Iron Loss Analysis in Axial Flux Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors With Soft Magnetic Composite Core Material

Accurate calculation of iron losses in electric machines are essential for optimal machine design. This is especially important for axial flux permanent magnet motors with solid stator and rotor cores. This paper investigates iron losses in axial flux motor with soft magnetic composite material for the stator and the rotor. First, an analytical model is proposed to estimate iron losses under different operating conditions. The model is based on combining the Quasi 3-D computation approach and the magnetic equivalent circuit. The proposed model can be modified to account for different motor topologies and different stator and magnet designs. Then, The effect of torque ripple, on iron losses, is studied by comparing two motors: an optimized motor, with dummy pocket added to the stator tooth, and a non-optimized motor. Finally, the effect of the motor control scheme and the inverter switching frequency is studied by implementing two controllers: the Field Oriented Control and the Trapezoidal control. Simulations using 3-D finite element analysis and experimental tests are conducted, under different operating conditions, on two
$\text{12}\,V$
, 6 slots, 8 poles single stator single rotor fractional horsepower axial flux permanent magnet synchronous motor prototypes. Test results shows that motor optimization, the choice of the motor control scheme, and the selected switching frequency can significantly affect iron losses in the motor. Using an optimized motor with a smooth control scheme, such as Field Oriented Control, and a high switching frequency, can cause a variation in iron losses by around 14% compared to a non optimized motor with the Trapezoidal control and a low switching frequency.