2022 The 4th Asia Energy and Electrical Engineering Symposium
Design and Simulation of Permanent Magnet
Brushless DC Motor for Small-sized load UAV
Chuanhui Zhu Congli Mei*
The college of electrical The college of electrical
engineering engineering
Zhejiang University of Water Zhejiang University of Water
Resources and Electric Power Resources and Electric Power
HangZhou, China HangZhou, China
zhchh@zjweu.edu.cn meicl@zjweu.edu.cn
2022 4th Asia Energy and Electrical Engineering Symposium (AEEES) | 978-1-6654-7914-1/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/AEEES54426.2022.9759818
Wei Yao
The college of electrical
engineering
Zhejiang University of Water
Resources and Electric Power
HangZhou, China
yaowei@zjweu.edu.cn
Abstract—With the development of the economy, the cost of
UAV R&D and production was reduced, and it was widely used
in video aerial photography, agriculture and forestry, industry,
rescue, and public safety. UAVs have become one of the popular
high-tech industries. Aiming at the characteristics of the use of
Small-sized load UAV, a permanent magnet brushless DC motor
was designed, and simulation processing was performed to
analyze the performance of the motor. The motor was adopted a
24-slot 10-pole structure, an inner rotor form, a rated output
power of 120 W, a rated voltage of 113V, the permanent magnet
material is rubidium iron boron NdFe35, the rotor outer
diameter is 25 mm, and the rotor inner diameter is 10 mm. The
results show that the flux density and flux linkage distribution of
the motor were concentrated in the stator slots during transient,
and the magnetic lines of force were evenly distributed inside the
motor. The time for the cogging torque to form a cycle is 16.3 ms,
and the peak value at 8 ms is 4.2 N∙m.
Keywords—Permanent magnet brushless DC motor, UAV,
motor simulation, electromagnetic field, cogging torque
I. INTRODUCTION
With the continuous development and innovation of
science and technology, the development of remote control
technology and image processing technology, small UAV has
been applied in many fields, including: public safety, aerial
photography, disaster rescue and search, consumer
entertainment, industrial and agricultural production, etc.
UAVs can be deployed quickly, grasp information, and the
aerial perspective provides a more scientific basis for decision-
making, suitable for various dangerous environments, and
gaining information from the front line. However, with the
continuous expansion of UAV application fields, the types of
applications have increased, such as increasing the battery life
and mileage, providing clearer and more accurate images,
* Corresponding author: Congli Mei.
Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power.
978-1-6654-7914-1/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE
Authorized licensed use limited to: Nirma University Institute of Technology. Downloaded on April 29,2022 at 07:20:28 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Guoqin Zhang Tao Peng
The college of electrical The college of electrical
engineering engineering
Zhejiang University of Water Zhejiang University of Water
Resources and Electric Power Resources and Electric Power
HangZhou, China HangZhou, China
zhgq@zjweu.edu.cn pengt@zjweu.edu.cn
Antai Han
The college of electrical
engineering
Zhejiang University of Water
Resources and Electric Power
HangZhou, China
hanat@zjweu.edu.cn
requiring more functional services, and providing small-piece
transportation services. Therefore, it is necessary to design an
unmanned aerial vehicle with a certain carrying function. The
most important part of this is the design of the drive motor of
the unmanned aerial vehicle. The motor is an important part of
the UAV's power system. It converts electrical energy into
mechanical energy for the UAV to use. With the continuous
improvement of my country's permanent magnet material
production technology and the continuous update of permanent
magnet motor technology, PBLDC motors are used in UAVs.
In the case of the same output power, it is beneficial to reduce
the size of the motor and reduce the weight of the motor.
Improve the power density of the motor. Moreover, the
PBLDC motor also has good mechanical characteristics and
adjustment characteristics; the structure of brushes and
collector rings is eliminated; the speed range is wide, the
overload capacity is strong; the volume is small and the weight
is light; high reliability and stability [1]-[3].
Scholars at home and abroad have done more research on
PBLDC motors. Mainly focus on the influence of the motor's
inner and outer rotor structure, slot size [4], motor permanent
magnet shape, permanent magnet segmentation, etc. on the
motor leakage coefficient [5], cogging torque [6], and motor
loss. Research on motor simulation includes motor overload
multiple, starting torque, efficiency map, etc. Bogusz (2017) [7]
designed and analyzed a Brushless DC motor 24/20 with
permanent magnets for hybrid drive of UAV. Original circuit-
based mathematical model of brushless DC motor with
permanent magnets which takes into account the nonlinearity
of the magnetic circuit was presented. The result shows that the
commutation angle variation allows obtaining required power
on the shaft of the hybrid drive at maximum speed n = 8000
rpm. Waveforms of chosen parameters of the machine in
