Design of Spoke-Type Ferrite Interior Permanent
Magnet Synchronous Machines Considering the
Number of Rotor Poles
Weizhong Fei∗ , Bing Xia† , and Jianxin Shen‡
∗ Zhejiang Tongxing Refrigeration CO., LTD, Shaoxing Zhejiang, 312500, China
† Centre of Power Engineering, Cranfield University, Cranfield, MK43 0AL, U.K.
‡ College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou Zhejiang 310027, China
Email: w.fei@zjtx.cn, b.xia@cranfield.ac.uk, j x shen@zju.edu.cn
Abstract—Spoke type is one of the most popular rotor con-
figurations in ferrite interior permanent magnet synchronous
machines. In such configuration, the focusing factor of permanent
magnet flux is of essential importance to achieve high perfor-
mance. Large number of rotor poles is usually preferred to boost
the air-gap flux density from the low-energy ferrite permanent
magnets. Besides, multi-layer magnet configuration is commonly
employed to increase the rotor saliency in interior permanent
magnet synchronous machines. However, such rotor saliency of
interior permanent magnet synchronous machine is also heavily
influenced by the number of rotor poles. The novel two-layer
ferrite magnet spoke-type structure can harness considerable re-
luctance torque and enhance the torque density. In this paper, the
designs of both conventional one-layer and novel two-layer spoke-
type ferrite interior permanent magnet synchronous machines
are investigated with particular emphasis on the influences of
rotor pole numbers. The machine performances are compared in
terms of torque capability, electromagnetic losses, and efficiency.
Finally, a prototype machine with such novel two-layer ferrite
magnet structure is built and tested to validate the advantageous
performances.
Index Terms—Core losses, efficiency, ferrite permanent
magnet, interior permanent magnet, reluctance torque, spoke type
I. I NTRODUCTION
With the eminent developments of power electronics de-
vices, soft and hard magnetic materials, and electric machine
design technologies, permanent magnet synchronous machines
(PMSMs) are becoming one of the most promising solutions
for various existing and emerging applications due to their
remarkable features of high torque density, excellent controlla-
bility, and good efficiency [1]–[4]. Interior permanent magnet
(IPM) configuration is widely adopted for the PMSM rotor
in order to improve the rotor saliency, harness the resultant
reluctance torque, and maximize the torque capability [5].
Meanwhile, the rare-earth permanent magnet (PM) materials
have dominated the high performance PMSMs over the past
decade for their merit of high magnetic strength [6]–[8].
However, the high price and volatile global market of these
rare earth materials have certainly propelled the quest of high-
performance electric machine with less or no rare earth PM
material [9]. With the advantages of abundant raw material
resources, low cost, good corrosion resistance, high working
978-1-5386-3246-8/17/$31.00 2017
c IEEE
temperature, and extremely low electric conductivity, ferrite
PMs are considered as a potential alternative solutions of
high-performance PMSM [10]–[12]. However, the residual
flux density and energy product of such PM materials are
generally much lower than their rare-earth counterparts. As a
result, the machine performance will greatly deteriorate by
simply replacing rare-earth PMs with ferrite ones. With the
instinctive flux-squeezing structure, the spoke-type interior
PMSM (IPMSM) is able to achieve high PM flux field in the
air gap and thus considered as one of the most promising
solutions for low-cost high-performance machines [13], [14].
High flux-focusing technique is a common practice for
ferrite PM machines to boost their air-gap PM flux field
so that approximately similar performance to their rare-earth
counterparts can be realized. With relatively modest reluctance
torque, the spoke-type structure relies heavily on PM torque.
As a result, large amount of ferrite PM material is usually
required for such structure in order to increase the PM flux
density [15]. On the other hand, various approaches have been
explored to improve the rotor saliency for reluctance torque
harness [16]–[18]. Thereinto, hybridization of spoke-type and
multi-layer ferrite PM configuration can achieve good flux
concentration with high rotor saliency and hence deliver no-
ticeable torque improvement [18]–[20]. It is revealed that the
ferrite IPMSM with novel two-layer spoke-type rotor strikes
on the right balance between electromagnetic performance and
rotor complexity [20].
