IET Electric Power Applications

Research Article

Analytical design of the integrated motor ISSN 1751-8660

Received on 27th October 2017

used in a hubless rim-driven propulsor

Revised 5th June 2018
Accepted on 14th September 2018
E-First on 7th March 2019
doi: 10.1049/iet-epa.2018.5303
www.ietdl.org

Bo Cheng1,2, Guang Pan1,2 , Yali Cao1

1School of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, People's Republic of China
2Key Laboratory for Unmanned Underwater Vehicle, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, People's Republic of China
E-mail: panguang@nwpu.edu.cn

Abstract: The rim-driven integrated motor propulsor (IMP) has received much attention in recent years, owing to its superiority
in flexibility, reliability, and space occupation. For this propulsion system, radially thin motors with high torque and large air gaps
are essential. Two-segment Halbach array permanent magnets with unequal segment-arc are adopted to enable a thin rotor and
a large air gap. The general analytical solution of the magnetic field is presented. Based on the analytical calculation of the
Halbach motor performance, the necessity of the rotor core was discussed, and the Halbach array was optimised with an
analytical method to maximise the electromagnetic torque. This study also tried and compared three designs of the integrated
motor stator to further reduce the radial thickness, and the slotted stator proved more reasonable. The fabrication of an IMP
prototype was completed, and the experimental data of the integrated motor are presented and compared with the calculated
results. This study also conducted the water tunnel experiment of the IMP prototype to test the integrated motor performance in
the overall IMP system. The measured rotational speed and output thrust are less than expected, so the friction loss in the IMP
gap flow field is calculated and analysed.

1 Introduction
The integrated motor propulsor (IMP) in this paper is a new type of
electric propulsion system for ships or underwater vehicles [1]. The
traditional electric propulsion device is composed of a thruster
motor and a propulsor. The thruster motor and propulsor are
usually separate structures, and power is delivered to the propulsor
from the thruster motor via a transmission shaft. The IMP has
many advantages when compared with the conventional propulsion
system, such as less space occupation, greater power density,
higher reliability, and better flexibility, so IMP will contribute to
improving the dynamic performance of ships or underwater
vehicles [2–6].
The structure of the hubless rim-driven IMP in this paper is as
shown in Fig. 1. The propulsor mainly consists of a duct and a
propeller. The motor rotor is integrated with the propeller, and both
of them are rotatablely supported on the duct by two pairs of fluid
dynamic bearings. The motor stator is integrated into the duct. It
can be seen that the seawater will enter the inside of the integrated
motor. Therefore, the stator and rotor are sealed with epoxy
material to prevent them from being corroded, and the winding is
sealed and fixed with the waterproof sealant. On the other hand, the
seawater can help to cool the integrated motor, and the current
density of winding wires can be increased.
Fig. 1 Structure of the hubless rim-driven IMP
Recently, IMP has become more and more attractive in the field
of electric propulsion. However, as the IMP involves multiple
disciplines, only a few related researches were reported. A hubless
rim-driven thruster prototype was designed and manufactured in
[7], the experiments demonstrated that the brushless permanent
magnet (PM) motor in the prototype achieved an acceptable
performance. Sharkh and Lai et al. [8, 9] presented the
optimisation and fabrication of a slotless PM brushless motor for
rim- or tip-driven thrusters, and the experimental motor
performance results indicated that the slotless motor was less
efficient and more expensive when compared with a slotted motor
within the same active radial dimensions. Liang et al. [10]
designed a PM motor used in an integrated motor propeller, no-
bearing structure as well as Halbach array was applied, and the
temperature distribution of the water-cooled motor was analysed
and tested. In addition, PM synchronous motors [11, 12] and PM
brushless motors [13, 14] have been designed and analysed for
IMPs. Other options such as superconducting motor [15, 16],
induction motor [17, 18], and switched reluctance motor [19] were
also tried as the integrated motors.
Since the integrated motor works in seawater, the air gap should
be large enough to ensure the motor can reliably run under the
tough condition. Besides, the IMP duct is expected to be relatively
thinner to reduce the hydrodynamic drag force and achieve higher
efficiency of the propulsor, so the integrated motor should be
radially thin. Simultaneously, the motor axial length is also limited
by the propeller and the duct length [11]. From the previous studies
and related references, we find that PM motors are more suitable
for the IMP, as they can be designed to have many poles to reduce
the radial thickness of the integrated motor. Moreover, PMs can
easily adapt to working in seawater.
In this paper, the topological structure of the integrated motor
will be discussed and optimised for smaller radial thickness and
high torque. The Halbach array PMs with unequal segment-arc are
adopted to enable a thin rotor and a large air gap. For the structure
of the rim-driven IMP, the rotor structures of the integrated motor
are discussed, and the unequal segment-arc Halbach array is
optimised to maximise the electromagnetic torque. In addition, the
coreless, slotless, and slotted designs of the integrated motor stator
are compared. The slotted integrated motor has been fabricated,

