Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225

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Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/simpat

Modeling of electromagnetic torque considering saturation

and magnetic field harmonics in permanent magnet
synchronous motor for HEV
Xing Chen a,b, Jibin Hu a,∗, Kai Chen a, Zengxiong Peng a
a
Key Laboratory of Transmission on Vehicular, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, Haidian 100081, PR China
b
Chongqing Changan New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd, PR China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Electromagnetic torque ripple of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) causes
Received 7 December 2014 electro-mechanical coupling vibration and noise in hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). However,
Revised 1 February 2016
the traditional mathematical model of PMSM cannot absolutely reflect the reason of torque
Accepted 25 February 2016
ripple and variation on the different operation performance of the motor for HEV. The pur-
Available online 26 May 2016
pose lies in the fact that electromagnet factor originated torque ripple and variation have
Keywords: been taken into account in the mathematic model of PMSM. Based on the classical Park’s
Permanent magnet synchronous motor transformation theory and the Fourier series analysis of magnetic field, a general nonlinear
Saturation mathematical model of PMSM considering saturation and magnetic field spatial harmonics
Harmonics and time harmonics is presented in this paper. The general analytical model cannot only
Torque ripple taking into account the variation of electromagnetic parameters caused by electric vehicle
operating, but also can explain the frequency and the order of torque ripple theoretically.
The model’s effectiveness is tested through finite element analysis simulations and some
experimental results. The analytical model presented here can be used for the character-
istic analysis, the drive system dynamic precise analysis and fault diagnose of PMSM for
HEV.
© 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.

1. Introduction

Electric driven vehicles have received a lot of interest in recent years, due to the necessity of reducing fuel consumption,
both for economic and environmental reasons [1,2]. Permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) are promising in the
demanding applications, because of their potential high torque density, high efficiency, small size, fast response and reliable
operation [3]. Relative to the general industrial drive motor, the PMSM used in hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) have a higher
power, multi-operation condition, variable load, wide speed range characteristics, electromagnetic torque ripple and variation
are much more serious and complicated. Presence of these torque pulsations results in instantaneous torque that pulsates
periodically with rotor position. These pulsations are reflected as periodic oscillations in the motor speed, especially at low
speed operations [4]. The oscillations produce undesirable mechanical vibration leading to acoustic noise, which reduce the
ride comfort of electric vehicle. Therefore, it has great significance to understand the behavior and quantify the sources of

∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +8501068918494.
E-mail address: hujibin@bit.edu.cn (J. Hu).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.simpat.2016.02.012
S1569-190X(16)0 0 030-7/© 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.
 X. Chen et al. / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225 213

torque ripple and variation. A precise analytical model of PMSM for HEV is essential for operational characteristics analysis,
high precision control and fault diagnosis et al.
Methods for calculating electromagnetic torque can be classified into two primary categories, analytical and numer-
ical approach [5]. The FEM (finite element method) can accurately calculate the electromagnetic torque of PMSM tak-
ing into account of all the geometrical complexity of the motor as well as magnetic saturation. However, the FEM is
not available for design and electromechanical coupling analysis of the electric drive system of vehicle, the computa-
tion time can be prohibitive and subject to mesh generation for high accuracy [3]. Analytical techniques remain a useful
means of quickly predicting electromagnetic torque. Maxwell stress tensor and Virtual work principle are commonly used
in the analytical model of the electromagnetic torque [6–8]. Based on Maxwell stress tensor, electromagnetic torque can
be calculated directly by the radial and tangential flux density. It has been shown that the analytical method gives re-
sults in good agreement with finite elements. Nevertheless, it could be interesting to illustrate the limit of this method.
The main limit of the method consists in the fact that saturation of the motors ferromagnetic parts is not taken into
account.
The biaxial model based on the virtual work principle and Park’s transformation theory is commonly used for the dy-
namic electromagnetic torque model. Most control models and dynamics analysis of PMSM are established by using the
ideal analytical model, which is based on the assumption that core saturation is ignored, permanent magnetic field assumes
as a sinusoidal distribution, power source is sinusoidal wave, air gap is uniform, and the effects of the change of electro-
magnetic parameters and harmonics are ignored as well [9–12]. The extent of saturation of PMSM changes with different
operating conditions of motor, especially for motor used in vehicle, so that it has effects on electromagnetic parameters,
such as inductance and permanent magnet flux linkage. The literatures [13–15] studied the effects of saturation on the
motor parameters and torque characteristics on the basis of the ideal model. The structure of stator and rotor of PMSM
resulting in spatial harmonics flux can cause torque ripple. The literatures [16–18] studied torque ripple caused by spatial
harmonics of the rotor magnetic field, the 6k order analytical expression of torque ripple was deduced. It is proposed that
the non-sinusoidal distributed air-gap magnetic field is the main source of torque ripple of PMSM.
The research described above is of great significance for the understanding and analyzing the electromagnetic torque
variation and ripple, and provides much valuable information. However, the operating conditions of the motors used in HEV
are more complex compared to the general industrial PMSM. Typically, the torque can reach 300% of the rated load and the
speed is 200% or even higher than the base speed [19]. The major reasons of torque ripple and variation under all conditions
are as follows: (1) the magnetic or electric loads of PMSM for HEV increase consciously in the designing stage in order to
enhance power density, so that it is easy to saturate when the vehicle works in the heavy-duty area. (2) Slots effect and
non-sinusoidal air gap flux density caused by the rectangular structure of permanent magnet can generate spatial harmonics
flux. (3) The Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control armature current as various order and amplitude time harmonics under
different operating conditions. In summary, the previous literature puts particular emphasis on certain areas for the studies
of torque variation of PMSM, which cannot reflect electromagnetic torque variation and ripple of PMSM used for vehicle
under all condition.
This paper focuses on establishing and quantifying an electromagnetic torque model reflecting all operating conditions of
PMSM used for vehicle. The reasons mentioned above are separately identified and modeled as a voltage source to augment
the ideal dq-model of PMSM. The general analytical model can not only taking into account the variation of electromagnetic
parameters caused by electric vehicle operating, but also can explain the frequency and the order of torque ripple theoret-
ically. The FEA simulations are used for confirming the results of the proposed analysis. The torque ripple is also evaluated
experimentally and compared with FEA results.

