See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/351485889

Design Optimazation and Simulation of PMSM based on Maxwell and

TwinBuilder for EVs

Conference Paper · April 2021

DOI: 10.1109/ICEEE52452.2021.9415922

CITATIONS READS
0 15

2 authors, including:

Ted kas.
Wuhan University of Technology
1 PUBLICATION   0 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

PMSM Motor View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Ted kas. on 02 July 2021.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Design Optimazation and Simulation of PMSM based
on Maxwell and TwinBuilder for EVs
Mersha Tewodros Kassa
School of Automotive Engineering
Wuhan University of Technology
Wuhan, China
ted5082@gmail.com
Abstract—Electric Vehicles (EVs) require an electrical motor
that has high power density, high efficiency, and wide constant
power operating region, ease to control in addition to low
manufacturing cost. In this paper, the preliminary design of the
motor was done in Rotating Machine Expert (RMxprt) based on
different design parameters for rotor/stator configuration using
Ansys Maxwell, the 2D model of Permanent magnet synchronous
motor (PMSM)was developed, the design simulation is
performed in accordance with the significant required EV
characteristics. Then a simulation model for driving circuit, two
controllers (speed and current controller), and position detection
of rotor base on Field-oriented vector control (FOC) and space
vector pulse-width modulation (SVPWM) was created using
Twin Builder. The objective is to enhance present knowledge
about the design of the permanent magnet (PM) motor and
provide methods so that it is possible to simplify the introduction
of PMSM drives in EVs and HEVs applications. The results are
then validated with the machine's upcoming proto-model and the
main requirements of the EVs. A joint simulation of PMSM and
the vector control system is applied to the analysis of the PMSM
control system built on Ansys software & Twin Builder
environment during magnetic analysis in order to precisely
represent the performance of the drive and to be more realistic.
Keywords—PMSM, maxwell, SVPWM, twin builder, FOC
I. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays because of air pollution and economical issues,
there is a major development of automotive industries which
has greatly promoted to the development of efficient, clean,
and environmentally friendly urban transportation system [1],
[2]. In EVs, the motor drive is the power unit that have a great
influence on the performance of the vehicle. PMSM, which is a
rotating synchronous machine where rotor has permanent
magnets and stator is a three-phase induction motor [3], is a
good candidate over traditional AC motors for HEVs.
The major advantages of PMSM motor are: -
• Efficiency - Due to the PM usage for excitation which
consume no power.
• High power density - High flux densities, high torque
can be produced with the use of high energy density
magnets.
• Ease of control - Sensor less speed control and suitable
for position control.
Du Changqing
School of Automotive Engineering
Wuhan University of Technology
Wuhan, China
cq_du@whut.edu.cn
Here, the stator (stationary part), rotor (rotating part), stator
slot, winding layout, magnetic material, pole structure and
critical dimensions have been determined as per design
parameters of the motor. The performance characteristics is
monitored in simulation by changing the key parameters and
optimized based on high performance output design
parameters. A synchronous AC electric motor drive with
permanent magnet uses Finite Element Analysis method (FEA)
to get motor electromagnetic parameter by using Ansys
software which enables to integrate FEA generated models
within a system simulation. Many components which consists
of nonlinear dynamic systems such as electrical machines have
to be modeled using FEA to precisely represent the output of
the device.
Several authors have conducted FEA analyses on PMSM
drive. Oleg et al [4] presents simulation of PMSM with the use
of numerical techniques implemented in Ansys Maxwell (2D)
and Simplorer. In this paper, the full model consists inverter,
which was created by Simplorer, and PMSM created in
Maxwell. Christoph Schulte and Joachim Bocker [5] presents a
coupling between Ansys and Matlab softwares for accurate
design and optimized system. The system model of the drive
consists of motor model in Ansys Maxwell 2D, power
converter in Ansys Simplorer and control model in
Matlab/Simulink. Jianhua Wu et al [6] proposes an efficiency
optimization technique for PMSM drive by using field-circuit
coupled Finite-Element Method (FEM) for electric vehicle or
electric vehicle applications. A 2D Maxwell FEM model was
built up for a 15 kW PMSM within Ansys, and a vector control
circuit model was arranged in Simplorer. Xiang Zhao et al [7]
used a 600kW traction induction motor based on Maxwell
which was fed by PWM inverter created by Simplorer, to
develop a dynamic model involving FEA and equivalent
Circuit simulation. K. Jaber et al [8], [9] used VHDL-AMS,