IET Electr. Power Appl., 2019, Vol. 13 Iss. 9, pp. 1255-1262 1255
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2018
Fig. 2 Coupled design model of the rim-driven IMP

Fig. 4 Analytical model of two-segment Halbach array

referred in Table 1 are defined as (1)–(4). When the advance

coefficient is 0.95, the efficiency of the propulsor is maximised, the
Fig. 3 Profile of the duct and the 3D model of the propeller torque and rotational speed that the propulsor required at this point
are set as the rated torque and speed of the integrated motor. The
Table 1 Hydrodynamic performance of the propulsor main specifications of the propulsor and the integrated motor are
J KQ KT ηp, % listed in Table 2.
0.1 0.1463 1.1725 12.76 Va
0.3 0.1429 0.9838 32.87 J= (1)
nDp
0.5 0.1377 0.8001 46.25
0.7 0.1296 0.6337 54.47 Q
0.9 0.1173 0.4774 58.30
KQ = (2)
ρn2Dp5
0.95 0.1135 0.439 58.49
1 0.1095 0.4016 58.38 T
KT = (3)
1.1 0.1005 0.3266 56.88 ρn2Dp4
1.2 0.0899 0.249 52.90
1.3 0.0779 0.1711 45.42 J KT
ηp = ⋅ (4)
1.4 0.0645 0.0924 31.92 2π KQ
1.5 0.0496 0.0099 4.74

3 Analytical calculation of the Halbach PM motor

Table 2 Specifications of the IMP and the integrated motor 3.1 General analytical solution of magnetic field
Parameters Values Units
thrust, T 748 N The Halbach array can increase the air gap flux density and
improve the air gap flux density distribution of PM motors [20,
advance velocity, Va 4.2 m/s
21]. Most Halbach arrays are produced by discrete magnet
duct diameter, Dd 390 mm segments at present. Considering the difficulty of processing, this
propeller diameter, Dp 295 mm paper intends to adopt a two-segment Halbach array with unequal
torque, Q 57 N·m segment-arc to increase the electromagnetic torque and reduce the
radial thickness of the integrated motor.
rotational speed, n 900 rpm
In order to obtain the general analytical solution of the field
produced by the Halbach array PMs, we assume that the inner
surface of the stator core is smooth and that the stator and rotor
and its performance is analysed with the finite element analysis core are infinitely permeable. Fig. 4 gives the analytical model of
(FEA) and experiment method. Furthermore, this paper also two-segment Halbach array PMs, where regions I and III are air,
calculates and analyses the friction loss on the integrated motor and region II are the PMs. For motors having rotor core, R0 = Rr.
rotor in the gap flow field between the IMP stator and rotor. For motors without rotor core, R0 = 0. For motors without stator
core, Rs = ∞. Magnet ratio αrp represents the ratio of the arc of a
2 Constraints of the integrated motor radially magnetised segment βr to the arc of a magnet pole βp, and
The coupled design model of the hubless rim-driven IMP is it is defined as (5)
demonstrated in Fig. 2. At the given advance velocity Va, the
propulsor outputs the required thrust T, and the integrated motor βr βr βr
should be able to provide the input torque Q and rotational speed n
αr p = = = (5)
βp βr + βθ π/ p
of the propulsor. Besides, the dimension of the integrated motor
will also be constrained by the propulsor. where p stands for the pole-pair number. Specially, when αrp is 0.5,
The design and analysis of the propulsor have been completed, the PMs will be a conventional Halbach array.
and the profile of the duct and the 3D model of the propeller are In the polar coordinates of Fig. 4, the radial magnetisation of
exhibited in Fig. 3. The hydrodynamic performance of this the Halbach array is an even function, and the tangential
propulsor is shown in Table 1. The advance coefficient J, torque magnetisation is an odd function. The magnetisation vector M is
coefficient KQ, thrust coefficient KT, and propulsion efficiency η given by (6)

