A Novel Track Structure of Double-Sided Linear PM Synchronous Motor For Low Cost and High Force Density Applications

This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been
fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/TMAG.2020.3017448, IEEE
Transactions on Magnetics
BD-04
A Novel Track Structure of Double-Sided Linear PM Synchronous

Motor for Low Cost and High Force Density Applications
A. Boduroglu1, Y. Demir1, Student Member, IEEE, B. Cumhur1 and M. Aydin2, Member, IEEE
1
R&D Department, MDS Motor Design Ltd., 41275, Kocaeli, Turkey
2
Department of Mechatronics Engr., Kocaeli University, 41380, Kocaeli, Turkey
Conventional coreless linear permanent magnet (PM) synchronous motors have been used commonly in various applications in
industry. In this paper, coreless double-sided PM linear motor design alternatives are proposed with a novel track structures with less
magnets. A linear motor design with conventional coreless PMLSM is provided as a benchmark. Detailed 3D finite element analysis
simulations for the proposed new track structures are presented with conventional linear motor design data. Thorough performance
comparison is also presented. A prototype motor of a promising track design is built and tested. It is shown that the design data and
test results are in good agreement and the proposed track design alternative could be a decent low cost and relatively high force
density solution for some applications.
Index Terms— Double-sided linear motor, ironless linear motor, linear PM motor, novel track structure.
certain benefits over their iron-core counterparts such as no

I. INTRODUCTION detent force, no attraction force, light weight coil and
P ermanent magnet (PM) linear synchronous motors

(PMLSMs) are fairly good candidates for high precision
negligible iron losses since these motors have lack of forcer
iron core and teeth. These key features make the ironless PM
applications thanks to their high power densities, high system motors fairly popular in actuators, precision stages,
efficiencies and positioning accuracies [1], [2]. Although iron semiconductor, and automation applications [5]-[7]. The
core PMLSMs have higher thrust density compared to their general concept of the conventional DSI-PMLSM is two
ironless counterparts, they have detent force inherently due to mutual tracks and a forcer with three phase armature windings
their cored forcers. Therefore, iron core PMLSMs require to between these tracks. In addition, both forcer and track of
take an extra precaution for this unwanted force component to DSI-PMLSMs can be displaced symmetrically along the linear
improve the motor performance during the electromagnetic motion direction which can provide to increase the motor
design stage [3], [4]. length easily. For example, the output force of the machine
Fig.1 shows the classification of PMLSM. Both cored and can easily be doubled by applying the same rated current to
coreless (or air core) PMLSM are used in most applications. the windings if one more track is mounted to the system. On
They both can have 1-track-1-forcer, 2-track-1-forcer, 1-track- the other hand, the apparent airgap between the mutual
2-forcer or multiple-track-multiple-forcer. Cored options are magnets on the track is extremely large due to the usage of
used for applications where more linear force is required. ironless forcer. Thus, these motors require to use excessive
Coreless options are used for applications where less force and amount of PM material to increase the magnetic flux density
more speed are needed. Both coreless and cored alternatives in the machine airgap, which results in increased production
may have magnets on both tracks, on one track or consecutive cost due to the magnets [8]-[12].
tracks. However, these alternatives are not investigated in The aim of this study is to reduce the amount of magnet
literature. These types of low-cost topologies are quite critical and iron used in the machine despite a little output force
for small load and precise positioning industrial automation decrement. In this paper, new DSI-PMLSM design
applications with limited space constraints such as a pick-and- alternatives are proposed with a novel track structure with less
place machines for electronic manufacturing and automated magnet use and relatively large force density. Various track
material handling machines. designs with reduced amount of magnet are performed in
Double-sided ironless PMLSMs (DSI-PMLSMs) have order to investigate the effects on motor performance. The
performance results are compared with a conventional double-
sided linear PM motor which has conventional track structure.
PMLSM It is shown that the linear PM motors with proposed track
structures have significant potential for applications requiring
low cost and relatively high force density.
Cored PMLSM Coreless PMLSM Hybrid PMLSM II. PROPOSED DSI-PMLSM STRUCTURE
A novel low cost and high force density DSI-PMLSM
design for industrial applications demanding smooth and high
1-Track- 2-Track- 1-Track- Multiple-Track- dynamic motion is proposed in this paper. The conventional
1-Forcer 1-Forcer 2-Forcer Multiple-Forcer
PMLSM PMLSM PMLSM PMLSM and the proposed DSI-PMLSM concepts are shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 1. Summary of commonly used PMLSM classification. It can be seen that the magnets are mounted only one track
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Forcer TABLE I
SPECIFICATIONS OF DSI-PMLSM
Number of phases 3 Max. rated current 3.1 A
Number of poles 4 Length of track 240 mm
Pole pitch 60 mm Length of forcer 120 mm
U-Shaped U-Shaped PM material NdFeB DC bus voltage 310 V
track with track with Track material Steel Track speed 2 m/s
magnets on magnets on Track width 33mm Track height 44mm
both sides one side
(a) (b)
Fig. 2. (a) Conventional and (b) proposed DSI-PMLSM concepts.
side of the linear motor which provides to reduce the amount (a) (b)
of magnet used by half when compared to conventional DSI- Fig. 3. (a) Magnetic flux density distribution and (b) magnetic flux lines of the
baseline DSI-PMLSM.
PMLSMs. In addition, the mechanical airgap on each side of
the track is kept the same. There is no magnet overhang or any
100
kind of magnet skew in the proposed linear motor. Therefore,
the longitudinal and transversal edge effects are not as 50
Back EMF [V]