one of the hardware description languages, for modeling and
simulation of PMSM that is used in electric vehicle, finally a
typical HEV is modeled and investigated. The vector control
was mentioned [10]-[12] which was implemented on PMSM.
The simulation model of the whole system is built with two
control loops. The performance of vector control is quite
acceptable for achieving fast response even at very high-speed
ranges. Matlab/Simulink software is mostly used for simulation
of PMSM control systems [11], but this paper uses Ansys
Maxwell software to establish the model and the joint
simulation of motor and the control system [5], [7]. compared
with Matlab, Ansys simulation makes a more reliable and
1
accurate simulation result, because the simulation precision TABLE I. MAIN PARAMETERS
while using Matlab is not high enough to build a more accurate Rated Power (KW) 40 Pole Number 10
and efficient electromagnetic model for the drive system. Rated Voltage (V) 311 Rated Speed(rpm) 2600
Studying electric motor drives require that a simulation device Stator OD (mm) 254 Rotor OD (mm) 155.8
be selected properly. Their complex models require computing Stator ID (mm) 157 Rotor ID (mm) 50
tools equipped for performing dynamic simulations. Since Stator Slots 24 Stack Length (mm) 132
PMSM drive system simulation is mostly designed by Matlab,
here Ansys software is used to design and simulate the model.
By creating a customized motor design with RMxprt, a III. ANSYS SOFTWARE MODELING OF PMSM
template-based tool based on magnetic circuit method of the
A. RMxprt
Ansys Electronics Desktop Suite, which was able to
automatically assemble a complete 2D Maxwell model, a co- Using RMxprt can quickly realize the initial motor design
simulation was done between Ansys Maxwell of a PMSM and performance verification of the motor, reduce the design
model and Twin Builder program to conduct a vector control. space of the motor [14]. The software users can create a motor
model by specifying motor stator and rotor diameter, iron core
length, winding, slot, wire, conductors, insulation and some
II. PMSM DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
other related parameters, and permanent magnet size with the
Before starting machine design, it is important to material type [15], [16]. Then uses finite element calculation
understand the relevant application, basic specifications and for transient and steady-state analysis in Maxwell to output a
key design parameters that can leverage machine performance Maxwell (2D) model after setting boundary conditions and
[13]. The mathematical equations leading to the final design mesh division (the meshing performed automatically by the
parameters are the fundamental principles of torque and motor software is too rough, which will cause the calculation results
size: to be inaccurate, to meet the demand for higher efficiency.
Maxwell is a professional design software for rotary motors,
F = NBg LI s (1) which can quickly calculate the performance indicators of
various motors (induction motors, synchronous motors,
F – Force , N – Magnet Poles Numbers, Bg – Air gap electronic or mechanical commutation motors, etc.). The 2D
model and its network dissection of PMSM are shown in Fig.
flux density, L – Core length, I s – Slot current 1.
For more details, as the number of poles increases, the
magnet width decreases and the flux leakage increases, thus
reducing the density of the air gap flux. Pole number is
determined according to the optimum flux density of air gap
and machine performance. Same way to measure of air gap
flux density needs to concentrate on magnetic circuit’s
permeance coefficient and increase in permeance coefficient
increases magnet length which could lower the effective air
gap length. Therefore, to prevent the increase in cogging
torque, the air gap flux density should be within the saturation
limit. Finally, the core length is critical parameter as motor
efficiency and power density are directly related to L. The
Fig. 1. 2D model of PMSM and its network dissection.
increase in the length of the core results in increase in motor
volume, mass, force, resistive losses with poor efficiency and
low power density. Hence, by having a small core length a
required force can be achieved.
Different parameters are involved in the design of PMSM,
such as electrical (resistance, inductance, back emf and
current), geometric (stator outside/inside radius, rotor
outside/inside radius and stator back) and magnetic [3]. Some
of the parameters need to be fixed while designing, so it’s up to
a designer. The design is optimized after the motor is observed
for the different stack length, rotor structure, top tooth width as
well as the steady state parameters. With the given rating of the
motor and also some assumptions, design calculations were
carried out. Fig. 2. Three-Phase Power Converter with additional winding resistance.
The main structural parameters of PMSM are shown in
Table I. B. Twin Builder Simulation Model
The main circuit of three phase PWM inverter is
implemented by the circuit component module in Ansys Twin

