A Stepwise Optimal Design Applied to an Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor for Electric Vehicle Traction Applications

This paper presents a stepwise optimal design (SOD) for an interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) applied to electric vehicle traction, which sequentially utilizes a magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC), finite element analysis (FEA), and a newly proposed optimization algorithm. The design of an IPMSM for the traction motor of a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is challenging due to its tough requirements, such as high torque density, high efficiency, and low torque ripple; as a result, an iterative trial and error process is required. However, FEA, which is the most generally used analysis technique for electric machine design, has a drawback in terms of the analysis time required when being applied to the entire design process. In this regard, the proposed SOD is presented, which consists of initial, detailed, and optimal design stages, to design an IPMSM with a reasonable design time.