Design and Simulation of a Traction Motor for

Variable Speed Drive

Huijuan Liu1, Yihuang Zhang1, Wei Kang2, Zhengze Xia1
1
School of Electrical Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 100044, China
2
Liaoning University of Technology, Jinzhou, 121001, China

Abstract-The variable-speed traction motor used in electric

vehicle is investigated in this paper. Firstly the design method of
II. MOTOR DESIGN
variable-speed traction motor is introduced, and then the
A. Initial Parameter Design
electromagnetic parameters and the electromagnetic fields are
The machine design process involves finding a suitable set of
calculated. Based on the geometrical dimensions and parameters, a
machine dimension variables to satisfy a set of performance
simulation model in the vector control system is used to predict the
requirements taking into account minimization of cost, weight
performances of this traction motor. The comparison between the
etc. The basic design parameters include number of poles, base
simulation results and the experimental results shows that the
frequency, geometry parameters, and winding distribution,
performances of the design machine are marched for its
among other things. Factors, like switching-frequency,
application.
electric-magnetic load, core losses, harmonic current, and the
flux distribution play an important role in the design of
I. INTRODUCTION variable-speed traction motor.
Induction motors have many advantages over the The choice of pole number involves a compromise between
conventional DC motor, such as robustness, low cost, and machine weight and efficiency. The high inverter frequency
well-established manufacturing techniques, weight, efficiency. required by a motor with six poles or more leaves the choice
With the developing of the power electronic and inverter between a two- or four-pole motor. Since the inverter can supply
techniques, Induction motors fed by voltages source inverters the range of frequency for a two- or four-pole motor to operate at
are used in variety of industrial, residential and commercial the same speed, then from the motor design point of view it is
applications, such as electric vehicle traction system, the merely a matter of selecting the pole number that gives the
papermaking and the steelmaking system. The structure of the maximum torque per pound or per unit volume. On this basis,
variable-speed traction motor is same as the general the four-pole motor is superior.
asynchronous motor. However due to the inverter-fed supplies The harmonic content of stator mmf wave may be minimized
and the requirements of the applications, such as electric vehicle by an appropriate choice of the stator slot number and coil pitch.
traction system, the performances of the variable-speed traction The magnitude of the n′th harmonic mmf component is
motor differ greatly from those of the general asynchronous proportional to the n′th harmonic winding factor and inversely
motor, such as wide speed range, high efficiency, high power proportional to n.
factor, high power density, high torque density, high A judicious choice of the rotor slot number is necessary to
dependability and minimum size. So the variable-speed traction alleviate the undesirable effects of harmonic fluxes such as, iron
motor design method is most different from those of the general loss, noise, vibration and cogging, crawling and synchronous
induction motor. This paper will pay attention to the discussion torques.
of the design feature of inverter-fed traction motor for electric In the sample motor, the stator winding is a conventional
vehicle. As an example, the integrated design and control double layer type in 36 slots with a coil pitch of 8 slots. The rotor
simulation method is presented and programmed in VB software, winding is a squirrel cage type with 33 copper bars.
which take the design specification, in terms of geometry
constraints, supply characteristics, required static performance, B. Magnetic Design
required dynamic performance, and generates an optimal The variable-speed traction motor torque-speed envelope
geometry of the machine. The finite element method in the shows that rated current at high speeds cannot be maintained due
design procedures of traction motor is considered. It is apparent to the effect of leakage reactance and the maximum torque is
that the design requires a compromise between achieving low limited by the pull out torque. Evidently the speed range of the
losses on one hand and high power density and wide speed range motor is limited by its pull out torque at high speed. This is
on the other. The experimental results show that the proportional to the product of flux, which is proportional to the
performances of the sample motor are match for the ratio of voltage and frequency and the maximum q axis rotor
requirements of the electric vehicle. current. In the field-weakening region of operation, flux falls
with increasing frequency and the consequent reduction in pull

