2062 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 63, NO.
4, APRIL 2016
Development of a Yokeless and Segmented
Armature Axial Flux Machine
B. Zhang, T. Seidler, R. Dierken, and M. Doppelbauer
Abstract—This paper is about the mechanical design and
analysis of a yokeless and segmented armature axial flux
permanent-magnet (PM) synchronous machine, which con-
sists of two external rotors and an inner stator. Although
this new electrical machine has many advantages such
as high torque density, shorter axial length, and high effi-
ciency, its mechanical construction is yet challenging. This
is mostly due to the high axial force between the stator
and the two rotors, which can be further increased by the
inevitable manufacturing and assembly tolerances. Based
on the determined geometric dimensions of the electro-
magnetically relevant components, a reliable mechanical
construction is developed in this paper. Subsequently,
stress, deformation, thermal, and modal analyses are per-
formed based on finite-element method (FEM). Finally, the
first prototype is successfully manufactured and measured.
It can be concluded that the proposed construction is reli-
able and the measured data match well with the results of
the electromagnetic analysis.
Index Terms—Axial flux machine (AFM), finite-element
analysis, finite-element method (FEM), mechanical design,
soft magnetic composites (SMCs), thermal analysis, yoke-
less and segmented armature structure.
I. I NTRODUCTION
O WING to the rapid development in material science such
as permanent magnets (PMs) with high energy den-
sity, the performance of conventional electrical machines has
been considerably improved during the last decades. In addi-
tion, many novel topologies of electrical machines have been
proposed based on newly developed materials such as soft
magnetic composites (SMCs), which shows high electric resis-
tance and isotropy [1]–[5]. In the research project “Conception
and Analysis of a novel Electrical Machine based on the Soft
Magnetic Composites”, which is supported by Daimler AG and
PMG Füssen GmbH, the application of SMC in the field of
electrical machines, especially with respect to the usage in the
electrical vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, is being investi-
gated in the Institute of Electrical Engineering at the Karlsruhe
Institute of Technology (KIT).
Manuscript received June 13, 2015; revised August 11, 2015 and
September 15, 2015; accepted October 05, 2015. Date of publication
November 12, 2015; date of current version March 8, 2016.
B. Zhang, T. Seidler, and M. Doppelbauer are with the Department of
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Karlsruhe Institute
of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany (e-mail: bo.zhang@kit.edu).
R. Dierken is with the Mechanical Engineering Department,
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany (e-mail:
richarddierken@aol.com).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIE.2015.2500194
0278-0046 © 2015 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
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In comparison with the conventional radial flux machine
(RFM), the axial flux machine (AFM) exhibits many distin-
guished advantages such as high torque density, short axial
length, and high efficiency [6]–[12]. Based on a detailed
electromagnetic analysis and a comparison of many different
topologies of electrical machines, the yokeless and segmented
armature axial flux machine (YASA) with double-layer concen-
trated winding has been found as the most suitable candidate for
the application of SMC considering the specific requirements of
machine size, PM mass, and the maximum voltage and current
of the specified inverter [13]–[17]. The topology comprises two
external rotors and an inner stator, which consists of many inde-
pendent stator segments. Because of the complex structure and
the high axial force between the stator and the rotors, which can
further increase the asymmetrical air gaps, the mechanical con-
struction is very challenging [18]–[23]. In order to validate the
developed construction, the stress and deformation analyses,
the thermal and the modal analyses are indispensable [24]–[27].
In this paper, the YASA topology and the SMC material
are introduced. Based on the detailed electromagnetic anal-
ysis, the parameters of the motor are determined [28]–[34].
Subsequently, the mechanical construction and the analysis of
stator and rotor are discussed, respectively. It should be noted
that the PM is mounted on the surface of the rotor yoke so that
a large amount of eddy current and heat are generated conse-
quently [35]–[37]. For this reason, an adhesive test is performed
to determine the allowable mechanical stress of the adopted
adhesive depending on the temperature. Furthermore, the selec-
tion and analysis of the bearings are investigated considering
the possible high axial force. Based on the developed construc-
tion, the thermal and modal analyses of the whole machine
are then carried out. Considering the complex structure of the
machine, the coupled thermal and fluid dynamic analysis is
adopted to calculate the airflow and thermal field based on the
calculated losses from the electromagnetic analysis [38], [39].
