International Journal of Aerospace Engineering (Jan 2016)
Electromagnetic-Thermal Integrated Design Optimization for Hypersonic Vehicle Short-Time Duty PM Brushless DC Motor
Abstract
High reliability is required for the permanent magnet brushless DC motor (PM-BLDCM) in an electrical pump of hypersonic vehicle. The PM-BLDCM is a short-time duty motor with high-power-density. Since thermal equilibrium is not reached for the PM-BLDCM, the temperature distribution is not uniform and there is a risk of local overheating. The winding is a main heat source and its insulation is thermally sensitive, so reducing the winding temperature rise is the key to the improvement of the reliability. In order to reduce the winding temperature rise, an electromagnetic-thermal integrated design optimization method is proposed. The method is based on electromagnetic analysis and thermal transient analysis. The requirements and constraints of electromagnetic and thermal design are considered in this method. The split ratio and the maximum flux density in stator lamination, which are highly relevant to the windings temperature rise, are optimized analytically. The analytical results are verified by finite element analysis (FEA) and experiments. The maximum error between the analytical and the FEA results is 4%. The errors between the analytical and measured windings temperature rise are less than 8%. It can be proved that the method can obtain the optimal design accurately to reduce the winding temperature rise.