128
out torque is exacerbated by the fall in voltage due to the effects process and the machine performance subsequently evaluated
of leakage reactance. To achieve a wide speed range it is by combine analysis of the equivalent circuit and the control
necessary to minimize the leakage reactance. strategies. This will allow us to perform a timely efficient
For an induction motor in an electric vehicle it is necessary to optimization while accessing the detailed performance of the
limit the leakage reactance in order to achieve the desired speed electric vehicle drive, and to perform fine adjustments on the
range. Evaluation of leakage reactance is facilitated by dividing motor design, thereby improving the compactness, quietness
it into a number of components, i.e. slot, end, harmonic and and providing more room for development of efficient control
skew leakage. All this leakage reactance can be estimated by strategies.
experiential expression [5], although there are different leakages Design of traction motor
fluxes contribute to them respectively.
The variable-speed traction motor losses are greater than
those using a sinusoidal supply. The losses increase is due Determination of initial
mainly to increases of iron losses and the additional rotor copper geometry of the motor
losses, due to a strong increase of eddy current. The reason for
the increase in losses can be attributed to the switching Selection of material
frequency, to the fundamental frequency, and to the modulation
technique. Hence, the motor losses calculation is divided in two Calculation of
parts: the losses with a sinusoidal supply and the additional electromagnetic
losses due to the PWM supply. The losses calculation is based parameters
on the equivalent circuit method [5] and the FE method. And the
induction motor design program must be modified for traction
applications with PWM inverter supply. Calculation static
characteristics of the motor
With regard for the requirements of the electric vehicle, the
design parameters of an inverter-fed induction motor are given
in table I. Static requirements
TABLE I
THE DESIGN PARAMETERS OF THIS MOTOR

Number of poles 4 Stator interior diameter (mm) 170 Control strategy

Number of phases 3 Stator exterior diameter (mm) 268
Rating voltage (V) 200 Rotor interior diameter (mm) 58
Power (kW) 40 Rotor exterior diameter (mm) 169 Dynamic
Winding connection Y Density of stator current 4.831 performance of the
type (A/mm2) motor
Rating frequency 100 Number of stator slots 36
Core length (mm) 205 Number of rotor slots 33
Dynamic
Due to inherent dependency of control strategies on the requirements
magnetic design of the machine, an integrated design and
control simulation tool is needed. To achieve this, we have End
developed user-friendly program in VB (Visual Basic), which Fig. 1. Design methodology of variable-speed traction motor.
take the design specification, in terms of geometry constraints,
supply characteristics, required static performance, required
dynamic performance, and generates an optimal geometry of the
machine. This approach combines the results obtained from a
modified magnetic equivalent circuit method and the FE method
with a dynamic simulator in which various control strategies can
be programmed. Fig.1 shows the design methodology of
variable-speed traction motor. Owing to this analysis model is
coupling with the closed loop control method; it is the prefect
approach in variable-speed traction motor design [5, 6].

III. MOTOR PERFORMANCE CALCULATION

The design method in Fig.1 employs the equivalent circuit
and FE method to provide the specified pull out power and
torque over the full speed range. Values of the circuit
parameters are calculated during an iteration of the design Fig.2 The distribution of the electromagnetic fields (n=2967rpm)

129
 According to the design steps of Fig.1, the electromagnetic
parameters, the electromagnetic loads on typical operating
points in the control system and the electromagnetic fields in
no-load & full load are calculated. Fig.2 and Fig.3 show the
distribution of the electromagnetic fields at different speed. The
electromagnetic loads on typical operating points in the control
system are given in table II.
this region the inverter is operated in PWM mode to supply
adjustable voltage and frequency to the motor. The ac voltage is
adjusted as speed (frequency) changes to maintain constant flux
density in the motor. The ac voltage, therefore, basically
increases proportionally with speed (frequency). The frequency
of the voltage induced in the rotor is held constant and ac current
is nearly constant. This produces a nearly constant torque. Of
course, the power out of the motor is proportional to speed, so
power increases linearly with speed. This method of control is
possible until the ac voltage reaches the maximum available
from the inverter. This point is the end of the constant torque
region and the beginning of the constant power region.
In constant power region the inverter supplies adjustable
frequency to the motor. AC voltage is no longer adjustable since
the inverter is producing the maximum voltage, so ac voltage is
constant. This results in the flux density decreasing as the
reciprocal of speed. The slip frequency is increased an ac current
is nearly constant. This produces a torque that decreases as the
reciprocal of speed, while power out of the motor is nearly
constant.
The motor performances of each operation point during
constant power region are shown in table III. During this region,
the pullout power of motor is 40.13kW.