2. The fundamental torque model considering magnetic saturation

The mechanical load of vehicle changes greatly due to the variable operating conditions of the electric drive vehicle.
When the mechanical load of vehicle increases, it requires the control system to increase the electrical load to enhance the
output power for maintaining normal operation of the motor. The increased electrical load boosts up magnetic field intensity
of the motor. The saturation phenomenon occurs when the magnetic field intensity increases to a certain extent, which
makes the electromagnetic parameters of permanent magnet synchronous motor changed. Consequently, the fundamental
electromagnetic torque increases non-linearly.
In the synchronous motor the rotor field tries to align itself with the field produced by the PM, providing the torque that
moves the rotor. The motor provides almost constant speed for a given range of torque load. In order to simplify the PMSM
analysis some assumptions have to be made. For the motor for HEV it is considered that
• The rotor is cylindrical with surface mounted magnets. Since it has no saliency, the reluctance torque due to the rotor is
not taken into account.
• The motor has an interior rotor, as opposed to an exterior rotor.

Particularly, for the development of the enhanced torque model the following assumptions are made,


1 The rotor magnet field is symmetrically distributed with pole centerline;

2 The stator windings contain fundamental sinusoidal current or time harmonic terms.
214 X. Chen et al. / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225


3 The three phase windings are continuously and sinusoidally distributed along the stator, and the stator slots and
rotating angle have no influence on the inductance;

4 The air-gap is constant.

Currently, dq-axis armature current is used to imitate the load of a permanent magnet synchronous motor. Therefore, the
degree of saturation of the magnetic circuit will be affected by dq-axis armature current [13,15]. When the magnetic field
saturation is considered, the inductance parameters Ld and Lq are the nonlinear function of dq-axis armature current id and
iq , i.e. Ld (id ,iq ) and Lq (id ,iq ).
When the spatial harmonics aren’t considered, the magnetic field produced by the permanent magnets is sinusoidal.
Also, it is generally considered fundamental flux generated by the permanent magnet remain constant [14,15]. In other
words, magnetic field saturation has no effect on the flux  produced by the permanent magnet. In fact, the permanent
magnet MMF F should be considered as a constant [11]. The magnetic flux in the magnetic meet magnetic circuit Ohm’s
law:

=F · (1)

where  is the magnetic flux; F is the magnet motive force and  is the magnetic permeance.
The permeance  changes non-linearly when considering the magnetic saturation. According to (1), the magnetic flux
produced by the permanent magnet is non-linear with respect to the current. To simplify the analysis in this part, the
saturation effect on the fundamental permanent magnet flux ψ 1 (id , iq ) was considered.
Therefore, the relationship between dq-axis flux and current is expressed by (2):

