Design of A New Dual Rotor Radial Flux
BLDC Motor with Halbach Array Magnets
for an Electric Vehicle
B. V. Ravi Kumar* and K. Siva Kumar†, Member, IEEE
Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH), Hyderabad-502285, INDIA.
E-mail: *ee14resch01007@iith.ac.in, †ksiva@iith.ac.in
Abstract — This paper presents a novel topology of dual rotor
radial flux-BLDC motor with Halbach array magnets as an
efficient solution for drives. Energy efficient motors are the need
of day for electric vehicles, industrial and consumer products.
Especially this concept is arrived to cater for the requirements of
electrical vehicle. Due to advent of high permeability, high
saturation magnetic materials, high energy product permanent
magnets, BLDC motors are suitable candidate for electric vehicle
propulsion. Traditionally, outer rotor BLDC motor is a wide
choice which is being used in commercially available electric
vehicles. New topologies of BLDC motors are being proposed by
research activities which aim at improvement of torque density of
motors. Dual rotor brushless DC machine (DR-BLDC) is one of
the consequences of such research and claimed to have very high
torque density and power density. In this paper, a new topology
of Dual Rotor Halbach (DR-HB) BLDC motor is proposed which
is aimed to increase the torque density of motor. The complete
design of DR- HB BLDC motor is carried out and compared with
DR-BLDC of the same specifications and volume. The obtained
performance characteristics of the proposed design are very
much encouraging in terms of torque density.
Keywords — Torque density; BLDC motors; Outer Rotor BLDC
motor; Dual Rotor BLDC motor; Halbach array magnets; Electric
vehicles.
I. INTRODUCTION
Energy efficiency is the major area where the
developments have to be carried out to arrive at optimum
configuration of electric drives. Radial Flux BLDC motor with
surface mount magnets is most popular topology suited for
high power/torque density applications. Its established
manufacturing process made its wide choice for speed control
applications. In the same family of radial flux BLDC motors
dual rotor permanent magnet brushless DC motor (DR-BLDC)
is proposed which is capable of producing high torque density
[1]. The design, optimization, and cogging torque reduction
techniques of dual rotor BLDC motors were discussed in [2].
R.Qu and T.A.Lipo have done detailed research on this novel
machine and discussed on the machine's practical applications [3]
and [4]. Dual stator and dual rotor BLDC motors applied to
marine thrusters are presented in [5]. In this configuration, one in-
runner and one out-runner motor without mechanical couplings
were designed in same enclosure. Performance comparisons of
both dual rotor axial flux and radial flux permanent magnet
machines have been done [6]-[9].
978-1-4673-8888-7/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
However, the disadvantage of axial flux topology is the
necessity of manufacturing the laminations circumferentially
and hence soft magnetic composites have to be used. Whereas,
the manufacturing of radial flux topology is well established
and magnetic materials of superior properties can be used.
Inner stator and outer stator is controlled independently to
arrive at minimum copper loss drive for 3 phase dual rotor
BLDC machines [10]. Advantage of this dual rotor-stator
configuration to improve the energy efficiency of the drive.
Design and simulation of dual rotor permanent magnet
brushless DC motor with equivalent design method based on
rectangular wave current control is presented in [11]. Different
arrangements for dual rotor dual output radial flux motors
have been studied and validated using FEA [12]. All the above
literature used the rotor as surface magnet mount rotor to
arrive at maximum flux density from permanent magnets. A
Halbach array magnet maximizes the flux density in one
direction and it was first presented by J.C.Mallinson as a
magnetic curiosity [13]. A slot less BLDC motor mounted
with Halbach array magnets is designed to reduce the cogging
torque to zero without reduction in developed torque [14].
Design and analysis of enclosed rotor Halbach array BLDC
motors have been presented in [15].
In this paper, a new topology of Dual Rotor Halbach
Radial Flux BLDC (DR-HB BLDC) motor is presented.
Complete magnetic design, sizing, nonlinear magnetic
analysis, Electrical design, nonlinear electro-magnetic analysis
on load has been carried out on the proposed topology. The
results are presented and compared with dual rotor radial flux
BLDC (DR-BLDC) motor for the same specifications.
II. PROPOSED TOPOLOGY
A. Construction of DR-HB BLDC
Fig. 1 shows the proposed Dual Rotor Halbach BLDC motor.
Two rotors are coupled to single shaft and two stators are cut on
single stack which can be powered independently. The rotor is
mounted with main magnets and auxiliary magnets which are
placed in Halbach array. The main magnets are surface mounted
on rotor for both outer rotor and inner rotor which is similar to
conventional surface magnet mount BLDC motor. The slots in the
stator are 12 and rotor poles are 4.
Auxiliary magnets are placed in between main magnets to
form Halbach array for both outer and inner rotors. The main
magnets pole arc is taken as 160o electrical which is 80o
mechanical and, auxiliary magnets pole arc is taken as 5o
mechanical. The complete motor assembly is shown in Fig. 2.
As shown in assembly drawing both inner and outer rotors are
coupled together to form a common shaft using a mechanical
link. Both rotors are supported independently through bearings
at both the ends. The stator is mounted rigidly to the housing
supported by separate ribs.
Direction of
magnetization
Main
Magnet
• Electrical Design
• Nonlinear Electro-magnetic analysis
• Performance analysis
Initially, the magnetic loading and electrical loading in
the machine are assumed and later checked as part of
design flow with calculated values. The following are the
conditions which were taken as check points in the design.
B core ≤ 2.0T (no load)
Non-linearity in Torque/Current ≤ 10%
Desired efficiency ≥ 90%
After the complete design and analysis, the proposed
topology is compared high torque density DR BLDC with
surface mount magnet rotor with similar outer dimensions
and slot/pole combination as shown in Fig. 3.

