Torque Density of PM Motors Developed under Government Programs

Report 06-08 By Dantam K. Rao raodantam@yahoo.com Precision Magnetics Inc., Schenectady, NY, USA.

Abstract In this paper we survey the torque density that has been achieved by PM motors developed under governmental funding. At present 50 Nm/L appears to be the highest continuous duty torque density demonstrated so far. This torque density has been achieved by both radial and axial type PM motors. It is found that torque density depends on machine size, cooling approach and efficiency. It also appears that torque density increases with size. A. INTRODUCTION At present, several types of rotating machines are used to convert energy from different sources into torque. These include gasoline engines1, diesel engines2, aircraft engines3 and electric motors. These machines have different torque density capabilities as shown in Figure 1. This figure shows that the Permanent Magnet motor offers higher torque density than other energy converting engines. Its torque density is about twice that of aircraft engines. It is an order of magnitude higher than that of gasoline engines. As a result, the electric motor appears to be a good choice for energy conversion where compactness is paramount. An Electric Machine is a device that converts electric power into mechanical power or vice versa. It consists of a stator and a rotor separated by air gaps. The stator contains several electromagnets (EM) flux sources, made of multiple iron teeth and coils connected by backiron.. Permanent Magnet Machine is defined as one in which the rotor has Permanent Magnet (PM) is an energy storage medium that does not require excitation from external source. Within electric machines, there is a consensus that PM machine produces higher torque density than other machines such as induction or wound-rotor machines. (For example, a leading 50 kW rated fan-cooled induction motor made by AC Propulsion4, model no. AC-150 Gen-2EV is rated 60 Nm in a 9.6 diameter x

13.8 in long house, so offers 3.6 Nm/L; PM motors of similar rating, when liquid cooled, offer > 15 Nm/L). But there seems to be no consensus as to which PM machine configuration and what cooling approach offers highest possible torque density. This paper is restricted to a summarizing the results of government funded Liquid Cooled PM motor development programs in an effort to identify torque density that has been demonstrated so far, and identify the key features of such machines. B. TORQUE METRICS When an expert uses the term "torque" his definition may not tally with that one another one, causing confusion. One expert may use it to denote theoretical electromagnetic torque while another may imply measured shaft torque. As shown in Fig. 2, three different torque metrics are in vague. Shaft torque is one is that is measured at the shaft. Electromagnetic torque assumes 100% electric power is converted into torque, from Tem = VIcos . This is lot higher than the measured shaft torque5. Continuous Duty Torque CDT Tc (Fig. 1a) is the largest shaft torque Tc that a motor can output continuously without exceeding set steady temperature limit. CDT depends on PM motor configuration, cooling the insulation, epoxy, iron and magnet as well as temperature limits. The hot spot temperature depend on heat load and thermal resistances. This resistance

depends on coolant is used, cooling configuration, inlet and ambient temperatures, flow rate and pressure drop. Temperature limit can be set as average or hot spot temperature. It depends on how steady state is defined, how many thermal time constants elapsed during test, time rate of temperature rise, type of sensors, their locations, how sensors are insulated from current carrying parts. There are so many parameters that affect CDT that it is difficult to quantify it accurately without lot of footnotes and small print. Peak Duty Torque PDT is another popular metric6 used by the hybrid vehicle community (Fig. 1b). This is the largest single pulse torque Tp that a motor can output for a specified short duration ton without exceeding set short duration temperature limits. This simulates rapid acceleration or short-duration hill climbing. Its value depends on the shape of the torque pulse wave form, on the duration, hot spot temperature, thermal mass etc. PDT can be 2 to 5 times higher than CDT.
to T T
c p f f

3 times less than that which uses rotor stack volume. D. TORQUE DENSITY METRICS Torque density is defined as torque divided by volume or mass. From above discussion since there are so many definitions for torque and volume, there is no universal definition for the torque density metric. Obviously it depends on efficiency. Prior investigations7 also indicate that torque density also depends on size. Motors with larger
L L L S D
h h e s