Through the above finite-element method (FEM)-aided anal-
ysis, it can be concluded that the mechanical construction is
feasible and reliable. Finally, the prototype is manufactured and
measured in the self-developed test bench. The measured data
match well with the results of the electromagnetic analysis.
II. YASA AND SMC
Different from the conventional RFMs, the main magnetic
flux of axial flux PM machine (AFPM) in the air gap flows
along the axial direction in the air gap, which leads to totally
different characteristics. There are many different topologies of
ZHANG et al.: DEVELOPMENT OF YASA 2063

TABLE I
M AIN PARAMETERS OF YASA

Fig. 1. YASA.

AFPM. The AFPM with one-stator-two-rotors and two-stators-

one-rotor are the most attractive, which are usually called as
Torus and axial flux motor with internal rotor (AFIR) topol-
ogy. The internal rotor arrangement uses fewer PMs at the
expense of more winding, while the internal-stator arrangement
is considered advantageous when space is limited, mechanical
robustness is required, and the torque-to-volume ratio is crucial.
The newly developed YASA can be considered as a further
development of the traditional TORUS topology, where the sta-
tor yoke is needed to conduct the magnetic flux. The YASA
consists of two external rotors with surface-mounted PM and an
Fig. 2. One-pole pair model of YASA and the no-load flux density.
internal stator comprising several segments with concentrated
winding, as shown in Fig. 1.
Compared with other topologies, the YASA has many distin-
guished advantages. First, the concentrated winding with short
overhang results in a high filling factor and low copper losses.
In addition, the area of the air gaps is large, especially when a
limited size is required. In addition, the reduced mutual induc-
tances among the machine phases improve phase independency
and fault tolerance. Finally, due to the absence of the stator
Fig. 3. Stator segment and rotor yoke made from SMC.
yoke, the stator weight and losses are obviously reduced and
the efficiency is improved.
Considering the existing three-dimensional (3-D) magnetic kept in a low level. The one pole-pair model with local magnetic
flux in the rotor yoke and stator segments, the SMC is used flux density indicated with small arrows and the corresponding
for the production of these components. It consists of many flux density magnitude without electrical loading are illustrated
tiny surface-insulated iron particles. The prealloyed or pure iron in Fig. 2. The PMs with inverse polarity are indicated with green
powder is first uniformly mixed with the insulation material, and red colors, respectively.
which can be organic, inorganic, or a combination of both, and It is noted that the flux density of the stator segment aligned
some other additives such as binder and lubricant. The mixture with PM is higher than the other two segments for the cur-
is compacted and then heat-treated to form uniform isotropic rent rotor position, as the flux from the PM flows through the
components with complex shapes in a single step. Because of segment. A further reduction in flux density by enlarging the
the special structure, the mechanical and electromagnetic prop- section surface area of stator segment leads to an unacceptable
erties of SMC are lower than that of conventional electrical high electrical loading.
steel. The magnets are skewed to reduce the torque ripple [41],
The transient analysis method is adopted to investigate the [42]. Furthermore, great attention is paid to design the stator
performance of the YASA, so that the eddy current losses in segment in order to avoid the stress concentration and high
PM can be considered. Based on the detailed electromagnetic magnetic saturation. The manufactured rotor yoke and the stator
analysis, the geometric dimensions of all electromagnetically segments are shown in Fig. 3.
relevant components are determined considering the specifi-
cations of the machine size, PM mass, and inverter from the
industrial partners [40]. Some of them are listed in Table I. III. C ONSTRUCTION AND A NALYSIS OF THE S TATOR
Because of the high hysteresis losses of SMC in the low- In this section, the mechanical construction and analysis
frequency range, the no load flux density in the YASA should be of the stator are described. First, the main challenges and
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2064 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 63, NO. 4, APRIL 2016

the ultimate mechanical construction are explained in detail.