2
Builder, which consists of 6 IGBTs switches and 6 stream
diode modules that shape the output signal as shown in Fig. 2.
In PWM inverter control circuit, through SVPWM control
module the generation of the control signals is made by
comparison with a triangular signal with a period equal to the
switching period. Besides the PWM inverter, since it isn’t
possible to integrate concentrated phase end-winding
inductance "Lend" and phase winding resistances Rs in a two-
dimensional based Maxwell motor model, such components
form part of the Twin Builder model.
Fig. 4. Simulated Control System Model.
SVPWM is a method used to determine the modulated
pulse-width signals for the inverter switches in order to
produce the desired three-phase voltages to the AC motor [17].
Fig. 5. Structure of Control System
Fig. 3. SVPWM.
The main idea is take the ideal AC motor flux circle as the base
circle, when AC motor is powered by a three-phase
symmetrical sinusoidal voltage, approach the ideal flux with
the actual flux circle produced by inverter's 6 power switches,
and the motor could obtain a rotating magnetic field, so as to
achieve high efficiency. SVPWM module mainly composed of
4 sub-modules, which are the sector judgment, main vector's
operating time calculation, switching point calculation, and the
triggering pulse generating shown in Fig. 5.
IV. CONTROL SYSTEM
PMSM’s 2D Maxwell was connected with Twin Builder to
perform FOC, which ensures good dynamics response, high
efficiency and stability. As shown in Fig. 5, we built a double
closed-loop used to control the speed signal and the current
signal of the motor, which are composed of PI regulator [18].
In this paper, we kept Id=0 and the Iq ref value is obtained by
comparing reference speed value with the real speed value
which was fed to the PI controller, finally Iq,ref value was
again compared with the real Iq value to obtain Vq value.
3
 V. SIMULATION RESULT
In this paper, a dynamic model and control method of
PMSM is proposed using 2D finite element method in Ansys
Maxwell and the simulation model modules are connected to
each other in Twin Builder environment after creating the
initial machine analysis in RMxprt module as seen in Fig. 4.
The simulation was run for 150ms by setting the stator
resistance of 0.348Ohm, the inductance 0.257232mH, inverter
switch frequency of 10kHz, and the rotational inertia of
0.067kg/m2 with the initial given speed of 1000r/min, set the
rotational speed to jump to 2500r/min at the 75ms then run the
simulation model to get the phase current, voltage and
electromagnetic torque waveforms. Figure. 6 to Figure. 9, the Fig. 8. Output Torque.
simulation results are found for motor current, voltage, torque
and d- q axis current for the PMSM drive. As can be seen from
the simulation, Figure 6 & Figure 7 shows the three-phase
input current and voltage responses of the PMSM drive, it can
be seen from the figures that the waveforms are non-sinusoidal
at the starting and at the point of change of speed then it
becomes sinusoidal when steady state is achieved. It is
understood that the input current & voltage phases differ 120°
each other, which is consistent with theoretical analyses. The
torque response in Figure 8 shows a considerable drop after
increase of the speed and it is seen that the motor is in an
unbalanced operating zone for up to 77.25 ms and then
stabilized with the maximum torque of 10.6 N, and the
minimum torque of 5.83 N and the torque waveform fluctuates
a little for 2.25ms.
Fig. 9. Current Iq & Id waveform.

Figure 9 shows the waveform of the d- and q-axis currents,

which settles down after 76.2 ms because of the increase of the
speed. The d- and q-axis currents can vary quickly according to
the ref. speed characteristics.

VI. CONCLUSION
In view of the shortcomings of the traditional modeling
methods in the past, on the basis of problems related to the
design of PM motor, a PMSM control system simulation and
modeling method based on Maxwell & Twin Builder is
proposed. First, the Maxwell (2D) model of PMSM is
generated by using the RMxprt in Maxwell to design the motor
geometric model based on the actual size and parameters of the
Fig. 6. Current waveform Ia,Ib,Ic.
motor for finite element analysis. To achieve the maximum
performance by the PM motor, power density, leakage flux and
the cogging torque need to be regulated by choosing core
length, air gap flux density and pole numbers within the
limiting ranges. Then, using the Twin Builder environment, the
Maxwell and Twin Builder data exchange models, data transfer
models are constructed. Finally, in Twin Builder environment,
the PMSM speed and current double closed-loop control unit
was built, and the joint simulation model of the PMSM motor
control system was constructed. The simulation results under
1000 r/min & 2500r/min high-speed show that the co-
simulation model proposed in this paper can respond quickly
with unbalanced operation zone of a small time which is less
than 2.5ms to reach the steady state and the system runs stably
after that.

Fig. 7. Phase Voltage waveform Va,Vb,Vc.