With the same main sizing parameters, large number of
rotor poles can significantly intensify the air-gap PM flux
density thanks to the big overall PM surface.However, that
will inevitably increase the operational electrical frequency
and hence core loss. Meanwhile, that also adds complexity to
the rotor structure and results in stringent tolerance require-
ments for manufacture and assembly. Generally, the rotor pole
number has a big influence on the rotor saliency. Moreover, the
number of winding turns in series per pole per phase decreases
drastically due to improved air-gap PM flux density as the rotor
pole number increases. As a result, the armature inductances
and resultant reluctance torque will be significantly reduced.
As the contributions of PM reaction torque and reluctance

(a) Conventional one layer (b) Novel two layer
Fig. 1. Cross sections of ferrite IPM synchronous machines with conventional
one-layer and novel two-layer spoke-type rotors.
TABLE I
M AIN D ESIGN PARAMETERS OF THE F ERRITE IPMSM S
Machine Parameters Values Machine Parameters Values
Stator outer diameter 160mm Rotor outer diameter 94.5mm
Rotor inner diameter 27mm Stack axial length 90mm
Airgap length 0.25mm Lamination material 50W470
Ferrite volume 180mm3 Base rotational speed 1500rpm
Ferrite material Y30 Slot fill factor 50%
torque in conventional one-layer and novel multi-layer spoke-
type configurations are quite different, the number of rotor
poles which delivers optimal performance differs.
This paper concerns the influences of rotor pole number
on the electromagnetic performances of variant spoke-type
ferrite IPMSMs. The rotor structure gets too complex with
no noticeable performance improvement as the magnet layer
exceeds two [20]. Without loss of generality, the two-layer
spoke-type configuration is investigated for the multi-layer
structure. The machine features including open-circuit air-gap
flux density, stator armature inductances, and electromagnetic
torque under rated armature current with maximum torque per
ampere conditions, are demonstrated by two-dimensional (2-
D) finite element analysis (FEA) results. The influence of rotor
pole number on PM flux density and armature inductances is
investigated and compared to insightfully reveal its impacts on
PM reaction and reluctance torque productions. Furthermore,
the core loss and machine efficiency are also studied as they
are of great importance for electric machine design.
II. VARIANT S POKE -T YPE F ERRITE IPMSM S
The PMSM with two slots per pole per phase, which can be
facilitated by the single-layer overlapping windings, is widely
employed for various applications. The single-layer overlap-
ping winding configuration can effectively reduce the wind-
ing factors of the harmful fifth and seventh harmonics with
minimum compromise on the fundamental one. Therefore,
all the ferrite IPMSMs under the study have this particular
configuration. Fig. 1 depicts the cross sections of typical six
pole machines with conventional one-layer and novel two-
layer spoke-type rotors. The two-layer structure is developed
based on conventional one-layer spoke-type configuration with
V-shaped secondary PM layer inserted in between the main
spoke-type poles. The introduction of the secondary PM layer
cannot only improve the air-gap PM flux distribution but also
increase the rotor saliency and hence harness more reluctance
torque. In addition, the main critical parameters of the ma-
chines under study must keep identical to avoid invidious
comparisons so that the research could be of both theoretical
and practical significance. The key design parameters of those
ferrite IPMSMs are given in Table I.
The total electromagnetic torque production of PMSMs can
be derived by [3]
mp mp
Tem = Ψm iq + (Ld − Lq )id iq
2 2
= Tpm + Tr (1)
where m and p are the respective numbers of phases and
rotor poles, Ψm is the armature flux linkage from PMs, id ,
iq and Ld , Lq are the corresponding d- and q-axis currents
and inductances, and Tpm and Tr represent the PM reaction
torque and reluctance torque, respectively.