1256 IET Electr. Power Appl., 2019, Vol. 13 Iss. 9, pp. 1255-1262
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2018
 M = Mr r + M θ θ where, Nc is the number of series connected coils per phase, Nt is
∞ ∞
(6) the number of turns in each coil.
= ∑ Mrncos npθ r + ∑ Mθnsin npθ θ For the integrated motor operated in BLDC mode, the line
n = 1, 3, 5⋯ n = 1, 3, 5⋯ back-EMF expressions can be found from the two phases, and the
phase current waveform is 120° electrical degree square wave. The
where phase current can be written in Fourier series, as (13)

4Br nπαr p 4Br nπαr p 4I

∞
1 kπ kπ
Mrn = sin , Mθn = − ,
π k =∑
cos iq = sin sin ⋅
μ0nπ 2 μ0nπ 2 k 2 3
1, 3, 5…
(13)
Br is the PM remanence. Specially, for motors without the Halbach 2π(q − 1)
sin k p(ωt − α0) −
array, Mθ = 0. 3
The magnetic flux density vector B1,3 in the air regions, and B2
The electromagnetic torque of the integrated motor can generally
in the PM region can be expressed as (7)
be calculated by (14).
B1, 3 = μ0H1, 3 3
(7) 1
ω q∑
B2 = μ0 μrH2 + μ0 M T em = Eqiq (14)
=1

where μr is the relative permeability, H = −grad φ, and φ is the

scalar magnetic potential. 3.3 Loss
The field produced by the Halbach array PMs can be described The iron loss of the integrated motor mainly includes the hysteresis
as (8) and eddy current loss in the stator core. In order to calculate the
eddy current loss, the waveform of the magnetic flux density is
∇2φ1, 3 = 0 required. By contrast, the hysteresis loss will not be affected by the
1 (8) magnetic field waveform, and only the peak value of the magnetic
∇2φ2 = divM field is required. In the case of non-sinusoidal magnetic flux
μr
distribution, the hysteresis and eddy current loss in the stator core
The boundary conditions that should be satisfied are shown as (9) can be calculated according to (15) and (16) [22]

Hθ1 r = Rs = 0
n
ph = kh ρscV scBsc , max f (15)
Hθ1 r = Rm = Hθ2 r = Rm , Br1 r = Rm = Br2 r = Rm 2
(9) ke ρscV sc dBsc
HθI 2 r = Rr = Hθ3 pe = (16)
r = Rr , Br2 r = Rr = Br3 r = Rr 2π 2 dt
Hθ3 r = R0 = 0
where ke and kh are the eddy current and hysteresis loss constants
The flux density in regions I, II, and III can be derived from (7)– per unit mass, respectively, ρsc and Vsc are the density and volume
(9). For the integrated motor, what we are concerned about is the of the stator core, respectively, and n is the Steinmetz constant,
radial component of the air gap flux density. When the initial rotor Bsc,max is the peak value of the magnetic flux density, and f is the
position relative to the polar axis is α0, and the rotor angular frequency.
velocity is ω = 2πn/60, the radial component of air gap flux density The mechanical loss of the integrated motor is mainly the
at time t can be written as (10). friction loss on the fluid dynamic bearings, which includes the
(see (10)) friction loss on the guide bearings pbg and the friction loss on the
thrust bearings pbt, and they can be expressed as (17) and (18),
3.2 Back EMF and electromagnetic torque respectively
The integrated motor is operated in square-wave BLDC model, and 1 D
full-pitch concentrated windings are placed and wye-connected. pbg = Gu ω (17)
102 2
The magnetic flux linked to one coil in qth (q = 1, 2, 3) phase can
be expressed as (11) 1
pbt = Turω (18)
((2π (q − 1))/3 p) + (π /2 p)
102
ϕq = RsLa ∫((2π (q − 1))/3 p) − (π /2 p)
Br (Rs, θ, t)dθ (11)
where G is the force of the motor rotor self-weight on the guide
bearing, μ is the friction coefficient of fluid dynamic bearings, D is
The qth phase back-EMF can be derived using Faraday's law, as the outer diameter of the guide bearing, and r is the average radius
(12), of the thrust bearing.

