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Analysis of iron loss in interlocked lamination core

Conference Paper · November 2015

DOI: 10.1109/SMART.2015.7399212

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2015 International Conference on Sustainable Mobility Applications, Renewables and Technology (SMART)

Analysis of Iron Loss in Interlocked

Lamination Core
Jian-Xin Shen*, Gui-Yu Zhou, Sheng-Long Jin, and He Hao
Department of Electrical Engineering
Zhejiang University
Hangzhou, China
E-mail: J_X_Shen@zju.edu.cn*, guiyu@zju.edu.cn, jinlongdaye@163.com, goodcrane@zju.edu.cn

Abstract—Interlocking is widely used to clamp laminated

electrical steel sheets automatically in the die system. The A
magnetic properties of lamination cores can be deteriorated by
the influence of interlocking during the manufacturing process,
causing extra core loss and reducing the efficiency. So it is crucial
to minimize the extra loss by analyzing the interlocking
performance of lamination core. This paper presents the B B
performance of interlocking dowel by modelling the V-shape
interlocking dowel with 2-D finite element method (FEM). The A
simulation results show that choosing a proper number of
interlocking dowels with suitable locations can reduce the extra (a) Top view of the interlocking dowel (b) A-A cross-sectional view
loss.

Keywords—iron loss; lamination core; interlocking dowel;

manufacturing process.
(c) B-B cross-sectional view
I. INTRODUCTION Fig. 1. Cross-section view of V-shape interlocking dowel
Induction motors are dominant loads of the power grid,
consuming a large percentage of electric energy [1], therefore,
it is always desirable to improve the induction motor Interlocking dowel
efficiency. Losses of the cage induction motors include
mechanical loss, stator Joule loss, rotor Joule loss, stator and
rotor iron loss, and stray loss [2]. Many works have been done
to reduce these losses, such as optimal design of the
geometrical parameters of the rotor and stator [3], improving
the calculation accuracy of iron loss [4, 5], and lengthening the
core axial length [6], etc. Most of methods to reduce losses are
based on the electromagnetic design, whilst, the motor core
manufacturing process can also deteriorate the magnetic
properties and increase the losses, thus, related investigation
should be done to minimize this deterioration.
Non-oriented electrical steel sheets are used for making the
stator and rotor cores, by punching them into designed shapes
and then laminating and clamping them to a given axial length
[7]. For the automatic punching process, interlocking dowels
are used to clamp the laminated steel sheets by ramming their
protuberances down into the next lamination from the
corresponding backside holes [8]. Although the manufacturing
efficiency is improved, the interlocking can cause strain and Fig. 2. Photograph of V-shape interlocking dowel
short circuits between laminations as the insulation between
laminations being destroyed at the edge of interlocking dowels In this paper, influence of the interlocking dowels is studied
[9]. The strain deteriorates the magnetic properties and the in order to find a way to minimize the deterioration of
short circuits increase short-circuit current flow and produce magnetic properties and the increase of losses. Firstly, the
extra eddy current loss [7, 10].
This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of
China (2013CB035604)
 interlocking dowel
Interlocking Dowel

¦µ
di
d

90
¦ µ2

¦ µ235
Fig. 3. Electrical circuits of the interlocking dowels

Electrical connection region

h Fig. 5. Stator cross-sections with 6 interlocking dowels

0.15mm

d
Fig. 4. Interlocking dowel model

electromagnetic model of the interlocking dowel is established,

then 2-D FEM is used to simulate the influence of the
interlocking dowels. By analyzing the results of the simulation,
an appropriate designing scheme can be obtained by changing
the number, location and size of the interlocking dowels to
improve the motor efficiency.

