MotorSolve BLDC

DESIGN SOFTWARE FOR BRUSHLESS DC &

PMAC MACHINES
PREDICTING PERFORMANCE FOR BETTER
DESIGNS

MotorSolve BLDC, our electric motor design

software for brushless dc and permanent magnet AC machines, combines easy-
to-use templates with an automated-FEA solver to calculate performance.

Most modern electric motors do not adhere to the rules of thumb and general
approximations used by designers for decades. Meeting the growing demand for
higher efficiency & lower costs requires software that delivers reliable results and
does not give false predictions for crucial performance factors resulting in
avoidable and costly complications. Only FEA simulations:

Predict performance properly when there is saturation

Account for all sources of loss such as eddy current and hysteresis

Work Flow:
Useful Features:

Efficiency is key, that's why MotorSolve BLDC includes many automated features
which reduce the time to perform each design cycle.

Mechanical Losses: friction, windage and stray

Results based on machine with ideal or non-ideal drives
Easy-to-use template interface with descriptive design parameter names
and full 3D view of the machine
Automated winding configuration
Detailed end winding geometry
Accurate loss calculations
Create VHDL-AMS models of your machine for system simulations
New MotorSolve Thermal option for two-way magnetic-thermal coupling

Features:
Within a few minutes any BLDC design can be created in MotorSolve. The
automated FEA feature manages the setting required to compute accurate
performance results or export the design problem to MagNet for classical FEA
analysis.

Template Library

Interior Permanent Magnet

Surface Mounted
Bread-loaf
Spoke
Inset
All standard slot types

Design Parameters

Geometric dimension of the magnets, teeth and slots

Number of poles and slots - can be arbitrarily large
Stack length
Lamination, coil and magnet material
Temperature for each component
Skew angles

Auto Sizing
An initial value for several parameters related to the size of the machine based
on:

torque per unit volume

rated current density
Winding Layout

Automatic winding layout feature

Supports several wire sizing methods
Relevant factors (winding factor, fill factor, back emf, etc) are automatically
calculated

Rapid and Accurate Results

Results based on machine with ideal or non-ideal drives
Users control the level of refinement (accuracy vs time)
Lumped Parameter analysis also supported for use in equivalent circuits

Output Waveforms and Charts

Current
Back-EMF
Torque
Flux Linkage
And many more

Performance Calculations

Torque
Efficiency
Air Gap Flux
Cogging Torque
And many more

Field Plots

Demagnetization prediction
Flux density
Hysteresis, eddy current, iron and total losses
And many more

Drives
Drives can be treated as either ideal or PWM, supporting both wye and delta
connections.

Export

MagNet
DXF
VHDL-AMS
Summary and Report

The summary feature compares two or more designs side-by-side and

highlights the differences in design data
Design parameters, performance data and summary comparisons can be
added to the report form (PDF)

Analysis Types
D-Q analysis

Ideal for what-if analysis: initial sizing or design variations

Rapid: based on a single FEA simulation to characterize the performance
The component values from the equivalent circuit of the D-Q
approximation can also be obtained using the lumped parameter analysis

PWM analysis

Perform a dynamic simulation of the electronic commutation in a three-

phase full-bridge
Squarewave or Sinewave
Important at high speeds: current waveforms differ significantly from the
ideal

Transient analysis

Perform a full time-stepping non-linear FEA simulation

Wye or Delta
Sinusoidal or six-step drive
Highly accurate for all types of operating conditions and ideal for final
design verification
MotorSolve Thermal
Option
THERMAL ANALYSIS MODULE FOR MotorSolve
BLDC & MotorSolve IM
COMPLETE MOTOR PERFORMANCE PROFILE

MotorSolve Thermal is the innovative design software for

analyzing the effects of heating and different cooling
methods on machine performance. Using a robust and
highly proficient automated 3D FEA engine, performance
results can be based on steady state or transient analysis.

MotorSolve eliminates the need to create two separate machine models for
thermal and electromagnetic analysis. Within just one design environment and
using a singular machine model, you can perform both types of analysis. There is
no template matching or software linking. Just specify the motor and housing
geometry, winding details, losses, materials and cooling type once.

Work Flow:
Useful Features:

Efficiency is key, that's why MotorSolve Thermal includes many automated

features which reduce the time to perform each design cycle.

Full 3D view of housing and machine model

Modern user interface
Accurately predict losses and increase your machine efficiency
No template matching: one file for all analysis types
Two-way coupling of electromagnetic and thermal simulations
All heat transfer paths are considered
Thermal analysis of your machine as a function of its drive
Easy access to solution data

Features:

MotorSolve Thermal is a 3D FEA-based analysis tool. It offers seamless co-

simulation between electromagnetics and thermal physics for machine designers,
all within a single interface. Multiple design scenarios can be setup, solved and
post-processed in a single model file as well.

Supported Machine Types

All templates in MotorSolve BLDC

MotorSolve Thermal is an optional module which requires at least one

electromagnetic analysis module. To learn more about the templates, design
parameters, windings, results and other electromagnetic related topics for
machines, please visit the MotorSolve BDLC or MotorSolve IM web pages.

Design Features for Thermal Analysis

Housing, bearing and shaft

Slot liner, wedge and coil separator
Detailed 3d end winding geometry

Thermal Physics Considerations

Conduction Physics
Natural & Forced Convection Physics
Radiation Physics
Cooling

Totally Enclosed Non Ventilated (TENV)

Totally External Fan Cooled [TEFC] - Forced Convection with Fluid
Contact cooling through the flange or endplate of the machine

General Capabilities

Database of materials includes coolants

Housing, shaft, end plates and bearings are included
Machine mounting
Machine orientation
Interface gaps between components (housing, core, magnets, etc.)
Calculates anisotropic thermal conductivity of the winding

Rapid and Accurate Results

MotorSolve offers two-way coupling within one software package without the
need to link two separate tools or burdensome problem setup:

Calculate the steady-state temperatures using the losses from the

magnetic analysis
Perform the magnetic analyses at these steady-state temperatures taking
into account the change in material properties due to the change in
temperatures
Automatic calculation of the heat transfer coefficients
User controlled over-ride of heat transfer coefficients
Steady State experimental conditions
Duty Cycle transient experimental conditions

Output Waveforms and Charts

Losses for thermal analysis

Temperatures for magnetic analysis
Temperature (max, min, avg) by component (winding, bearings, magnets,
etc..)
Duty cycle losses
Heat capacity
Heat flux

Export

MagNet
DXF
VHDL-AMS
Summary and Report

Design parameters, performance data and summary comparisons can be

recorded in an experimental log or report (PDF)
Results are easily accessible either with the use of the clipboard or export
functionality
The summary feature compares two or more designs side-by-side and
highlights the differences in design data