Optimization of electric drives for traction applications

The paper presents an overview of various steps required for solving the problem of designing electric drives for traction applications. The design problem is solved as an optimization problem with multiple objectives subject to various constraints governed by physical characteristics and limitations of materials and specific parts used for the assembly of electric motors and power converters, international standards, specific requirements of vehicle dynamics, available space, and cost. The drive components are optimized by modelling their interaction in the drive system. The principle is illustrated on an example of multiobjective Pareto optimization of a low floor tram using mixed integer distributed ant colony optimization.