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Abstract: The radial force density harmonics and vibrational characteristics of a three-phase
modular permanent magnet brushless AC machine is investigated. It is shown that, owing to the
presence of a large number of low- and high-order stator space harmonic magnetomotive forces,
modular machines are more likely to exhibit higher low-frequency vibrations than conventional
permanent magnet brushless machines. Experimental results support the analysis and its ndings.
IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 153, No. 6, November 2006 793
Phase A
Phase C
Phase B
Phase B
Phase C
Phase A
Phase A
a b
IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 153, No. 6, November 2006 795
The resulting armature reaction ux density components 3 Airgap radial force density distribution and
in the permanent magnet and airgap regions are given by: vibration characteristics
8
> 1 The radial force density distribution, Frd (ys, t), on the inner
3m Im < X bore of the stator core, which results from the airgap
Bar r; ys ; t o Jn Far r sinnys por t
2 > :n6k1 magnetic eld under no-load (or open-circuit) and on-load
k1;2;...
9 conditions, is the main cause of electromagnetically induced
> noise and vibration, and can be evaluated analytically by
X1 =
Maxwells stress tensor method. Thus,
Jn Far r sinnys por t
n6k1
>
; 1
k0;1;2;... Frd ys ; t B2 ys ; t B2y ys ; t 13
8 2m0 r
> 1
3mo Im < X Without loss of generality, the harmonic content and
Bay r; ys ; t Jn Fay r cosnys por t frequencies in the radial force density can be examined by
2 > :n6k1
k1;2;...
considering the contribution due to the radial ux density
9 component alone. Therefore,
X1 >
= 1
Jn Fay r cosnys por t 10 Frdr ys ; t B2 ys ; t
>
; 2m0 r
n6k1 (
k0;1;2;...
1 X
Brmn cosnpys or t
where Far(r) and Fay(r) are given in [3]. The airgap ux 2m0 n1;3;5;...
density distribution due to the combined effect of the )2
permanent magnet and armature reaction elds, when X
the effect of magnetic core saturation is negligible, can be Bran sinnys por t 14
n1;5;7;11;13;...
obtained as:
where Brmn and Bran are the magnitudes of the nth radial
Blr r; ys ; t Br r; yr Bar r; ys ; t ux density harmonics in the permanent magnet and
11
Bly r; ys ; t By r; yr Bay r; ys ; t armature reaction elds, respectively, and are given by:
Brmn KB nfBr Rs Rm =2
Since the angular position, yr, referred to the d-axis of the
3m Im 15
permanent magnet rotor is related to the stator angular Bran o Jn Far Rs Rm =2
position, ys, referred to the axis of the phase A winding by 2
yr ys or t, (11) can be further expressed as: where Rs and Rm are the stator bore radius and the rotor
radius, respectively. Thus, the radial force density waveform
Blr r; ys ; t Br r; ys or t Bar r; ys ; t consists of components due to, for example, the ith and nth
12
Bly r; ys ; t By r; ys or t Bay r; ys ; t harmonics in the permanent magnet eld and the armature
reaction eld, and also due to their interactions. Table 1
It will be noted that, although the foregoing analyses have summarises all the resultant time-varying radial force
been derived for a three-phase modular machine, they could components, in terms of their magnitude, frequency and
readily be modied and applied to conventional three-phase spatial order.