D t a t o r D
r

t o

t ( a ) C o

to

to

h
( c ) R e p e t i t i v e

s e

n t i ( nb u ) o P u e s a k

Figure 2. Torque Metrics Vary with Application Repetitive Peak Torque RPT is largest amplitude of a stream of torque pulses (Fig. 1c) with a specified on time ton and off time toff. This is tied with the fatigue life of the motor. This metric is useful in aircraft flap actuation where the flap is opened and closed several times during military maneuvers. C. VOLUME METRICS The term "volume" also has no universally accepted definition. As shown in Fig. 3, some commonly used metrics are: Rotor volume Vr = Dr2 Ls where Df = rotor or air gap diameter, Ls = stack length. Electromagnetic volume, viz. stator laminations, windings, magnets, rotor laminations. Stator stack volume , Vs = Ds 2 Ls where Ds = outer diameter of stator stack and Ls = stack length. End turn volume, Ve = Ds 2 Le where Le = axial length over end turns. Housing volume, Vh = Dh2 Lh where Dh is diameter of housing and Lh is axial length between flat surfaces of end bells. Typically torque density that uses this is 2 to
2

Figure 3. Volume Metrics of Motor diameter tend to have a higher torque density because of larger torque radius and larger area for heat transfer.

HTS Motor* PM Motor Induction Motor Aircraft Engine Diesel Engine Gasoline Engine 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Torque Density, Nm/L

Figure 1. Torque Density of Motor vs Engines. The metric used also depends on the applications, or user, academic, mobile/hybrid vehicles, ship propulsion, aircraft propulsion, aircraft actuation and mining machines.

Air gap shear stress (psi) is defined8 as the average shear force F (from electromagnetic torque Tm ) divided by the rotor surface area. Torque Density over Rotor Volume Td is defined by Td = Tc/Vr . For radial gap motor Vr = (/4) Dr2 Ls where Dr = rotor diameter, Ls = stack length, so the this torque density Td is twice shear stress, since.

over stack, over end-turns, over housing end bells.

F T = Td = 2 Dr L s 2Vr

A typical induction motor, such as Tesla Motor produces 170 kW peak (270 Nm x 6000 rpm) in a package, so offers Nm/L of PDT.). E2. TORQUE DENSITY ACHIEVED SO FAR In this paper we define Continuous Duty Torque Density (CDTD) as measured continuous duty shaft torque Tc divided by housing external volume Vh. Our review below indicates that 50 Nm/L is the highest CDTD demonstrated so far under government funded efforts. Details: - 50 Nm/L CDTD is demonstrated by L-3 Corporation, 10 as well as DRS11. High torque density in both motors is attributable due to oil cooling and large diameter. Magnet Motor in addition relied on focused surface magnets to get high gap flux density. (a) The L-3s (formerly Magnet-Motor GmbH, Starnberg, Germany) M59 is 100 kW rated oil-cooled radial gap BLDC motor, produced 1050 Nm in a 17 in. diameter x 5.7 in length housing. (b)DRSs (formerly Kaman Electromagnetics Corp, Hudson, MA, now E-Power) is an oil cooled axial gap motor that reportedly produces 800 Nm in 16 liter volume, but further data is not available. (Other commerical offerings by DRS however produce less than 15 Nm/L see below). (c ) A 30 kW rated in-wheel motor to output 716 Nm rated torque in 9.5 in diameter x 12.6 long house, delivering 50 Nm/L was designed12, but actual test data was not known. - 25 Nm/L CDTD was targeted by PreMag13 to develop a 50 kW axial gap motor in a 11.2 diameter x 3.7 long package. This development effort was discontinued because of lack of funding.

