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Study on Counter-Rotating Dual-Rotor Permanent Magnet Motor for

Underwater Vehicle Propulsion

Article  in  IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity · February 2018

DOI: 10.1109/TASC.2018.2802482

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 This is the author's version of an article that has been published in this journal. Changes were made to this version by the publisher prior to publication.
The final version of record is available at
Mon-Af-Or8-03
Study on Counter-rotating Dual-Rotor Permanent
Magnet Motor for Underwater Vehicle Propulsion
Guangwei Liu,Member, IEEE,GuohuaQiu, Jin Shi,Member, IEEE,Fengge Zhang,Member, IEEE
Abstract—This paper proposes a counter-rotating dual-rotor
permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) to drive two coun-
ter-rotating propellers of a cylindrical underwater vehicle. This
can avoid yawing and spinning of the underwater vehicle whilst
maintain excellent electromagnetic performance. Because of a di-
rectdrive arrangement, the system efficiency of the motor drive is
improved as well as the volume and costs. More importantly, the
proposed motor has better reliability than conventional underwa-
ter DC drive systems owing to the removal of brushes and slip-
rings. In electromagnetic design, the pole number, permanent
magnetsize, stator winding design and non-magnetic material are
analyzed and optimized. Finally, a 10.8kW 1000r/min counter-
rotating dual-rotor disc-type PM motor is designed, and its main
performance parameters, such as EMF, torque and mechanical
stress, are analyzed, which have confirmed the effectiveness of the
rotor design and its application to underwater propulsion applica-
tions.
Index Terms—counter-rotating, dual rotors, electric machine
design, permanent magnet machine, underwater vehicle propul-
sion
I. INTRODUCTION
I N recent years, technologies of underwater vehicles have
developed rapidly as they can be used for exploring deep
sea resources and for military purposes [1]. The propulsion
system is one of the most important components of underwater
vehicles. At present, two types of propulsion systems are
commonly used. One is the thermal propulsion system [2] and
the other is the motor propulsion system [3]-[6].
Taking the torpedo for example, electrically driven systems
are considered to be better than thermal propulsion systems in
terms of efficiency and controll ability. However, if only one
rotor is used for propulsion, yawing and spinning can cause a
problem for traveling through a guided route. If two rotors are
utilized to rotate in opposite directions, this problem is
resolved. This topology can be realized in a dual-rotor DC
motor (DDM) where two rotors are controlled to rotate in
opposite directions to drive two counter-rotating propellers.
This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China
(51537007, 51207094), and PhD. Start-up Fund of Liaoning Province
(201601153). (All authors have made technical contribution to this
work)(Corresponding author: Guangwei Liu)
Guangwei Liu , Guohua Qiu, Jin Shi and Fengge Zhang are with the School
of Electrical Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang
110870, China (e-mail: liu-gw@outlook.com,171280005@qq.com, wby-
js@163.com; zhangfg@sut.edu.cn).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
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Nonetheless, because this is a DC motor, two sets of
commutators (brushes and slip-rings) are required which in
turn give rise to maintenance and reliability issues.
Alternatively, radial-field dual-rotor PM motors (RDPMs) can
provide similar performance without any mechanical
commutators. The RDPM is expected to generate the same
torque, so the outer air-gap flux density is lower than that of
the conventional motor. Hence, the utilization of the outer
motor will be insufficient, so the output power of the whole
system is relatively low. Moreover, the core utilization of
radial magnetic field motors is only about 75% [7]. In
comparison, an axial-flux disc-type equivalent motor can
achieve the core utilization of more than 90% [7].
The dual-rotor concept motors have been studied by some
researchers over the last decades, such as the inside and
outside dual-rotor PM motor and the inside and outside dual-
rotor induction motor [8][9].The design and optimization
methods, cogging torque reduction techniques for dual rotors,
radial-flux, and toroidally wound PM machines have been
intensively discussed in [10][11]. However, these machines
arrange the two rotors in one joint shaft which still have only
one mechanical port. A dual-mechanical port machine is
reported in [12] which utilize two separate mechanical shafts
to output torques. Axial-flux permanent magnet synchronous
machines (PMSMs) with counter-rotating rotors for
underwater vehicles are proposed in [13]-[18]. These studies
have proved the superiority of dual-rotor disc-typepermanent-
magnet motors (DDPMs) over DDMs and RDPMs. However,
because of special structure of DDPM, there is no design
method can be provided reference for, so the objective of this
paper is to research its electromagnetic design methods, and
then the performance of design scheme is analyzed.
II. PRINCIPLES AND FEATURES
This paper presents a new DDPM; its schematic and struc-
tural diagrams are shown in Fig.1. The motor is placed at the
end of the torpedo with the same space envelop as the DDM
and RDPM in counter-rotating propeller systems. It consists of
one stator and two counter-rotating rotors, which directly drive
two propellers via two concentric shafts. It can be viewed as
two electric motors in one machine frame, namely, M1 and
M2.
In order to obtain the counter-rotating magnetic fields in
both air-gaps, the phase sequence of both side windings
 This is the author's version of an article that has been published in this journal. Changes were made to this version by the publisher prior to publication.
