Practicallssuesin the Manufactureof High

EfficiencyElectricMotors

PeterJohn Tavnerr,PaoloCaselotti2

I TechnicalDirector,FKI EnergyTechnology
2 TechnicalDirector, Marelli Motori S.p.A.

Abstract

European motor manufacturersseeking to deliver motor ranges which comply

with the current voluntary efficiency agreement have to choose between
developinga new range,improving an existingrangeor obtainingtheir rangefiom
anothersource.
Some manufacturershave introduced new ranges and in general these motors
incorporatean increasein active materials,electricalsteeland copper,to increase
their effìciency.Theseincreasesin materialsnaturallyincreasethe basecost of the
motor. Other manufacturers,including the authors, have taken an existing range
and modified aspectsof the designto optimiseperformanceand achievea higher
efficiency. Further manufacturershave sought to buy higher efficiency motors
from a lower labour cost source,where they can offset the increasein material cost
of the higher efficiency motor with a substantialreduction in labour cost for its
manufacture.[n the latter case an important componentin achievingthe higher
efficiencyis relatedto maintainingthe quality of the deliveredproduct.
This paper will describethe issuesassociatedwith optimisingthe efficiency of
an existing range of induction motors, utilising changesin design,new materials
and optimisedmanufacturingprocesses.tt will pay particularattentionto practical
problems which occltr, their elimination and the economic impact of those
improvements.

lntroduction

The TEFC motor has evolved, over 80 years, with designsto International
Standarddimensionsand outputsin a tough, blow-over cooling enclosure,which
gives a rugged, interchangeablemachine that can be used in a wide variety of
applications.
 203

Manufacturers have evolved their products to achieve requirements as

economically as possible and a previous paper, Ref 1, has shown that this has
achievedmachineswith progressivelyimproving weight-powerratios,as shown in
Fig. l, taken from Glew, Ref 2 thereforebecomingintrinsicallycheaper.
However, Fig. 1 also shows that the weight-powerof TEFC motors has not
reduced at the same rate as larger machines. In recent years there has been a
tendency for the weight-powerof TEFC motors to increase.This is due to the
constraintsof International Standardsand to the poor heat transfer in the TEFC
machine, compared to modern large machines, which have air-blown internal
active parts. So it has been progressivelyharder for manufacturersto make TEFC
motors more competitively, by lowering the weight-power ratio, without
deteriorating the noise and efficiency of the machine. In other words the limit of
present knowledge of thermal performance is being reached and economic
improvementscan only be achievedby:
1. Lowering performance,or
2.By using more materials,increasingcost to improve performance but then
finding a cheaperplace to make the motor, or
3. By increasingpresentknowledge,using modern methodsfor optimal designto
achieve better performancewith less material or changingto better but cheaper
materials.
The challengeof the ef iciency initiatives in North America and the European
Union is that option i) is not possible.Manufacturersare deploying a variety of
methodsin ii) above,the effect on costshasbeenanalysedby Parasitiliet al in Ref
3 but this was done on the basis that manufacturersincreasedweight/power. We
are not aware of any activity in iii). But have we reachedthe true limit of weight-
power?This paperbelievesnot.
The situation is analogousto that in which Japanesecar manufacturersfound
themselvesin USA in the 1980s,wheretheir conventionally-sized, 2lttre, compact
car engines produced less power than the American market demanded. The easy
solution was to build bigger engines, in the American fashion. However, the
Japaneseanswerwas to use the latest design techniquesto get more power out of
thà existing 2 litre package. This is now widely acceptedas the appropriate
solution and those same engines have shown the way to achieve more stringent
environmentalrequirements.This paper follows from Ref I to describewhat can
be done practically to address the fundamental problems in design and
manufacture fbr an existing range of TEFC motors from an established
manufacturer.

InteractionBetween Losses, Efficiency& Weight-Power

The lossesin a motor are classifiedas follows:

rt*
 -l

204

l. Load DependentLossesincluding:
. Joule lossesin the statorwinding;
o Joulelossesin the rotor winding;
o Straylosses.

2. Load Independentor ConstantLosses,including:

o lron loss,
o Mechanical lossesincluding fan, bearing and shaft seal.

ln small and medium sized motors at normal load the Joule lossesrepresentthe
significant proportion of total losses, typically above 50%. Therefore their
reductionshould be one of the principal objectivesin raising motor efficiencies.
Stray lossesalso representa significant proportion of losses,occurring in both
rotor and stator,but they are difficult to predict and thereforeto reduce.
Haatajain Ref 4 implied the reduction of lossesis the only way to develop high
efficiency motors and this must increasethe volume of active parts and therefore
increasethe weight-power. But this is only so if currents, fluxes and materials
remain constant. No self-respecting manufacturer improves his machines by
keeping everythingthe same.