Fig.3 The distribution of the electromagnetic fields (n=1000rpm) TABLE III

THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS MOTOR DURING CONSTANT POWER REGION
TABLE II Stator Line Line
Efficienc Power
Torque Speed
ELECTROMAGNETIC LOADS ON TYPICAL OPERATION POINTS frequency voltag current (N⋅m) (rpm)
y factor
(Hz) e (V) (A)
Rated End of constant 100 200 153.87 .9394 .7992 128.72 2967.39
Starting
operation power region 103 200 150.33 .9404 .8172 124.97 3056.45
point
point 106 200 147.65 .941 .8314 121.44 3145.48
Stator frequency (Hz) 5 100 162 109 200 145.49 .9412 .8436 118.09 3234.49
Power (kW) 1.59 40.13 40.13 112 200 143.73 .9415 .8536 114.93 3323.49
Torque (N⋅m) 129.13 129.13 79.57 115 200 142.45 .9414 .8612 111.93 3412.47
Line voltage (V) 11.91 199.92 200 118 200 141.47 .9411 .8673 109.09 3501.44
Line current (A) 152.22 154.26 136.965 121 200 140.51 .9413 .873 106.39 3590.42
Magnetic density of 17512 17512 12061 124 200 139.81 .9413 .8775 103.81 3679.39
stator tooth (Gs)
Magnetic density of 15456 15456 9500 127 200 139.28 .9412 .8808 101.36 3768.36
stator yoke (Gs) 130 200 138.74 .9414 .8841 99.03 3857.33
Magnetic density of 16462 16462 11337
rotor tooth (Gs) 133 200 138.36 .941 .8869 96.79 3946.27
Magnetic density of 15619 15619 9601 136 200 138.04 .9408 .8891 94.66 4035.2
rotor yoke (Gs)
Magnetic density of air 8911 8911 6137 139 200 137.81 .9405 .891 92.62 4124.15
gap (Gs) 142 200 137.65 .9397 .8927 90.66 4213.04
Current density of 4.78 4.84 4.301
stator (A/mm2) 145 200 137.42 .9398 .8941 88.79 4301.99
Current density of 3.11 3.12 3.186 148 200 137.29 .9393 .8954 86.99 4390.92
rotor bar (A/mm2)
Current density of 3.33 3.35 3.414 151 200 137.21 .9388 .8964 85.27 4479.82
rotor loop (A/mm2) 154 200 137.09 .9386 .8974 83.61 4568.74
Stator copper losses 642 659 520
(W) 157 200 137.02 .9383 .8982 82.01 4657.64
Rotor copper losses 446 451 469
160 200 136.97 .9379 .8988 80.47 4746.55
(W)
Iron losses (W) 20 988 717 162 200 136.96 .9377 .8991 79.57 4800.48
Stray losses (W) 8 201 200
Most torque multiple 3.23 4.76 2.608
IV. TESTING AND RESULTS
The motor torque-speed curve has characterized by two To illustrate the effectiveness of this electric vehicle drive
regions operation, constant torque and constant power. The system, this drive system is tested while the control strategy of
constant torque region lies from standstill to the base speed. In