brushless machines having different winding dispositions As will be seen from Table 1, the radial force density
and slot/pole, number combinations. It should also be harmonics which result from the permanent magnet eld
noted that their airgap space harmonic MMF distributions have harmonic orders that are integer multiples of 2p and
will be signicantly different from that which results in a frequencies that are integer multiples of 2por, as is the case
modular machine. Hence, their vibrational responses under for conventional brushless AC/DC machines. It should also
the excitation of the radial force harmonics will also be very be noted that, although the force density components,
different. which result from the armature reaction eld in a modular
Table 1: Magnitude, frequency and spatial order of time-varying components of radial force density
Order of spatial force density harmonics Angular frequency Magnitude normalised to 1/(4m0)
796 IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 153, No. 6, November 2006
1.5 0.9
0.8
1
0.7
Radial flux density ( T )
0.5
0
0.4
-0.5
0.3
0.2
-1
0.1
-1.5
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Angular position (mechanical degree)
a Harmonic order
a
0.5 0.9
0.4
0.8
Circumferential flux density (T)
0.3
0.7
0.2
0 0.5
-0.1
0.4
-0.2
0.3
-0.3
-0.4 0.2
-0.5 0.1
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Angular position (mechanical degree)
0
b 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Harmonic order
Fig. 4 Radial and circumferential flux density distributions at b
r (Rm+Rs)/2 and ort 0 on full load
a Radial component Fig. 5 Space harmonics in radial airgap flux density distribution at
b Circumferential component r (Rm+Rs)/2 and ort 0, under no-load and full-load conditions
a No load
b Full load
machine contain even space harmonics, these harmonics Figure 6 shows the resulting radial force density
have the same frequency, given by 2por. In addition, distributions as functions of ys at r (Rm+Rs)/2 and
although the force density components that are due to the ort 0 under both no-load and full-load conditions, and
interaction between the permanent magnet eld and the Fig. 7 shows the corresponding space harmonics, excluding
armature reaction eld also contain even space harmonics, the DC component. The full-load radial force harmonic
their frequencies are different, being integer multiples distribution in Fig. 7b is normalised to the amplitude of the
of 2por. 22nd-order force harmonic in Fig. 7a. It is evident that the
Figure 4 shows the distribution of the radial and no-load radial force density only contains space harmonics
circumferential components of the airgap ux density as of orders 22, 44, y. However, the full-load radial force
functions of ys at r (Rm+Rs)/2 and ort 0, predicted by density contains all even space harmonics of order 2, 4, 6, 8,
the analyses described in Section 2 for the 24-slot, 22-pole 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, y, as a result of the interaction
modular machine at rated load. As can be seen, the between the odd space harmonics in the permanent magnet
circumferential ux density component is relatively small eld and the armature reaction eld distributions. The
and may, therefore, be neglected for the evaluation of the strongest radial force harmonic of 22nd-order is a
radial force. Figure 5 compares the space harmonics in the consequence of the 11th working harmonic in the airgap
radial ux density distributions under both no-load and magnetic eld. The next strongest force harmonic is of
full-load conditions. The armature reaction eld contains 24th-order. It is particularly important to note that the
harmonics of order 1, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, y, the 11th and radial force density distribution of the modular machine
13th harmonics being the strongest, and the harmonics in also contains a very strong 2nd-order space harmonic,
the radial ux density distribution due to the permanent which results from the interaction of the 11th working
magnets alone are of order 11, 33, y. Thus, on full load the harmonic eld with the 13th harmonic in the armature
radial ux density distribution contains harmonics of order, reaction eld. This strong four-pole force density harmonic
1, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 33, 35, 37, y, as is evident from is clearly visible in the full-load radial force density
Fig. 5b. The 11th working space harmonic is clearly the distribution shown in Fig. 6b.
strongest, followed by the 13th harmonic of the armature The mechanical transfer accelerance of the machine,
reaction eld. which relates its radial acceleration to the vibrational force
IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 153, No. 6, November 2006 797
x105 x104
2 10
1.8 9
1.6 8
1.4 7
1.2 6
1 5
0.8 4
0.6 3
0.4 2
0.2 1
0 0
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Angular position (mechanical degree) Harmonic order
a a
x105 1.5
6
4 1
2 0.5
0 0
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Angular position (mechanical degree) Harmonic order
b b
Fig. 6 Radial force density distribution as functions of ys at Fig. 7 Space harmonics in radial force density distribution at
r (Rm+Rs)/2 and ort 0, under no-load and full-load conditions r (Rm+Rs)/2 and ort 0, under no-load and full-load conditions
a No load a No load
b Full load b Full load
and which is inuenced by the structure of the stator and its this mode is given by:
mechanical mounting, is the sum of the responses of all the pf02
vibration modes and is given by: or 17
" # p
X ai o=ooi 2
H o 16 Usually, the resonant frequency of a low vibration
2
i1;2;... 1 j2zi o=ooi o=o0i
mode is relatively low. Hence, the rotor speed that results
p in the excitation of this vibration is also low, and may
where j 1, o is the mechanical angular frequency, fall within the operating speed range of the machine.
