746 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 20, NO.

4, DECEMBER 2005

Quasi-3-D Analytical Modeling of the Magnetic

Field of an Axial Flux Permanent-Magnet
Synchronous Machine
Jaouad Azzouzi, Georges Barakat, and Brayima Dakyo

Abstract—A quasi-three-dimensional (3-D) analytical model of Fourier series coefficients of A in the

the magnetic field in an axial flux permanent-magnet synchronous slot numbered .
machine is presented. This model is derived from an exact two-di-
mensional analytical solution of the magnetic field extended to the
, , , Fourier series coefficients of A in the
3-D case by a simple and effective radial dependence modeling of air gap.
the magnetic field. The obtained quasi-3-D solution allows rapid , , , Fourier series coefficients of A in
parametric studies of the air-gap magnetic field. Then, analytical PM’s region.
modeling of the cogging torque is presented. It is based on the ob-
tained quasi-3-D analytical solution. Results issued from the pro-
posed model in the air gap are compared with those stemming from
a 3-D finite-element method simulation as well as with prototype I. INTRODUCTION
measured values.
Index Terms—Axial flux, cogging torque, magnetic field, magne-
tization distribution, Maxwell equations, permanent-magnet (PM)
A XIAL-FIELD machines have been more and more used in
the last few years. These machines offer a better power-to-
weight ratio and are of lower cost [1]. Furthermore, their flat and
synchronous machine.
compact shape is very adequate for several applications, from
magnetic disk drives to wind generators [2], [3]. The air-gap
NOMENCLATURE magnetic field being a determinant quantity to predict machine
Vector potential. performances, can be calculated accurately using the finite-el-
A Radial component of vector potential. ement method (FEM). However, this numerical technique does
Average value of A. not easily allow a parametric study in a design procedure. In
Flux density. this latter case, analytical models which are more adequate,
Remanence of permanent magnets are based on two approaches, the magnetomotive force (MMF)
(PMs). by permeance product [4] and the analytical resolution of the
, Flux density components in -co- Maxwell equations [5], [6]. The first analytical approach often
ordinates. requires the use of conformal transformation for the calcula-
Magnetic field. tion of the air-gap permeance function. So this approach is still
, Remanence components in coor- limited to simple cases. The resolution of the Maxwell equa-
dinates. tions approach is more accurate because it can provide all three
, , Cylindrical coordinates. magnetic-field components. In previous works, the authors pro-
Relative permeability. posed three-dimensional (3-D) analytical solutions of magnetic
, , , Fourier series coefficients of general field based on the integral transformation method [5] as well as
expression of A. the free-space Green’s function method [6], increasing the com-
Pole number. plexity-to-accuracy ratio.
slot number in the same pole. This paper presents an exact two-dimensional (2-D) solution
Depth of PMs. of Maxwell equations and its extension to a 3-D case by a simple
Depth of slots. and effective radial dependence modeling of the magnetic field.
Width of slots. The solution form obtained allows rapid parametric studies of
Air-gap length. air-gap magnetic field relative to the variation of permanent
Auxiliary pole opening. magnets (PMs), distribution at the rotor surface, as well as the
Principal pole opening. angular opening of the stator poles and their arrangements.
Number of pair poles. As a direct application, the proposed solution of the magnetic
field is used to carry out the cogging torque. In fact, for axial flux
Manuscript received July 22, 2003; revised June 5, 2004. This work was sup-
ported in part by the Industrial Development Department, Region Haute-Nor- permanent-magnet synchronous machine (AFPMSM), the cog-
mandie, France. Paper no. TEC-00174-2003. ging torque that is induced by the variation of the air-gap perme-
The authors are with the Electrical Engineering Department, Electrotechnic ance is usually much larger than that of the conventional motors.
and Automatic Research Team (GREAH), University of Le Havre, Le Havre
76600, France (e-mail: barakat@univ-lehavre.fr). Much research was done in order to reduce it [7]–[9]. As a result,
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TEC.2005.845538 it was demonstrated that the cogging torque is greatly affected
0885-8969/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE
AZZOUZI et al.: QUASI-3-D ANALYTICAL MODELING OF MAGNETIC FIELD OF AFPMSM 747

B. Exact 2-D Analytical Magnetic-Field Solution

First, an exact 2-D analytical solution has been developed that
accurately predicts field values over a substantial portion of the
main flux region. This approach consists in considering that the
radial component of the magnetic field is neglected as well as the
nondependency of the axial and circumferential components of
the magnetic filed on the radial coordinate. Consequently, the
magnetic vector potential has only a radial component which
depends on the circumferential and axial coordinates

(1)
(2)
Fig. 1. Cross-sectional view of the motor. The PMs used in this AFPMSM are ferrite-type magnets
having therefore a linear characteristic in the useful
region. The remanence of PMs is considered to be ideal and
oriented in the axial direction yielding to the following Fourier
series:

(3)

where is the circumferential coordinate in a cylindrical co-

ordinates system. The permeability of the rotor yoke and the
armature are assumed to be infinite. The permeability of PM is
assumed to be equal to that of air.
The magnetic field created by the PMs in the machine satisfies
Fig. 2. Half of the stator core indicating main and auxiliary poles. the basic equations of magnetostatics

(4)
by the stator poles configuration and the magnetization distribu-
tion. The parametric study of the cogging torque can be simply (5)
made using its expression issued from the proposed quasi-3-D
model. So the cogging torque of this AFPMSM is computed for and the constitutive relation between and
different stator auxiliary poles openings and for different mag-
(6)
netization distribution. Moreover, for the manufactured proto-
type of this AFPMSM, the results issued from the quasi-3-D Combining (5) and (6) yields
presented solution of magnetic field in the air gap are compared
on one hand with those issued from some 3-D FEM simulations (7)
and, on the other hand, with the measured values.
Using the fact that the magnetic flux density is equal to the
II. ANALYTICAL MODELING OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD curl of a vector potential and choosing the Coulomb gauge
, (7) becomes
A. Geometry of the Machine
The geometry of the studied AFPMSM is presented in Figs. 1 (8)
and 2. The rotor PMs are surface mounted, axially magnetized,
and separated by nonmagnetized zones. The cross-sectional Taking into account the considered assumptions, the previous
view in Fig. 1 shows the arrangement of air gap, rotor PMs, and equation can be written in a cylindrical coordinates system as
stator poles along the axial direction. The stator has four poles
with four auxiliary poles (Fig. 2). (9)
Taking into account the geometry of this machine, its main
flux is obviously 3-D and the boundary conditions in the radial Using the separation of variables technique, the vector potential
direction (inner and outer diameter) are very hard to choose in solution form in the PMs region can be written as
the case of an analytical approach. Nevertheless, an effective
quasi-3-D analytical modeling of the magnetic field can be car-
ried out simply by conveniently adapting a 2-D analytical solu-
tion. It is extended to the entire main flux region by multiplying
the vector potential solution by a radial-dependent function is-
sued from an FEM study. (10)
748 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 20, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2005

and in the air gap as well as in the slots region

(11)
The magnetic-field solution will be given briefly in the fol-
lowing subsections.
1) Region I (Slots): The origin of the circumferential direc-
tion is arbitrarily chosen to be in the center of a stator main Fig. 3. Unrolled surface of a cylindrical cutting plane placed in the main flux
region.
pole (Fig. 3). The slots, which are numbered , 1, and
, have the following boundary conditions:

for (12)
(20)
for (13)
4) Boundary Condition Between Regions: Boundary condi-
With these boundary conditions, the general solution for the tions between regions are required to determine the Fourier se-
magnetic filed in the slots region can be expressed as ries coefficients of the magnetic field. The magnetic flux density
continuity condition prescribes that the magnetic flux density
normal component is continuous at the surface between two re-
gions. Ampere’s continuity condition prescribes that there is a
jump in the tangential component of the magnetic field strength
(14) as one passes through a surface current density between regions.
In the studied machine, the permeability of the stator and rotor
cores is assumed to be infinite. Then, the magnetic-field strength
in iron is zero. Also, it is assumed that stator and rotor iron as
(15) well as PMs are nonconductive materials. So, the surface current
density is equal to zero everywhere. Then, the boundary condi-
tions between regions II and III are
2) Region II (Air gap): In this region, the general solution
of the magnetic field is
For and (21)

This boundary condition results in the following relations be-

(16) tween coefficients:

(17)
(22)

3) Region III (PM’s Region): The boundary condition for

this region is

for (18) Boundary conditions between regions I and II can be expressed

as follows:
The general solution for the magnetic field in this region, where
this boundary condition has already been accounted for, is and for
(23)
and

