Prediction of Electromagnetic Performance for IPMSM Based on Improved Analytical Model Considering Saturation Effects

Unlike surface-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motors (SPMSM), the rotor structure of interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) is irregular and relatively complex. This makes the analytical calculation for IPMSM quite complicated. Except for the use of some equivalent methods to make irregular permanent magnets (PMs) regular, existing subdomain models often cannot effectively and directly account for the complex rotor structure and cannot be easily applied to IPMSM. For this reason, an improved analytical model applicable to IPMSM is presented, studied, and developed in this article. First, a novel subdomain model division method is innovatively introduced. Complex rotor structure can be well-accounted for. This not only facilitates the expression of vector potential and satisfies the establishment of subdomain model, but also recovers the original rotor topology to the maximum extent and effectively avoids many uncertainties and unreliability caused by over-equivalence. Afterward, the magnetic equivalent circuit and equivalent surface current method are combined to fully consider the saturation effects of magnetic isolation bridges, rotor ribs, and cores. Model analysis accuracy is well-guaranteed. Further, the precise subdomain method is investigated to achieve fast prediction of key electromagnetic performance. Both finite-element analysis (FEA) and prototype experiment strongly highlight the validity of the improved analytical model. In addition, compared to FEA, the improved analytical model does not require tens of thousands of computation cells, which saves a lot of time and storage while ensuring the same prediction accuracy. This opens up unlimited possibilities for the design and optimization of IPMSM.