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should be opposite by exchanging windings of two phases
(phases B and C) between both sides of the stator core, which
is shown in Fig.2. When the same three-phase symmetrical
currents are supplied to the stator windings, the counter-
rotating magnetic fields at both sides of the stator are generat-
ed. Therefore, counter rotating electromagnetic torques can be
produced. This is equivalent to a conventional PMSM driving
two rotors at the same speed.
In this machine topology, two magnetic flux paths (parallel
and series) have periodic changes during two rotor cyclical
position changes, which can cause a periodic change in the air-
gap flux. In order to avoid coupling effects, the stators of the
motor are separated by non-magnetic materials.
Fig.1. The proposed DDPM motor.
Fig.2. The winding terminal connection (6-pole).
III. DESIGN CONSIDERTIONS
The electromagnetic design process of a counter-rotating
DDPM is considerably more complicated than a conventional
surface PM machine because it has two rotors, two air-gaps,
and two stator windings whilst the two fluxes share the same
stator yoke.
A. Selection of Pole Numbers
The new DDPM is developed to replacethe existing DDM
and RDPM motors so that the design specifications are the
same for a fair comparison.These are listed in Table I.
Firstly, the pole number is considered in this motor design,
which has a huge influence on machine performance. In order
to achieve the same flux density in the yokes and teeth, three
pole numbers are chosen and compared in 3D finite element
electromagnetic analysis. Since the disc-type motor has
magnetic flux in both axial and radial directions, the 3D
models can take into consideration the magnetic field in both
directions and end-effects. These results are shown in Fig.3.
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TABLE I
CONSTANT DESIGN PARAMETERS OF DDPM
Parameter Value
The outer diameter 316mm
The inner diameter 180mm
Axial length 190mm
Rated speed 1000r/min
Number of slot per pole per phase 6
Slot fill factor 75%
Rated current density 6A/mm2
The rated power of the 4-pole motor is lower than that of 6-
pole motor, and its copper loss is higher because of the long
winding end. When the slot area is the same, the yoke is
relatively thin for the 4-pole motor, making its yoke flux
density higher than that of the 6-pole motor, which eventually
lowers the rated power of the 4-pole motor. If the slot area of
the 4-pole motor is smaller, its thickness of yoke can be
increased, raising the yoke flux density to level of the 6-pole
motor, which, however, will reduce the rated power due to the
reduction of slot area.
For the 8-pole motor, with the increase of pole number, the
flux per pole decreases, so the yoke thickness of rotor and
stator is also decreased, and the slot become deeper, so as to
mount more winding, improving the rated power. However,
the mechnanical stress can not meet the requirement when the
yoke is too thin, so this kind of design should not be adopted.
If the same slot size is selected for the 8- and 6-pole motors,
the yoke will be safe, and the rated power are similar toeach
other, but the core loss of the 8-pole motor will be higher,
because its frequency is higher than that of the 6-pole one at
the same speed.
The rated power and lossesfor different electromagnetic
design schemes are compared in Fig.4. It can be seen from the
result that the 8-pole thin yoke motor has the highest rated
power, but itslow rotor strength cannot meet the requirement
for this kind of motor. The 8-pole thick yoke motor has a
higher loss compared with the 6-pole one. Although 4-pole
motor has a smaller loss, its rated power is relatively low. So it
is obviously that the 6-pole motor is the best option.
Fig.3. The flux density distribution for different pole number
Fig.4. The rated power and losses for different design schemes
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B. Design of PMs
The effect of pole-arc coefficient and the thickness of PM
are analyzed. The pole-arc coefficient is set to range 0.55 to
0.85, with the thickness of PM being from 0.3 to 0.5. When
the thickness of PM is 3mm, the air-gap magnetic flux density
ofthe 6-pole motor is relatively low. When it is increased to
4mm, the motor geometry (contour view) and the air-gap
magnetic density ofthe motor is shown in Fig.5 (R: the radial
direction. Distance: the direction along the circumference. B
(z): the magnetic induction along z-axis). The RMS value of
the air-gap magnetic density is about 0.75T. If the thickness of
PM is 5mm, the stator and rotor cores will be saturated.
When the thickness of PM and the gap are, respectively,
4mm and 1mm, the back EMF waveform of motors with dif-
ferent polar-arc coefficients are compared, as shown in Fig.6.
When the pole-arc coefficient is 0.75, the sine degree of back
EMF waveform is better than that for other conditions. When
the pole-arc coefficient is 0.85, the amplitude of back EMF
waveform is lower than that for other conditions. So the pole-
arc coefficient of motor is set at 0.75, and the amplitude of the
line voltage is about 530V.
C. Design of Winding
When the windings are connected in parallel, the motor is
equivalent to two motors working separately. The windings in
parallel are shown in Fig.7.(a), where the winding end of the
motor is relatively long. The windings in series are shown in
Fig.7. (b), where the winding end is shorter [19].
Weight is important for the design, according to calculation
and simulation results, the copper usage will be increased by
16% when the windings are connected in parallel. Therefore,
when they are connected in series, the cost of the motor will
be reduced and its copper loss will be lower.