different operation modes (starter, motor and generator) could
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be determined based on the simulation model. Bogusz (2011) called stator split ratio, which is an important design parameter
[8], (2013) [9] present results of simulation and laboratory of PBLDC motor. Here, set the outer diameter of the motor
tests of a BLDC motor designed to a hybrid drive for a small stator to 60 mm, the inner diameter of the stator to 26 mm, and
unmanned aerial vehicle with total rated power of 1.6 kW. This the length of the stator to be 30 mm. The working air gap of the
was a design with 12 stator teeth, 2p=7, and external rotor. motor is 0.5mm.
Preliminary analysis of the 12/14 design proved that it meets
the power-related requirements at 8000 rpm. At the same time, The different thicknesses of the permanent magnet
the 12/14 design was characterized by significant materials used in the motor are determined according to the
electromagnetic torque ripples. To obtain a minimum required calculation method of the magnetic circuit design. The
starting torque, it would be necessary to increase either the thickness of the magnet depends on the size of the air gap,
overall dimensions of the motor or the maximum value of armature reaction, etc. Generally, the thickness of ferrite can be
supply current. Korkosz (2013) [10] presented tests results of selected from 6 to 8 mm, and the thickness of rare earth
influence of windings configuration on properties of BLDC permanent magnet can be selected from 2 to 4 mm. The
motor designed to parallel hybrid drive of unmanned aerial relationship between the air gap magnetic flux and the
vehicle. The result shows that by adopting the delta connection thickness of the magnetic steel is not linear. Simply increasing
for windings, it is possible to obtain about 20%-increase in the the thickness of the magnetic steel cannot make the air gap
produced electromagnetic torque. Blazek (2015) [11] made magnetic flux meet the expected requirements. Moreover,
indicative measurement of the electromagnetic energy increasing the amount of magnetic steel also increases the cost
radiation of the set of BLDC motors of different power drive [15]. Here, the thickness of the permanent magnet material was
and construction. The measurement methodology of 2.6mm. The basic parameters of the motor obtained by
Executable and Linkable Format ELF and LF leakage magnetic calculation were shown in Table 1.
field by help of the four channel digital magnetometer using TABLE I. BASIC PARAMETERS OF THE MOTOR
data recording and subsequent mathematical and graphical parameter name Numerical value
processing of these data is solved.
Rated power/W 120
In summary, for small load-carrying UAV, motors need to Rated voltage/V 113
output more power than traditional small UAV. Through
literature research, the PBLDC motor was used as the research Number of stator slots 24
object. By designing the structure and size of the motor stator, Number of pole pairs/p 10
rotor, air gap, etc., and using software to simulate the
Stator outer diameter/mm 60
efficiency, cogging torque, and magnetic force density
distribution of the designed motor. The section 2 introduced Stator inner diameter/mm 26
PBLDC Motor design and simulation, Section 3 introduced Rotor outer diameter/mm 25
Results and analysis, and Section 4 introduced Conclusion.
Rotor inner diameter/mm 10
II. PBLDC MOTOR DESIGN AND SIMULATION Stator and rotor material M19_24G
The motor is the main power source of the UAV system, Length of stator and rotor/mm 30
and the main basis for the design of the motor needs to Working air gap/mm 0.5
comprehensively consider the various states and applications of
the UAV in flight. In addition to considering factors such as Permanent magnet material NdFe35
electromagnetic load, torque, speed, efficiency, etc., the Permanent magnet thickness/mm 2.6
volume and temperature rise of the motor must also be
considered. And it needs to comply with national motor design B. Import Data and Simulate
standards. The basic requirements [12], [13] include that the
Input the determined parameters and the initial parameters
motor should have frequent acceleration and deceleration. The
based on experience into the RMxprt module in ANSYS and
motor should have good speed regulation performance, and the
perform preliminary simulation analysis. The motor structure
efficient operation area should be as wide as possible. The
was shown in Fig. 1, the basic structure of the motor (a) and
motor should meet the UAV's requirements for volumetric
armature winding mode and structure (b).
performance. The motor should be capable of high efficiency
and low loss. The motor should have high altitude and low
temperature environment requirements.
A. The Main Parameters of the PBLDC Motor
Set the rated output power of the motor to 120 W and the
rated voltage to 113 V. 24-slot 10-pole structure [14]. The
rotation mode was the inner rotor form. The permanent magnet
material was rubidium iron boron NdFe35, and the armature
core material was M19_24G. When setting the stator of an (a) The basic structure of the motor. (b) Armature winding mode and structure.
inner rotor motor, its outer diameter is pre-defined by the given
space conditions and what needs to be determined is the inner Fig. 1. The motor structure.
diameter of the stator. The ratio of inner and outer diameter is