dϕq
Eq = − NcNt (12)
dt

Mθn − Mrn Rr np + 1 μr − 1 R0 2np Mθn + Mrn Rr 2np Rr np + 1 μr − 1 R 2np

∞ 1− 1− + − − 0
1 + np Rm μr + 1 Rr 1 − np Rm Rm μr + 1 Rr
Br1(r, θ, t) = ∑ μr − 1 Rr 2np
⋅
n = 1, 3, 5… R 2np Rm 2np μr − 1 μr − 1 Rm 2np μr − 1 R0 2np
− 0 − − −1 1− (10)
μr + 1 Rm Rm Rs μr + 1 μr + 1 Rs μr + 1 Rr
np + 1 np + 1
−μ0np r np − 1 Rm Rm
+ cos[np(θ − α0 − ωt)]
μr + 1 Rs Rs r
IET Electr. Power Appl., 2019, Vol. 13 Iss. 9, pp. 1255-1262 1257
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2018

Fig. 5 Calculation results of the Halbach array and no Halbach array, R0  thickness. As the integrated motor is operated in BLDC model and
= Rr = 156 mm, Rm = 164 mm, Rs = 168 mm, αrp = 0.7, p = 10, Br = 1.14T,
μr = 1.03
(a) The magnetic field distribution, (b) Comparison of the air gap flux density from
analytical and FEA method
Fig. 6 Calculation results of rotor core and no rotor core with the same
rotor thickness, Rm = 164 mm, Rs = 168 mm, αrp = 0.7, p = 10, Br = 1.14T,
μr = 1.03
(a) The magnetic field distribution, (b) Comparison of the air gap flux density from
analytical and FEA method
4 Optimisation of the rotor structure
4.1 Discussion of the rotor structure
2D FEA is also applied to the analysis of the Halbach array PM to
verify the analytical solution of magnetic field. Fig. 5a shows the
magnetic field distribution, by contrast, the flux line of no Halbach
1258
array PM is also presented. We can see that the rotor core flux of
the Halbach array is significantly smaller, this means that the
Halbach array will help to reduce the rotor core thickness. As can
be seen from Fig. 5b, the analytical solution of the air gap flux
density is in good agreement with the FEA result, so the analytical
solution of the Halbach array is reliable. In addition, the air gap
flux density of the Halbach array PM is larger than that of no
Halbach array.
As can be seen from the 3D model of the propeller in Fig. 3, the
Halbach array PMs can also be fixed directly on the rim of the
propeller, so this paper discusses whether a rotor core with high
magnetic permeability is necessary for the integrated motor. Fig. 6a
shows the comparison of the magnetic field distributions with/
without a rotor core, and the comparison of the air gap flux density
are illustrated in Fig. 6b. We can see that when without a rotor
core, the thicker PMs does not significantly increase the air gap
flux density. In other words, the absence of rotor core does not
contribute to reducing the integrated motor rotor thickness.
However, the rotor core can help to improve the magnetic field
distribution and allows the integrated motor to run steadily.
Therefore, for the integrated motor parameters in Fig. 6, although a
thinner rotor is expected, a rotor core is still necessary.
4.2 Optimisation of the Halbach array
Based on the analytical calculation of the magnetic field, this paper
expects to maximise the electromagnetic torque with the same PM
full-pitch concentrated windings are placed and wye-connected,
two phases are connected at any time, and the other phase is
disconnected. For the purpose of maximal electromagnetic torque,
when the qth phase are connected within 120° electrical degree, the
change of flux linked to one coil in the qth phase should be
maximised, and it can be expressed as (19)
(π /3 p)
ΔΦq = 2RsLa ∫ −(π /3 p)
Br1 Rs, θ, −
α0
ω
dθ (19)
To facilitate the study of the magnetic field, we define the average
effective air gap flux density BAE as (20)
(π /3 p)
Br1(Rs, θ, − (α0 /ω))dθ
BAE = ∫−(π /3 p) (2π/3p)
(20)
We can see that BAE is a function of the ratio of PM inner radius to
outer radius Rr/Rm, in the other word, PM thickness hm, magnet
ratio αrp, and pole-pair number p. For the halbach motor having
rotor core, BAE with changes of PM thickness, magnet ratio and
pole-pair number is illustrated in Fig. 7. As can be seen from
Figs. 7a and b, BAE increases as PM thickness is increased. When
magnet ratio increases to ∼0.72, BAE reaches its maximum, but the
further increase of magnet ratio will no longer contribute to
increasing BAE. In order to reduce the thickness of stator and rotor
cores, we expect that the pole-pair number is not <10, but as can be
seen from Fig. 7b, too many pole-pair number is not conducive to
increase BAE. For given PM thickness hm = 8 mm, BAE with
changes of magnet ratio and pole-pair number is shown in Fig. 7c,
we can easily get the optimised parameter combination of magnet
ratio and pole-pair number, αrp = 0.72, p = 10.
5 Discussion of the stator structure
The integrated motor works in seawater, which is beneficial for
cooling of the motor. Therefore, the current density of winding
wires can be increased to reduce the motor thickness. Moreover,
this paper also has tried three different stator structures to further
decrease the stator thickness. The first design does not use a stator
core, and the windings are directly fixed in the duct. In the second
design, the stator adopts a slotless structure. The third design uses a
conventional slotted stator core. The structure comparison of the
IET Electr. Power Appl., 2019, Vol. 13 Iss. 9, pp. 1255-1262
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2018
 Fig. 8 Three designs of the stator structure
(a) The first design: coreless, (b) The second design: slotless, (c) Third design: slotted