Subsequently, the stress and strain analyses are performed.

A. Mechanical Construction
There are mainly three subsystems belonging to the stator:
1) the system to hold the stator segments; 2) the water-cooling
system; and 3) the electrical system to distribute the current
evenly in three phases. The first subsystem is aimed to locate
the stator segments accurately, which should also be firmly held
during the operation of the YASA. Meanwhile, the structural
complexity and the cost of the subsystem must be limited. In
order to achieve the above targets, the following aspects should
be considered.
1) The mechanical strength of SMC has been consistently
improved but is still limited compared with electrical
steel. For this reason, the stator segments should not suffer
large forces due to the interaction of the magnetic fields
produced by the concentrated winding and the PM.
2) Due to the short axial length of the air gap and the space Fig. 4. Cut view of assembled stator.
needed for the concentrated winding and the shaft, there
is only very limited space available.
3) The axial force can dramatically increase due to the asym-
metric air gap length between the stator and the two
external rotors as a result of the inevitable manufacturing
and assembly tolerances.
4) Certain manufacturing processes that influence the elec-
tromagnetic characteristics of the SMC, e.g., drilling,
cannot be allowed.
5) In order to reduce the required manufacturing accuracy of
components, the assembly difficulty, and the system cost,
the number of system components should be as few as
possible.
In order to enable a higher electrical loading and continuous
power, a water-cooling system is embedded in the machine. The
aim of the subsystem is to transfer the heat of the copper losses Fig. 5. Comparison of different materials.
and the iron losses to the water. The thermal resistance between
the thermal source and the subsystem should be as small as pos- low thermal expansion coefficient are required. In addition,
sible, so that the heat can be dissipated as fast as possible to because of the existence of the main magnetic flux in the air
avoid the overheating of the stator. gap, the electrical resistance should be high to limit the induced
The objective of the electrical subsystem is distributing the eddy current in the plates. At last, a low permeability is nec-
current evenly in three phases. There are 36 coils in the stator, essary so that the magnetic field is not influenced. Fig. 5 gives
which belong to three phases and each phase has six parallel a comparison of many different materials with respect to the
paths. Considering the limited space, the subsystem must be maximum operating temperature and the electrical resistivity.
compact and robust. With respect to the desired high electrical resistivity, the
Based on consistent changes and improvements, the ultimate manufacturing difficulty and the cost, the electromagnetic prop-
mechanical construction of the stator is determined, as shown erty, and the maximum working temperature of the stator,
in Fig. 4. The stator segments belonging to the same phase have which is lower than 300◦ C, the polyetheretherketone (PEEK)
the same color. All stator segments with the concentrated wind- is finally selected to produce the plates. Although the PEEK
ing are fixed with the help of two annular plates. There are 36 has high price and manufacturing costs, it is used to guaranty
openings on both plates, which have the same shape as the shoe the functionality of the first prototype.
of the stator segment, so that the motion of the segments along Five parallel-connected copper pipes are used for the water-
the tangential and radial directions can be well prevented. cooling system of the stator. In order to export the generated
Since the deformation of the plates must be kept as small as heat as quickly as possible, the water-cooling system is placed
possible because of the short axial length of the air gap, the elas- as near as possible to the stator segments and the winding.
tic modulus and the yield stress should be very high. In addition, In addition, the empty space among the components is filled
a high temperature during the operation of the YASA can be with an epoxy with high thermal conductivity. This reduces
reached. Hence, a high allowable working temperature and a the thermal resistance significantly. Another advantage is that
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ZHANG et al.: DEVELOPMENT OF YASA
Fig. 6. Electrical system of the stator.
Fig. 7. Stator segment before and after the casting with epoxy resin.
all components are solidly assembled, so that the stability and
robustness of the stator are obviously improved. If necessary,
the surfaces of both sides should be milled after the assem-
bly to eliminate the errors induced by the manufacturing and
assembly. Thereby, the required surface flatness and symmetry
of both air gaps are realized.