ψ d = L d ( i d , i q )i d + ψ 1 ( i d , i q )
(2)
ψq = Lq (id , iq )iq
According to (2) and the ideal voltage equation [9], we can get the voltage equation considering saturation effect:
⎧  
⎪ d Ld ( id , iq ) d id d ψ1 ( id , iq )
⎪
⎨Ud = Rid + id + Ld ( id , iq ) + − ω r L q ( i d , i q )i q
dt dt dt
  (3)
⎪
⎪ di d Lq ( id , iq )
⎩Uq = Riq + Lq (id , iq ) d + iq + ωr [Ld (id , iq )id + ψ1 (id , iq )]
dt dt

It can be found that the differential terms of dq-axis inductance and the fundamental permanent magnet flux are added
in Eq. (3) compared to ideal mathematical model. The reason is that dq-axis inductance and the permanent magnet flux are
not a constant but a non-linear function of current, which resulting in the voltage-related items.
The fundamental electromagnetic torque analytical model is expressed by (4) when considering saturation:

3
Tem = p{ψ1 (id , iq )iq + [Ld (id , iq ) − Lq (id , iq )]id iq } (4)
2

3. The torque ripple modeling

3.1. The effect of spatial harmonic

The air gap magnetic field density provides valuable information in evaluating motor performance. Knowledge of the
field density will not only allow rated performance calculation but also calculation of such effects as ripple torque, back-emf
shape, etc. Although the common method of obtaining the air gap field density waveform is FEA, it is time-consuming even
on powerful computers and it is difficult to be inserted in an iterative design procedure. It is therefore desirable to use
alternative methods to evaluate the air gap field density.
The traditional permanent magnet synchronous motor is based on the assumption of sinusoidal magnetic field distribu-
tion and ignoring the impact slots effect. But the actual permanent magnetic field is a rectangular or trapezoidal distribution
and contains high order spatial harmonic resulted from slots effect [6,20,21], a certain PMSM for HEV is depicted in Fig. 1.
The PMSM employed PWM control which results in the stator current containing a significant amount of time harmonic
current. The spatial harmonic and time harmonic of magnet field lead to electromagnetic torque ripple. In order to explain
the mechanism of electromagnetic torque ripple caused by the time and spatial harmonics of the magnetic field, the Fourier
series decomposition was used in the magnetic field distribution calculation [20,21].
To facilitate the analysis and exclude other factors, the saturation effect was not considered, and stator windings con-
tain only the fundamental sinusoidal current. A cylindrical coordinate system was used in the magnetic field analysis, so
magnetic field distribution in the slotless air gap can be expressed as the plural form [6,7]:

Bg  = Br + j Bθ (5)
 X. Chen et al. / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225 215

Fig. 1. Air gap Flux density of the PMSM rotor.

where, Br and Bθ are the radial and tangential components of the flux density, respectively. When the stator slots impact
was not considered, Br and Bθ could express Fourier series as follows [6]:
⎧
⎪
⎪
1,3,5··· 1,3,5···
⎨Br (r, θ ) = Brn cos (npθr ) = Brn cos [np(θ − α )]
n n
(6)
⎪
⎪ 1,3,5··· 1,3,5···
⎩Bθ (r, θ ) = Bθ n sin (npθr ) = Bθ n sin [np(θ − α )]
n n

where, θ is the angular position on the rotor surface, α = ωr t is the rotor displacement, θ r is the position referenced to the
rotor. So θ r can be related to the spatial angle of the point with respect to the stator fixed reference axis, θ and the rotor
angle with respect to stator axes, α using θ r = θ – α , and p is the number of pole pairs. Hence, the spatial harmonic order
for flux density is np, where n = 1,3,5…. From [6], Brn and Bθ n are defined by (7) and (8).
 
B0 4 nπ α p np Rm np−1
r np−1
Rm np+1
Brn = sin +
μr π 2 (np)2 − 1 r Rs Rs
⎧ ⎫
⎨ np − 1 + 2 Rr
− (np + 1 ) Rr 2np ⎬
×  Rm
 Rm
 (7)
⎩ μr +1 1 − Rr 2np
− μμr −1 Rm 2np
− Rr 2np ⎭
μr Rs r Rs Rm

 
B0 4 nπ α p np Rm np−1
r np−1
Rm np+1
Bθ n = sin −
μr π 2 (np)2 − 1 r Rs Rs
⎧ ⎫
⎨ np − 1 + 2 Rr
− (np + 1 ) Rr 2np ⎬
×  
Rm
 Rm
 (8)
⎩ μr +1 1 − Rr 2np
− μμr −1 Rm 2np
− Rr 2np ⎭
μr Rs r Rs Rm