Both shear stress and CDTD are expressed in Nm/L, lbin/in3, or ft-lb/lb, Nm/Kg. Note that 1Nm/L = 0.145 psi. Assuming a overall density of 0.2 lb/in3, the conversion factor is 1 Nm/L = 0.06 ft-lb/lb. Vehicle community needs motors to drive hybrid vehicles. These motors weigh less than 200 lb. They are in 30 to 150 kW range. Torque is in 100 to 500 Nm range, speeds in 1000 to 10,000 rpm range. They use 300 to 650 Vdc supply drawing to Adc current. The motor is squeezed to fit inside the engine compartment where space is at a premium. So their preferred metric is Nm/L where liters refer to the total motor volume Vh (over housing). Ship propulsion community needs motors to propel ships and drive auxiliary equipment. Propulsion motors weigh 20 to 80 tons, are in the 0.5 MW to 15 MW range, producing 200,000 to 500,000 Nm of torque at 200 to 300 rpm, using 10 to 20 KVdc. The weight is at premium. So their preferred metric is ftlb/lb or Nm/Kg. Aircraft community needs ~50 kW motor to start or propel an aircraft. They weigh less than 50 lb. They should produce less than 50 Nm of torque at a high speed of 20K to 100K rpm using 270 Vdc. They value power and weight. So their preferred metric is power density in hp/lb or kW/kg. Aircraft also desires to replace hydraulic or electrohydraulic actuators with all-electric actuators that can fit inside the wing. This puts a constraint on both weight and volume. They need 2 to 5 kW continuous (15 kW peak) geared motors to actuate flaps at a slow speed of 1 to 4 rpm. A high speed (~10Krpm) motor will be small but will demand a large gear reducer with high reduction ratio. A low speed (~1Krpm) motor on the other hand will be large while gear train will be small. The motor design is intimately tied with that of gear train9. There are three definitions of torque - continuous duty, peak duty or repetitive peak duty. Similarly there are four definitions of volume as that over rotor,
3

- 15 Nm/L CDTD is demonstrated by DRS and Timken14. DRSs PA44 is an axial gap motor rated 336 kW, produced 1120 Nm in a 25.5 in diameter 8.8 in long housing. Timkens Power Pac II is a 23 kW rated axial gap motor that produced 58 Nm in 8.6 diameter x 3.27 long stator stack. Both are liquid cooled. - 12 Nm/L CDTD is achieved by Toyota Prius motor15, Raser Technologies16 and QinetiQ17. (a) The Prius motor is a radial gap PMSM that offers continuous torque is 145 Nm and a peak torque of 400 Nm, in a 10.6 stack diameter and 8.3 long package. It is oil splash cooled which could explain its lower CDTD. (b) Rasers P-180 motor is also of radial gap type, rated 17 kW, produced 180 Nm "continuous" torque and 570Nm peak" torque in a 12 in diameter x 8 in long housing. (c ) QintetiQ (formerly DERA)s motor is also a radial gap BLDC called Hub Motor Electric Drive (HMED) rated 50 kW and 178 Nm of continuous torque rating in a 12.5 diameter x 7.48 long package. It is cooled by a simple cooling jacket on the external diameter. F. GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS Several US government agencies have attempted to develop torque-dense radial and axial gap motors. Both US Army and Department of Energy (DoE) funded them for army and commercial hybrid vehicles respectively. US Navy funded mostly PM and superconducting motors for ship propulsion. British Navy funded transverse flux type PM machines. Air Force and NASA picked radial gap switched reluctance machines for aircraft propulsion. F1. Army Progam US Army's hybrid vehicle programs aim at 50 100 kW motors targeting 80 Nm/L18 for hybrid Humvee and similar vehicles. It funded19 E-Power, Unique Mobility, L-3 and ElectroDynamics Associates20 to develop such motors. DRS, Huntsville recently subcontracted to E-Power for a torque-dense 100 kW motor which is under development. F2. DoE Program Department of Energy's targeted 35 kW 75 kW motors for hybrid vehicles, and spent hundreds of millions of dollars, but has yet to show good result. - In 1990s DoE funded ~$1B to Ford Motor and General Electric to develop induction motors, but this resulted in one with poor torque density.
4

