2012 IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference, Oct.

9-12,2012, Seoul, Korea

Design Comparisons of BLDC Motors for

Electric Water Pump
G yeong-Chan Lee, Tae-Uk lung
Department of Electrical Engineering, Kyungnam University
E-mail: channy7317@hanma.kr.tujung@kyungnam.ac.kr

because of the shortage of supply as shown in Fig. I.

Abstract Recently, many hydraulic automotive parts are being
- Therefore, many companies are studying about the reduction
replaced by the electric parts using electric motor drive system of the amount used ofNd-Fe-B magnet or replacement by the
because of high performance for the conventional car having relatively low price Ferrite magnet.
engine and the growth of electric vehicles. In the many kinds of
In this paper, the low cost design by the magnet material
electrical motor drive systems, BLDC is generally applied for
the power train motor, electric HVAC compressor, cooling fan change is studied about the 20[W] BLDC motor design for
and pump. It is due to high efficiency and high output power electric water pump. The design results of conventional IPM
characteristics. In the BLDC motor design, the rare-earth (Interior Permanent Magnet) type BLDC motor using Nd-Fe
magnet material e.g. Nd-Fe-B magnet is often used because of B magnet and SPM (Surface Permanent Magnet) type BLDC
high flux density compared with any other magnet material.
motor using Ferrite magnet is compared each other. As a
However, the material cost of Nd-Fe-B magnet is abnormally
rising because of the shortage of supply. In this paper, the low result of this study, the design comparison results concerning
cost design by the magnet material change is studied about the about output performance and material cost are represented[3,
20lWI BLDC motor design for electric water pump. The design 4, 5].
results of conventional IPM (Interior Permanent Magnet) type
BLDC motor using Nd-Fe-B magnet and SPM (Surface
Permanent Magnet) type BLDC motor using Ferrite magnet is
compared each other. As a result of this study, the design II. DESIGN ANAYSIS
comparison results concerning about output performance and
material cost are represented. Fig. 2 shows the based model of IPM motor for electric
water pump.
I. INTRODUCTION

Recently, many hydraulic automotive parts are being

replaced by the electric parts using electric motor drive
system because of high performance for the conventional car
having engine and the growth of electric vehicles. In the
many kinds of electrical motor drive systems, BLDC
(Brushless Direct Current) is generally applied for the power
train motor, electric HVAC(Heating, Ventilation, Air
Conditioning) compressor, cooling fan and pump. It is due to (a) stator

high efficiency and high output power characteristics[l, 2].

--NciFeB
,.,
220
200--
'"' 1------------ -/'---
10'
,,0
g 120 1------/_
100 (b) Rotor
Fig. 2 The based model of IPM motor
eo -

GO

20 ____----
_ - And Fig. 3 shows two types of FEM(Finite Element
2005 200a. 2001 2008 2OD9 2G10 2011 Method) model that is electromagnetic structure for electric
year
water pump BLOC motor. The output power is 20[W] at
Fig.1 Annual cost of NdFeB
3,600[rpm]. Fig. 3 (a) shows the conventional structure of
IPM motor using Nd-Fe-B magnet. It has 6 rotor poles and 9
In the BLDC motor design, the rare-earth magnet material
slots and the Nd-Fe-B magnet (Br=1.25T) is inserted in the
e.g. Nd-Fe-B magnet is often used because of high flux
rotor core. The rotating speed is controlled by 3600 [rpm]. In
density compared with any other magnet material. However,
the application ofNd-Fe-B magnet for water pump, the rotor
the material cost of Nd-Fe-B magnet is abnormally rising
should be molded by epoxy to prevent rust of magnet. It

978-1-4673-0954-7/12/$31.00 20121EEE

48
means the air-gap would be increased by the epoxy mold. The Resistance of phase IohmI 2.4 2.8
large air-gap can drop the rotor flux flowing to the stator core, Ferrite
Rotor magnet Nd-Fe-B
and it is very disadvantageous from the viewpoint of rotor
Magnet thickness[mm] 1.2 6.3
magnet flux utilization.
Magnet flux density ITI 1.25 0.29

Space factor I%I 28 22

III. OUTPUT CHARACTERISTICS COMPARISON

Table 2 shows performance comparison results of IPM and

SPM motor. In SPM BLDC motor, although the rotor flux is
(a) (b) largely decreased by 114 times ofNd-Fe-B magnet, the same
Fig. 3 Electromagnetic structure of two types of BLOC motor for water output power is secured by the stack length increase.
pump (a) IPM type using Nd-Fe-B and (b) SPM type using plastic magnet of
Ferrite-based
Table 2 Output characteristics comparison

Fig. 3 (b) shows the changed electromagnetic structure of IPM SPM

SPM motor using plastic magnet (Br=O.29T) of Ferrite-based.
Cogging Torque ImNmj 0.16 1.05
In this case, the sealing of rotor is not need. Therefore, the No Load
air-gap would be small and the manufacturing of rotor is very BEMF[V] 4.8 4.7

simple. And, the small air-gap is very useful to overcome Input voltage IVI 12 13
lower flux density of plastic magnet compared with Nd-Fe-B
Current IAI 1.52 1.45
magnet.
Torque[mNm] 52.25 55.2