Table 3 Comparison of parameters for the coreless,

slotless, and slotted integrated motors
Parameters a b c
PM thickness, hm, mm 30 16 8
magnet ratio, αrp 0.5 0.7 0.72
pole-pair number, p 12 10 10
length, La, mm 50.6 42.7 41.3
air gap length, g, mm 4 4 4
rotational speed, n, rpm 900 900 900
rotor inner diameter, Dri, mm 300 300 300
rotor core thickness, hrc, mm — 6 6
stator outer diameter, Dso, mm 384 384 384
stator back-iron depth, hsb, mm — 6.8 9.2
stator slot number, Ns — — 60
stator tooth width, bt, mm — — 7.5

slotless designs, the two stator cores have the same peak flux
density.
iii. Taking into account material consumption and difficulty of
realisation, compare and evaluate the three designs of the
integrated motor stator.

Fig. 7 BAE with changes of PM thickness, magnet ratio and pole-pair
number, g = 4 mm, R0 = Rr = 156 mm, Br = 1.14 T, μr = 1.03, with rotor
core
(a) p = 10, (b) αrp = 0.7, (c) hm = 8 mm
three designs is shown in Fig. 8. It should be noted that the three
designs have the same output torque.
The design process of the three integrated motor stators is as
follows:
i. According to three different stator topologies, discuss the
necessity of rotor core, and optimise the Halbach array. Obtain
the optimised parameter combination of PM thickness, magnet
ratio, and pole-pair number.
ii. Calculate the winding and stator core parameters. As the
windings of the integrated motor are sealed with the
waterproof sealant, the covered wires fill factor can only be set
to ∼50%. On the other hand, thanks to good heat dissipation of
the integrated motor, the current density of winding copper
wires is set to ∼7 A/mm2. In addition, for the slotted and
The parameters of the coreless, slotless, and slotted motors are
given in Table 3. The rotor of the slotted design directly uses the
above optimisation results of the Halbach array. Therefore, this
design can also be used to evaluate the optimisation method of the
Halbach array. At the moment of Fig. 8c, Phase A and C are
conducting. Other design parameters remain unchanged, and
magnet ratio varies from 0.5 to 0.9. Static 2D FEA is used to
calculate the electromagnetic torque of the integrated motor at the
rated current of 26.7 A under different magnetic ratios. When the
electromagnetic torque reaches its maximum, the magnet ratio is
0.73, which is close to the optimisation result of the Halbach array.
Hence, the optimisation method in this paper is feasible.
Since the first design has no stator core, the PMs are designed
to be thick. After comparison and analysis, we found that the rotor
core is not necessary for the thick Halbach array PMs, and the PMs
can be directly fixed on the rim of the propeller. As can be seen
from the design results, although the coreless design avoids the
iron loss of the stator core, it increases the consumption of winding
copper wire, in other words, the copper loss increases. In addition,
the thicker PMs also increase the rotational inertia of the integrated
motor rotor, and this will not be conducive to the maneuverability