Outer rotor

Inner rotor
Auxiliary
magnet
Stator

Fig. 1. Construction of Dual rotor Halbach (DR-HB) BLDC motor

Outer stator
Outer rotor
Fig. 3. DR- BLDC motor with Surface mount permanent magnets

III. DESIGN OF DR-HB BLDC MOTOR

A. Magnetic design:
The magnetic equivalent circuit of motor is shown in Fig. 4.
Main magnet and auxiliary magnets are modeled as current
sources with their internal permeances. The rotor and stator
reluctance has been neglected while solving the circuit as their
values are much lower than air gap reluctance. Complete
magnetic circuit is solved and arrived at magnetic properties
which are tabulated in TABLE.I and TABLE.II. The following
are the parameters used in the circuit:
Ribs for stator Inner stator Mechanical Rro = outer rotor reluctance.
mounting link Pbo = internal permeance of auxiliary magnet in outer rotor.
Pmo = internal permeance of main magnet in outer rotor.
Fig. 2. DR- HB BLDC motor assembly ϕro = Remanent flux of outer rotor Main magnet.
ϕbo = Remanent flux of outer rotor Auxiliary magnet.
In this paper the complete design of DR-HB motor carried Rmo = Main magnet reluctance of outer rotor.
Rs = Reluctance of stator yoke.
out, which includes the following stages. Rgo = Outer rotor Air gap reluctance.
• Selection of magnetic material Rgi = Inner rotor Air gap reluctance.
Rmi = Main magnet reluctance of inner rotor.
• Sizing of motor ϕri = Remanent flux of inner rotor main magnet.
ϕbi = Remanent flux of inner rotor auxiliary magnet.
• Magnetic design Pbi = internal permeance of Auxiliary magnet in inner rotor.
• Magnetic analysis using Finite Element (FE) Pmi = internal permeance of main magnet in inner rotor.
 Fig.5.Flux density in inner rotor core of DR-HB BLDC

Fig. 4. Magnetic Equivalent circuit of DR-HB BLDC motor

TABLE I. MAGNETIC PARAMETERS OF OUTER ROTOR CONFIGURATION

Fig.6.Flux density in inner rotor core of DR-BLDC
S. No Parameter Value
1 Air gap permeance (Rg) 4.09 ⋅105 AT /Wb STEP=1
SUB =1
15:51:26

3.7689*10-7Wb/AT
TIME=1
2 Magnet permeance (Pm) BSUM (AVG)
SMN =.134138
SMX =1.70391

3 Air gap flux ( (φg ) 0.7mWb

4 Air gap Flux density (Bg) 0.8T

TABLE II. MAGNETIC PARAMETERS OF INNER ROTOR CONFIGURATION

S. No Parameter Value
1. Air gap permeance (Rg) 1.036⋅ 106 AT /Wb
2. Magnet permeance (Pm) 1.607 ⋅ 10-7Wb / AT
3. Air gap flux ( (φg ) 0.373mWb .134138 .482976 .831815 1.18065 1.52949
4. Air gap Flux density (Bg) 0.95T .308557 .657395 1.00623 1.35507 1.70391