Pin[W] 54.7 56.6

Load
Pout[WI 20 21

Copper losses IWI 16.6 17.7

Efficiency 1%1 36.5 37.1

Power Factorl%1 66.9 68.4

(a) (b)
Fig. 4, Fig.5, Fig.6 shows the BEMF and current and load
Fig.3 Magnetic flux density distribution of (a) IPM and (b) SPM
torque characteristics of IPM and SPM BLDC motor. The
Table 1 shows the design parameters of two types of water BEMF and load current waveforms of IPM are similar to
pump BLDC motor. It has same outer diameter and inner BEMF and load current waveforms of SPM. However, the
diameter. However, stack length, coil diameter and air-gap torque ripple is increase from IPM(l4.9%) to SPM(39.7%)
are different each other because the SPM BLDC motor because of the cogging torque.
adopting plastic magnet instead of Nd-Fe-B magnet can
secure the required output power although the rotor flux is --)PM
8
largely decreased by 1/4 times ofNd-Fe-B magnet. --SPM
6

Table I Comparison of design parameters 4

2
IPM SPM :>
U;' 0
Rated output power IWI 20 20
UJ
<!l -2
Rated speed[rpm] 3600 3600
-4
Stator outer diameter[mm] 58.07 58.07
-6
Stator inner diameter Imml 30.4 30.4
-8
Rotor outer diameter Imml 27.2 28.6
0 2 4
Stack length[mm] 5 8 T i n"'le[ms]

Air-gap[mm] 1.6 0.9 Fig.4 BEMF characteristics of IPM and SPM

Coil diameter Imml 0.361 0.32

Coil Turns 125 110

49
 3 Table 3 Material cost comparison
-- I PM
-- SPM
Cost comparison of the Actual model

IPM SPM

Magnet weight[g] 3.78 9.8

Magnet cost 1$1 0.67 0.098

Core weight[g] 98.3 107.7

Core cost 1$1 0.1 0.11

Coil weight[g] 27.8 33

Coil cost 1$1 0.23 0.28

5 6 Total cost[$] 1 0.488

Tim e[lJIs]
Fig.5 Current characteristics of IPM and SPM
v. CONCLUSION
80 --II'M
-- PM In this paper, the low cost design by the magnet material
70 change is studied about the 20[W] BLOC motor design for

60
electric water pump. The proposed SPM BLOC motor
adopting plastic magnet instead of Nd-Fe-B magnet can
:f 50
S secure the required output power although the rotor flux is
40
largely decreased by 114 times of Nd-Fe-B magnet. And, the
o
.....
30 material cost is reduced to 51.2[%] of conventional IPM
"8
...J BLOC motor. However, the torque ripple is increase from
20
IPM(14.9%) to SPM(39.7%) because of the cogging torque.
10
The optimization design is needed to reduce cogging torque
of SPM BLOC motor.
8 10
Time( ms]
Fig.6 Load torque characteristics of IPM and SPM
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work is supported by "G yeongsangnamdo, Changwon

IV. MATERIAL COST COMPARISON
Science Research Park Project" of the G rant of the Korean
Table 3 and Fig. 4 shows the comparison of material cost. Ministry of Education Science and Technology.
The material cost can be reduced to 5l.2[%] of conventional
IPM BLDC motor.
REFERENCES

_IPM [I] H. Hembach, S. A. Evans, D. Gerling "Systematic Comparison of BLDC

_SPM
Motors for Small Automotive Water Pump Applications" Electrical
Machines, 2008.ICEM 2008.18th International Conference on,pp.1-5,
2008.
[2] H. Hembach, D.Gerling and E. Nipp, "Analytical Design of a Claw-Pole
Motor for Electrical Water Pump Applications", International
Conference on Power Engineering, Energy and Electrical Drives
(POWERENG 2007), Setubal, Portugal, 12-14 April 2007, CD-ROM,
Paper No. 22.
[3] liang Xintong, Xing lingwei, Li Yong, and Lu Yongping, "Theoretical
and Simulation Analysis of Influences of Stator Tooth Width on
Cogging Torque of BLDC Motor", IEEE Trans. on Magnetics, Vol.45,
NO.10,pp.4601-4604,Oct.2009.
[4] Kyung-Tae Kim, Kwang-Suk Kim, Sang-Moon Hwang, Tae-long Kim,
and Yoong-Ho .lung, "Comparison of Magnetic Forces for IPM and
SPM Motor with Rotor Eccentricity", IEEE Trans. on Magnetics, Vol.
Material
37,NO.5,pp. 3448-3451, Sep. 2012.
Fig. 4 Material cost comparison [5] Miroslav Markovic, Patrick Ragot and Yves Perriard, "Design
optimization of a BLDG motor: a comparative analysis" Electric
Machines & Drives Conference, 2007. IEMDC '07.IEEE International,
pp.1520-1523,May.2007

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