Equation (1) indicates there are normally two types of
electromagnetic torques induced in ferrite IPMSMs. The first
term represents the PM reaction torque generated from the
interactions between the PM excitation and the armature
winding current, while the second term denotes reluctance
torque produced by the winding inductance variation with the
rotor position due to rotor saliency. The inevitable magnetic
saturations in the ferrite IPMSMs under load conditions make
the above two torque components tightly coupled so that
the torque segregation is analytically unattainable. However,
the frozen permeability technique can be easily implemented
along with FEA to achieve torque decomposition numerically
[21]. This paper assumes that the machines are ideally driven
by pure sinusoidal currents in order to simplify the analysis.
Since the rotor saliency is greatly enhanced by the secondary
PM layer, the design criteria concerning the number of rotor
poles can be quite different between the conventional one-
layer and novel two-layer spoke-type configurations. It is of
particular interest to reveal the influences of rotor pole number
on not only the overall electromagnetic torque but also the
insightful PM and reluctance components.
III. I NFLUENCE OF ROTOR P OLE N UMBER ON M ACHINE
D ESIGN
One of the most significant advantages in spoke-type
IPMSM is its outstanding flux-focusing ability. As the PM pole
pieces in those machines are usually much thicker than the air-
gap length, the resultant air-gap PM flux density is approxi-
mately proportional to the number of rotor poles [22], [23].
The higher the rotor pole number is, the larger the PM flux and
torque are. On the other hand, armature winding inductance
is also directly related to the rotor pole number. Windings
inductances is inversely proportional to the square of rotor
pole number [24]. Consequently, severe decline in reluctance
torque is expected as the number of rotor poles mounts up.
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(a) Air-gap flux density distribution (b) Air-gap flux density spectra (a) Electromagnetic torque (b) Core loss and efficiency
Fig. 2. Air-gap PM flux density distribution and its spectra from a typical Fig. 4. The influences of rotor pole number on the electromagnetic torque,
ferrite IPMSM with conventional one-layer spoke-type rotor. core loss, and efficiency in ferrite IPMSMs with conventional one-layer spoke-
type rotor.

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(a) Fundamental flux density (b) synchronous inductances imposes quite an inverse effect on winding inductances. Gen-
erally the higher the PM flux density is, the less winding
Fig. 3. The influences of rotor pole number on the fundamental air-gap PM
flux density and armature synchronous inductances in ferrite IPMSMs with turn per pole and hence inductance are. Moreover, the pockets
conventional one-layer spoke-type rotor. accommodating the PMs are the major air regions for armature
reaction field. The decrease of PM thickness in machines with
large rotor pole number narrows the difference between the d-
Such contradictory will result in an optimal number of rotor and q-axis reluctance. All these factors will lead to minimal
poles which can strike the right balance between these two difference between d- and q-axis inductances for high rotor
torque components. pole number as shown in Fig. 3(b). The inductance difference,
which is responsible for the production of reluctance torque in
A. Conventional One-Layer Spoke-Type Configuration Equation (1), becomes negligible as the number of rotor poles
The Open-circuit air-gap flux density is excited by PMs exceeds twelve. Such results imply that conventional spoke-
in the rotor and more or less determines the PM reaction type ferrite IPMSM depends solely on PM reaction torque with
torque of the machine. Fig. 2 illustrates a typical air-gap flux high rotor pole number.
density distribution and its spectra of ferrite IPMSM with The Overall electromagnetic torque values with different
conventional one-layer spoke-type rotor. It can be observed rotor pole numbers are compiled from 2-D FEA results and
that it can be approximately regarded as a result of the demonstrated in Fig. 4(a). As the conventional spoke-type
interaction between a square-wave PM magnetomotive force ferrite IPMSMs rely heavily on PM reaction torque, the overall
(MMF) and slot permeance. As a result, the harmonic contents electromagnetic torque comports well with PM flux density.