for
(19)
(24)
AZZOUZI et al.: QUASI-3-D ANALYTICAL MODELING OF MAGNETIC FIELD OF AFPMSM
Fig. 4. Axial flux density versus radial coordinate for e = 1 (1) mm, 2 mm
(2), and 4 mm (3).
The treatment of boundary conditions (22), (23), and (24) yields
to the following iterative relations between Fourier series coef-
ficients of region III:
(25)
The Fourier series coefficients of the magnetic field in the
PMs’ region can be easily obtained by solving numerically the
previous system (25), and the air-gap magnetic-field coefficients
are deduced by means of (22).
C. Quasi-3-D Analytical Magnetic-Field Solution
In the case of small air-gap machines, the edge effects are usu-
ally neglected, and the radial dependence of the magnetic field is
not considered. However, in the case of axial flux machines, the
mechanical constraints due to the disks vibrations and to the axial
forces between stator and rotor disks require a relatively large me-
chanical air gap. Consequently, one cannot neglect the radial de-
pendence of the air-gap magnetic field. This radial dependence
of the magnetic filed is especially important in the case of slotless
stator core axial flux machines where the windings are located on
the stator surface increasing by the way of the magnetic air-gap
length. Fig. 4 shows the axial flux density versus the radial coordi-
nate for multiple air-gap values. The analysis of these FEM sim-
ulation results shows that the radial dependence of the axial com-
ponent of the magnetic field can be modeled by a rectangular or a
Gaussian function according to the air-gap length. In this paper,
we have chosen to model the radial dependence of the magnetic
field by a function that is able to give precise values in all cases.
We had created the following function:
(26)
749
Fig. 5. Axial flux density versus radial coordinate for e = 1 mm (1), 2 mm
(2), and 4 mm (3).
where and are the inner and outer radii of PMs and
. is used to define the effective radii
and is used to adjust the drop of the axial flux density near the
inner and outer radii of the machine. The values of the coefficients
and are directly issued from parametric FEM simulations.
Fig. 5 shows the calculated axial flux density versus the radial co-
ordinate for multiple air-gap values using the quasi-3-D presented
model. One can remark that the axial flux density issued from the
quasi-3-D model (Fig. 5) is very similar to the axial flux density
issued from 3-D-FEM simulations (Fig. 4).
The expressions of the magnetic-field components in the air
gap corresponding to the quasi-3-D model are written as
(27)
(28)
III. COGGING TORQUE CALCULATION
The cogging torque can be calculated using the stored mag-
netic energy in the free space [4] or the Maxwell stress tensor
[10]. In this paper, the cogging torque is calculated by means
of the moment of the Maxwell stress tensor applied to the rotor.
Taking into account the boundary conditions between regions
II and III (22), the cogging torque developed by axially magne-
tized PMs can be written in the following form:
(29)
where is the PM’s surface and .
750
Fig. 6. Hall sensors locations at the surface of a stator pole.
After the integration on the radial direction between the inner
and outer radii, the cogging torque expression becomes
(30)
Incorporating (19) and (20) in (30) and integrating on the tan-
gential direction yields to the final expression of the cogging
torque in terms of Fourier series coefficients of region III
(31)
where
(32)
The cogging torque expression (29) depends on the design
parameters: the PMs distribution in the rotor as well as the
shape of stator magnetic circuit (slotting, auxiliary poles, pole
number ) which are contained in the Fourier series coeffi-
cients of region III (25). Therefore, this expression can be used
to reduce the cogging torque.
IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
In order to validate the proposed quasi-3-D analytical model,
the obtained analytical results have been compared with FEM
simulation results as well as measurement results on a 22 W,
four-pole prototype machine. The PMs used have remanence
flux density of 0.37 T, coercive field strength of
255 , and recoil permeability of 1.1. The iron of
stator and rotor is FeSi material with saturation flux density
of 1.9 T and initial permeability of 10 800. Outer and inner radii
of PM poles ( and ) are of 32 and 18 mm, respectively;
depth of PM is 4 mm; air-gap length is 1 mm; depth of
slots is 25 mm; and outer and inner radii of stator poles (
and ) are 30 and 20 mm (Figs. 1 and 2).
The axial flux density was calculated and measured along
three different radial lines passing, respectively, by the points
, , and (Fig. 6). The measurements were made by means of
Hall sensors. Fig. 7 reports the comparison between the mea-
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 20, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2005
Fig. 7. Measured and computed axial flux density in the air gap at points b1
and b2.
Fig. 8. Measured and computed axial flux density at the point a ( = 7:5 ).
sured values of the axial flux density and the calculated ones
by using the quasi-3-D solution at the points and . One
can observe that the quasi-3-D analytical solution gives precise
values of the magnetic flux density over a substantial portion of
the main flux region. In Figs. 8–10, the measured values of the
axial flux density are compared to the (quasi-3-D) analytically
calculated ones at the points , , and , respectively, and this,
for multiple positions of the rotor with respect to the stator.
In Figs. 7 and 9, the computed axial flux density values are
slightly higher than the corresponding measured values in front
of the PM south pole. It is probably due to the fact that the north
pole PM does not have the same axial length than the south pole
PM. In Figs. 8 and 10, differences between calculated and mea-