When the stator slots effect is considered, the relative permeance function was constructed based on the Schwarz–
Christoffel transformation [6,20], which reflects the slot effects influenced on air gap magnetic field. The relative permeance
function is defined:

λ(r, θ ) = λa (r, θ ) − jλb (r, θ ) (9)

where
⎧
⎪
⎪
1,2,3···
⎨λa (r, θ ) = λ0 (r, θ ) + λam (r ) cos (mQs θ )
m
(10)
⎪
⎪ 1,2,3···
⎩λb (r, θ ) = λbm (r ) sin (mQs θ )
m

where Qs is the number of slots.

216 X. Chen et al. / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225

The influence of slots effects on the air gap magnetic field can be considered as modulation by relative permeance
function, which is expressed by (11):

Bg (r, θ , t ) = Br (r, θ , t )λa (r, θ ) + Bθ (r, θ , t )λb (r, θ )

 
1,
3,5··· 1,
2,3···
= Brn cos[np(α − θ )] λ0 + λam cos[mp(α − θ )]
n m

1,
3,5··· 1,
2,3···
+ Bθ n sin[np(α − θ )] λbm sin[mp(α − θ )] (11)
n n

The flux in a stator phase winding generated by permanent magnets (take the phase A for example) is:
 γc 1,
3,5···
2
ψma (t ) = la R Bg (r, θ , t )dθ = ψan cos (nθ t )
− γ2c n

where R is the radius close to the stator surface where the field is calculated. In this study R = Rm + g/2, i.e. half air gap
width, γ c is the winding pitch angle, and ψ an is:

 2 γc 1,
2,3···
sin [(np + mQs )γc /2]
ψan = la r λ0 Brn sin np + (Brn λam − Bθ n λbm )
k1 p 2 m
np + mQs

1,
2,3···
sin [(np − mQs )γc /2]
+ (Brn λam + Bθ n λbm ) (12)
m
np + mQs

The difference of phase angle among three-phase flux is 2π /3, which can be expressed as (14):
⎡ ∞ ⎤
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ψ(2k−1) cos [(2k − 1 ) pθ ]
ψma (θ ) ψma (θ ) ⎢ k=1 ⎥
⎢∞ ⎥
⎣ ⎦ ⎣
ψm,abc = ψmb (θ ) = ψmb (θ − 2π /3 ) = ⎢⎦ ⎢ ψ cos [ ( 2 k − 1 )( pθ − 2 π / 3 )]⎥ (13)
(2k−1 ) ⎥
ψmc (θ ) ψmc (θ − 4π /3 ) ⎣k∞
=1
⎦
ψ(2k−1) cos [(2k − 1 )( pθ + 2π /3 )]
k=1

Park’s transformation was executed for Eq. (14):

⎡∞   !⎤
ψ1 + ψ(6k−1) + ψ(6k+1) cos 6kpθ
⎢ ⎥
ψm,dq = Tdq,abc ψm,abc = ⎣k=1∞  ! ⎦ (14)
−ψ(6k−1) + ψ(6k+1) sin 6kpθ
k=1

The stator flux generated by fundamental armature current can be calculated as follow:
  
Ld 0 id
ψarmature,dq = Ldq idq = (15)
0 Lq iq

where Ld and Lq are dq-axis inductance of the stator, id and iq are dq-axis current of the stator.
The total of dq-axis flux can be obtained by (15) and (16):
 ⎡ ∞!⎤ 
ψ1 + ψ(6k−1) + ψ(6k+1) cos 6kpθ
Ld id +
⎢ k=1 ⎥
ψdq = ψm,dq + ψarmature,dq = ⎣ ∞  ! ⎦ (16)
Lq iq + −ψ(6k−1) + ψ(6k+1) sin 6kpθ
k=1

The back electromotive force of stator windings in dq-axis coordinate system is:
⎡ ∞ ⎤
  −pωr Lq iq + pωr ψdk sin 6kpθ
ed ⎢ k=1 ⎥
Edq = =⎣ ∞ ⎦ (17)
eq
ωr (Ld id + ψ1 ) + pωr ψqk cos 6kpθ
k=1
 X. Chen et al. / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225 217

where

ψdk = (6k − 1)ψ(6k−1) − (6k + 1)ψ(6k+1) k = 1, 2, 3

(18)
ψqk = −(6k − 1)ψ(6k−1) + (6k + 1)ψ(6k+1)
The electromagnetic torque can be obtained from the electromagnetic power which is expressed by (20). The first term in
Eq. (20) is the analytical expression of the ideal permanent magnet synchronous motor electromagnetic torque. The others
are called harmonic torque caused by spatial harmonics of magnetic field.
3 T ∞ ∞
E i
2 dq dq 3 3  3 
Tem = = p[ψ1 iq + (Ld − Lq )id iq ] − p ψdk id sin 6kpθ + p ψqk iq cos 6kpθ (19)
ωr 2 2
k=1
2
k=1