are quite rich as shown in Fig. 2(b). However, only the Although the PM flux density is improved by 40%, the torque
fundamental component is normally considered as the major is only improved by 12% with the rotor pole number increased
contributor to PM flux linkage and torque. The influence from four to six. The significant decrease in rotor saliency is
of rotor pole number on the fundamental air-gap PM flux the main cause of this difference. The largest torque improve-
density is compiled from the 2-D FEA results and depicted ment happens when the rotor pole number changes from six
in Fig. 3(a). As the flux-focusing factor can be expressed by to eight. Thereinto, the PM flux density is greatly boosted
the ratio between PM length and pole pitch, the air-gap PM while the decline in rotor saliency is not as dramatic. Further
flux density increases significantly as the rotor pole number increase on the rotor pole number, the overall electromagnetic
picks up. The fundamental PM flux density in the air gap torque is mainly determined by the PM flux density and
can achieve up to 1.1T, which is comparable to its rare- reaches its maximum at sixteen rotor poles. However, One of
earth counterparts. Meanwhile, the thickness of the ferrite PMs distinctive demerits for high number of rotor poles is high
gradually decreases as the number of rotor poles increases core loss [25]. The electrical frequency is proportional to
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(a) Air-gap flux density distribution (b) Air-gap flux density spectra (a) Electromagnetic torque (b) Core loss and efficiency
Fig. 5. Air-gap PM flux density distribution and its spectra from a typical Fig. 7. The influences of rotor pole number on the electromagnetic torque,
ferrite IPMSM with novel two-layer spoke-type rotor. core loss, and efficiency in ferrite IPMSMs with novel two-layer spoke-type
rotor.

ϭ͘Ϯ ϭϰϬ TABLE II

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P ERFORMANCE COMPARISONS BETWEEN TWO CONFIGURATION
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Ϭ͘ϴϬ ϭϬϬ Parameters One-layer Tow-layer Unit
Ϭ͘ϴ
Ϭ͘ϳϭ
ϴϬ Rotor pole number 8 6 -
Ϭ͘ϲ
Ϭ͘ϱϭ
ϲϬ Electromagnetic torque 8.14 8.22 N·m
Ϭ͘ϰ
ϰϬ Rotational speed 1500 1500 rpm
Ϭ͘Ϯ ϮϬ Power 1279 1290 W
Ϭ Ϭ
Core loss 34.4 21.7 W
ϰ ϲ ϴ ϭϬ ϭϮ ϭϰ ϭϲ ϭϴ ϮϬ ϰ ϲ ϴ ϭϬ ϭϮ ϭϰ ϭϲ ϭϴ ϮϬ Efficiency 92.2% 92.9% -
EƵŵďĞƌŽĨZŽƚŽƌWŽůĞƐ EƵŵďĞƌŽĨZŽƚŽƌWŽůĞƐ

(a) Fundamental flux density (b) synchronous inductances

Fig. 6. The influences of rotor pole number on the fundamental air-gap PM
flux density and armature synchronous inductances in ferrite IPMSMs with
machine with high rotor pole number. This implies that the
novel two-layer spoke-type rotor. PM reaction torque becomes the dominant component in the
two-layer machine with large number of rotor poles.