and ai, zi and o0i are the gain, damping ratio and To illustrate this potential problem with three-phase
natural frequency of the ith vibration mode. In the modular PM machines as compared with conventional
machine under investigation, the force density distribution three-phase PM brushless DC and AC machines, their
only contains even space harmonics. If the frequency airgap radial force density distribution can be similarly
of a given radial force harmonic of order i is close to or analysed, and it can be shown that the radial force
equal to the natural frequency of the ith vibration density components due to the armature reaction eld
mode, then resonance will occur. Therefore, since the in conventional PM brushless DC and AC machines
modular machine contains all even-order space harmonics consist of space harmonics of orders kp and 2kp
in the radial force density, whose angular frequencies (k 1, 2, 3, y), respectively. Thus, the lowest vibration
are integer multiples of 2por, it may be more susceptible mode orders that can be excited in brushless DC and
to resonant vibrations within its operating speed range. AC machines due to the combined effect of the
For example, a mode 2 vibration of the machine can be permanent magnet and armature reaction elds are
excited by the 2nd-order force space harmonic with equal to the pole-pair number and the pole number p
angular frequency 2por. If the resonant frequency of the and 2p, respectively. If the resonant frequencies of the
mode 2 vibration is f02, the rotor speed that excites mode p and 2p vibrations are f0p and f02p, respectively,
798 IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 153, No. 6, November 2006
the rotor speed that excites the vibration modes is 4 Experimental validation
given by:
The foregoing analysis of the radial force characteristics of a
three-phase modular PM machine has been validated by
pf0p =p for brushless DC machines vibration measurements on the prototype 22-pole, 24-slot
or 18
pf02p =p for brushless AC machines machine, which is shown in Fig. 9 mounted on a
dynamometer test rig. The machine is connected to a
four-quadrant DC power supply via a three-phase diode
For the same machine frame size and similar stator bridge rectier and was operated as a generator. Figure 10
structures, the natural frequencies f0p and f02p are usually shows a typical phase current waveform. An accelerometer
much greater than f02 when p 4 2. Consequently, the rotor was mounted on the machine housing to measure vibrations
speed that may induce the resonant vibration in a modular under various operating conditions. Figure 11a shows the
machine will be much lower than that for inducing vibration spectrum that was measured on no load at a rotor
resonances in brushless DC or AC machines. speed of 2000 rpm, which is around the middle of the
Figure 8 shows the time harmonic spectrum of the radial operating speed range for the particular modular machine
force density at a xed angular position ys 0 and a rotor under consideration. The vibrations induced by the radial
speed of 2000 rpm, under both no-load and full-load force, which is due to the permanent magnet eld alone,
operating conditions. The full load harmonic spectrum is correspond to frequencies that are integer multiples of 2por/
normalised to the value of the fundamental 733.33 Hz 2p 2000 11/30 733.33 Hz, and the vibration frequency
frequency (por/p) radial force component on no load. As
can be seen, the frequencies of the harmonics are integer
multiples of the fundamental radial force frequency
733.33 Hz. It should also be noted that although the
amplitudes of the high-order time harmonics are relatively
low, they may still induce signicant vibrations.
x104
10
9
f= 733.33Hz
8
Radial force density (N/m2)
6 2f
5
3
3f
2
1
4f
0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000
Frequency (Hz)
a
1.4
1.2
Normalised radial force density (N/m2)
0.8
300
2f
0.6
200
0.4
Phase current (A)
100
3f
0.2
4f 0
0 -100
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000
Frequency (Hz)
-200
b
-300
Fig. 8 Time harmonic distribution of radial force density at -400 -340 -280 -220 -160 -100 -40 20 80 140 200 260 320 380
r (Rm+Rs)/2 and ys 0, under no-load and full-load conditions Rotor position (elec.deg)
a No load
b Full load Fig. 10 Typical phase current waveform
IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 153, No. 6, November 2006 799
2
1.8
1.6
Acceleration (m/s2)
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000 22000 24000
Frequency (Hz)
a
2
1.8
1.6
Acceleration (m/s2)
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000 22000 24000
Frequency (Hz)
b
2
1.8
1.6
Acceleration(m/s2)
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000 20000 22000 24000
Frequency (Hz)
c
Fig. 11 Measured vibration spectrum under no load and load conditions at 2000 rpm
a No load
b Irms 100 A
c Irms 200 A
of 13 200 Hz is probably at or close to a resonant mode. It is different vibration response. As a consequence, the
evident that the frequencies in the measured vibration magnitude of the vibrations at frequencies that are integer
spectrum agree with the predictions. Similar open-circuit multiples of 733.33 Hz is increased under the two load
vibration spectra will result for conventional 22-pole conditions. In particular, the vibration amplitude at
brushless AC/DC machines having a similar structure to 1466 Hz, which corresponds to 4por/2p, increases signi-
the modular machine. cantly when load is applied. This vibration can only be
Figures 11b and c show measured vibration spectra for excited by force harmonic components of order (3p7n) or
the 22-pole, 24-slot modular machine under two different (5p7n), n 1, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, y, which result from
load conditions, at the same rotor speed of 2000 rpm. Since the interaction between the 3rd and 5th harmonics of the
the frequency of the radial force harmonics due to the permanent magnet eld and the armature reaction eld.