IET Electr. Power Appl., 2019, Vol. 13 Iss. 9, pp. 1255-1262 1259
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2018

Fig. 9 FEA results of the motor magnetic field
(a) The static magnetic field distribution, (b) The air gap flux density
Fig. 10 Prototype of the integrated motor and the IMP
of IMPs. When compared to the slotted design, the coreless and
slotless designs will consume more copper wires and more PM
materials. In the case of the same radial thickness, the axial length
of the first and second designs is larger, so the coreless and slotless
designs will not help to reduce the radial thickness. Moreover, the
fixing of the coreless and slotless motor windings is also a problem
in realisation. Therefore, the integrated motor in this paper will
adopt the slotted design.
6 Realisation and performance analysis
6.1 Analysis of the integrated motor
Transient 2D FEA with motion and power electronic circuit is used
to solve the electromagnetic field of the integrated motor, the
calculation results are shown as follows. Fig. 9a shows the static
magnetic field distribution. Thanks to the Halbach array with
unequal segment-arc, although the rotor core is relatively thin, the
flux lines in the rotor core are not very dense. The air gap flux
density of the integrated motor is exhibited in Fig. 9b. Despite the
large air gap, the peak of the air gap flux density still can reach
0.78 T.
The processing and assembly of the IMP prototype has been
completed, as shown in Fig. 10, and the back-EMF test and locked
rotor test are conducted in the air. Fig. 11 shows a comparison of
the calculated and experimental results of back-EMF at 900 rpm. It
can be seen that the experimental back-EMF are close to the
calculated results, but the peak of experimental back-EMF is
slightly lower than the calculated one, and this error can be
accepted in application.
1260
Fig. 11 Comparison of experimental and calculated back-EMF
Fig. 12 Locked torque with changes of winding current from both
experiment and calculation
Fig. 13 IMP prototype installation diagram and the composition of the
test system
When the propeller rotates in the air, some torque will be
consumed by the propeller blades, and the fluid dynamic bearings
have a greater friction loss in the air than in seawater. Therefore,
the load torque of the integrated motor when running in the air is
difficult to be accurately measured. Therefore, we lock the motor
rotor, change the winding current, and measure the locked torque,
the results of locked torque under different winding currents are
shown in Fig. 12. It should be noted that the locked torque is equal
to the electromagnetic torque at the same winding current. A good
agreement between the locked torque experimental data and the
calculated results can be observed.
6.2 Overall performance test
The performance test of the integrated motor in the overall IMP
system is conducted in the water tunnel. Fig. 13 exhibits the
composition of the test system and the IMP prototype installation
diagram. The integrated motor is powered by the DC power supply
via the motor drive, and the integrated motor drives the propeller to
rotate in the water tunnel. The propulsor produces forward thrust,
and this thrust can be measured by the force balance.
IET Electr. Power Appl., 2019, Vol. 13 Iss. 9, pp. 1255-1262
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2018