4
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to acknowledge
1. This work was financially supported by the Natural
Science Foundation of China (51775393).
2. Supported by the 111 Project (B17034).
3. Supported by the technology innovation plan of Hubei
Province, China (2018AAA053).
REFERENCE
[1] B. Bilgin et al., "Modeling and analysis of electric motors: state-of-the-
art review," IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, vol. 5,
no. 3, pp. 602-617, 2019.
[2] R. N. H. T. Fady M. A Hassouna, "Electric Vehicles as an Alternative to
Conventional Vehicles: A Review," International Journal of Advanced
Science and Technology, vol. 29, no. 9s, pp. 5695-5701, 05/20 2020.
[3] A. Arora and G. Singh, "Review of design and performance of
permanent magnet synchronous motor," International Journal of
Industrial Electronics and Electrical Engineering–IJIEEE, vol. 3, no. 10,
pp. 20-28, 2015.
[4] O. S. Kachin, A. V. Kiselev, and A. B. Serov, "Research of operation
modes of the synchronous electric motor drive system with use of
software ANSYS maxwell and simplorer," in 2014 15th International
Conference of Young Specialists on Micro/Nanotechnologies and
Electron Devices (EDM), 2014, pp. 362-364: IEEE.
[5] C. Schulte and J. Böcker, "Co-simulation of an electric traction drive,"
in 2013 International Electric Machines & Drives Conference, 2013, pp.
974-978: IEEE.
[6] J. Wu, J. Wang, C. Gan, Q. Sun, and W. Kong, "Efficiency optimization
of PMSM drives using field-circuit coupled FEM for EV/HEV
applications," IEEE Access, vol. 6, pp. 15192-15201, 2018.
[7] X. Zhao, H. Liu, Z. Zuo, H. Zhang, and Y. Chen, "Co-Simulation of
600KW Traction Induction Motor Fed by PWM Inverter," in 2nd
International Conference on Electronic & Mechanical Engineering and
Information Technology, 2012: Atlantis Press.
View publication stats
[8] K. Jaber, A. Fakhfakh, and R. Neji, "Modeling and simulation of high
performance electrical vehicle powertrains in VHDL-AMS,"
ELECTRIC VEHICLES–MODELLING AND SIMULATIONS, vol.
25, 2011.
[9] K. Jaber, B. B. Saleh, A. Fakhfakh, and R. Neji, "Modeling and
simulation of electrical vehicle in VHDL-AMS," in 2009 16th IEEE
International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems-(ICECS
2009), 2009, pp. 908-911: IEEE.
[10] K. Xu, W. Chen, Y. Xu, M. Gao, and Z. He, "Vector control for
PMSM," Sensors & Transducers, vol. 170, no. 5, p. 227, 2014.
[11] C.-K. Lai, Y.-T. Tsao, and C.-C. Tsai, "Modeling, analysis, and
realization of permanent magnet synchronous motor current vector
control by matlab/simulink and fpga," Machines, vol. 5, no. 4, p. 26,
2017.
[12] V. Virani, S. Arya, J. J. C. Baria, Modelling, and C. o. P. D. b. F. O. C.
F. HEV, "Modelling and Control of PMSM Drive by Field Oriented
Control For HEV," 2019.
[13] P. S. Shinde, A. Thosar, and P. L. Ratnani, "Design of permanent
magnet synchronous motor," Int. J. Sci. Eng. Res, vol. 6, no. 1, p. 10,
2015.
[14] ANSYS. ( 2020 ). Ansys Mawell: Low Frequency Electromagnetic Field
Simulation. Available:
https://www.ansys.com/Products/Electronics/ANSYS-Maxwell
[15] Y. Cao, Q. Li, and L. Yu, "A Software for Design and Analysis of
PMSM Based on ANSYS," in 2009 First International Conference on
Information Science and Engineering, 2009, pp. 78-81: IEEE.
[16] L. Wang, X. Wang, Y. Zheng, L. Li, W. Wang, and H. Wu, "Finite
Element Analysis of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor of Electric
Vehicle," in 2015 3rd International Conference on Advances in Energy
and Environmental Science, 2015: Atlantis Press.
[17] S. Singh and A. Tiwari, "Analysis and simulation of vector controlled
PMSM drive using SVPWM inverter," in 2017 2nd International
Conference for Convergence in Technology (I2CT), 2017, pp. 709-714:
IEEE.
[18] K. Soorya and S. A. Steffy, "Analysis and simulation of speed control of
PMBLDC motor by PI controller," in 2014 International Conference on
Green Computing Communication and Electrical Engineering
(ICGCCEE), 2014, pp. 1-4: IEEE.