By comparing with the conventional one-layer spoke-type
the number of rotor poles at the same mechanical rotational counterparts, the q-axis inductance in the novel two-layer
speed. Together with the improved PM flux density, core spoke-type machine increases considerably while d-axis in-
loss increases exponentially along with rotor pole number ductance gets slightly down, as shown in Fig. 6(b). There-
as shown in Fig. 4(b). The maximum efficiency of 92.2% fore, better salient ratio is accomplished by introducing the
can be achieved with ten rotor poles in such conventional secondary layer, which can definitely improve the reluctance
one-layer spoke-type ferrite IPMSM. Despite large overall torque. Similarly, the winding inductances also decrease dra-
electromagnetic torque, the efficiency declines rapidly with matically as the rotor pole number rises. With the improved
higher rotor pole number due to the excessive core loss. PM flux density and reduced difference between d- and q-axis
Moreover, machines with large number of rotor poles require inductances, the benefits of the secondary layer will vanish
small PM poles, which cause difficulties in the manufacture quickly as rotor pole number picks up.
and assembly of the brittle ferrite PM pieces. Fig. 7 illustrates the influence of number of rotor poles on
electromagnetic torque production, core loss, and efficiency
B. Novel Two-Layer Spoke-Type Configuration for the two-layer structures. The improvement of the over-
The air-gap PM flux distribution and its spectra for a all torque with large rotor pole number is less significant
typical ferrite IPMSM with two-layer spoke-type structure is compared with the one-layer configuration. The resultant high
demonstrated in Fig. 5. With the additional secondary PM rotor saliency provides large portion of reluctance torque to
layer, a two-stepped square-wave PM MMF is created rather compensate the weak PM flux field especially with small
than the square-wave one. Some of the belt harmonic contents rotor pole number. The highest torque improvement of 6.8%
have been effectively mitigated. The fundamental PM flux happens when rotor pole number changes from four to six. The
density is derived and depicted in Fig. 6(a), which reveals two-layer designs exhibit better torque capability for machines
the air-gap PM flux density can be considerably improved with low number of rotor poles, gaining 20% and 15% torque
by increasing rotor pole number. However, the flux focusing improvement for the four- and six-pole designs, respectively.
is not as effective as the conventional one-layer spoke-type When rotor pole number exceeds ten, the conventional one-
rotor. It is noteworthy that the distance between the main and layer spoke-type design shows superior performance owing
secondary layers tends to collide for the optimal design of the to its better flux-focusing ability. Moreover, there are more

(a) Stator (b) Rotor
(c) Experimental setup
Fig. 8. Stator and rotor of the prototype machine and its experimental setup.
disadvantages concerning manufacturing cost and losses with
high number of rotor poles. The core loss and efficiency with
different rotor pole numbers for the two-layer configurations
are demonstrated in Fig. 7(b). The maximum efficiency of
92.9% is achieved with six rotor poles, where noticeable torque
improvement is observed. The core loss rises much more
rapidly than the torque so that the machine efficiency starts to
drop when the rotor pole number is over six. The reluctance
torque plays an important role in the overall torque, the two-
layer configuration is not very suitable for machines with high
number of rotor poles. The complex rotor structure will make
the situation worse for high rotor pole number, concerning
manufacture tolerance and assembly costs. On the other hand,
the advantage of flux-focusing effect also disappears with low
number of rotor poles. Compromises between the two torque
components are necessary for such configuration. Moreover,
electromagnetic losses should be taken into consideration as
it is critical for the lifespan and efficiency of the machine.
C. Performance Comparison
Based on the performance predictions of the aforementioned
two configurations with different number of rotor poles, an
eight-pole conventional one-layer and a six-pole novel two-
layer spoke-type designs are chosen as potential solutions
of the low-cost ferrite PMSM. The comparisons of their
performances are listed in Table II. The torque and power
of two-layer design is marginally higher than its spoke-type
counterpart under the same rated current and speed. As the
conventional one-layer spoke-type design has higher number
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dŝŵĞ;ƐͿ ƵƌƌĞŶƚWŚĂƐĞŶŐůĞ;ůĞĐƚƌŝĐĂůĞŐƌĞĞͿ
(a) Conventional one layer (b) Novel two layer
Fig. 9. Cross sections of ferrite IPM synchronous machines with conventional
one-layer and novel two-layer spoke-type rotors.
of rotor poles, the operational frequency is increased by 33.3%,
leading to 58.5 % and 13.7% more in core loss and total loss,
respectively. As a result, the novel two-layer spoke-type design
exhibits 0.7% higher in efficiency.
