Transactions on Electrical Engineering, Vol. 3 (2014), No.

1 13

Simulation of Magnetodynamic Forces Acting on

the Eccentric Rotor of the Generator
Tibor Bachorec 1), Petr Král 2)
1)
SVS FEM s.r.o., Brno, Czech Republic, e-mail: tbachorec@svsfem.cz
2)
M.L.S. Holice s. r.o., Olomouc, Czech Republic, e-mail: petr.kral@emerson.com

Abstract — The paper presents results of coupled ment of the ANSYS/Maxwell program. The simulations
electromechanical simulations for the generator transition considered the rotor motion, nonlinear properties of
to nominal and special operating conditions. Furthermore, ferromagnetic material and coupling between the load
results are given for calculations of the magnetodynamic circuit and the finite element representation of the stator
forces and their spectral components acting on the rotor of winding.
the generator depending on its considered eccentricity. The
simulations were performed on the electromechanical finite
element model of a four-pole generator 130 kVA, 400V,
50Hz, 1500 rev./min in the ANSYS/Maxwell program.

Keywords — Simulation, generator, rotor, eccentricity,

magnetodynamic, short-circuit, no-load

I. INTRODUCTION
At present increasing demands are put on the
performance and efficiency of electric machines. At the
same time, however, smaller dimensions, weight and
lower production costs are expected. These expectations
can be successfully faced only by exploitation of new
materials and implementation of modern technologies
considerably shortening the processes from development
to production. Numerical simulations, mainly based on the
finite element method undoubtedly belong to them.
Nowadays they can comprehensively take into account all
the specifics of the electric machines simulation -
nonlinearities, losses, temperature dependence of
materials and magnetomechanical interaction. The last one
has recently become interesting from the viewpoint of
prediction of vibrations and all related aspects.
Fig.2. Diagram of the stator winding
The simulations referred to a four-pole generator with
salient poles 130 kVA, 400 V, 50 Hz (Fig. 1). The stator
outer diameter was 400 mm, the rotor diameter 269.1 mm
and its length was 290 mm. The minimum size of the air
gap was 0.9 mm. The stator winding was double-layered
in two parallel branches with loop coils (Fig. 2). The
simulations took into account the induction of
electromotive forces in the stator windings due to the rotor
motion, as well as the currents flowing through the
windings due to the generator load. During the simulations
simultaneous calculations using the finite element and
circuit model were carried out (Fig. 3). The circuit was
created using the Circuit Editor, which is a part of the
Maxwell program. Thanks to this coupling it was possible
to simulate various load conditions of the generator.

Fig.1. Cross-section of the generator

II. MODEL OF THE GENERATOR

Electrodynamic simulations were performed on a two-
dimensional coupled electromechanical finite element Fig.3. Schema of the stator winding and the load
model of the generator which was created in the environ coupling
Transactions on Electrical Engineering, Vol. 3 (2014), No. 1 14

Calculations were carried out on a quarter symmetric

model (Fig. 4), with antiperiodic boundary conditions on
symmetry planes and zero vector potential Az = 0 applied
on the stator surface. The assumed speed of the rotor was
1500 rev./min.

Fig.6. Transition to NOC - phase currents

Fig.4. Symmetric part of the model used for

calculations

2.00

1.75

1.50

1.25
B (tesla)

1.00 Fig.7. Line and phase voltage and phase current - NOC
0.75

0.50

0.25

0.00
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
H (A_per_meter)

Fig.5. BH characteristics of the considered material

The rotor winding was excited by a current source,

which took into account the relevant simulated conditions
of the generator. Induction of eddy currents was
considered only in the damper rods whose ends were Fig.8. Detail of phase current – NOC
coupled with an equivalent impedance obtained from
ANSYS/RMxprt pre-calculation. After successful
functionality tests of the model, the simulations were
carried out for the nominal, no-load and short-circuit
operating conditions of the generator certified by the
manufacturer.
A. Simulation of nominal operating conditions
During the simulation of the nominal operating conditions
(NOC) switches SW1 to SW3 (Fig. 3) were permanently
turned on and switches SW4 and SW5 turned off. The
generator was connected to a nominal load represented by
delta connection of RL components.