- Between 1995 and 2007 DoE betted mostly on PM motors. In 2001-2004 it spent ~$20 M for Delco under Advanced Electric Motor Drive (AEMD)21 which resulted in a PM motor22 with poor torque density23. - In 2007 DoE24 seems to flip and fund non-PM motors citing fundamental difficulty in controlling the PM flux to get torque over wide speed range. Navy also seems to lean25 towards non-PM motors for some applications. - In summary DoE spent hundreds of millions of dollars in trying to develop PM motor, but this resulted in machines offering torque density less than 10 Nm/L. F3. Navy Programs US Navy funded heavily PM motors for ship propulsion motor to replace traditional truck-sized induction machines which demonstrated 28 Nm/L. Low noise and light weight and size are critical. - 40 Nm/L was demonstrated in 1995 by a 2.2 MW radial gap PM machine by DRS26 . This produced 65,000 Nm in a 65 in D x 30 in house. Figure 4 shows torque

density achieved so far and projections. Fig. 4. Torque Density Propulsion Motors. of Ship

Highlights of designs and projections are: - 66 Nm/L was targeted in 2005 by 2nd generation 25 MW liquid cooled PM machine.

- 90 Nm/L PM motor design was made by Eckels and Calfo40. 270 Nm/L design of 28.3 MW HTS motor producing 2.7 MNm at 100 rpm, and 200 Nm/L design of a wound rotor motor were also developed by them. But these are designs not fabricated hardware. - In 2008 the 36 MW radial gap PM machine was built by DRS and delivered to Navy after repairing an insulation failure27 (its torque density is unknown) 28 . It appears that PM motor is still competing with induction motor29. - 100 Nm/L target was recently targeted by Navy30 for air cooled aircraft actuator. But this is a low-power geared motor, so it appears that this target cannot be achieved by motor alone. - 46 Nm/L is claimed by Transverse Flux machine by Hoffman31 in an effort funded by British Navy to drive its ships. Claimed advantage is utilizing entire air gap perimeter for torque generation. Few European and Chinese experts32 claim that TFM offers highest torque density, but to date experimental data is insufficient to this claim33. Hoffman also stated that axial gap motors offer 24 Nm/L, radial gap motors offer 20 Nm/L, induction motors offer 14 Nm/L. Air Force needs power-dense motors for startergenerators and torque-dense motors for flap actuators in its aircraft; NASA also looking for power-dense motor for aircraft propulsion. It34 recently surveyed motor technologies from high power density perspective, not high torque density perspective. They believe that Switched Reluctance motors offer highest power density of 5 kW/kg. Examples: Ferreira35 made 30 kW rated SR machine occupying 6.25 diameter x 4.45 stack length (6 Nm/L). Radun36 made a 75 kW (note: it is not known if this continuous power. 28 Nm SR motor occupying 6.35 in diameter and 3.8 in stack length (10 Nm/L (after using a 1.5 correction factor to account for housing, end wounding etc) Hence it is clear that torque density of reluctance machines is not higher than that of PM machines. But they are good power-dense machine as they can spin at higher speeds. G. ARE SUPERCONDUCTING MOTORS BETTER?