IV. P ROTOTYPE M ACHINE AND E XPERIMENTS
Based on the investigation and comparison carried out in
the previous section, the novel two-layer spoke-type ferrite
IPMSM design with six rotor poles is chosen as prototype
machine. Fig. 8(a) and Fig. 8(b) depict the stator and rotor
of the prototype machine, respectively. The stator is with 36
slots and single layer windings. For the convenience of rotor
assembly, each of the PM pole is divided into two parts in
axial direction and then asserted inside the rotor from different
ends of the rotor lamination stack. This is to reduce the risk
of chipping and breaking the ferrite magnets when stress is
exerted on them with consideration of the brittle physical
nature of ferrite materials. The experimental setup of the
testing rig for loaded experiments is depicted in Fig. 8(c). The
prototype machine is connected to the dynamometer through
a torque sensor to provide measurement of the torque on
the shaft. The dynamometer is controlled by programmable
controller for different loading. The prototype machine is
powered by controller kit with vector control algorithm.
Fig. 9(a) depicts the phase voltage and current under 8N·m
at 1500rpm with maximum torque per ampere strategy. Ac-
cording to the measure results of terminal voltages, winding
current, shaft torque and rotating speed, the efficiency at
rated working condition is 92.3%. Because of low machining
accuracy of ferrite material, the normal tolerance is 0.2mm.
This will affect the PM torque and thus cause slightly lower
performance especially for small machines. Moreover, the
prototype machine is fed by pulse width modulation (PWM)
technique, the harmonics introduced by power switches would
increase core loss. These are the main reasons why the tested
efficiency is slightly lower than the predicted ones. The phase
of current is slightly lagging to terminal voltage, and the
power factor achieved is 0.94. The loading performance of
an electric machine is revealed by its torque characteristics.
The generated torque depends on both the magnitude and
phase of the current. Since the prototype machine is de-
signed with large saliency ratio and flux-focusing structure,
comparable portions of reluctance and PM torque will be
achieved for torque enhancement. Therefore, relatively large
advanced current angle is expected under loaded operations
for harnessing considerable reluctance torque. To validate the
torque curve, the prototype machine is tested with different d-
axis current under various loading torque while the amplitude
of winding current stays the same. Lower speed is preferred
for the torque tests so as to minimize the influence of core
loss and mechanical loss, as they all increase with speed and
difficult to measure directly. The measured torque curve at
6.3A peak current and 200rpm are compared with FEA result,
as illustrated in Fig. 9(b). Good agreement with the FEA model
is achieved for the prototype machine. The maximum torque
is obtained at an advanced current angle of 36 electric degrees,
proving the considerable reluctance torque under rated load.
It can also be noticed that the tested torque is slightly smaller
than FEA under lower current angle, and coincides with
FEA when negative d-axis current is very high. That may be
caused by slightly lower remanence of the magnet material. In
general, the experiments agree well with the FEA simulations
and prove the performance of the proposed novel two-layer
spoke-type ferrite IPMSMs.
V. C ONCLUSION
Comprehensive analysis on the influence of rotor pole
number on design of conventional one-layer spoke-type and
novel two-layer spoke-type ferrite IPMSMs has been carried
out. The investigations suggest that conventional spoke-type
designs show better performances with relatively high number
of rotor poles. However, losses and manufacturing costs have
also to be considered. The novel two-layer configurations are
not very suitable for machines with high number of rotor poles
and compromise is necessary between the PM and reluctance
torque components during design and optimization. Compared
with conventional one-layer structure, the novel two-layer
structure can reduce harmonic content, improve torque output
and achieve lower losses and higher efficiency. Furthermore, a
prototype machine with two-layer configuration and six rotor
poles is built and tested. The experimental results confirm the
predictions from FEA models and validate the performance.
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