Heat Transfer & Losses in TEFC Machines

The problem with the TEFC geometryis that all lossesfrom the active parts, the
core, rotor and stator windings, must be extractedfrom the interior of the machine,
passedto the ribbed barrel and removedby convectionby the blow-over air.
There are four weaknessesin this arrangement:

l. Internal air does not remove much heat from the active parts, so there is little
assistanceto heat transferfrom internal fluid circulation.
2. The heat from the rotor to the ribbed barrel crosses 3 thermal resistance
interfaces,the air gap, the stator insulation and the core/barrelinterface.
3. The lossesfor smaller motors are dominatedby Joule lossesdevelopedin the
windings which is mostly extractedacross2 of theseinterfaces.
4. A large proportion of the second major source of loss, the strays, are
concentratedin the rotor and must be extractedacross3 of theseinterfaces.
5. Production factors can worsen the thermal resistance across each of the
interfaces.
6. The convective heat transfer acrossthe final interface, the ribbed barrel, isnot
optimal.
In consequencethe bulk heat transfer coefficient for a TEFC motor, relating
total lossesto stator winding temperaturerise and motor surfacearea, is typically
15 W/m4K, much lower than that for larger electrical machines,typically 300
W/m4K.
 205

This paper is arguing that one can lower the weight-power, by raising the bulk
heat transfercoefficient in the machinefrom 15 W/m4K. This cóuld increaseloss
density, with the threat of reducing efficiency. But lowering temperature will
decreaseloss. If the materials& designare also improved then efficiency can be
increased.The following sectionsdescribesthe changesthat can be made.

What to Do ?

To reacha higherperformancecompetitivelyone must optimise:

1. Performanceparameterssuch as:
o Losses& efficiency.
. Noise.
o Starting current & torque.

2. Productionfactors
r Improvedprocessesto reduceloss.
r Improve the choice of core frame diameters.
o Lower the cost of productionby removingunnecessary processes.
To improve the variability of design & manufacturingprò."rr", and materials
the following areasfor optimisationshouldbe addressed:

L Designcalculations;
o Identificationand predictionof stray losses;
o Thermal& ventilationmodellingto improveperformance.

2. Materials;
o Use improvedsteels;
o Reducematerial variance;

3. Processes;
o Better impregnationto improve heat transfer;
o Limit tool wear to reduceloss& wear variance;
r Improved statorwinding to reduce loss;
o Improved rotor cage construction;
o Improved core/barrelfit.

Reducing Losses

It has been shown that Joule lossesare an important part of machine loss. These
can be reducedby using high-permeability,rather than low-loss, steels,punched
206

with sharptools. Additional benefit can be obtainedby using semi-processed steel,

annealedafter punching,to eliminatethe punchinglosses.
It is also clear that one of the crucial problemsfor reducingstray losseslies in
the rotor from which heat has to be removedacross3 thermal interfaces.
A significantcontributorto theselossesis high frequencycurrentcirculationin
the smooth surfaceof the rotor, due to stator slot harmonics.Usually rotors are
machined after diecasting the cage in the closed slots. Such machining is
frequentlydone at high speedin one cut, leadingto distortion and burring of the
rotor lamination edges,enhancingthe lossesdue to these currents.Experiments
have shown that by reducingthe speedand cut size it is possibleto reducethese
surfacelosses.
There are also papersthat addressthe problem of stray lossesdue to rotor slot
skew.For exampleWilliamson et al, Ref 5, has shownthe substantialimprovement
in efficiency that can be achieved by eliminating interbar currents, Fig 2.
Experimentswith motors without skew, where the rotor and stator slots numbers
have beenchosento avoid noise and cogging,show a significantreductionin stray
losses,which reducesmotor temperatureand raisesefficiency.

Optimising Heat Transfer

There are some referencesthat addressthe heat transfer weaknessesof TEFC

machines,for example Pickering et al Ref 6. This dealt with the major area for
improvement, the heat transfer from the ribbed body, which depends upon the
dimensionsof the rib in relation to the frame and the airflow over the ribs. This
airflow should be high enoughfor scrubbingaction but not so high as to reduce
heat transfer.The fan dimensionsneedto be optimisedin relationto the fan-cowl,
which must have a good exit shapeover the ribs.
The work describedby Hayward in Ref 7, on the motor rangeconsideredhere,
showedhow the fan, fan-cowl and rib dimensionscan be optimisedby modelling
and test. Fig. 4 shows the experimental Air Flow Test Rig based on the current
range of motors on which ComputationalFluid Dynamics predictionswere also
made. Fig. 5 showsgood comparisonbetweenthe full size Air Flow Test Rig and
the CFD predictions, confirming the modelling. The CFD was then used to
optimise rib dimensions and air flow so that the heat transfer coefficient on that
surfacecould be improved.