130
the system is closed loop vector control and the motor is full motor torque-speed characteristics suitable for electric vehicle
load. The experimental results of this motor are shown in table applications. During the motor design, the selection of the
IV, such as line voltage, line current, pullout power, motor number of poles cannot be based solely on selecting the pole
efficiency, motor speed and torque. Table V shows the test structure for minimum volume or weight. The constant power
results contrast with the design data. Fig.4 shows the region of the speed-torque depends upon the variations in
experimental voltage, current and FFT analysis at rating speed efficiency and power factor throughout the region and available
(n=2967rpm). It can be observed from Table V that the control inverter currents. The motor leakage inductance cannot be based
strategy and the motor design is match for the requirements of solely on motor design issues or required pullout torque but
the electric vehicle. must also consider the effects on harmonic ripple current,
TABLE IV chopping frequency, fundamental ac current, and peak transistor
THE TESTING RESULTS OF THIS MOTOR
Stator Line Line Pullout Torque Speed
current. An integrated design and control simulation method is
Efficienc
frequency voltage current
y
Power (N⋅m) (rpm) presented to take the motor design specification. The
(Hz) (V) (A) (kW)
153.17 .875 14.42 129 1107.
comparison between test results and design results shows that
38.81 77.18
51.21 100.9 150.42 .896 19.28 129 1466 the control strategy and the motor design is match for the
63.58 124.69 153.65 .908 24.13 129 1825 electric vehicle traction system
76.15 154.39 153.89 .915 30.14 129 2278
88.68 178.14 154.08 .923 35.09 129 2635 REFERENCES
98.12 195.96 154.22 .935 39.15 129 2908
[1] Vlado. Ostovic, “A method for evaluation of transient and steady state
performance in saturated squirrel cage induction machines,” IEEE Trans.
TABLE V On Energy Conversion, vol. EC-1, 1986, pp190-192
THE TEST RESULTS CONTRAST WITH THE DESIGN DATA [2] Eugene A.K., “Polyphase Induction Motor Performance and Losses on
Speed Input Pullout Nonsinusoidal Voltage Source,” IEEE Trans. On PAS, No.3.1968,
(rpm) power Power Efficiency pp625-634
(kW) (kW) [3] B.J. Chalmers, “Induction-Motor Losses due to nonsinusoidal Supply
test 747 11.715 10.11 0.863 Waveforms,” Proc, IEEE, vol. 115, No.12, 1968, pp1777-1782
design 750 12.25 10.82 0.883 [4] S.D.T. Robertson, K.M. Hebbar. “Torque pulsation in induction motor
test 1107. 16.48 14.42 0.875 with inverter drivers,” IEEE, Trans.Ind.Gen.Appl. vol, IGA-7, 1971,
design 1110 16.85 14.93 0.886 pp318-323
test 1466 21.52 19.28 0.896 [5] Li yifeng, Gao peiqing, “The characteristic curve calculation of the
design 1470 22.14 20.17 0.911 induction traction motor fed by inverter,” Electric Drive for Locomotive,
test 1825 26.57 24.13 0.908 No.6, 1997, pp8-11.
design 1830 27.09 24.95 0.921 [6] Gao peiqing, “The development and application of the induction motor for
test 2278 32.94 30.14 0.915 electric traction,” Electric Drive for Locomotive, No.5, 1998, pp23-26.
design 2280 33.16 30.87 0.931 [7] G. A. Kaufman and A. B. Plunkett, "Steady-state Performance of a voltage
test 2635 38.01 35.09 0.923 source inverter synchronous machine drive system," in conf. Rec. 1981
design 2640 38.37 35.84 0.934 Annu. Meet. IEEE Ind. Appl. Soc., pp. 881-887.
test 2908 41.87 39.15 0.935 [8] Shanghai electrical apparatus research institute, “The designing manual of
design 3000 42.11 39.84 0.946 S & M Electric machine”, China Machine Press, Beijing. 1995.pp24-26
[9] Chen shikun, “The design of electric machine”, China Machine Press,
Beijing. 1985.pp3-32

Fig.4 The voltage, current and FFT analysis at rating speed

V. CONCLUSION
Induction motor is an attractive solution for the motor
propulsion of electric vehicles. In this paper, an inverter fed
induction motor drive is developed and tested using the closed
loop vector control system successfully to achieve induction

131