Thus, harmonic orders of torque ripple are 6ith which is consistent with the literature [17], and its frequency is:

pnr
f 6k = 6 k · = 6k f ( k = 1, 2, 3 · · · ) (20)
60
where f6 k is the frequency of the 6kth electromagnetic torque ripple, f is the electric frequency, and nr is the rotor speed.

3.2. Effect of time harmonic current

In this part, the stator windings only contain time harmonic terms. (h is hth order time harmonic current, and h > 1).
The three-phase hth order time harmonic current is assumed as
⎡ ⎤
⎡ ⎤ ih sin(hpθ + ϕh )
ia,h ⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
Iabc,h = ⎣ib,h ⎦ = ⎢ih sin hpθ − 23π + ϕh ⎥ (21)
⎣ ⎦
ic,h
ih sin hpθ + 23π + ϕh

where, ih is the amplitude of hth order time harmonic current, and ϕ h is the power factor angle. Therefore dq axis current
is:
   
id,h ih sin ( (h − 1 ) pθ + ϕh )
Idq,h = = (22)
iq,h −ih cos ( (h − 1 ) pθ + ϕh )

Similar to the previous method, electromagnetic torque produced by hth time harmonic current interaction with the
rotor field is:
3 T
E i 3
  1
"
2 dq dq,h
Tem,h = = pψ1 ih cos (h − 1 ) pθ + ϕh + (Ld − Lq )i2h sin 2[(h − 1 ) pθ + ϕh ]
ωr 2 2
∞

3
+ p ψdk ih {cos [(6k + h − 1) pθ + ϕh ] − cos [(6k − h + 1) pθ − ϕh ]}
4
k=1
∞
3 
− p ψqk ih {cos [(6k + h − 1) pθ + ϕh ] + cos [(6k − h + 1) pθ − ϕh ]} (23)
4
k=1

where ψ dk and ψ qk are expressed in (18).

4. A uniform torque model considering saturation and flux harmonics

The fundamental and harmonic magnetic fields are all affected by saturation. The variation of dq-axis inductances and
permanent magnet rotor fundamental flux was considered, while ignoring the variation of harmonic flux. In this part, the
stator windings not only contain fundamental sinusoidal current, but also contain time harmonic terms. According to the
previous analysis, the changed dq-coordinate axis current is:
⎡ ⎤
id + ih sin ( (h − 1 ) pθ + ϕh )
Idq = ⎣ h ⎦ (24)
iq − ih cos ( (h − 1 ) pθ + ϕh )
h
218 X. Chen et al. / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225

Based on the above analysis, when the saturation and flux harmonic (spatial harmonic and time harmonic) are consid-
ered, we can get electromagnetic torque analytical model as follow:

3 3 
Tem = p{ψ1 (id , iq )iq + [Ld (id , iq ) − Lq (id , iq )]id iq } + p ψ1 (id , iq )ih [cos (h − 1 ) pθ + ϕh ]
2 2
h
# ∞
1 3 
+ (Ld (id , iq ) − Lq (id , iq ) )i2h sin 2[(h − 1 ) pθ + ϕh ] + p ψdk ik {cos [(6k + h − 1) pθ + ϕh ]
2 4
k=1
∞
3 
− cos [(6k − h + 1) pθ − ϕh ]} + p ψqk ih {cos [(6k + h − 1) pθ + ϕh ] + cos [(6k − h + 1) pθ − ϕh ]} (25)
4
k=1

The first term of the electromagnetic torque analytical model is fundamental electromagnetic torque generated by inter-
actions of the fundamental current and the fundamental permanent magnet flux. The second term is harmonic electromag-
netic torque generated by interactions of high order time harmonic current and the fundamental permanent magnet flux.
The third and fourth terms are harmonic electromagnetic torque generated by interactions of high order time harmonic
current and high order spatial harmonic current permanent magnet flux.
Based on the above analysis, we make prediction of the electromagnetic torque ripple frequency as following:
⎧
⎪ fh−1 = (h − 1 ) f
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨ f2(h−1) = 2(h − 1 ) f
(26)
⎪
⎪ f6k+h−1 = (6k + h − 1) f
⎪
⎪
⎩
f6k−h+1 = (6k − h + 1) f