The near-zero resistance of superconductors theoretically should allow High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) motor to weigh about half that of PM motor37. However, it appears that superconducting motors have demonstrated only up to 65 Nm/L as detailed below. - 64 Nm/L is demonstrated by a 5 MW HTS motor38,39 that delivered 0.2 MNm at 230 rpm, occupied 5.25 ft diameter x 5.25 ft length and weighed 26 tons. Its continuous torque density is 2.95 ftlb/lb40 . -65Nm/L is projected for a 36.5 MW HTS motor41 that will produce 2.9 MNm at 120 rpm, occupying 13.5 ft diameter x 11 ft long, weighing 83 tons. This machine however appears to be not fully tested42. -132 Nm/L or (16 ftlb/lb) was projected to be achieved by 2010 by Mongeau43 - but it is just projection. Thus the superconducting motors appear to have demonstrated 65 Nm/L which is only marginally better than the 50 Nm/L demonstrated by PM motors. H. CONCLUSION From above data, it is extremely important that, when comparing torque densities from different sources, to verify the community they belong, and to use same definition for torque and volume. It is also clear that heavy investment is made by the US Government in developing PM Motors with high torque density. Currently 50 Nm/L seems to be the highest torque density demonstrated by these machines at 100 kW level. Development of torque-dense PM motors beyond 100 kW appears to be still an ongoing effort.

REFERENCES

Patterson, D. J., et al., 'The goodness of small contemporary permanent magnet electric machines', Proc. Elec. Machines and Drives Conference 2003, Vol. 2, pp. 1195-1200. 2 Caterpillar, 'CAT C15 on-highway engineered with ACERT technology', http://www.petersonpower. com/pdf/C-15.pdf. 3 Johnson, D., and Brown, G., 'Power requirements determined for high power density electric motors for electric aircraft propulsion', http://www.grc.nasa.gov/ WWW/RT/2004/RS/RS19S-johnson.html. 4 AC Propulsion, AC-15-Gen-2 EVPower System, http:// www.acpropulsion.com/technology/ac150_gen2_specs.pdf. 5 Shafer, G. A., FMC high power density electric drive technology, Wescon/94, Ideal Microelectronics Conference Record, Sept. 27-29, 1994, pp. 172-175. 6 Voelcker, J., Top 10 TechCars, Spectrum, April 2007, pp. 34-41
7

Mongeau, P., Traction Motor Applications, Ground Automotive Power and Energy Symposium, July 22, 2005, Detroit. Hendershot, H and Miller, T, Permanent Magnet Motor Design, Oxford University Press, 1985. 9 Rao, D. K., Torque Dense Geared Motor Actuator for Aircraft, Contract No. N00014-C-06-M-0177, Mar. 2007. 10 Ehrhart, P., High Torque Density Traction Motors, 1st Annual Ground-Automotive Power & Energy Symposium, Detroit, MI July 2022, 2005. 11 Mongeau, P., "High performance electric drive train components, " IEEE Trans. on Magnetics, Vol. 31, No. 1, Jan. 1995. 12 Espanet, C.; Miraoui, A.; Kauffmann, J.M. Optimal design of a high torque DC brushless in-wheel motor. IEEE International Electric Machines and Drives Conference (IEMDC03), 2003. 13 Rao, D. K., 50 kW ThinMotor Datasheet, PreMag, 2005. 14 Zhou, R. S., and Hashimoto, F., 'Highly compact electric drive for automotive applications, Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technology', SP1893, SAE Int. Power Train & Fluid Sys. Conf., Tampa, FL, Oct. 25-28, 2004. 15 Hsu, J. S., et al., Report on Toyota Prius Motor Thermal Management, ORNL Report No. ORNL/TM-2005/33., 2005. 16 Raser Technologies, High power density, high torque density efficient motors and generators', Electric Drive Transportation Association Conf, Dec. 6-8, 2005, Vancouver, http://www.rasertech. com/edta.pdf. 17 Goldsack, S., Thompson, R. W., Jenkins, M., Hub Mounted Electric Drive Project at QinteiQ and MST, Proc. Fourth Int. All Electric Combat Vehicle Conf., (AECV)2003. 18 U.S Army http://contracting.tacom.army.mil/baa/ W56HZV-04-Q-BAA1%20Amendment %200004.htm. They have not clarified if this refers to continuous or peak torque 19 US Army Electric motors and inverters for high power density propulsion, http://contracting.tacom.army.mil/baa/W56HZV-04-QBAA1%20Amendment%200004.htm, 2004. 20 Electrodynamic Associates, High torque density motor, http://www.electrodynamics.net/ projects/high_torque_motor.html 21 Staunton, R. H.., et al PM Motor Parametric Design Analysis for a Hybrid Electric Vehicle Traction Drive Application, ORNL TM2004/217, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 22 DoE Vehicle power electronics and electric machines, 2001 Annual Report, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/pdfs/program/2001_pr_vehicle_power.pdf
8 23