II. MODEL OF INTERLOCKING DOWELS

There are various shapes of the interlocking dowels, whilst
the V-shape interlocking dowels are commonly used to clamp
the steel sheets in automated fabrication of motor cores. The V-
shape interlocking dowel is shown in Fig. 1. From Fig. 1(a), it \
can be seen that the shape of interlocking dowel is rectangular
in order to have a more fastened strength [8]. And Fig. 2 shows Fig. 6. 2-D FEA induction motor model, upper: magnetic flux lines; down:
the photograph of the V-shape interlocking dowel. magnetic flux density

In order to reduce the eddy current loss of electrical motors,

the electrical steel sheets are always coated with insulating
materials on the surface. While the interlocking procedure
destroys the insulating materials at the edge of the interlocking
dowels, then the electrical connection of the steel sheets is
generated, the electrical circuits are produced by connecting all
of the dowels, as shown in Fig. 3. The strain of the interlocking
dowels can even deteriorate core magnetic properties. For the
simplicity of calculation, it is assumed that the permeability of
the electrical connection region of the cut-edges is set as two-
thirds of the original value and the area of the electrical
connection is the region within 0.15mm from the cut-edge.
Then the interlocking dowel model can be obtained, as shown
in Fig. 4, where the conductivity of the electrical connection
σ edge is equal to the conductivity of non-oriented electrical
steel sheet σ steel , and d and h are length and width of the
interlocking dowel, respectively.
III. SIMULATION ANALYSIS
In order to analyze the influence of the interlocking dowels
on the motor performance, a 3-phase 4-pole sample induction
motor is used. Its ratings include 380V, 50Hz, 22kW. The
motor has 48 stator slots and 38 rotor slots, and delta-
connected double-layer armature windings. 2-D FEM is used
to simulate the performance of the sample motor, and the
interlocking dowel model has already been shown in Fig. 4.
A. Influence of the number of interlocking dowels
The number of the interlocking dowels n needs to be
considered, for the purpose of having enough fasten strength to
clamp all of the steel sheets together, meanwhile minimizing
the loss increase and motor performance deterioration. Fig. 5
shows the stator cross-section with 6 interlocking dowels,
where the interlocking dowels are symmetrically distributed
along the circumference with the diameter of did being 262mm.
92
The dimensions of the dowels shown in Fig. 4 are as follows:
d=10mm and h=4mm. 91.8

Fig. 6 shows the cross-section of the 2-D FEM induction 91.6

Efficiency (%)
motor model with 6 dowels, it can be seen that the interlocking 91.4
dowels have an influence on the distribution of the magnetic
flux density and the magnetic flux lines. Due to the fact that the 91.2
strain of the dowels deteriorates the magnetic properties, and
91
some areas near the dowels have higher flux density, then more
iron losses can be produced. 90.8
0 2 4 6 8
In order to analyze the loss components of the induction Number n
motors with different number n, the losses can be classified as
follows [2] Fig. 7. Motor efficiency versus the number of interlocking dowels
1) pi — the iron loss in both stator and rotor cores;
2) p1 ----- the Joule loss of the stator windings; TABLE I. LOSSES AND EFFICIENCIES WITH DIFFERENT NUMBER OF
3) p2F ----- the Joule loss of the rotor cage determined by the INTERLOCKING DOWELS
fundamental component of the rotor bar current; n Pin [W] pi [W] p1 [W] p2F [W] pid [W] psl [W] Pout [W]
4) pid ----- the loss produced by the interlocking dowel 0 24720 220 1120 549 0 66 22765
short-circuit; 3 24796 224 1129 549 71 72 22751
5) pm ----- the mechanical loss, which is neglected in 2-D 4 24835 225 1133 549 109 72 22747
FEM; 5 24866 227 1137 549 149 71 22733
6) psl ----- the stray loss, or the electrical losses except for 6 24874 228 1139 549 151 72 22735
1)-4). 7 24920 226 1143 548 203 74 22726
8 24951 229 1147 548 227 74 22726
Fig. 7 shows the efficiency of the induction motor versus 9 24979 230 1150 548 266 73 22712
the number of interlocking dowels n. It can be seen that there is
a negative correlation between the efficiency of the motor and
the interlocking dowel number, while a point as n = 6 is
unique, its efficiency is nearly the same of the one with n = 5. Motor efficiency without dowels:92.1%
Table I shows the input power Pin, the output power Pout and 92
the losses of the motors with different n. It can be seen that the
Efficiency (%)