Fig.5. The motor geometry (contour view)and the air-gap magnetic fluxdensi-
tyof 6-pole motor (PM thickness is 4mm).
Fig.6. Back EMFwaveform of motors with different polar-arc coefficients
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3
Fig.7. Two winding connection methods.
D. The Influence of Non-magnetic Materials
There is an axial force for the stator due to the effect of PMs
on two rotors.The force is unique for counter-rotating dual-
rotor PM motor, but, when the non-magnetic material is used
in the middle of the stator, the flux of two rotors can de-
coupled, reducing the fluctuation of the axial force and im-
proving the reliability of the motor. At the same time, the
waveform of the back EMF will be better.
E. Cogging TorqueAnalysis
For the 6-pole motor, a DDPM of 10.8kW is designed, and
its cogging torqueis analyzed. For slotted permanent motors,
the cogging torque would be generated, affecting the motor
torque ripple and causing vibration and noise, which suggested
that the cogging torque can not be ignored [20].
When the polar-arc coefficient is 0.75, and the motor is no-
load, the maximum cogging torque of each rotor is about
3.5N•m. If the PM is skewed by a width of one stator teeth,
the maximum value of cogging torque for each rotor is about
0.8N•m. And, when the motoris loaded, the value of electro-
magnetic torque of each rotor is 49.8N•m.
IV. FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS
Based on the design considerations in Section III, a 10.8
kW motor is designed. Its magnetic fields, EMF, torque and
mechanical stress are calculated and analysed in this section
using finite element method.
A. Magnetic Field Calculations
To simplify the model of the motor, the 3D simulation mod-
el can be replaced by the 2D ones, the disc-type motor can be
equivalent to a linear motor, and the cylinder of the disc-type
motor can be unfolded into a flat surface. It is best to expand
the 3D model from the midpoint of inner and outer diameters,
because it is more convenient to make calculations at this lo-
cation [21].
The simulation results of back EMF by 2D & 3D models are
compared in Fig.8.It can be seen that their waveforms and the
amplitudes approximate to each other, and the error rate is less
than 5%.The rated force of linear motor is about 520N, the ra-
dius of the expanded position is 0.124m, so the equivalent tor-
que of single motor is 64.5Nm. Due to the absence of edge ef-
fect and bending effect in 2D model, the torque calculated is
larger than 3D model. So using a 29% correction factor in the
equivalent model is essential.
For the disc-type motor, the analysis of the axial attractive
force between the rotor and the stator is necessary.The vertical
 This is the author's version of an article that has been published in this journal. Changes were made to this version by the publisher prior to publication.
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force in the 2D model can be equivalent to the axial attractive
force of the disc-type motor. The attractive force can be seen
in Fig.9, where the RMS value is about 9.7kN. When the 3mm
non-magnetic material is used in the middle of the stator, the
fluctuation of the attractive force will be smaller, reducing the
noise of the motor and the wear of bearings to a certain extent.
B. Torque angle characteristic
An important feature of the synchronous machine is the
power angle characteristics. For the underwater vehicle coun-
ter-rotation propeller propulsion system, the inner and outer
induction electromotive forces should be equal, so that the ar-
mature reaction reactance can be equal or approximate. Fig.10
shows the curves of torque angle, wherethe torque angle cha-
racteristics between both disc-type rotors are the same.
C. Stress and deformation
According to the attractive force calculated above, a model
of axial stress in disc-type motor can be simulated. The axial
stress of PM rotor is shown in Fig.11, where the maximum
stress is about 4.32MPa, which is much smaller than the stress
limit of the rotor. The maximum deformation is about 0.02mm,
accounting for only 2% of the air gap length. All the above
results have met the design requirements of the motor.
Fig.8. The back EMF by 2D & 3D models
Fig.9.The attractive force of the linear motor.
Fig.10. The result of torque angle characteristic
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Fig.11. The stress distribution for one rotor.
V. CONCLUSION
A counter-rotating dual-rotor disc-type PM (DDPM) motor
has been proposed in order to improve propulsion system
performance of underwater vehicles. From this study, some
conclusions can be drawn as follows:
1) The total loss and the rated powerofa 4-polemotor are
lower than 6- and 8-polemotors. The rated power of an 8-
pole machine is higher than a 6-pole machine, but
itsrotor strengthis lower.Overallthe 6-pole motor is the
best choice.
2) When the pole-arc coefficient is 0.75 and the thickness of
PM is 4mm, the waveform shape of the back EMF
isbetter than other cases.
3) For a given output power, the copper will be saved by 16%
by connecting the stator windings in series.
4) The use of non-magnetic materials between the two
groups of stator can minimized the cross coupling effect
and improve the waveformof the back EMF and torque
ripples.
5) The maximum stress and deformation caused by the
attractive force between the PM rotor and stator are
relatively low and will not challenge the mechanical
construction design.
6) The proposed DDPM motor is effective in place of
conventional motor drives in underwater vehicles. This
technology can also be considered in other propulsions
systems.
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