armature reaction eld, when high-order time harmonics in Similarly, the vibrations at frequencies of 13 933 Hz and
the phase current are neglected, is 2por/2p 733.33 Hz, the 14 666 Hz are also increased signicantly under the two load
magnitude of the vibration (acceleration) at 733.33 Hz is conditions, the space harmonic orders that can excite these
increased under the two load conditions, and the increase vibrations being different from those under no load, and,
is approximately proportional to the load current, as is again, can only result from the interaction between the
evident from Fig. 11 and is to be expected from (15). permanent magnet and armature reaction elds.
Further, the frequencies of the radial force harmonics that
result from the interaction between the permanent magnet 5 Conclusions
and armature reaction elds are also integer multiples of
733.33 Hz. These harmonics have different orders from The airgap radial force density distribution in three-phase
those that result on no load, and will, therefore, excite a modular permanent magnet brushless machines, as a
800 IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 153, No. 6, November 2006
function of angular position and time, has been analysed 2 Atallah, K., Wang, J., and Howe, D.: Torque ripple minimization in
analytically. It has been shown that the armature reaction modular permanent magnet brushless machines, IEEE Trans. Ind.
Appl., 2003, 39, (6), pp. 16891695
eld in modular machines produces a rich set of space 3 Wang, J., Xia, Z.P., and Howe, D.: Three-phase modular permanent
harmonics in the airgap ux density distribution. Conse- magnet machines for down-sized ICE vehicles, IEEE Trans. Veh.
quently, the radial force density distribution that results Technol., 2005, 54, (3), pp. 809816
4 Oikawa, T., Tajima, T., Matsumoto, K., Akita, H., Kawaguchi, H.,
when a modular machine is loaded contains all space and Kometani, H.: Development of high efciency brushless DC
harmonics of even order, their frequencies being integer motor with new manufacturing method of stator for compressors.
16th Int. Compressor Engineering Conf., Purdue, USA, 2002, Vol.
multiples of por/p. Thus this makes it more likely that a CD12-4
three-phase modular machine will have a higher vibration 5 Zhu, Z.Q., and Howe, D.: Inuence of design parameters on cogging
level over its operating speed range than conventional three- torque in permanent magnet machines, IEEE Trans. Energy Convers.,
2000, 15, pp. 407412
phase brushless AC/DC machines. Experimental measure- 6 Toda, H., Xia, Z.P., Wang, J., and Howe, D.: Rotor eddy-current loss
ments have validated the ndings of the analysis. in permanent magnet brushless machines, IEEE Trans. Magn., 2004,
40, (4), pp. 21042106
7 Zhu, Z.Q., Howe, D., Bolte, E., and Ackermann, B.: Instantaneous
6 References magnetic eld distribution in brushless permanent magnet dc
motorsFPart I: Open-circuit eld, IEEE Trans. Magn., 1993, 29,
1 Atallah, K., and Howe, D.: Modular permanent magnet brushless (1), pp. 136142
machines for aerospace and automotive applications. Proc. 20th Int. 8 Zhu, Z.Q., and Howe, D.: Instantaneous magnetic eld distribution in
Workshop on Rare-earth Magnets and their Applications, 2000, brushless permanent magnet dc motorsFPart II: Armature-reaction
pp. 10391048 eld, IEEE Trans. Magn., 1993, 29, (1), pp. 124136
IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 153, No. 6, November 2006 801