The electrical system is illustrated in Fig. 6, which is used
to connect all concentrated stator segment windings with the
current source.
With help of three copper rings and the corresponding copper
bars, the current from the three phase of the inverter is evenly
distributed within the concentrated windings. The fourth cop-
per ring located on the opposite side is used to connect the star
point. Since the neutral point becomes accessible, the voltage
of each phase can be directly measured.
Considering the high cost of SMC, the stator segment-casting
process is performed in two steps. 1) Each stator segment with
the concentrated winding is cast with epoxy resin in a specifi-
cally developed casting mold. The electrical copper resistance
and the insulation resistance of each segment are checked.
2) All components are then cast together. One stator segment
with concentrated winding before and after casting is shown in
Fig. 7.
B. Analysis of the Stator
The developed construction was tested with respect to the
stress and strain. It should be noted that all the above analyses
are based on 3-D FEM, in order to achieve a high accuracy.
Considering the periodic symmetry, it is only necessary to
analyze one pole-pair model of the YASA.
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2065
TABLE II
TANGENTIAL AND A XIAL F ORCES ON S TATOR S EGMENTS
Fig. 8. Equivalent stress and total deformation of stator for uneven air
gaps.
TABLE III
M AXIMUM S TRESS AND D EFORMATION OF S TATOR C OMPONENTS
The forces on the stator segments are required for the
calculation of stress and deformation. They can be determined
from the electromagnetic analysis. The force along the radial
direction is small and neglectable compared with the forces
along the tangential and axial directions. In addition, the forces
on the stator segments are depending on the rotor position, the
current phase angle, and the axial length of air gap. Thus, the
mechanical analysis should be carried out for the maximum
current and the most critical position. For this case, the resul-
tant force on the stator segments is the largest. The values of
tangential (Ft ) and the axial force (Fa ) are listed in Table II.
It could be noted that forces between the stator and rotors are
very different, when the air gaps are not symmetrical. In this
case, a large axial force is applied on the stator. For instance, the
equivalent stress and the total deformation of stator segments
are illustrated in Fig. 8 for the case that both air gaps are equal
to 0.2 and 1.8 mm, respectively.
The tensile strength Rm , the maximum equivalent stress
σmax , and deformation δmax of the crucial stator components
for symmetrical and asymmetrical air gaps corresponding to
Table II are listed in Table III.
From the results of the above analysis, it is clear that both
the stress and the deformation increase rapidly, when the air
gaps become asymmetric. However, even for the most extreme
2066
Fig. 9. Assembled stator of YASA after casting.
case, the mechanical stress and the deformation are much lower
than the yield strength of the material and the air gap length,
respectively. The final assembled stator of YASA prepared for
the casting is illustrated in Fig. 9.
IV. C ONSTRUCTION AND A NALYSIS OF THE R OTOR
In this section, the mechanical construction and analysis
of the rotor are introduced. First, the design of the bearings
is explained in detail. Subsequently, the construction of the
rotor and the adhesive performance test are introduced. On this
basis, the stress and strain analyses of the shaft and rotor are
performed.
A. Design of Bearing Arrangement
When the axial length of both air gaps is ideal, there would be
no axial forces on the bearing. However, as already emphasized,
there will be high forces between the stator and the rotors due
to the asymmetric air gaps caused by the manufacturing and
assembly tolerances. In addition, the shaft distortion due to the
thermal deformation must also be considered.
Considering the above requirements, a fixed-floating bear-
ing arrangement has been selected. The fixed bearing should
withstand radial and axial force to fix the shaft axially in both
directions. Because of the strong dependence between the force
and the air gaps, as shown in the Table II, the precision and
rigidity of the fixed bearing must be suitably high. The floating
bearing should only provide radial support and not be fixed, to
enable the axial free displacement. Based on the above consid-
erations, two spindle bearings have been used as fixed bearing
and one conventional deep groove ball bearing has been used
as floating bearing, as shown in Fig. 10. A locknut is used to
perform the preload of the spindle bearings.