From (26), when h = 1, i.e. the current is sinusoid without time harmonic, the frequency of electromagnetic torque ripple
is 6kf, which is in accord with (20); when h=1, the harmonic frequency (h – 1)f and 2(h – 1)f are generated by interaction
between hth order time harmonic current and fundament permanent magnetic flux, meanwhile, the harmonic frequency
(6k + h – 1)f and (6k – h + 1)f are generated by interaction between hth order time harmonic current and kth order spatial
harmonic permanent magnetic flux.

5. Results and discussion

5.1. Electromagnetic parameters of prototype motor

A permanent magnet synchronous motor for HEV has been classically modeled and analyzed by means of two-axis the-
ory. However, the related rotor structure is very complicated, which make it difficult to obtain the motor parameters such
as Ld , Lq , and ψ 1 . This paper present fixed permeability method (FPM) for analyzing the electromagnetic parameters charac-
teristics on different operating state, which takes into account of the saturation-induced nonlinearity of magnet flux [15,22].
Therefore, Ld (id ,iq ), Lq (id ,iq ), the fundamental magnet flux ψ 1 (id ,iq ) and harmonic flux are accurately calculated. There is a
detailed description of calculation process in [15].
The fundamental and all harmonics flux components in the stator armature windings can be calculated according to the
air-gap flux density defined by the following formula:

2 τ
ψfv = le f B N Kdpv (27)
π v v
where lef is the effective length of armature core; τ is the motor pole pitch; Bv is the amplitude of permanent magnet air
gap harmonic flux density; N is the number of turns of each series-winding; Kdpv is vth harmonic winding factor.
The parameters and cross section of PMSM for HEV are shown in Table 1.
The characteristics of Ld , Lq and ψ 1 vary with id and iq are shown in Fig. 2. It should be noticed that the three parameters
are changed greatly with dq-axis current because of saturation. Consequently, it is essential to consider saturation in PMSM
for HEV.
The waveform of the air gap flux density distribution of permanent magnet synchronous motor calculated according to
(11) is shown in Fig. 3, where they are compared to the finite-element solution. There is a very good agreement between
the results. As can be seen from Fig. 3, the air-gap flux density of permanent magnet synchronous motor used for vehicle is
not ideal sinusoidal, including the harmonic content of each order which is consistent with the above theoretical analysis.
The magnitude and proportion compared to the fundamental wave are shown in Table 2. It can be seen that 5th, 7th, 13th,
17th, 23th and 25th are mainly contained, and the maximum proportion can reach 19.84%.
 X. Chen et al. / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225 219

Table 1
Main parameters of prototype motor.

Parameter Value Unit

Pole-pairs 4 /
Slot number 48 /
Air-gap length 1.5 mm
Magnet width 16 mm
Magnet thickness 6.5 mm
Outer radius of rotor 79.5 mm
Inner radius of rotor 55.5 mm
Length of stator core 85 mm
Remanence 1.28 T
Rated current (Peak) 150 A

Fig. 2. parameters vary with id and iq . (a) Variation of . (b) Variation of Ld . (c) Variation of Lq.

5.2. Simulation and theoretic analysis

After considering the saturation and harmonics of the magnetic field, dq-axis analytical model of PMSM becomes non-
linear and variable coefficient differential equations. The voltage differential equations were solved using the fourth-order
Runge-Kutta method, and electromagnetic torque of PMSM for HEV was predicted by (4) or (26) in different condition.
A high q axis current (up to 200 A) is applied, so as to create saturation, and the mean electromagnetic torque is com-
pared. This work has been done for two values of d-axis current. The first is for a -200A current (Fig. 4(a)), and the second
is for a zero d-axis current ((Fig. 4(b)). The first fact to notice is that the saturation phenomena reduces the total flux in the
motor, especially when the q-axis current is high, which result in inductance parameters decreased. Therefore the saturated
torque is not as high as in the non-saturated case. Another point is the effect of the d-axis current. A strong d-axis current
permits increase the torque significantly, as it reduces the effect of saturation by weaken the total flux of the motor.
220 X. Chen et al. / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225

1.0

Flux density Br [T]

Analytical
0.5 FEM

0.0

-0.5

-1.0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90
Mechanical angle [Deg.]
(a) Comparion of FEM and analytically calculated PM flux density
0.8
th
1
Flux density Br [T]

0.6

0.4
th
0.2 5 th th
7 13 th th th
17 23 25
0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Order
(b) FFT of the PM Flux density

Fig. 3. Flux density in the middle of the air gap.