significant issue as in cored linear motors. As in all ironless
linear PM motors, this motor exhibits no cogging and has zero 0
attraction force between the forcer and the tracks. Therefore, 0 0.02 0.04 0.06
the proposed motor can be controlled not only at very high -50
phase line
speeds with excellent positioning accuracy due to its cogging
free force output, it can also be controlled at very low -100
Forcer Position [m]
velocities precisely. In addition, one of the main benefits of Fig. 4. Back-EMF voltage waveform of the baseline DSI-PMLSM.
the proposed motor design compared to conventional ironless
PM motors is the high dynamic response such as high 120
acceleration and deceleration capability thanks to lower mass 100
Thrust Force [N]
of the forcer and the machine in addition to low permanent 80

magnet material cost. 60
40
III. DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS AND REFERENCE DSI-PMLSM 20
A conventional ironless linear PM motor is considered as 0
baseline model. In the process of this reference motor design, 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06
Forcer Position [m]
firstly motor baseline design is performed considering the
Fig. 5. Thrust force waveform of the baseline DSI-PMLSM.
design specifications in Table I and pre-dimensions are
obtained with design equations [13]. Then, parametric obtained by considering the pitch factor, the distribution factor
analyses of the motor geometry including magnet pitch, pole of turns in the x-direction, the distribution factor in the y-
pitch, coil-pole combination, coil span, number of turns etc. direction and the distribution factor of coils.
are carried out to improve the thrust characteristic. After the For the thrust force, it is assumed that the motor is supplied
optimum motor dimensions are attained, no-load and on-load by sinusoidal current. So, the current in the phase j=1, 2, 3
finite element analyses (FEA) are completed. becomes,
Back electro-motive force (EMF) in the phase winding can
 
i j = I max sin   x −( j −1)   
2
be written as (3)
   3 
e( x )   
=  En sin n x  (1) where Imax is maximum current. Thus, the average thrust force
vs n=1,3,..   
can be calculated as,
where vs is the synchronous speed of the linear motor, τ is the 3
magnet pitch and En is determined by the flux density Fth = E I (4)
2 1 max
distribution of the magnet track and winding factor of the coil The magnetic flux density distribution and magnetic flux
assembly. lines of the optimized motor design is illustrated in Fig. 3.
En = 2NLBn k w (2) Phase and line back-EMF waveforms of the PMLSM at the
where N is the number of turns of a single coil, Bn is flux forcer speed of 2 m/s are illustrated in Fig. 4 The maximum
density, and L is the motor depth. Winding factor (kw) is values of the phase back-EMF and line back-EMF voltages are
Forcer
Magnet
free track
with solid
iron
Magnets
Iron poles
(a) (b) (c) (d)

