Design and Comparison of two Axial Flux Motors

for Electric Aircraft

Xuejing Bian Mei Zhao Tong Yao
College of new energy College of new energy College of new energy
Harbin institude of technology(Weihai) Harbin institude of technology(Weihai) Harbin institude of technology(Weihai)
2022 25th International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS) | 978-1-6654-9302-4/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ICEMS56177.2022.9983189

Weihai, China Weihai, China Weihai, China

1309398560@qq.com zhaomei@hit.edu.cn yaotong@hit.edu.cn

Huaqiang Zhang Yongxiang Xu

College of new energy College of new energy
Harbin institude of technology(Weihai) Harbin institude of technology(Weihai)
Weihai, China Weihai, China
zhq0027@126.com xuyx@hit.edu.cn

Abstract—Axial flux permanent magnet motor has the
advantages of compact structure, small size, light weight and
high torque density. It has broad application prospects in
aerospace and other fields. The double stator single rotor axial
flux permanent magnet motor is used as the propeller drive
motor, and the fractional slot concentrated winding is used.
Because FSCW contains high magnetic field harmonics, it is
necessary to select appropriate pole slot matching. The
commonly used 10 pole 12 slot and 20 pole 18 slot are selected
for the pole slot matching in this paper, and Ansys Maxwell is
used for simulation. The no-load characteristics, load
characteristics and output torque characteristics of the two
motors are compared, and the influence of different pole slot
matching on the motor is analyzed.
Keywords—double stator single rotor axial flux permanent
magnet motor, fractional slot concentrated winding, pole slot fit
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, with the increasingly prominent
environmental problems, people have reached a basic
consensus on the development of green aviation. Electric
aircraft electrify the power source[1], zero emission, low noise,
almost no negative impact on the environment, and has
become one of the research hotspots. As the key of electric
aircraft, the power to weight ratio of propulsion motor directly
affects the performance of electric aircraft. Therefore, it is
necessary to design a high-performance propulsion motor.
The space volume of electric aircraft is limited, and the overall
size of the motor is required to be small and the power density
is high[2,3]. The air gap of axial flux permanent magnet motor
is planar, and the stator and rotor are arranged in parallel along
the axial direction. With compact structure, high efficiency
and torque density, it has broad application prospects in the
aerospace field[2].
AFPM motors can be divided into single stator single rotor
(SSSR), double stator single rotor (DSSR), single stator
double rotor (SSDR) and multi stator multi rotor (MSMR)
according to structure[4]. The axial distribution of single stator
and single rotor is asymmetric. There is unidirectional
magnetic tension between the stator and rotor, and the
mechanical structure is easy to be damaged. The multi stator
multi rotor structure is complicated in process and structure,
which increases the cost. The double-sided structure DSSR
This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foun
dation of China under Project 52177032 and Key Laboratory of Special Ma
chine and High Voltage Apparatus ( Shenyang University of Technology),
Ministry of Education ( KFKT202107)
and SSDR are axially symmetrical, with better stability,
stronger mechanical strength and power density[5].
Considering torque density, heat dissipation and assembly
difficulty, DDSR is selected as the propulsion motor of
electric aircraft.
DSSR motor adopts fractional slot concentrated winding
(FSCW). FSCW can reduce copper loss, improve efficiency
and reduce cogging torque, but at the same time, it will
increase magnetomotive force harmonics[6], and cause
unbalance saturation between magnetic poles[7]. The
disadvantages of FSCW can be improved by choosing suitable
slot electrode matching. According to the design requirements
of electric aircraft propulsion motor, combined with the theory
and design experience of axial flux permanent magnet motor,
this paper designs 10 pole 12 slot and 20 pole 18 slot double
stator single rotor motors, uses finite element modeling and
simulation, and compares the no-load characteristics and load
characteristics of the two.
II. DSSR TOPOLOGIES AND MATERIAL
A. DSSR Topologies
The DSSR motor model is shown in Fig. 1. The rotor is
located between two stators and arranged in parallel along the
axial direction. It can be divided into NN type and NS type
according to the magnetic flux path[8]. NN type indicates the
same polarity, and NS type indicates the opposite polarity. NN
type and NS type magnetic flux paths are shown in Fig. 1b and
c. NN type magnetic flux is closed along the circumferential
direction of the rotor yoke, requiring a thicker rotor back iron.
NS type has high torque density. So this paper selects NS
DSSR.
a)DSSR

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 value of electrical load; Do is the outer diameter of the motor;
λ is the internal and external diameter ratio(λ=Di/Do); η is the
efficiency of the motor, cosϕ is the power factor of the motor.
According to formula (1), the outer diameter of the motor
can be obtained as:

εP
Do = 2
(2)
3 π
kw ns Bmg Am (1 + λ )(1 − λ 2 )η cos φ
b)Flux path of NN DSSR c) Flux path of NS DSSR 8
Internal and external diameter ratio of motor λ is one of the
Fig. 1. Topology of DSSR important parameters in the early design, which directly
affects the performance of the motor. Maximum output torque
B. Material when λ=1/√3 through research. However, in practical
As the drive motor for electric aircraft, permanent magnet applications, other factors such as copper consumption,
materials need to have high energy density[9], and also meet efficiency, magnetic flux leakage need to be comprehensively
the requirements of not easy demagnetization, good stability considered in the selection of λ. The smaller the λ is, the
and long-term stable operation under high temperature smaller the inner diameter is, the smaller the number of turns
conditions. Rare earth permanent magnetic materials have required, and the amount of copper used at the end is reduced.
high remanence and coercivity. Smco28 is selected as the But at the same time, too small the inner diameter will lead to
permanent magnet because of its excellent high-temperature difficulty in winding and increase in magnetic flux leakage.
magnetic properties, high Curie temperature, good thermal Generally, the internal and external diameter ratio of AFPM is
stability, excellent corrosion resistance and oxidation between 0.44 and 0.65.
resistance. The residual magnetic induction strength is 1.07T C. Winding Design
and the coercivity is 820kA / m.
Flat wire winding is selected as the motor winding, which
Soft magnetic composite material (SMC) is selected as the is embedded in the stator slot in parallel. Compared with round
stator and rotor core material. Soft magnetic composites are wire winding, the slot fullness rate is improved and the power
formed by molding iron powder particles with insulation on density is also improved. The stator coil of the motor adopts
the surface. They have the advantages of low eddy current fractional slot concentrated winding. The advantages and
loss, isotropy and easy manufacture of complex structures[10]. disadvantages of FSCW have been described above, and it is
Therefore, they are often used as AFPM core materials. necessary to select a reasonable pole slot matching
III. DESIGN METHOFOLOGY OF DSSR Winding coefficient is the product of short distance
coefficient and distribution coefficient.
A. Design Specifications
Due to the limited space of the aircraft, the size and The short distance coefficient is:
structure of the motor are also strictly limited. The basic yπ α
requirements of the motor designed in this paper are shown in K p = sin( ) = sin( e ) (3)
Table Ⅰ below. τ 2 2
Where, y is pitch, centralized winding y=1; τ is the pole
TABLE I. REQUIREMENTS FOR BASIC PARAMETERS OF PROPULSION
MOTOR Q
distance, τ = ; αe is the electrical angle of the slot distance,
2p
Parameters Numerical Value
Rated torque TN=2.2-2.4Nm αe=αp.
Rated speed nN=2000rpm
Weight
The distribution coefficient is:
M≤1.3kg
Length L≤75mm π
Diameter DO≤90mm sin( )
Kd = 2m
B. Sizing Equations π
N sin( ) (4)
Before calculation, it is assumed that the electrical load 2mN
and magnetic load are known, the number of turns per phase Q c N
of each stator is Nph, the phase current of the stator winding is q= = b+ =
2mp d d
Ia, and the electromotive force per opposite direction of each
stator is Ef Where q is the number of slots per pole per phase.
The rated power of DSSR is as follows: Winding coefficient:

1 π2 K w = Kd Kp (5)
P= k n B A D 3 (1 + λ )(1 − λ 2 )η cos φ (1)
ε 8 w s mg m o The number of conductors per phase of stator is:
Where, ε is the ratio of back electromotive force and phase
voltage, for generator ε> 1, for motor ε< 1; kw is the winding πDo (1 + λ ) Am
N= (6)
coefficient; ns is the rotational speed, in rpm/s; Bmg is the 4m1 2 I a
maximum value of air gap magnetic density; Am is the peak

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 Where m1 is the number of phases and Ia is the phase
current of the stator winding, as shown in formula (7).
Po
Ia =
m1 (2 V1 )η cos φ
In this paper, 10 pole 12 slot and 20 pole 18 slot matching
are selected, and the winding coefficients are 0.9452 and
0.933 respectively. The winding coefficient is large, and the
current required to generate the same torque is small, but at
the same time, higher harmonic content will be generated.
Compare the no-load characteristics, load characteristics and
output torque characteristics of the two, and select the better
scheme.
D. Design Parameters
According to the above, the motors with 10 poles and 12
B. No load characteristic
Fig. 3 shows the comparison of the back_EMF of A. It can
be found that the amplitude of the back electromotive force of
(7) the 10 pole 12 slot and the 20 pole 18 slot is not much
different, but the back electromotive force of the 20 pole 18
slot has a better sine. After Fourier decomposition of the back
EMF, the amplitude of the fundamental wave of the back EMF
of the 10 pole 12 slot is 57.47V, the amplitude of the
fundamental wave of the back EMF of the 20 pole 18 slot is
65.57V, and the 10 pole 12 slot has higher third harmonic. The
THD of 10 pole 12 slot is 16.6%, and that of 20 pole 18 slot is
2.6%
100 10 pole 12 slot 20 pole 18 slot
50