Table 2
Flux density and PM flux linkage with no-load.

Order Flux density PM flux linkage

Magnitude[T] Percent Magnitude[mWb]

1 0.74 100% 290

5 0.147 19.84% 1.7
7 0.07 9.46% 0.87
11 ∗ ∗ ∗
13 0072 9.73% 0.6
17 0.035 4.73% 0.023
19 ∗ ∗ ∗
23 0.0467 6.31% 0.43
25 0.0438 5.92% 0.38
∗
(The symbol denotes the magnitude is less than 1%).

In order to validate the electromagnetic torque analytical model expressed in (25) and separate the order of electro-
magnetic ripple caused by harmonic flux, a non-ideal sinusoidal current (magnitude is 250 A) with 5th and 7th order time
harmonic was applied to PMSM in this case. The abc-axis current needed to transform to dq-axis current, and make sure
the analytical model and FEM model are in uniform input. The dynamic electromagnetic torque are calculated and com-
pared which is shown in Fig. 6(a). It is shown in Fig. 6(a) that the non-saturated dynamic electromagnetic torque is higher
than saturated and FEM result which is accord with the Fig. 4 analytical results, and the saturated dynamic electromagnetic
torque is in good consistent with FEM. Also, the FFT results of dynamic torque ripple of saturated and FEM are shown in
Fig. 6(b), the order of analytical result are same as FEM, and the difference of magnitude between each other is because
saturation was not considered in harmonic flux.
In this work, Fig. 5 shows h in Eq. (23) is in the set of values {1, 2, 3}, also, k is in the set of values {1, 2, 3, 4}. The
order of the torque ripple (less than 25) predicted by Eq. (26) are shown in Table 3 (The symbol / in the table indicates the
order is not caused by this term). We can explain the mechanism of the torque ripple caused by time harmonic and spatial
harmonic of flux. For example, the 2th order harmonic torque is produced by interaction with the 5th order time harmonic
and fundamental permanent magnet flux predicted by 6k – h + 1 term, and the 12th harmonic contents is produced together
by 2(h – 1) term (when h = 7) and (6k – h + 1) term (when k = 2, h = 1). Thus, the analytical model established in this paper
can explain reasonably the torque ripple characteristic of permanent magnet synchronous motors.

5.3. Experimental verification

In this part, the tests have been done in order to validate the electromechanical torque ripple model. It is noted that the
PMSM for simulation mentioned above is designed for HEV, which is being manufactured. The PMSM adopted in this exper-
iment is not a high power density motor for HEV, consequently, the saturation effect will be validated in the future work.
The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 7. A 60 kW, star-connected, six-pole, 3500 r/min, three-phase permanent magnet
 X. Chen et al. / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225 221

600
No saturation

Torque/(N·m)
Saturation
400 FEM

200

0
0 50 100 150 200
q-axis current iq/(A)
(a) id=-200A
400
No saturation
Torque/(N·m)

300 Saturation
FEM
200

100

0
0 50 100 150 200
q-axis current iq/(A)
(b) id=0A

Fig. 4. Mean torque with and without saturation.

300

150
Current /(A)

-150

-300
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time/(ms)
(a) The waveform of 3-phase current
300
1th
Current /(A)

200

100
5th 7th
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Order
(b) FFT of 3-phase current

Fig. 5. The input 3-phase current waveform.

synchronous motor is connected via a one-stage gearbox to a three-phase 90 kW, 50 Hz, 380 V six-pole, 1500 r/min squirrel-
cage induction machine (load machine). For this experimental setup, voltage sensor and current sensor are connected to the
permanent magnet synchronous motor terminals. All the sensors are connected to an external 24-bit data acquisition sys-
tem with an integrated anti-aliasing low-pass filter which is controlled by a personal computer in a LabVIEW environment.
The frequency bandwidth of the anti-aliasing filter is automatically computed by the system with respect to the chosen
sampling frequency.
The test has been performed in steady-state condition. The motor is driven at constant speed (1500 r/min) by a speed-
controlled drive with a very high ratio-reducing gear. The torque is measured by means of a torque meter. The motor
is driven at constant speed (1500 r/min) by a speed-controlled drive with a very high ratio-reducing gear. The torque is
measured by means of a torque meter. The frequency spectra of the stator current and the estimated electromagnetic torque
are obtained by using first the Hanning window and then the fast Fourier transform (FFT).
Fig. 8 shows experimental results for no-load back EMF. The shape of back EMF is not sinusoid curve, which contain
fundamental part and the 6th harmonic. According to Eqs. (17) and (18) above, the k = 1 for this PMSM. Fig. 9 shows
222 X. Chen et al. / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225

