Comparison of 2-D and 3-D EM field and force simulation accuracy in numerical environment

In computer aided design and analysis of electrical machines, electromagnetic field problems are solved in 2 dimensional space (2D) or 3 dimensional space (3D) depending on the problem nature. This study reports the comparative analysis of computation in 2D and 3D, in terms of important machine performance indicators like average torque, varied torque and unbalanced magnetic pull. As an example, a Brushless DC (BLDC) motor is analyzed to evaluate accuracy and computational effort. The analysis highlights the difference in accuracy and the reasons for the discrepancy.