Performance evaluation of thin electrical steels applied to interior permanent magnet motor

This work investigates the impact of thin electrical steel laminations on the performance of interior permanent magnet (IPM) motors for electric vehicle traction. Three different electrical steel grades are used in an IPM motor design and the performance is evaluated by simulation. It is found that thin laminations can improve the efficiency of the IPM motor but the output torque could be slightly reduced due to lower saturation flux density. Therefore, direct replacement of core materials for the same motor design may not be suitable. This paper presents the considerations for design of IPM motors using thin laminations. The motor performance is evaluated in terms of torque, efficiency and constant power speed range. A method is then proposed for design of high performance IPM motors using thin laminations. Experimental studies are conducted to validate the simulation and design.