Design of a Compact BLDC motor for Transient Applications

Y.K. Chin, W.M. Arshad, T. Bäckström & C. Sadarangani

Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)

Department of Electrical Engineering
Teknikringen 33, SE-100 44
Stockholm, Sweden
Tel: + 46 8 790 7757 Fax: + 46 8 205 268
E-mail: Robert.chin@ekc.kth.se
URL: www.ekc.kth.se/eme/

I. INTRODUCTION
Keywords: Brushless Drive, Thermal design, EMF.

Abstract – Applications such as emergency breakers,
protective devices in explosive environments, emergency
exit openings etc. fall into a broad category that can be
grouped under a general term transient applications. This
paper presents a compact brushless permanent magnet
(BLDC) motor design for those short time operations.
Design procedures for both interior and exterior rotor
BLDC configurations are described. Design analysis is
verified by testing and building a prototype motor. It is
found that the most critical design criterion is to avoid
magnet demagnetisation. A thermal check on the design is
always advisable although thermal loading is negligible.
The majority of motors in the market are designed and
used in either continuous or intermittent applications. It is
possible in some cases to select an appropriate off-the-
shelf motor for transient applications [1]. However, the
choice for a suitable solution is limited. The induction
motor can be an acceptable solution as long as the motor is
not over-dimensioned [2]. A new motor design has to be
considered if the off-the-shelf selection is not available or
not compact enough. Therefore in this paper, a design
approach on BLDC motors for transient applications is
outlined. Selection of the BLDC motor configuration
depends on the application requirements.

List of principal symbols This paper only deals with radial flux BLDC motor
topology. Design procedures for both interior rotor and
exterior rotor configurations, as shown in Fig. 1, are
Ephase = back EMF per phase, V presented. In general, exterior-rotor brushless motors are
T = rated torque, Nm used in continuous applications that require constant high
I = phase current, A
ωm = mechanical angular speed, rad/s
to medium speed. Nonetheless, for an application requires
kE = back-EMF constant, V.s/rad rapid acceleration and deceleration of the load, it is
kT = torque constant, Nm/A desirable that the torque/inertia ratio is as high as possible
kw = winding factor [3]. In this case, the interior-rotor designs with high-
Z = total number of conductors
energy magnets are preferred. A BLDC prototype motor
p = number of poles
Br = remanent magnetic flux density, T presented in this paper is an interior-rotor design,
Bg = airgap flux density, T specifically for short time operation. Measurement results
Biron = iron back saturation flux density, T and thermal-check approaches on the prototype design are
g = physical airgap size, m also described.
ge = effective airgap, m
lm = magnet thickness, m
hrr = rotor back height, m
hrs = stator back height, m
L = machine active length, m
D = airgap diameter,m
Dr = rotor diameter, m
hs = height of stator slot, m
m = number of phases
q = number of slots per pole-phase
nphase = number of conductors per phase
kslot = slot fill factor
bts = width of stator teeth, m
p = pole pitch, m
s = slot pitch, m
µ0 = permeability of air = 4π.·10-7 , Vs/Am a) b)
µr = relative permeability,
Aslot = slot area, m2
Aconductor = area of conductor, m2
Fig. 1: Brushless permanent magnet motor: a) Exterior-rotor; b)
Smax = maximum current loading allowed, A/m
Interior-rotor.
 II. INTERIOR-ROTOR BLDC DESIGN  3⋅T 
L=  (8)
π ⋅ D ⋅ B g ⋅ S1 
2
The number of phases, poles, stator slots as well as
winding configuration must be selected based on the
application requirements. The choice of pole number The number of conductors per slot is found as,
depends upon many factors such as inertia requirements,
magnet material, effect of cogging and rotation speed Z (9)
ns =
etc. [3]. The required thickness of the stator back is 3⋅ p ⋅ q
reduced by one half if the number of poles is doubled, so
is the case with the rotor back height (1). For a given where Z is the total number of conductors, it can be
magnetic and electric loading with a specified rotor obtained by (10) for a three-phase machine.
diameter, the overall machine diameter can be reduced
by increasing the pole number. 3⋅T
Z= (10)
D ⋅ L ⋅ I ⋅ Bg ⋅ k w
B g ⋅ Dr ⋅ π
hrr = hrs = (1) In addition, the torque constant kT can be derived from
2 ⋅ 2 ⋅ p ⋅ Biron (10) as,

With a certain magnet radial thickness selected, the

airgap flux density Bg can be calculated by (2) as
kT =
T 1
[
= ⋅ Z ⋅ D ⋅ L ⋅ Bg ⋅ k w
I 3
] [Nm/A] (11)
described in [4],
The back-EMF Ephase of the motor can be approximated by
Br (2) (12),
Bg =
ge
1+ µr ⋅ E phase = q ⋅ n s ⋅ D ⋅ L ⋅ ω ⋅ k w ⋅ B g (12)
lm
and effective airgap (ge) is defined as,
lm The area of stator slot is found with a certain slot height
ge = gc + (3) (hs) selected,
µr
where gc is the airgap with the slotting being considered. π  Dis   Dis  
2 2