Fig. 14 Experimental and calculated results of the IMP prototype at flow
velocity 4.2 m/s
(a) Rotational speed versus input voltage, (b) Current versus input voltage
The flow velocity of the water tunnel is set to the design
advance velocity of the IMP. Change the input voltage of the IMP
prototype, and record the test results of rotational speed and input
current. The rotational speed and input current with changes of the
input voltage are shown in Figs. 14a and b, respectively. We can
see that the experimental rotational speed is slightly lower than the
calculated one. The measured input current is larger than the
calculated result, and as the speed increases, the difference between
the current measurement and calculation also increases. We predict
that the gap flow field between the integrated motor stator and
rotor creates resistance to the rim of the propeller, so that the motor
cannot reach the expected speed, and the integrated motor requires
more energy to drive the propeller.
During the experiment, the input power of the IMP prototype
can be calculated by the input voltage and current, and the IMP
thrust at the design velocity is measured by the force balance. We
can see that the IMP output thrust is less than expected, this is also
due to the friction loss in the gap flow field, so that the propeller
cannot reach the expected rotational speed. Therefore, it is
necessary to analyse the friction loss in the gap flow field.
6.3 Friction loss in the gap flow field
Different from the motor working in the air, the motor rotor may
experience larger frictional loss when working in water. The
friction loss on the integrated motor rotor in the gap flow field can
be divided into three parts: the inner surface, the outer surface, and
the end surface. To simplify the calculation, the rotor of the
integrated motor is simplified to a circular ring with the same
dimension. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is used to
calculate the friction loss. The computational domain has the
length of 10 diameters of the IMP with 5 diameters of the IMP in
the diameter. The structured mesh is applied in the domain, and the
mesh in the gap is fined enough to ensure the calculated velocities
in the boundary layers. The numerical simulation model and mesh
IET Electr. Power Appl., 2019, Vol. 13 Iss. 9, pp. 1255-1262
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2018
Fig. 15 CFD calculation of the friction loss in the gap flow field
(a) Numerical simulation model and mesh, (b) Velocity distribution
are shown in Fig. 15a. RANS solver SST k-ω turbulence model is
employed to calculate the frictional torque on the integrated motor
rotor in the gap flow field.
The rotational speed of the integrated motor rotor is 900 rmp,
and the flow velocity is 4.2 m/s. Fig. 15b show the calculation
result of velocity distribution of the IMP. The maximum velocity is
15.2 m/s, appearing in the gap flow field, so the friction loss is
mainly on the outer surface of the rotor. The calculated friction
torque is 2.83 N·m, which is 4.91% of the input torque of the
propulsor. As can be seen from the input current results of the IMP
prototype in Fig. 14b in the water tunnel test, when the input
voltage is rated voltage, the input current is 4.99% larger than
expected. Therefore, it can be inferred that the calculated friction
loss in the gap flow field is consistent with the experimental result.
7 Conclusion
The integrated motor is designed to have a two-segment Halbach
array with unequal segment-arc to enable a thin rotor and a large
air gap. This paper has presented the analytical model of the
magnetic field. The analytical solution is verified with the FEA
method, and is used to discuss the rotor structures of the integrated
motor. We find that the Halbach array with unequal segment-arc
can increase the air gap flux density and improve the air gap flux
density distribution, and the rotor core also helps to improve air
gap magnetic field. In addition, the optimised Halbach array with
maximal electromagnetic torque is found with the analytical
method. The design process of the integrated motor stator is
proposed. The coreless, slotless, and slotted designs of the stator
are evaluated and compared. We find that the coreless and slotless
designs consume more materials and will not help to reduce the
radial thickness of the integrated motor, so the slotted option is
adopted to complete the design. Meanwhile, based on the slotted
designs of the integrated motor, the optimisation method of the
Halbach array is validated using static FEA.
This paper has fabricated an IMP prototype, and a good
agreement between the experimental data and the calculated results
of the integrated motor are observed. Furthermore, the water tunnel
experiments of the IMP prototype are also conducted to test the
performance of the integrated motor in the overall IMP system. As
