Framework and Solution Techniques for Suppressing Electric Machine Winding MMF Space Harmonics by Varying Slot Distribution and Coil Turns

This paper studies the design of electric machine windings with reduced magnetomotive force (MMF) space harmonic content by adjusting the slot distribution and coil turns. Closed-form expressions for the winding factor and harmonic magnitudes established from a mathematical representation of winding functions are used to formulate the MMF space harmonic suppression problem. The framework is applicable to both distributed windings and fractional-slot concentrated windings (FSCWs) and can be solved with different techniques. No special requirements on the slot/pole combination and the number of layers are necessary. One example uses a linear algebraic technique to solve simultaneous equations and the result is a mixed-layer distributed winding. The process also reveals the criterion when multiple requirements on the winding factor and harmonic magnitudes can be satisfied concurrently. Contour plots are included to provide additional graphical insight. Another example designs a 24-slot 22-pole FSCW subset with numerical optimization. The resultant winding is a four-layer FSCW with two subsets and 3/4 of the harmonic orders are eliminated. The performance improvement of this winding is verified with finite-element simulations.