Aslot = ⋅  + hs  −    − bts ⋅ hs (13)

Q  2   2  
The stator inner diameter (Dis) is then,

Dis = Dr + 2 ⋅ (l m + g ) (4) The copper area and area of single conductor in the slot
can simply be found with (14) and (15) respectively,
The width of the stator teeth is found by using (5),
A cu = A slot ⋅ k fill (14)
π ⋅ Dis ⋅ B g (5)
bts =
Q ⋅ Biron A cu (15)
A conductor =
ns
For a compact motor design, a high surface current
loading (S1) is very desirable. However, the current Lastly, the stator outer diameter Dos is then,
loading must always be smaller than the maximum
allowed current loading (Smax) given by (7), to avoid the Dos = Dis + 2 ⋅ (hs + hrs ) (16)
demagnetisation of the permanent magnet.

3  2 ⋅T 
[A/m] (6)
S1 =   ⋅  
 2  π ⋅ D ⋅ B g ⋅ L ⋅ k w 
2
Aslot
Acu

 2 ⋅ g e ⋅ k w1 ⋅ (B g − BD ) hS
S1 < S max =   ⋅ p [A/m] (7) Aconductor
 2 ⋅ D ⋅ µ 0 ⋅ sin α 

where BD is the demagnetisation flux density limit and α τs

is half of the magnet span in electric degrees.

The active length of the machine is calculated as, Fig. 2: Copper area available in the stator slot.
The external dimension of the machine is dependent on Aslot
the stator frame and end-windings. The length of the end
winding is dependent upon the winding configuration.
Dos
bts
III. EXTERIOR-ROTOR BLDC DESIGN
hs

The design procedure for the exterior-rotor topology is

very similar to the one described for the interior-rotor Fig. 3: Simple schematic of exterior-rotor design stator
design. However, as it has shown in Fig. 1(a), the
machine dimensions are different. In the following, only The exterior-rotor design follows the same step as that of
these differences are highlighted. the interior-rotor design as far as the electric design is
concerned.
With a specified rotor diameter, the pole pitch of the
exterior-rotor design is calculated as, IV. THERMAL CHECK
π ⋅ (Dor − 2 ⋅ hrr ) (17) Despite the fact that the thermal loading is not a critical
τp =
p factor in the design for transient application, a thermal
where hrr is obtained as, check on the design is nevertheless advisable. Most of the
heat is generated as the conducting loss in the stator
τ p ⋅ Bg (18) conductors. It is therefore sufficient to analyse the stator
hrr = structure only. The thermal model for the machine stator is
2 ⋅ Biron
shown in Fig. 4. Stator is divided into three thermal
regions as slot, teeth, and stator back. Thermal capacitance
Combining of (17) and (18),
has to be taken into account for the transient applications.
To calculate the temperature rise in respective regions,
π ⋅ Dor (19)
τp = differential equations (25, 26, 27) are derived from the
 π ⋅ Bg  equivalent circuit. Adiabatic conditions are assumed.
p + 
 Biron 

The inner diameter of the rotor Dir and outer stator Dos dT1 Pcu + (T2 − T1 ) ⋅ Y12 (25)
=
are found as, dt C1

Dir = Dor − 2 ⋅ (hrr + l m ) (20)

dT 2 Pteeth + (T1 − T2 ) ⋅ Y12 + (T3 − T2 ) ⋅ Y23 (26)
=
Dos = Dis − 2 ⋅ g (21) dt C2

The stator teeth at the arigap is then,

dT3 Pfe + (T2 − T3 ) ⋅ Y23 (27)
=
π ⋅ Dos ⋅ B g (22) dt C3
bts =
p ⋅ Biron

The stator back height is designed to carry the same flux

as the rotor back, as shown in (18). In contrast to the
interior-rotor design, the diameter of the stator is limited
due to the space available. With the constant stator teeth,
the height of the stator slot hs is,

D Q ⋅ bts  (23)
hs =  os −
 2 2 ⋅ π 

Pcu = copper losses, W

The available copper area in the stator slot is then, Pteeth, Pback = iron losses in stator teeth and back, W
Ci = thermal capacitance, W/K
Yij = thermal conductance between region i and j, Ws/K

 π
Acu = k fill ⋅ 
4 ⋅ Q
[ 2 2
] 
⋅ (Dos ) − (Dos − 2 ⋅ hs ) − hs ⋅ bts  (24)
Fig. 4: Thermal equivalent circuit of the stator.
 
 a)

Fig. 5: Stator thermal regions: teeth, windings and back.

