and tested efficiency curves, it could be due to the
following reasons,
• The computed iron loss in the stator core should
be lower. It was assumed that the thickness of
stator core is uniform in our calculations. It is not
on the actual machine. Moreover, the iron loss in
the stator core is the highest among all parts of
the machine.
• The method used to calculate the iron loss was
based on looking up the BH curve at 50 Hz. It
was realised that the BH curve for each frequency

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