In order to reduce the system costs and the required design
efforts, all bearings are sealed on both sides and lubricated
for a lifetime. The two spindle bearings are placed in an
O-arrangement in order to raise the allowable operating speed.
The lift-off force is defined as the external axial force, above
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 63, NO. 4, APRIL 2016
Fig. 10. Fixed-floating bearing arrangement of the YASA.
Fig. 11. Cut view of assembled rotor.
which one of the both spindle bearings is free of preload.
Because of the possible high axial force due to the asymmet-
rical air gaps, two-spacer sleeves with different thicknesses are
located between the two spindle bearings to raise the preload or
rather lift-off force.
With the help of the software BEARINX, the fatigue life and
some other characteristics such as the rigidity of the bearing at
the operating point and working life have been calculated. From
the analysis results, it is noted when the external force is lower
than the designed preload of 1800 N, which corresponds to the
asymmetrical air gaps 0.8 and 1.2 mm, the nominal reference
rating life of the bearing is over 10 000 h. However, the working
life reduces significantly when the external force is higher than
1800 N; as in this case, one of the spindle bearings loses its
preload. For example, the operating lifetime becomes 3371 h,
when there is an external force of 6000 N applied on the shaft.
However, even in this case, the calculated operating lifetime is
sufficient for the prototype.
B. Construction of the Rotor
The mechanical construction of the rotor is shown in Fig. 11.
Because of the size limitation of the standard cylinder used
for prototyping, the whole rotor yoke is divided in 12 segments,
which are held by the rotor carrier. Both rotor carriers are con-
nected with a shaft sleeve, which is bounded together with the
shaft through shrinking.
ZHANG et al.: DEVELOPMENT OF YASA
Fig. 12. Stress test of the adhesive.
In addition to the electromagnetic force, the rotor yoke also
suffers from a large centrifugal force, especially at high rota-
tional speed. For this reason, an aluminum alloy with good
mechanical properties is used to manufacture the rotor carrier
and the shaft sleeve to reduce the deformation. In addition, their
mechanical design should be carefully optimized, as shown in
the following section.
The PM on both rotors should be exactly aligned with each
other, which is achieved with the help of the two annular
plates made from PEEK considering its outstanding magnetic,
mechanical, and electrical properties. Another function of the
plates is, supporting of the PM in tangential direction during
the rotation at high speed.
In order to reduce the weight and the deflection of the rotor
caused by the asymmetric loads, a hollow shaft with large diam-
eter is used. It is made of steel, so that the thermal expansion is
similar to that of the bearings and the required accuracy is well
achieved.
C. Adhesive Performance Test
With the help of a technical adhesive, the rotor carrier,
the rotor yokes, and the PM are bound together. It is well
known that the technical property of the adhesive get worse at
higher temperature. Thus, the maximum strength of the adhe-
sive depending on the temperature is investigated with the
device and samples illustrated in Fig. 12.
In the test, the SMC plate and the PM plate are glued together
with help of the industrial adhesive. After the silicone oil and
the sample in the container are heated to the desired temper-
ature, the measuring detector moves down vertically until the
two plates are separated from each other. During the process,
the force is measured with the detector. The measured maxi-
mum stress depending on the temperature is shown in Fig. 13.
It can be noted that the maximum allowable stress of the adhe-
sive reduces significantly for high temperature. Considering the
total force on the PM during the operation, the highest allow-
able temperature of the PM is specified as 120◦ C. Therefore,
the temperature of the rotor must be carefully investigated and
measured during the operation of YASA.
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2067
Fig. 13. Maximum permissible stress of adhesive at different tempera-
tures.
Fig. 14. Equivalent stress of the shaft.
TABLE IV
C RITICAL F ORCES ON PM FOR D IFFERENT A IR G APS
D. Analysis of the Rotor
The shaft sleeve is made from aluminum alloy, while the steel
is used to manufacture the shaft. Because the thermal expan-
sion coefficient of aluminum alloy is much greater than that
of steel, a shrink fit with high fit excess has been designed to
firmly connect the two components even at high temperature.