Fig.9. Spectrum of phase current – NOC

Transactions on Electrical Engineering, Vol. 3 (2014), No. 1 15

Results are shown in Fig. 6 to 9. After reaching the

steady state, rms values of line voltages, phase voltages
and phase currents were determined and these values were
compared with the manufacturer's database.
B. Simulation of short circuit and no load conditions
Both of these conditions were considered at constant
rotor speed, i.e. 1500 rev./min. The short circuit was
simulated from NOC by turning on the switches SW4 and
SW5 at time t = 100 ms (Fig. 10-11). Simultaneously with
this the excitation of the rotor coils was reduced to the
value prescribed for this conditions of the generator.
The simulation of phase interruption was carried out Fig.13. Phase and line voltage – no load
similarly. After reaching the NOC the switch SW3 was
turned off (at time t = 100 ms). Fig. 12 shows the voltage
spike on the phase line C due to this load .
The generator and load were disconnected during the
simulation of no the load condition (Fig. 13). The rotor
coils were excited by values of currents prescribed for this
condition of the generator.
Simulated time courses are shown in Fig. 10 to 13. The
rms values of the calculated voltages and currents were
compared with the manufacturer's database. In both cases
good correspondence between the simulated and database
values were found whereby the functionality of the FEM
model was verified for the next class of simulations –
simulations of magnetodynamic forces acting on the
eccentric rotor.

III. SIMULATION OF MAGNETODYNAMIC FORCES ACTING ON

Fig.10. Short circuit from the NOC - phase currents THE ECCENTRIC ROTOR OF THE GENERATOR
A balanced rotor is an important factor in terms of
operation, reliability and lifetime of electric machines.
Imbalance causes increased bearing load, rotor load and
vibrations. The magnetodynamic forces showing magnetic
pull between the rotor and stator grow with increasing
eccentricity of the rotor. The magnitude of the
magnetodynamic forces is increasing in the direction of
the diminishing air gap. As a result of the variable air gap
(imbalanced rotor) the magnetodynamic forces become
uneven around the circumference of the electric machine.

Fig.11. Phase currents – short circuit

Fig.12. Interruption of the phase C during the NOC - Fig.14. Time courses of the magnetodynamic forces in
phase voltages dependence on the eccentricity
Transactions on Electrical Engineering, Vol. 3 (2014), No. 1 16

TABLE I. Calculations of the magnetodynamic forces were

carried out by the FEM using the model validated by the
Mean value of the magnetic pull in previous simulations. But unlike them it was not possible
dependence on the eccentricity to utilize symmetry and the calculations had to be
performed on a model of the full cross section of the
Eccentricity Magnetodynamic generator, as shown in Fig.1.
[mm] force [N] Calculation parameter was the rotor eccentricity which
0.0 6.5 was set from 0.1 to 0.6 mm i.e. in the range of 11 – 66 %
of the nominal air gap size. The speed of the rotor was
0.1 686.5 constant and the nominal load of the generator was
0.2 1385.5 considered. After transients, time courses of the
magnetodynamic forces acting on the rotor (Fig. 14) were
0.3 2100.1 recorded, their mean values were evaluated (tab. I) and the
0.4 2841.1 Fourier analysis of their spectrum was performed (Fig. 15-
16). This showed relatively significant presence of higher
0.5 3610.6 harmonic components up to the frequency of 2 kHz. The
0.6 4458.5 magnitude of these components is minor in comparison
with the fundamental harmonic frequency and cannot
probably reduce significantly the shaft stiffness, however,
The magnetodynamic forces affect the shaft bending these frequencies are potential source of an acoustic
stiffness which is reduced by their action and therefore the vibration.
resonant frequency of the shaft is decreased. The accuracy
of these forces calculation has therefore a significant
impact on the accuracy of the rotor resonant frequencies IV. POWER BALANCE
determination.
The power balance was performed for the NOC. Eddy
current losses in damper rods, winding losses and
ferromagnetic losses in steel parts were evaluated. The
FEM programs usually offer several algorithms to
calculate losses in ferromagnetics - based on the hysteresis
FFT 2_Load_Excentricity loop, on the basis of a simplified algorithm of equivalent
1000.00
Curve Info
hysteresis loop and on the basis of the Steinmetz formula.
Excnt='0.1mm' In our case the last one was utilized:

100.00 2 2 1.5
Pv = Khf(Bm) + Kc(fBm) + Ke(fBm) (1)
F [newton]

10.00
with the following values of loss coefficients:
Kh=178.6, Kc=1.4, Ke=1.8.

1.00
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 The overview of the calculated values is in Tab. II.
Freq [kHz]
Distribution of the instant loss density in the
Fig.15. Force spectrum for eccentricity e = 0.1 mm ferromagnetics is in Fig. 17. In comparison with active
power of the generator 105.2 kW these losses made
approximately 3 %. Based on the catalogue data, the
efficiency of the generator is in the range of 92-95 %. Our
FFT 2_Load_Excentricity
calculated efficiency is higher probably for the following
1000.00
Curve Info
reasons:
Excnt='0.2mm'

100.00 • 2D model does not reflect losses on the ends of the

winding,
F [newton]

• The selected algorithm for losses calculation did not

take into account their re-dampening effect on the
10.00
electromagnetic field,
• Detailed information relating to the winding,
particularly to the cross-sections of wires was not
1.00 available.
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00
Freq [kHz]

Fig.16. Force spectrum for eccentricity e = 0.2 mm

Transactions on Electrical Engineering, Vol. 3 (2014), No. 1 17

For the validated generator model simulations of the

Fig.17. Distribution of the instant loss density in the
ferromagnetic parts @time=230 ms
TABLE II.
electrodynamic forces were performed in dependence on
the eccentricity of the rotor. Their time courses were
registered and the Fourier analysis of their spectrum was
performed. This showed relatively significant presence of
higher harmonics up to the frequency of 2 kHz.
At the power balance, in comparison with the reference
data, somewhat higher efficiency of the generator was
calculated. The difference could be partly due to the
neglect of some 3D effects in the model (e.g. the effect of
winding ends) and partly by the lack of information on the
windings.
The simulations demonstrated real possibility of the
electrodynamic analysis taking into account the
magnetomechanical interactions. They also showed
relative ease of simulation of any condition of the electric
machine represented by a system with distributed
parameters (FEM model) and controlled by changes of
electrical, mechanical or geometrical parameters.

Power balance of the generator [W] REFERENCES

[1] ANSYS Maxwell Technical Notes, ANSYS, Inc., 2012.
Ferromagnetic losses 920.5 [2] ANSYS Mechanical APDL Theory Reference, ANSYS, Inc., 2012.
[3] Partner Alternators LSA 44.2 – 4 Pole, Leroy Somer Datasheet,
Eddy current losses 627.5 2011.
[4] J. Pyrhonen, T. Jokinen, V. Hrabovcova, “Design of Rotating
Winding losses 1653.9 Electrical Machines”, J. Wiley & Sons, 2008.
[5] Joshua Lorenz, J. T. Fowler, “Synchronous Generator Subtransient
Sum of losses 3201.9 Reactance Prediction Using Transient Circuit Coupled
Electromagnetic Analyses & Odd Periodic Symmetry”, Int.
ANSYS Users’ Conference, 2006.
[6] P. J. Duijsen, U. Killat, J. Otto, ”Parameter extraction in FEM
V. CONCLUSION models for dynamic system simulations”, 19th CAD-FEM Users’
Meeting, 2001.
In the environment of the ANSYS/Maxwell program [7] Silvester, P., Ferrari, R., ”Finite Elements for Electrical Engineers”,
the electromechanical model of the generator was created Cambridge University Press, 1996.
and verified by simulations of load cases certified by its
manufacturer. In these simulations good agreement
between the reference and calculated values of the phase
voltages and currents was found, the differences ranged at
the level of a few per cents.