500
Non-saturation Saturation FEM

Torque/(N·m)
400

300

200

0 2 4 6 8 10
Time/(ms)
(a)
30
Torque/(N·m) Saturation
FEM
20

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Order
(b)

Fig. 6. Mean torque with and without saturation.

Fig. 7. The experimental platform.

Table 3
Order Prediction of electromagnetic torque.

Order k = {1, 2, 3, 4} h = {1, 5, 7}

(h – 1) 2(h – 1) (6k – h + 1) (6k + h – 1)

2 / / k = 1, h = 5 /
4 h=5 / / /
6 h=7 / k = 1, h = 1 k = 1, h = 1
8 / h=5 k = 2, h = 5 /
10 / / / k = 1, h = 5
12 / h=7 k = 2, h = 1 /
16 / / / k = 2, h = 5
18 / / k = 3, h = 1 k = 3, h = 1
24 / / k = 4, h = 1 k = 4, h = 1

experimental results for armature current. As can be seen for Fig. 9 that the armature current contain 5th and 6th har-
monics; accordingly, h = {1, 5, 7} in this steady-state condition.
Fig. 10 shows experimental results for electromagnetic torque. The mean value of the measured torque is about 150 Nm,
the torque ripple part include the 2th order, the 6th order and the 8th order. We can explain the reason for the torque
ripple using Eq. (26) as follows:
The results show the established model can effectively explain the mechanism of the torque ripple of PMSM caused by
time and spatial harmonics of flux (Table 4).
X. Chen et al. / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225 223

300

150

Voltage/V
0

-150

-300
0 25 50 75 100
time/ms
(a) Back EMF
300
f
200
Voltage/V

100
6f
0
0 250 500 750 1000
Frequency/Hz
(b) FFT of back EMF

Fig. 8. Experimental results for back EMF.

200

100
Current/A

-100

-200
0 25 50 75 100
Time/ms
(a) Armature current
150
f
Current/A

100

50 5f
7f
0
0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500
Frequency/Hz
(b) FFT results of armature current

Fig. 9. Experimental results for armature current.

Table 4
Order explaining of the measured electromagnetic torque.

Order of torque ripple Reason

2th f = 6k – h + 1 for k = 1, h = 5
6th f = h – 1 for h = 7
f = 6k – h + 1 for k = 1, h = 1
f = 6k + h−1 for k = 1, h = 1
8th f = 2(h – 1) for h = 5
224 X. Chen et al. / Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory 66 (2016) 212–225

200

175

Torque/N·m
150

125

100
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Time/ms
(a) Electromagnetic torque
15
6f
Torque/N·m
10

2f
5
8f

0
0 250 500 750 1000
Frequency/Hz
(b) FFT results of electromagnetic torque

Fig. 10. Experimental results for electromagnetic torque.

6. Conclusions

An enhanced dq-model considering saturation and harmonic flux for PMSM capable of predicting average and ripple
component of electromagnetic torque is presented in this paper. A detailed modeling process based on Park’s transformation
theory and Fourier transformation is described. The theoretic analysis showed the order of electromagnetic torque ripple
include h – 1, 2(h – 1), 6k – h + 1 and 6k – h + 1. The hth order time harmonic current causes the (h – 1)th order and the 2(h –
1)th order torque ripple; the hth time harmonic order current, non-sinusoidal magnetic field distribution and slotting cause
the (6k – h + 1)th and (6k – h + 1)th order torque ripple.
Simulation results obtained from FEM analysis are used to calculate the model electromagnetic parameters with FPM. The
accuracy of the model has been evaluated by comparing the results with that obtained in a numerical analysis. The model
behavior shows a good agreement with the FEM results. In addition, the experimental results showed the effectiveness of
the torque ripple model in the PMSM. The proposed model is unique in terms of predicting motor electromagnetic including
torque ripple considering saturation and harmonic flux. The deeper understanding of torque ripple mechanism will further
help to develop proper torque ripple mitigation schemes, vibration and noise analysis, fault diagnose for HEV.

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Ministry Fundamental Research Foundation of China (Grant no. 62,201,020,205).

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