iron loss and the Joule loss of the stator windings have a little 91.5
increase due to the deterioration of the magnetic properties
caused by the strain during the produce of interlocking dowels, 91
while with n increasing, the variation of these losses are small.
But the loss component pid has an apparent change with n
90.5
varying, so the loss increased of the motor with interlocking
dowels are mostly caused by the loss component pid.
90
As the motor is three phase, the influence of the dowels to 250 255 260 265 270 275 280
each phase is different if the dowels number n is not the d (mm)
id
multiple of 3, then the asymmetry causes more losses. That is
the reason why the efficiency of the motor with n = 6 is nearly Fig. 8. Motor efficiency versus interlocking dowels location diameter did
the same of the one with n = 5. While when n is larger than 6,
this asymmetry becomes weaker, then n = 9 may not be a The efficiency of the induction motor are influenced by the
better choice. Thus, in order to increase the efficiency of the diameter did. A proper value of did can minimize the efficiency
motor with interlocking dowels, n = 3 or 6 are better choices. If deterioration caused by the interlocking dowels, whilst dowels
the fasten strength of 3 dowels to clamp all the steel sheets also have enough fasten strength to clamp the steel sheets.
together is not sufficient, n = 6 is chosen. Fig. 8 shows the motor efficiency versus the diameter did. It
can be seen that the efficiency is increasing with the diameter
B. Influence of interlocking dowel location did. And, when did is larger than 270mm, the increase of the
The location of the interlocking dowels can influence the efficiency becomes slower, due to the reason that the dowels
efficiency of the motor and the fasten strength of the dowels to are close to the edge of the stator where the flux density is
clamp the steel sheets. The locations of the interlocking dowels lower than in other area. On the other hand, the fasten strength
are shown in Fig. 5, and there are 6 dowels as an example. becomes weaker if the dowels are close to the edge of the
stator. Thus, both the efficiency and the fasten strength need to
be considered when selecting a proper value of the diameter
did.

(a) Behind a tooth
Fig. 9. The locations of interlocking dowels
(a) Tangential direction (b) Radial direction
Fig. 10. Direction of interlocking dowels
91.8
91.6
Efficiency (%)
91.4
91.2
91
6 8 10
Dowel length d (mm)
Fig. 11. Motor efficiency versus dowel length d
After the diameter did and the number n are selected,
there is a selection whether the dowels are located behind the
stator slots or the stator teeth, as shown in Fig. 9. The
simulation results show that there is little difference between
these two situations, as both of the efficiencies are 91.41%,
where did =262mm, and n=6.
There is also a selection whether the long side of the
rectangle dowels is in tangential or radial direction, as shown
in Fig. 10. The simulation results show that the efficiency of
Fig. 10(a) is 91.41%, and that of Fig. 10(b) is 91.33%. Thus,
tangential direction of the interlocking dowel is a better
choice.
C. Influence of interlocking dowel size
The size of the interlocking dowels can influence the
motor efficiency and the fasten strength. In order to analyze
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the influence of the interlocking dowel size, the dowel length
d is changed, while h is fixed to 4mm and did is fixed to
262mm. The efficiency versus d is shown in Fig. 11. It is
seen that the efficiency is inverse proportional to the dowel
length d. Thus, the length d should be chosen to be as small
as possible when the fasten strength is enough.
IV. CONCLUSION
This paper gives an analysis of the influence of the
(b) Behind a slot interlocking dowels which are used to clamp all the steel
sheets together. Firstly, the 2-D electromagnetic model of the
V-shape interlocking dowel is presented. The strain during
the production of interlocking dowels can deteriorate the
core magnetic properties and destroy the insulating materials
at the edge of the interlocking dowels with extra electrical
circuits being produced, which cause the increase the motor
losses. Then 2-D FEM is used to simulate the increase of the
losses caused by the interlocking dowels in order to
minimize the efficiency deterioration. FEM results show that
the motor efficiency with 6 interlocking dowels is almost the
same of the one with 5 interlocking dowels. When the
number of the dowels is not a multiple of the phases number,
the asymmetric influence of the interlocking dowels to the
three phases causes more losses to be produced. And then the
location and the size of the interlocking dowels are also
simulated in order to choose a proper scheme to minimize
the increase of the motor losses.
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