Modeling and Simulation

of Permanent Magnet
Brushless Motor Drives
Piyush Desai, Ph. D.
PD Consulting Inc.
+1 312 505 7805
desapiy@iit.edu
AnsysANSYS
Convergence
Conference
- Chicago
Presented at the 2014
Regional
Conference
Chicago May 23, 2014

About PD Consulting
Services:
Design & development of inverters
Design and virtual prototyping of
electric machines
Analyses, modeling, and simulations
of electro-mechanical systems
Development of control algorithms
for motor drives and servo systems
System design and layout of large
utility scale PV solar plants

20+ years of experience in R & D,

project management, and
product development
PD Consulting

Ansys Convergence Conference - Chicago

May 23, 2014

History of Motors
1819: Danish scientist Orsted
observed that a current-carrying
wire produces a magnetic field

M. Faraday devised an
experiment to demonstrate this

1883: Nikola Tesla

invented a practical AC
motor

1832: William Sturgeon

invented commutator

1831: Joseph Henrys

improved version

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May 23, 2014

PM Brushless Motor: BLDC, PMAC, PMSM

Laminated Stator with Windings

Position Sensor

Encapsulated Design

http://www.danahermotion.com/education
/learn_about_mc/servohandbook/motor/co
mparison/brush_vs_brushless.php

PM on the Rotor
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Choices to Make
Motor: BDC, BLDC, PMAC
Controls: Trapezoidal, sinusoidal, field oriented
Switching: Hysteresis, PWM (sine triangle,
space vector)
Modeling approach:
o Simple model: motor as 2nd order ODE; inverter as gain
o Detailed model: 3-phase motor as 5th order ODE; switching
inverter; detailed modeling of the controls
o Multi-physics simulation: co-simulation of FEA motor model
and circuit based inverter

Objective: converge to an optimal design

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Ansys Convergence Conference - Chicago

May 23, 2014

Torque-Speed Curve
Speed

Torque

Motor capabilities for requirement verification

An important metrics for relative comparison
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Ansys Convergence Conference - Chicago

May 23, 2014

PM Machine Theory
Ra

La

Motor Terminals

Magnetic Field B

Force F

Force F

Force F

Force F

Magnetic Field B

Shaft/Pivot

T =Kt I where Kt = 2 N r Sin B L

e Ke where Ke 2 N r B L Sin
L

R
+
I

DC

Rc

Lc

ec

ia L 0 0 ia ea
i 0 L 0 d i e
b
dt b b
ic 0 0 L ic ec

di
eb
dt

eb Ke

Back-emf

Tem

_
Load

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ea

eb

Van R 0 0
V 0 R 0
bn

Vcn 0 0 R

V Ri L

Lb

Rb

TL

Tem TL J

Ansys Convergence Conference - Chicago

d
dt

T =Kt I

May 23, 2014

Options for BLDC Machine Model

RMxprt
Purely Analytical

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Maxwell FEA

When RMxprt / Maxwell?

Fast Motor Design
&
Model Generation

High Fidelity
Simulations

Design
Studies

Calculating
Losses

Fast Circuit
Simulations

Accounting
for Saturation
Maxwell FEA

RMxprt
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Simple Model
Electrical
System

Mechanical
System

Electrical/Mechanical
Constants

Simplorer Implementation

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10

Simple Model Simulation Results

Motor
Speed

Torque vs. Speed

Simple average DC model and reflects

2nd order nature of motor model

DC Current

Does not take in to account commutation

and inverter switching

Insensitive to number of pole pairs

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11

Detailed BLDC Drive Model

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12

Comparison: Torque-Speed Curves

Simple
Model

Detailed
Model

More than 10% reduction in Capability Curve

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13

Phase Current
Phase A Current
Phase ABC Current

Current Ripple due to

Commutation
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14

Output Torque

Commutation Current Ripple

Torque Ripple

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15

Quantitative Analysis of Torque

Torque in Nm

Frequency in Hz

DC (Average) Torque
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Commutation Ripple
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Switching Ripple
May 23, 2014

16

Comparison of 4 and 6 Pole Motors

Torque vs. Speed

4-pole Motor with Simple Model (Red)

6-pole Motor with Simple Motor (Blue)

4-pole Motor with Detailed Model (Green)

6-pole Motor with Detailed Model (Magenta)

High Speed Motor

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17

Comparison of 4 and 6 Pole Motors

Torque vs. Speed

4-pole Motor with Simple Model (Red)

6-pole Motor with Simple Model (Blue)

4-pole Motor with Detailed Model (Green)

6-pole Motor with Detailed Model (Magenta)

Industrial Motor

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Ansys Convergence Conference - Chicago

May 23, 2014

18

Summary of both the Modeling Approaches

Simple Model:
Simple, quick, good enough for basic understanding
Commutation and # of poles not accounted for
Needs ample margin in the design

Circuit simulations:
Longer simulation time, more accurate (capability curve, current and
torque ripples, efficiency estimation, # of poles, etc.)
Can capture the system dynamics and transients: filter delay, digital
sampling, IGBT/MOSFET switching
Commutation effects reduction in the capability curve; current and
torque ripple
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19

Baseline Model
Results must show typical/generic realworld responses
Should be easily adaptable/configurable
Validated and verified
o Validation: tweak the model to match with one set of
experimental data
o Verification: match the simulation results with another set
of experimental data

Now you have a good model that can be

used for optimization
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20

Optimization Case Study

Requirements:
Efficiency at an
operating point
Torque ripple
No load speed

SPM Lower Inductance higher

current ripple higher torque ripple
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21

Optimization Step 1

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Optimization Step -2
Torque vs. Speed

BLDC (Red)
FOC with SVM (Magenta)
FOC with Sine PWM (Blue)

FOC-SVM with Inductor: Needs Little more No Load Speed

(SPM Field Weakening is Not Efficient)
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23

Optimization Step-3

Optimize Inductor Size & Switching Frequency

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Thank you !!

Questions?
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