V. PROTOTYPE MOTOR

A. Design

A prototype motor for transient applications based on the

design procedures described in II has been built. The
prototype is shown in Fig. 6. The stator consists of 60
0.5mm DK-70 steel laminations stacked together. b)
Neodymium-Iron-Boron magnets (Br ~ 1.1T) are used
and glued on the rotor shaft. Bandage around the Fig. 6: BLDC motor prototype: a) Transversal view; b)
magnets is found not necessary. Moreover, magnets are Longitudinal View.
skewed by one slot pitch to minimize the cogging torque.
The dimensions and properties of the prototype are B. Measurements
presented in TABLE I.
The back EMF of the prototype is measured and is
TABLE I. Dimensions and properties of the prototype motor. illustrated in Fig. 7. The phase current waveform is
observed as shown in Fig. 8. The machine constants, kT
PARAMETER SYMBOL FIGURE and kE, are defined as,
Number of phases m 3 T
Number of poles p 4 kT = (28)
Number of slots Q 12 I
Airgap g 0.5 mm
Rated torque T 0.4 Nm E LL (29)
Airgap flux density Bg ~ 0.4 T kE =
ωm
Rated speed ωm 7500 RPM
Back-EMF Eph 11.9 V
Rotor diameter Dr 20 mm where ELL is the line-to-line back-EMF.
Airgap diameter D 22.5 mm
Stator inner diameter Dis 23 mm The constants can also be calculated directly [3] from the
Stator outer diameter Dos 52.8 mm
motor dimensions and the magnet properties by (30). In an
Tooth width bts 3 mm
Rotor back height hrr 4.4 mm
ideal case with no saturation, no resistance and no voltage-
Stator back height hrs 4.4 mm drops in the controller, the two constants are equal.
Magnet thickness lm 1 mm
Copper area Acu ~ 32.5 mm2 2 Z ⋅Φg ⋅ p (30)
No. of conduc. / slot ns 28 k E = kT = kw
3 α ⋅π
Slot height hs 10 mm
Active motor length L 30 mm
End winding length Lend 9 mm where Φg is the airgap flux per pole due to the magnet,
Current density J ~ 10 A/mm2
Max. temperature Tmax ~ 61.2 oC π ⋅D⋅L (31)
Φg =α ⋅ ⋅B
Diameter of conduc. Aconductor 1.1 mm 2⋅ p
Current loading S1 47.5 kA/m
Max. current loading Smax 85.1 kA/m
Centrifugal force Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 show the measurements for kE and kT
Fcentrifugal 7.6 N respectively, and the best-fit line drawn from graph is used
on magnets
Mass of copper Mcopper ~ 170 g for calculating kE and kT. Comparisons of machine
Mass of magnet Mmagnet ~ 144 g constants obtained by measurements and calculation are
Mass of iron Miron ~ 310 g presented in TABLE II.
 The graph of back emf versus speed
30

25

Back emf (volts)

20

15

10

0
0 750 1500 2250 3000 3750 4500 5250 6000 6750

Speed (rpm)

Fig. 7: Back-EMF waveforms of the prototype motor. Fig. 9: Measurements for kE.

The graph of torque versus current

0,32

0,27

0,22

0,17
Torque (Nm)

0,12

0,07

0,02

-0,03 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

-0,08
DC Current (A)

Fig. 8: Phase current waveform with the Hall-switch signal. Fig. 10: Measurements for kT.

VI. CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES

It is possible to obtain a compact motor design solution
for transient applications with the proposed procedure. It
is found that the magnet demagnetization is the most
critical design criterion. A thermal check on the obtained
design is nevertheless suggested, although the thermal
loading is negligible. The BLDC motor prototype built
for short time operations as a design example shows
satisfactory results. The measured machine constants, kE
and kT, agrees with the calculated values. A brushless
permanent magnet motor can be one of the preferred
solutions from a cost and design effort perspective, when
a new motor design is required for transient applications.
[1] Chandur Sadarangani, Electrical machines – Design
and Analysis of Induction and Permanent Magnet
Motors, KTH 2000
[2] Arshad, W.M., Chin, Y.K., Soulard, J., Bäckström, T.,
Östlund, S., Sadarangani, C., On Finding Compact
Motor Solutions for Transient Applications,
IEMDC’2001, Cambridge, MA USA.
[3] Hendershot, J.R. and Miller, T.J.E., Design of
Brushless Permanent-Magnet Motors, Magna Physics
Publishing, 1994, Oxford.
[4] Sebastian, T., Slemon, G.R., Rahman, M.A., Design
Considerations for Variable Speed Permanent Magnet
Motors, Part 3. p.p. 1099~1102, ICEM, September,
1986.

TABLE II. Comparison of machine constants, kE and kT: a)

Measured; b) Calculated.

MEASURED CALCULATION
kE [Vs/rad] ~ 0.042 0.04
kT [Nm/A] ~ 0.044 0.04