Fig. 6. 3D models of all proposed tracks of DSI-PMLSM: (a) Conventional baseline design (CBD), (b) Track with magnet and iron pole (T-M-IP), (c) Track with
consecutive magnet and iron pole (T-C-M-IP), (d) Track with magnet and solid iron (T-M-SI).
48.7 V and 73.9 V, respectively. The variation of thrust force 80

70
of the linear motor for the optimized design is also illustrated
100 60
in Fig. 5. It shows that the thrust force along the full track has 50
almost no ripple. The average thrust force is 98.7 N and the 50
40
Back EMF [V]

30
force ripple is only 0.3% of the average thrust force. 0.03 0.04 0.05
0
IV. DESIGN AND FEA OF THE PROPOSED DSI-PMLSMS 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
CBD 0.06
-50 T-M-IP
In this paper, three different track structures for a DSI- T-C-M-IP
PMLSMs are proposed. The aim of these tracks is to reduce T-M-SI
-100
the amount of magnet used and lower the cost of the motor
Forcer Position [m]
since significant amount of total cost comes from the
Fig. 7. Back-EMF voltage waveforms of all proposed tracks.
permanent magnets. First, proposed track structure has the
iron-pole on one side of the track as shown in Fig. 6(b). The 100
dimensions of iron poles are kept the same as those of magnets 90

on one side of the track. As for the second proposed track 80
120
design, as shown in the Fig. 6(c), iron poles and magnets are 70
used together on each track in a consecutive manner. The 100
60
80 0.03 0.035 0.04
dimensions of the iron poles are kept the same as the magnets
Force [N]
again. The final proposed design, as presented in the Fig. 6(d), 60

CBD
has magnets placed only on one side of the track. There is 40 T-M-IP
neither iron pole nor magnets on the other side of the track. 20 T-C-M-IP
All of the proposed track designs as well as the baseline T-M-SI
0
design are modelled and analyzed in FEA with a series of 0 0.020.01 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06
parametric optimizations. Back EMF and thrust force Forcer Position [m]
variations are given in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 respectively. When Fig. 8. Thrust force variations of all proposed models.
the performance results of the proposed track structures are
compared, it is seen that the proposed track alternatives have tal back-EMF voltage is reduced only by 34% and average
all low total harmonic distortion (THD) levels and low thrust trust force is reduced by 35%.
force ripples. All track designs have less than 0.65% force Because the usage of the magnet amount is reduced by half
ripple on the output. for the proposed track designs, as opposed to the baseline
model, the average force values are not reduced by half.
Higher thrust force can be obtained with both of the proposed
V. PERFORMANCE COMPARISON BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL
track structures as seen from the Fig. 9(b). Also, track with
AND PROPOSED DSI-PMLSMS
magnet and solid iron structure has an advantage in terms of
In order to illustrate the benefits of the proposed linear tracks thrust ripple compared with the other proposed models.
and to make a fair performance comparison between the Total weight, weight of the magnets, thrust to volume
conventional and the proposed track designs, a series of ratio, thrust to weight ratio and thrust to magnet weight ratio
comparison charts are generated. Fig. 9 shows performance are considered. If the results are evaluated briefly, the best
comparison of baseline with the proposed track designs. Peak sinusoidal back EMF waveform is obtained from track with
back-EMF voltage, THD percentage levels, average thrust and magnet and solid iron structure.
the thrust ripple percentage are all illustrated. Although 50% Furthermore, Fig. 10 shows summary of force density
less magnets are used in the proposed tracks, peak fundamen- comparison of the baseline and the proposed track designs. It
can be observed that the proposed track alternatives with designs. This illustrates the major benefits of the proposed
either iron poles or solid iron can have quite large force-to- track designs as opposed to the conventional coreless linear
volume and force-to-weight ratios. More importantly, linear motor. They have lower cost and higher thrust force density
track alternative with magnet on one side and solid iron on the with higher rated speed as opposed to conventional coreless
other side (T-M-SI) has the highest force density, force-to- dual rotor linear PM motor topologies.
weight and force-to-cost ratios among the proposed track
80 120
70
Back EMF Fund. [V]
100
60
Force [N]
80
50
40 60
30 40
20
10 20
0 0
CBD T-M-IP T-C-M-IP T-M-SI (a) CBD T-M-IP T-C-M-IP T-M-SI (b)
0.25 0.7
0.6
0.2
% Thrust Ripple
0.5
%THD
0.15 0.4
0.1 0.3
0.2
0.05
0.1
0 0
CBD T-M-IP T-C-M-IP
(c) T-M-SI
CBD T-M-IP T-C-M-IP T-M-SI (d)
Fig. 9. Performance comparison of the baseline design and the proposed models: (a) Fundamental value of back-EMF voltage, (b) total harmonic distortion, (c)
average thrust force and (d) force ripple percentage.
300 25
Force/Volume [N/cm3]
250
Force/Wtotal [N/kg]
20
200
15
150
10
100
50 5
0 0
CBD T-M-IP T-C-M-IP T-M-SI (a) CBD T-M-IP T-C-M-IP T-M-SI (b)
200 0.25
Force/Cost [N/USD]
Force/Wpm [N/kg]
0.2
150
0.15
100
0.1
50
0.05
0 0
CBD T-M-IP T-C-M-IP (c) T-M-SI CBD T-M-IP T-C-M-IP T-M-SI (d)
Fig. 10. Summary of the force density comparison of the baseline and the proposed track designs: (a) Thrust force-to-volume ratio, (b) thrust force-to-magnet
weight ratio, (c) thrust force-to-total active weight ratio and (d) thrust force-to-total cost ratio.
motor with a load motor. By moving the forcer of the