Productionlssues

An importantissuein productionprocessis to limit the variability of efficiency

values attributable in a population of motors to periodic variations in tools,
 207

this to be a vital issue in improving

processesand materials. we consider
ttti#;ffie production issuesof reducing
section has referred to the important
iool' and if possible eliminating such
core lossesby maintaining sharp punching
punching'
lossesby annlaling the laminationsafter
can reduce stray losses by improving rotor
We have also seen that we
directions rather than one severecut' A
machining,using two light cuts in opposite
the machining at the stator outer
similar effect can be achieved by'minimising
there, away,from the air gap' is small'
diameter but the stray loss intensity high
the core back is important to ensurea
However the resultantsurfacefinish on as is the machining
to the cast stator frame'
heat transfer coeffrcient from the core
figuresof Ra 1'5 are recommended'
of the frame itself.Roughness
heat transfer is the quality and repeatability of
An important issue for
i m p r e g n a t i o n o f t h e s t a t o r w i n d i n g . T h e u s u a l . c r i t e r i o nhigh
forim p r erepeatable
and gnationisthe
impregnation with a
dielectric withstand but of .or.rrr".
coeffrcientof heat transferis essential'
effect of manufacturing processeson
There are some papers that addressthe
thesematters,for exampleby Walters'

Conclusions
doesnot necessarilymean increasing
Improvingthe efficiency of TEFC motors
th e v o l u me o fma te ri a l a n d thereforecost,butdoesnecessi tateopti mi si ngdesi gn
are:
and production factors' The areasto attack
1 ' R e d u c e c o r e & J o u l e l o s s e s b y o p t i m i s i n g m a g n e t i c s t e epunching'
lmaterialtogivehigh
by annealingafter
permeabilityand eliminate put.ttittg losses the
the rotor by reviewing machining and
2. Reduce stray losses particufutf' oí slot selections are
that rotor and stator
need to skew the slots, making sure
problems'
optimisedto avoid noiseand cogging
manufacturing pro".rré, io give good heat transfer particularly in
3. lmprove
resPectof:
o o p ti m i s i n g ro to rma c h i ni ngtomi ni mi serotorsurfacel ossesandguaranteea
rePeatableand accurateatrgaP'
to ensure good stator to
o lmprove stator core and J,u,ot frame machining
framefit.
rl mp ro v e s ta to rw i n d i n gi mpregnati ontoensuregoodheattransfer.
o Reducingvariability in manufacturingprocess'
fan, fan-cowl and rib design to
4. Optimise siator frame cooling UV uppÀpriate
stator'
raisethe convectiveheat transferat the . . 1r ,-
existing range of motors with a low weight-power ratto' can
The result is that an
6'
now alsoachievea higher effrciency'Fig'
208

These motors have also been incorporatedinto integratedproducts, which can

et al,
obtain high driven equipmentefficienciesfrom invertersupply,seeShakweh
Ref 8.

Acknowledgements

This paper is publishedwith the permissionof the Directors of MarelliMotori

SpA and FKI EnergYTechnologY.

References
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pp 369-374'
in cage induction motors, IEE PEMD Conf, &ath,2002, Publn 487,
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voltage concentric wound induction motor, IEE EMD Conf,
windings of a low
Durham, 1995, Publn 412, PP 471-481 '
of an Electric Motor, Nottingham University,
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 209

Wt/Power,
kg/kW
50
40
30 ;tui.
20 1
,*GSNERAL I
l0
0
1900 1920 1940 19ó0 1980 2000

Year

Fig. l. Weight per unit output as a function of year, from Glew

- Doubleskew
--- Nomlskry
---- Halfskw
----- Noskw
o

Fig. 2. Effect on motor efficiency of reducing rotor skew, taken from Williamson

Fig. 3. Example of Finite Element Analysis of the Flux Distribution in an existing Design
of 4 pole Motor, Showing the Opportunity to Optimise the Flux Pattem
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Fig. 4. Photographof an Air Flow Test Rig usedto Optimise Ribbed FrameHeatTrans\er

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Fig. 5. Top-SmokeTest in the Original Geometry;Bottom-CorrespondingCFD data from

FLUENT, showing closeagreementwith Air Flow Test Rig.

Fig. 6. Exampleof a new high efficiencymotor optimisedfrom anexistingrange