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 The data shown in Figure 2 was the simulation result of the
no-load state. Through analysis, in the no-load state, the no-
load speed was 1464 r/min, and the average air gap magnetic
density was about 0.72 Tesla. Figure 3 shows the full-load
simulation data of the motor. The output power was 120 W,
and the efficiency can reach 86.86%. The comparison between
the simulation data and the design target shows a high degree
of agreement, which can be used as a reference basis.
distribution of the motor. From Fig. 5, it could be observed that
the magnetic flux of the motor was mainly concentrated in the
stator slots at this time state, and only a small part of it
overflows. Most of the magnetic flux acts on the stator winding.
Figure 6 shows the distribution of the dense cloud vector of the
transient magnetic flux of the motor. It can be seen from Figure
6 that at the stator slots of the motor, 5 large magnetic field
cycles and 5 small magnetic field cycles were formed, and they
alternate. Therefore, a relatively stable magnetic field
environment can be provided for the motor during the rotation
of the rotor, and the working stability of the motor can be
improved.

Fig. 2. Simulation results in no-load state. Fig. 3. Full load state parameters.

C. Maxwell Module Electromagnetic Simulation Parameters

Mesh the motor. The grid size of the stator, rotor and slots
was up to 4 mm. The maximum grid size of the permanent
magnet was 3 mm. Set the model simulation time to 20 ms and Fig. 5. Distribution of dense clouds of transient magnetic flux
the time step to 250 us. The initial starting angle of the motor
was 30 degrees. Import the above-mentioned corrected
parameter values into the Maxwell module, and generate a 2D
motor model. Carry out finite element analysis on the designed
motor model, solve and view the results. The state of the motor
at 6.5 ms was selected for analysis. Fig. 4 shows the grid
division diagram of the motor at this time. It can be seen from
the figure that the grids of the stator yoke and the rotor tooth
end were relatively fine.

Fig. 6. Meshing of the motor.

Fig. 4. Meshing of the motor.

III. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

A. Analysis of the Transient Magnetic Field of the Motor
The state of the motor at 6.5 ms was selected for analysis.
Figure 5 shows the transient magnetic flux density cloud Fig. 7. Distribution of dense clouds of transient magnetic flux.