VI. DSI-PMLSM PROTOTYPE AND EXPERIMENTAL proposed DSI-PMLSM prototype using a load motor, the back
VALIDATION EMF waveform is obtained. Comparison of the back-EMF
The final design of the proposed machine is verified with 3D- variation at the constant speed between the 2D- and 3D-FEA
FEA simulation. No-load flux density of the motor obtained and test results is shown in Fig. 13. It can be seen that the
by 3D FEA is illustrated in Fig. 11. In order to validate the experimental data and both FEA results are in good
proposed DSI-PMLSM which have track with magnet and agreement. There exist only 2.55% error between the FEA and
solid iron, the prototype has been manufactured and tested. test results for the back-EMF voltage measurements. Finally,
The prototype motor and the experimental setup are illustrated measured phase inductance values of the proposed motor are
in Fig. 12. A ball screw is used to connect the tested linear also given in Table II.
structures are proposed. The proposed track structures have all

50% reduced amount of magnets resulting in reduced magnet
cost and total machine cost. Detailed comparison of the
proposed track alternatives is also presented in the paper. The
major benefits of the proposed track structures are lower cost
and higher thrust force density with higher rated speed as
Fig. 11. Flux density variation of the proposed motor (obtained by 3D FEA).
opposed to conventional coreless dual rotor PM linear motor.
A prototype motor with magnet free solid iron on one side of
Forcer the track (T-M-SI) is built and tested. It is shown that the FEA
results and test data are in good agreement and the proposed
Track with reduced magnet tracks could be a nice alternative for
magnets applications requiring low cost and relatively high force
density.
Track with
solid iron ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was partially sponsored by Kocaeli University BAP
(a) unit under Grant Number 2019/045 and Tubitak under Grant
Number 3189111 (MDS2019_2).
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A Novel Track Structure of Double-Sided Linear PM Synchronous Motor For Low Cost and High Force Density Applications

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been

A Novel Track Structure of Double-Sided Linear PM Synchronous

certain benefits over their iron-core counterparts such as no

P ermanent magnet (PM) linear synchronous motors

Back EMF [V]

of the forcer and the machine in addition to low permanent 80

(a) (b) (c) (d)

48.7 V and 73.9 V, respectively. The variation of thrust force 80

Back EMF [V]

dimensions of iron poles are kept the same as those of magnets 90

again. The final proposed design, as presented in the Fig. 6(d), 60

motor with a load motor. By moving the forcer of the

structures are proposed. The proposed track structures have all

Gyu-Tak Kim, "Detent force minimization techniques in permanent

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