the IMP rotational speed and output thrust are less than expected,
the friction loss on the integrated motor rotor in the gap flow field
is calculated and analysed by CFD, and the calculated results show
that the friction loss is mainly on the outer surface of the rotor. The
future research on integrated motors should also consider the
friction loss mentioned and calculated in this paper.
1261
8 Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of
China (Grant No. 51479170 and No.11502210) and National Key
R&D Plan of China (Grant No. 2016YFC0301300). In addition,
the authors would also like to thank Mr. R. He for his support in
manufacturing the IMP prototype.
9 References
[1] Pan, G., Lu, L.: ‘Numerical simulation of steady hydrodynamic performance
for integrated motor propulsor on CFD’. Proc. Int. Conf. Virtual Real. Vis.,
Xi'an, China, 2013, pp. 15–20
[2] Brown, D.W., Repp, J.R., Taylor, O.S.: ‘Submersible outboard electric motor/
propulsor’, Nav. Eng. J., 1989, 101, (5), pp. 44–52
[3] Lea, M., Thompson, D., Van Blarcom, B., et al.: ‘Scale model testing of a
commercial rim driven propulsor pod’, J. Ship Prod., 2004, 19, (2), pp. 121–
130
[4] Kim, K., Turnock, S.R., Ando, J., et al.: ‘The propulsion committee: final
report and recommendations to the 25th ITTC’. Proc. Int. Towing Tank Conf.,
Fukuoka, Japan, 2008, pp. 115–121
[5] Yakovlev, A.Y., Sokolov, M.A., Marinich, N.V.: ‘Numerical design and
experimental verification of a rim-driven thruster’. Proc. 2nd Int. Symp.
Marine Propulsors, Hamburg, Germany, 2011
[6] Cao, Q.M., Hong, F.W., Tang, D.H., et al.: ‘Prediction of loading distribution
and hydrodynamic measurements for propeller blades in a rim driven
thruster’, J. Hydrodyn., 2012, 24, (1), pp. 50–57
[7] Hsieh, M.F., Chen, J.H., Yeh, Y.H., et al.: ‘Integrated design and realization of
a hubless rim-driven thruster’. Proc. IEEE 33rd Annu. Conf. IECON, Taipei,
November 2007, pp. 3033–3038
[8] Sharkh, S.M., Lai, S.H.: ‘Slotless PM brushless motor with helical edge-
wound laminations’, IEEE Trans. Energy Conv., 2009, 24, (3), pp. 594–598
[9] Lai, S.H., Sharkh, S.M.: ‘Structurally integrated slotless PM brushless motor
with spiral wound laminations for marine thrusters’. Proc. 3rd Int. Conf.
Power Electron. Mach. Drives, Dublin, 2006, pp. 106–110
[10] Liang, J.H., Zhang, X.F., Qiao, M.Z., et al.: ‘Optimal design and multifield
coupling analysis of propelling motor used in a novel integrated motor
propeller’, IEEE Trans. Magn., 2013, 49, (12), pp. 5742–5748
1262
[11] Krøvel, Ø., Nilssen, R., Skaar, S.E., et al.: ‘Design of an integrated 100 kW
permanent magnet synchronous machine in a prototype thruster for ship
propulsion’. Proc. Int. Conf. Elect. Mach., Cracow, Poland, 2004, pp. 117–
123
[12] Krøvel, Ø.: ‘Design of large permanent magnetized synchronous
electricmachines’. PhD thesis, Dept. Elect. Pow. Eng., Norwegian Univ. Sci.
Tech., 2011
[13] Sharkh, S.M., Lai, S.H., Turnock, S.R.: ‘A structurally integrated brushless
PM motor for miniature propeller thrusters’, IEE Proc. Electr. Power Appl.,
2004, 151, (5), pp. 513–519
[14] Shen, Y., Hu, P., Jin, S., et al.: ‘Design of novel shaftless pump-Jet propulsor
for multi-purpose long-range and high-speed autonomous underwater
vehicle’, IEEE Trans. Magn., 2016, 52, (7), pp. 1–4
[15] Li, J., Chau, K.T.: ‘A novel HTS PM vernier motor for direct-drive
propulsion’, IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 2011, 21, (3), pp. 1175–1179
[16] Hassannia, A., Darabi, A.: ‘Design and performance analysis of
superconducting rim-driven synchronous motors for marine propulsion’,
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 2014, 24, (1), pp. 40–46
[17] Tuohy, P.M., Smith, A.C., Husband, M.: ‘Induction rim-drive for a marine
propulsor’. Proc. IET Int. Conf. Power Electron., Machines and Drives,
Brighton, U.K., 2010, pp. 1–6
[18] Tuohy, P.M., Smith, A.C., Husband, M., et al.: ‘Rim-drive marine thruster
using a multiple-can induction motor’, IET Electr. Power Appl., 2013, 7, (7),
pp. 557–565
[19] Richardson, K.M., Pollock, C., Flower, J.O.: ‘Design of a switched reluctance
motor for an integrated motor/propeller unit’. Proc. IEE 7th Int. Conf. Elect.
Mach. Drives, Durham, NC, September 1995, pp. 271–275
[20] Xia, Z.P., Zhu, Z.Q., Howe, D.: ‘Analytical magnetic field analysis of halbach
magnetized permanent-magnet machines’, IEEE Trans. Magn., 2004, 40, (4),
pp. 1864–1872
[21] Shen, Y., Zhu, Z.Q.: ‘General analytical model for calculating electromagnetic
performance of permanent magnet brushless machines having segmented
Halbach array’, IET Electr. Syst. Transp., 2013, 3, (3), pp. 57–66
[22] Hanselman, D.C.: ‘Brushless permanent magnet motor design’ (Magna
Physics Publishing, Lebanon, Ohio, 2006, 2nd edn.)
IET Electr. Power Appl., 2019, Vol. 13 Iss. 9, pp. 1255-1262
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2018