DoE, Electric Machines, http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/ technologies/electronics/machines.html

24

DoE, High-Power-Density, Non-Permanent-Magnet, Electric Motor Development for Hybrid, Plug-in Hybrid, and Fuel Cell Vehicles, SBIR topic no. 25, http://www.science.doe.gov/sbir/solicitations /FY%202008/C26_Notice.htm 25 Caddy, M., Private Communication, Feb. 4, 2008. 26 DRS, Ship Propulsion, http://www.drs.com/products/index.cfm?gID=16&productID=492 27 GAO, Progress and challenges facing DD(x) surface combatant program, July 2005. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05924t.pdf 28 DRS, Permanent Magnet motor development and design, http://www.sname.org/sections /new_england/rept0506.html 29 GAO, Progress of DD(X) Destroyer program, June 2005, http://www.allbusiness.com/periodicals/ article/861715-1.html 30 US Navy, Topic N06-T003, High torque high efficiency electric motor technology, 31 Hoffmann, D. A., Gearing for high speed motors, IEE Collogquium on High Speed Bearings for Electric Machines, Digest 1997/164, pp. 311-313., 25 April 1997 32 Shi, J, Li, Yongbin and Zheng, W., Survey on the development of transverse flux machine, Sixth International Conf. on Electric Machines and Systems, ICEMS 2003, Nov. 2003, Vol. 1, pp. 127-141. 33 Mitcham, A. J., Transverse Flux Motor, a new approach to naval propulsion, Proc. Naval Symposium on electric machines, July 28-31, 1997, Newport, RI., pp. 1-8. 34 Brown et al, NASA GRC Program in High Power Density Motors for Aero propulsion, NASA TM 2005-213800, Dec. 2005. 35 Ferreira, C.A., Jones, S.R., Heglund, W.S., and Jones, W.D., Detailed Design of a 30-kW Switched Reluctance Starter/Generator System for a Gas Turbine Engine Application, IEEE Ind. Appl., vol. 31, issue 3, pp. 55561 (1995). 36 Radun, A. V, High-Power Density Switched Reluctance Motor Drive for Aerospace Applications, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 28, no. 1, Jan. /Feb. 1992. 37 Kreisher, O., "Electric drive for DD(X) sparks competition over exotic motors, Sea Power, Sept. 2004. 38 Masur, L. J., Kellers, et al, "Industrial HTS conductors, status and applications," EUCAS 2003, September 15-18, 2003, Sorrento, Italy. 39 Eckels, P. W., and Snitchler, G., "5MW high temperature superconductor ship propulsion motor design and test results," Electric Machinery Technology Symposium, 2004, Philadelphia. 40 American Superconductor. ASC announces successful full load operation of 5 MW ship propulsion motor at US Navy's Center for Advanced Power System, http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-27-

2004/0002258984&EDATE= 41 American Superconductor, High temperature superconductor ship propulsion motors, http://www.amsuper.com/products/motorsGenerators/documents/MP_DS_DDX365_1205_8.5x11.pdf 42 Eckels, B.W., and Calfo, R.M., An Evaluation of High Torque Density Electric Motor Topologies and their Application to Ship Propulsion, Proc. EMTS 2004, Philadelphia, PA. 43 Mongeau, P., High torque density propulsion motors, ASNE Electric Machines Technology Symp., Philadelphia, PA, Jan. 2004.