Considering the high pressure of the shrink fit, it is necessary
to analyze the stress of the shaft at the maximum speed and
torque, as illustrated in Fig. 14. It could be noted that even for
the worst case, the maximum equivalent stress is much lower
than the allowable tensile yield strength of steel and the shaft is
safe enough.
Subsequently, the form of the rotor carrier is optimized in
order to reduce the deformation of the rotor with respect to
the weight, stress, and deformation. Similar to the stator, the
forces on the PM are also strongly depending on the current, the
axial length of the air gap, and the rotor position. The maximum
forces on the PM are listed in Table IV.
Based on the above forces, the deformation of the rotor
carrier includes the shaft sleeve and the stress of the PM cor-
responding to the maximum rotational speed 4500 r/min. It
is noted that the maximum deformation of the rotor carrier is
much smaller than the designed axial length of the air gap.
2068
Fig. 15. Deformation of rotor carrier and stress of PM.
Fig. 16. Assembled rotor of YASA.
Fig. 17. YASA assembly view.
As demonstrated in Fig. 15, the stress on the PM is acceptable
compared with the measured data shown in Fig. 14.
The stress and deformation of the remaining components
of the rotor, namely the PEEK plate and the rotor yoke, are
also analyzed carefully. In summary, the design of the rotor
is feasible and reliable. The final assembled rotor is shown in
Fig. 16.
V. A NALYSIS OF THE W HOLE M ACHINE
Based on the design of the stator and the rotor, the shields of
the motor are designed, which have the functions to carry the
bearings, to protect the internal components and to fix the rotor
position encoder. To guarantee a high accuracy and to reduce
the thermal expansion, they are also made of steel. Slot-shaped
holes are designed in the end shields to reduce the weight and
to improve cooling performance. The final design of YASA is
shown in Fig. 17.
The temperature is very critical for the functionality and per-
formance of YASA, because the property of both adhesive and
PM are strongly depending on it. Considering the complex
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 63, NO. 4, APRIL 2016
Fig. 18. Airflow corresponding to the rotational speed of 2600 r/min.
Fig. 19. Temperature field of the YASA at 2600 r/min and 115 Nm.
structure of the machine, the coupled thermal and computa-
tional fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is adopted to calculate
the airflow and the temperature based on the calculated losses
from the electromagnetic analysis. The airflow for the rotational
speed equal to 2600 r/min is illustrated in Fig. 18, in which the
tangential components are hidden for a better overview. It is
noted that the airflow in the air gap has relatively low speed due
to the special structure of YASA, which means the rotor cannot
be effectively cooled.
The temperature field for the rated operating point corre-
sponding to rotational speed 2600 r/min and torque 115 Nm
is shown in Fig. 19, which is about 50% of the maximal torque.
In this case, the highest allowable temperature 120◦ C of the PM
is reached, which means the continuous power at 2600 r/min is
nearly 50% of the maximal power.
During the measurement, it is noted that the temperature of
the PM rises very fast due to its low thermal capacity and high
eddy current losses. In order to reduce the temperature and to
improve the continuous power, the PM should be segmented for
future designs.
Based on the complete mechanical design, a modal analy-
sis has also been performed in order to investigate the dynamic
characteristics of the free vibration behavior. Considering the
ZHANG et al.: DEVELOPMENT OF YASA
Fig. 20. Prototype of the YASA and test bench.
Fig. 21. Comparison of the measured and the simulated no-load losses.
Fig. 22. Measured and simulated torque and efficiency for 500 r/min.
complexity of the bearings, they are modeled as cylinders with
the equivalent elastic modulus in the simulation. From the
modal analysis, it is determined that the fundamental natural
frequency is about 1190 Hz, which is higher than the high-
est operational frequency of the YASA. It implies that the
resonance cannot occur during the operation.
VI. P ROTOTYPE AND M EASUREMENT
Based on the above analysis, the first prototype of the YASA
is manufactured and assembled in the Institute Of Electrical
Engineering, KIT, which is then measured in the self-developed
test bench, as shown in Fig. 20.