sured values would be explained by the fact that the remanence
of PMs is not distributed regularly, or the Hall sensor is not suit-
ably mounted, or yet the manufacturing process is inadequate.
Despite the differences between calculated and measured axial
magnetic-field values presented above, the results obtained from
the presented quasi-3-D model can be considered largely satis-
factory with regards to the manufacturing uncertainties for this
sized motor.
Also, some 3-D FEM simulations of the manufactured proto-
type have been made with FLUX3D software in order to check
AZZOUZI et al.: QUASI-3-D ANALYTICAL MODELING OF MAGNETIC FIELD OF AFPMSM
Fig. 9. Measured and computed axial flux density in the air gap at the point b
( = 15 ).
Fig. 10. Measured and computed axial flux density in the air gap at the point
c ( = 22:5 ).
Fig. 11. 3-D finite-elements mesh of this AFPMSM.
the analytical results obtained by the quasi-3-D proposed model.
Fig. 11 shows the 3-D finite-elements mesh of the prototype. In
Fig. 12, the radial dependence of the axial magnetic field is-
sued from the quasi-3-D approach when and
is compared to the 2-D solution approach as well as 3-D FEM
751
Fig. 12. Radial dependence of the axial magnetic-field component.
Fig. 13. Comparison between FEM results and analytical results.
simulations results. One can remark that the 2-D approach gives
precise values of magnetic field only around the mean radius of
the machine but not near the edges where the flux density drops
downs rapidly. Also, one can observe that the 3-D FEM and pro-
posed quasi-3-D model give similar results. At this stage, it is
important to note that we have taken care to perform a regular
meshing of the machine air gap in order to reduce the numer-
ical errors in calculating the cogging torque. Nevertheless, we
are not sure that the tangential component of the magnetic field
is well calculated in the air gap. Despite these restrictions, the
analytical and finite-element calculations of cogging torque are
compared (Fig. 13) for the following configuration of rotor PM
distribution: 70 , 10 , 70 , 30 , and of auxiliary stator poles
opening . In fact, the quasi-3-D model results are very
satisfactory when the complexity to accuracy ratio as well as the
calculation time is considered.
In order to show the influence of the magnetization distri-
bution and the stator auxiliary poles, the cogging torque wave-
form of this AFPMSM was studied for multiple configurations
by means of the quasi-3-D analytical model. Fig. 14 reports
the cogging torque waveform for three magnetization distribu-
tion and Fig. 15 shows it for multiple openings of stator auxil-
iary poles. In absence of PMs skewing possibilities, the cogging
752
Fig. 14. Resultant cogging torque waveforms of different magnetization
distributions.
Fig. 15. Resultant cogging torque waveforms of different auxiliary poles
opening.
torque reduction goal can be achieved by an adequate choice of
the stator auxiliary poles width.
V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a quasi-3-D analytical model of the magnetic
field in an AFPMSM has been presented. The proposed model
is based on an exact 2-D solution which gives precise values of
the magnetic flux density only around the mean radius of the
AFPMSM. To obtain precise prediction of the axial and cir-
cumferential flux density distribution in the entire main flux
region, the exact 2-D solution has been extended to the 3-D
case by a simple and effective radial dependence modeling of
the magnetic field. The analytical calculations of magnetic field
issued from the proposed model were found to be in a good
concordance with the measured values of magnetic field in the
case of a 22-W-manufactured prototype. Thus, as an applica-
tion, the cogging torque of an AFPMSM has been studied. The
predicted data are sufficiently accurate for parametric design
and optimization.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 20, NO. 4, DECEMBER 2005
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Jaouad Azzouzi was born in Taza, Morocco, on
October 28, 1977. He received the B.S. degree in
electrical engineering from the University of Fez,
Fez, Morocco, in 2000 and the M.S. degree in elec-
trical engineering from the University of Le Havre,
Le Havre, France, in 2001. He is currently pursuing
the Ph.D. degree on design optimization of axial flux
permanent-magnet synchronous machines with the
Electrotechnic and Automatic Research Team of Le
Havre (GREAH), University of Le Havre.
Georges Barakat received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. de-
grees in electrical engineering from the Institut Na-
tional Polytechnique de Grenoble, Grenoble, France,
in 1992 and 1995, respectively.
Currently, he is an Associate Professor of elec-
trical engineering in the Electrical Engineering
Department, Electrotechnic and Automatic Research
Team (GREAH), University of Le Havre, Le Havre,
France. Research was conducted in the Groupe de
Recherche en Electrotechnique et Automatique du
Havre (GREAH Lab) at the University of Le Havre.
His research interests include electrical machines modeling and design and
diagnosis.
Brayima Dakyo was born in 1959. He received the
Ph.D. degree in engineering from Dakar University,
Dakar, Senegal, in 1987, and the Doctoral and Habil-
itation degrees from the University of Le Havre, Le
Havre, France, in 1988 and 1997, respectively.
Currently, he is Full Professor of Electrical
Engineering, and Director of the Laboratory of the
Electrotechnics and Automatic Research Team of Le
Havre (GREAH). He was one of the founders of The
Power Electronics Laboratory (LEPII), University
of Le Havre, in 1989. He has published many papers
in scientific journals and conference proceedings since 1987. His interests
include power-electronic, converter-fed electrical machines, electrical-powered
systems, wind and solar energy systems, and diagnostics.