Analytical Methodology for Eddy Current Loss Simulation in Armature Windings of Synchronous Electrical Machines With Permanent Magnets

This article describes a novel analytical methodology for eddy current losses simulation in the windings of permanent magnet synchronous machines. The methodology is based on subdomain modeling technique in conjunction with solving of ordinary differential equations system. The main advantage of the proposed method is high accuracy and significant reduction of simulation time in comparison with finite-element modeling (FEM) technique that is frequently used for eddy current loss modeling. The proposed model allows fast and accurate evaluation of proximity and skin effect in conductors in time domain for an arbitrary current waveform and machine duty cycle. The main difference from previously presented analytical methods is the possibility to evaluate losses for a wider range of conductors geometries, regardless their shape, dimensions, location in the stator slots, and rotor speed. The main contribution and novelty of the proposed analytical approach is simultaneous implementation of subdomain modeling technique and strands segmentation concept followed by the eddy current effect representation through the equivalent circuit. This approach allows reducing the computational time while keeping the accuracy close to the FEM result. The proposed model was compared to FEM, using different types and sizes of conductors and also validated experimentally.