For instance, the measured and simulated no-load losses are
illustrated in Fig. 21, whereas the measured and simulated
torque and efficiency for the rotational speed 500 r/min with
only current component along the q-axis are shown in Fig. 22.
It can be noted the deviation of torque becomes larger with
higher current. The most important reasons are that the gaps
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2069
Fig. 23. Measured efficiency map of the YASA.
for the adhesive and the harmonics in the current are neglected,
which can cause high losses in the SMC and PM. However,
the deviation is relative small and the measured data match
relatively well with the simulated results. Finally, the more
informative efficiency map is illustrated in Fig. 23. It can be
seen that the efficiency of the YASA is relative high in a large
area, which can be further improved through the segmentation
of the PM.
VII. C ONCLUSION
This has concerned the mechanical construction and analysis
of an AFM with segmented armature torus topology. Based on
a detailed electromagnetic analysis, the construction of the sta-
tor is carried out. The stator consists of a subsystem to fix the
stator segments, an electrical subsystem, and a water-cooling
subsystem. The stator segments are held with plates made of
PEEK material. By using epoxy resin with a high thermal con-
ductivity, the stator components are bound together firmly. The
electrical subsystem connects the current source with the sta-
tor, so that the current from the three phases of the inverter is
evenly distributed within the concentrated windings. In addi-
tion, a water-cooling subsystem is embedded in the stator to
transmit the generated heat and to achieve a higher electrical
load. On this basis, the mechanical analysis with respect to the
stress and deformation has been performed for both symmetric
and asymmetric air gaps.
Subsequently, the construction of the rotor is carried out.
With the optimized rotor carrier, the electromagnetic compo-
nents of the rotor are firmly held. Similar to the stator, the
mechanical performances of the shaft and the complete rotor
are analyzed in detail. In addition, the maximum permitted
stress of the adhesive depending on the temperature is mea-
sured. With the complete model of the YASA, the thermal and
modal analyses to investigate the temperature and the natural
frequency of the motor are performed. Based on these above
analyses, it can be concluded that the developed construction is
feasible and reliable. Finally, the first prototype is successfully
manufactured and measured. It can be seen that the mea-
sured data match well with the results of the electromagnetic
analysis.
2070
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ZHANG et al.: DEVELOPMENT OF YASA 2071

B. Zhang was born in Shaanxi, China, on R. Dierken was born in Lüneburg, Germany,
November 24, 1986. He received the dual on April 8, 1991. He received the Bachelor’s
B.Sc. degree in the field of mechatron- degree in mechanical engineering in 2015
ics from Tongji University, Shanghai, China, from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT),
and Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, Karlsruhe, Germany, where he is currently work-
Esslingen, Germany, in 2008, and the M.Sc. ing toward the Mechanical Engineering degree.
degree in automation and information technol-
ogy from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT),
Karlsruhe, Germany, in 2011. He is currently
working toward the Ph.D. degree in the Institute
of Electrical Engineering (ETI), KIT.
His research interests include electromagnetic design, mechanical
construction, prototyping, and measurement of novel electric traction
drives.
M. Doppelbauer received the Ph.D. degree
in electrical engineering from the University of
Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany, in 1995.
He worked in industry from 1995 until
T. Seidler was born in Heidelberg, Germany, on 2010. Since 2011, he has been a Professor
January 22, 1992. He received the B.Sc. degree with the Institute of Electrical Engineering
in electrical engineering and information tech- (ETI), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT),
nology from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Karlsruhe, Germany, where he holds the Chair
(KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany, in 2015,where he is for Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Since 1996, he has
currently working toward the Master’s degree in also been working on international standardiza-
information and automation technologies. tion of industrial motors.
Dr. Doppelbauer holds several positions as Chairman, Convener,
and Speaker with the German Commission for Electrical, Electronic and
Information Technologies (DKE), European committee for electrotech-
nical standardization (CENELEC), and International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC). He is actively involved in the Association for
Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies (VDE) and is
Chairman of the “Area A1—Electrical Machines and Drives.”

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