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 Fig. 7 was the distribution diagram of the magnetic field
lines of the motor, and the motor state at 6.5 ms was also
selected. It can be seen from the figure that the distribution of
the magnetic field lines of the motor was relatively uniform,
consistent with the dense cloud distribution of magnetic flux.
Five large magnetic field cycles and five small magnetic field
cycles were formed, and they appeared alternately.
B. Cogging Torque
Cogging torque was unique to permanent magnet motors,
and its size also directly affects the torque ripple of the motor.
In the simulation calculation of cogging torque, the motor
speed was set to 0.5~1deg/sec. When calculating the cogging
torque, the more sampling points were selected, the smoother
the curve will be, and the corresponding calculation time will
be longer. Figure 8 shows the transient cogging torque curve of
the motor. It can be seen from the figure that the time for
cogging torque to form a cycle was 16.3 ms, the peak value
was 4.2 N∙m at 8 ms, the curve as a whole shows a hyperbolic
trend, and the overall rotation of the rotor has a strong
regularity and changes periodically. Figure 9 shows the
cogging torque when the motor was under no load. It can be
seen from the figure that the angle at which the cogging torque
forms a cycle was 35 deg. The peak value was 4.6 N∙m at 27
deg. It was basically consistent with the peak cogging torque in
the transient state, which meets the load requirement.
Fig. 8. Transient cogging torque.
Fig. 9. Cogging torque at no load.
C. Motor Loss under Load
Add current source excitation to the established 2D model.
There were iron loss and copper loss in the actual operation of
the motor. Figure 10 shows the iron loss curve and the
distribution diagram on the motor model after the simulation. It
can be seen from the figure that the iron loss was mainly
concentrated in the joint part of the stator slot and the slot, and
this place was also the force-receiving part during the operation
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of the motor. Therefore, when designing the motor, it was
necessary to consider the material properties and stressed
conditions at this place, which were the key parts that affect the
life of the motor. The maximum iron loss occurs at 10.5 ms,
and the magnitude was 63 W. The iron loss value here was
relatively large because the stator slot number of the motor was
relatively large.
Fig. 10. Iron loss curve and distribution diagram.
Fig. 11 shows the copper loss curve after the simulation. It
can be seen from the figure that the copper loss changes
periodically, with a period of 10 ms and a peak value of 205 W
at 8.5 ms. This is because the winding occupies more than half
of the stator circumferential space, and the number of windings
was 360 turns, so the copper loss was small.
Fig. 11. Copper loss curve.
IV. CONCLUSION
Through the analysis of the application conditions of the
small-sized unmanned aerial vehicle, the PBLDC motor was
selected as the power source of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
The design power was 200 W, and the preliminary basic
parameters of the calculation were calculated through
simulation to obtain the no-load parameters of the motor and
the transient characteristics of the load. The main conclusions
include: the designed PBLDC motor had a 24-slot 10-pole
structure and adopted a double-layer 360-turn winding form. In
transient state, the flux density and flux linkage distribution of
the motor were concentrated in the stator slots, and the
magnetic lines of force were evenly distributed inside the
motor. The time for the cogging torque to form a cycle was
16.3 ms, and the peak value at 8 ms was 4.2 N∙m. At the stator
slots of the motor, 5 large magnetic field cycles and 5 small
magnetic field cycles were formed, and they alternate. Under
full-load operating conditions, the efficiency can reach 86.86%.
The future direction of work is to continuously optimize the
motor and make a test machine for experiments.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported in part by the General project of
Science and Technology Plan of Zhejiang Water Resources
Department (RC2078, RC1848, RC2071, RC2072, RB1927);
in part by Open research fund program of key laboratory for
technology in rural water management of Zhejiang province
(ZJWEU-RWM-20200401A); in part by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China under Grant (61875250), and
Grant (61975189); in part by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural
Science Foundation of China under Grant (LD21F050001);in
part by the Key Research and Development Project of Zhejiang
Province under Grant (2021C03019).
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