Fig.7.Flux density in outer rotor core of DR-HB BLDC

B. Finite Element Analysis: BSUM (AVG)
SMN =.146234

The finite element (FE) analysis is used as design SMX =1.74216

MX

validation tool by which the nonlinear magnetic properties of

the material can be taken into account. All the parameters such
as flux profile in the machine, Flux density vector plot are
derived and compared with DR-BLDC motor.
Fig.5 and Fig.6 gives flux density in inner rotor core of DR-
HBBLDC and DR-BLDC. Fig.7 and Fig.8 gives flux density in
outer rotor core of both configurations. The values are tabulated Y
in TABLE III and we can observe that flux densities in outer core Z99101 X

are almost same for both configurations, but the flux densities in .146234
.323558
.500883
.678208
.855533
1.03286
1.21018
1.38751
1.56483
1.7421

inner rotor core is very less in DR-HB BLDC which is an

advantage in terms of reduction of losses. Fig.8.Flux density in outer rotor core of DR-BLDC
 TABLE III Magnetic Parameters in rotor core From fig.9 and fig.10 we can observe that the flux density
in stator core is more and saturating in some parts of the
Type of
configuration
Outer rotor core Inner rotor core machine in DR-BLDC motor due to armature reaction when
Peak flux density: Peak flux density : compared to DR-HB BLDC. This is due to the presence of
DR-HB 1.7T 1.19T auxiliary magnets which are sized such that the flux produced
BLDC motor Average flux density: Average flux density: by them reduces the flux density in core without affecting air
0.91T 0.56T gap flux density. This saturation effect in the magnetic
Peak flux density: Peak flux
DR-BLDC 1.74T density:1.46T properties will lead to non linearity in Torque Vs Current
motor Average flux density: Average flux density: characteristic and effects overall torque density of the motor.
0.94T 0.88T
D. Torque-Current characteristic
C. FE analysis on Load
The torque vs. current characteristics of the machine is
Electrical design is carried out to arrive at important arrived from FE analysis. The current density is varied from
parameters of winding, current density, Armature resistance
and inductance. The maximum current density of the machine 1A/mm2 to 8A/mm2 in steps of 1 and the torque generated by
inner rotor and outer rotor is calculated from the magnetic co-
for peak load is 8A/mm2.Finite element analysis on load is energy. The torque is given as change of co-energy with
carried out to analyze the effect of armature reaction. Cross respect to rotor position. The torque-current characteristic for
magnetization is the effect of armature reaction which distorts the DR-HB BLDC and DR-BLDC are derived from FE
air gap flux distribution, increases the core flux densities and analyses and are shown in Fig.11.
results in the core losses in the machine. Results of FE
analysis on load are shown in Fig.9 and Fig.10.
Comparison of Torque vs current for inner rotors of DR-HB BLDC and DR-BLDC
2

1.5 DR-HB BLDC

Torque (N -m)

1
DR-BLDC

0.5

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Current density ( A/mm2)
(a) Torque-Current for inner rotor
Fig.9. Flux density in outer rotor core of DR-HB BLDC
Comparison of Torque vs current for Outer rotors of DR-HB BLDC and DR-BLDC
3.5
MAR 14 2016
STEP=1
18:05:29
SUB =1
TIME=1
BSUM (AVG)
3
SMN =.024084
SMX =2.68482

2.5 DR-HB BLDC

Torque (N -m )

1.5 DR-BLDC

0.5

MN
00 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Y
Current density ( A/mm2)
.024084 .615358 1.20663 1.79791 2.38918
.319721Z99101X
.910995 1.50227 2.09354 2.68482

Fig.10. Flux density in outer rotor core of DR-HB BLDC (b) Torque-Current for inner rotor

Comparison of Torque vs current for combined Rotors of DR-HB BLDC and DR-BLDC
6 Trans. Industry Applications, vol. 40, no. 3, pp.771-779, 2004.
5 wound, permanent-magnet machines,” in proc. 38th IAS Annual Meeting,
4 DR-HB BLDC
Torque (N-m)
3 [5]
2 DR-BLDC
1 radial-flux and axial-flux permanent-magnet BLDC machines,'' in proc.
0
0 2003.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Current density ( A/mm2)
c) Torque-Current for combined rotors
Fig.11.Torque-Current characteristics DR-HB BLDC and DR-BLDC.
IV.CONCLUSION
Design of a new Dual Rotor Radial Flux BLDC motor
with Halbach array magnets is carried out. Magnetic
equivalent circuit of the machine is derived and arrived at all
magnetic parameters. FE analysis on load and no load carried
out. The magnetic flux densities in the core is derived and
compared for both DR-HB BLDC and DR-BLDC. Torque
characteristics carried out for different current densities and
arrived at torque vs. current characteristics.
Finally, the Torque-Current characteristics are compared
with DR-BLDC and an improvement of 16% is observed in
the proposed DR-HB BLDC motor. From the design and
analysis, it can be observed that DR-HB BLDC motor is
suitable candidate in the radial flux topologies for high torque
density applications like electrical vehicle.
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