Back_EMF (V)
slots and 20 poles and 18 slots are designed. In order to make
the comparison more valuable, the parameters of the motor
meet the following conditions: 0

(1) The internal and external diameter, air gap length and
-50
axial length of the motor are the same;
(2) The electric load is basically the same; -100
0 100 200 300 400
(3) The tank full rate is basically the same.
Electrical angle (°)
The parameter design of the two motors is shown in Table Fig. 3. Back_EMF waveform
Ⅱ.

TABLE II. PARAMETER DESIGN OF TWO KINDS OF MOTORS 80 10 pole 12 slot 20 pole 18 slot
Parameter 10 Pole 12 Slot 20 Pole 18 Slot
FFT back_EMF (V)

External diameter 73mm 73 mm 60

Internal diameter 42 mm 42 mm
Axial length 29.3 mm 29.3 mm
Electric load 40kA/m 40 kA/m 40
Air gap 0.8 mm 0.8 mm
Thickness of permanent 3.8 mm 3.8 mm
magnet 20
Slot width 7.7mm 5mm
Coil space factor 0.8883 0.8883
Number of conductors 60 40 0
per slot
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Harmonic number
IV. SIMULATION RESULT
Fig. 4. FFT back_EMF waveform
A. Static magnetic field
Due to the axial structure of DSSR, the air gap magnetic The cogging torque is shown in Fig. 5. The peak to peak
density is distributed along the axial direction. This paper values of the cogging torque of the 10 pole 12 slot and the 20
simulates the air gap magnetic density at the average radius, pole 18 slot are 0.114Nm and 0.414Nm, respectively, and the
as shown in Fig. 2. After Fourier decomposition, the air gap 20 pole 18 slot has a larger cogging torque fluctuation.
magnetic density amplitude of 10 pole 12 slot is 0.6083T, and
that of 20 pole 18 slot is 0.8633T. 10 pole 12 slot 20 pole 18 slot
0.2
Cogging torque (Nm)

10 pole 12 slot 20 pole 18 slot

Air gap magnetic density (T)

0.1
1
0.0

0 -0.1

-0.2

-1 0 100 200 300 400

Electrical angle (°)
0 50 100 150 200
Mechanical angle (°) Fig. 5. Cogging torque waveform

Fig. 2. No load air gap magnetic density waveform

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 Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 are the comparison of no-load iron loss
and eddy current loss of the two motors. The no-load iron loss 8 10 pole 12 slot 20 pole 18 slot
of 10 pole 12 slot is 3.84W, the no-load eddy current loss is
0.87W, the no-load iron loss of 20 pole 18 slot is 2.76W, and 6

Torque (Nm)
the no-load eddy current loss is 0.48W. The no-load iron loss
and eddy current loss of 10 pole 12 slot are greater than those 4
of 20 pole 18 slot.
2
10 pole 12 slot 20 pole 18 slot
4 0
No load iron loss (W)

0 5 10
Current (A)
3
Fig. 9. Curve of output torque and input current

2 In order to meet the requirements of output torque of 2.2-

2.4Nm, the input current of 10 pole 12 slot and 20 pole 18 slot
1 is 4A and 3.5A respectively. Table Ⅲ shows the loss and
efficiency comparison of the two motors. It can be seen from
0 200 400 600 800 table Ⅲ that the loss of 10 pole 12 slot is high and the
Electrical angle (°) efficiency is small.
Fig. 6. No load iron loss waveform TABLE III. EFFICIENCY COMPARISON
Parameter 10 pole 12 slot 20 pole 18 slot
Current 4A 3.5A
10 pole 12 slot 20 pole 18 slot
No load eddy current loss (W)

1.2 Torque 2.32Nm 2.34Nm

Iron loss 3.84W 2.76W
1.0
Eddy current loss 1.73W 0.68W
0.8 Copper loss 34.35W 22.88W
0.6 Efficiency 91.74% 94.40%
Table Ⅳ shows the mass comparison of each part of the
0.4
two motors. Compared with 20 pole 18 slot and 10 pole 12
0.2 slot, they have lighter weight and higher power density.
0.0
0 200 400 600 800 TABLE IV. QUALITY COMPARISON
Electrical angle (°)
Structure 10 pole 12 slot 20 pole 18 slot
Stator mass 303.89g 306.04g
Fig. 7. No load eddy current loss waveform
Winding mass 348.10g 279.46g
Rotor mass 11.67g 11.67g
C. Load characteristics Permanent magnet mass 158.88g 158.88g
Fig. 8 shows the torque comparison of the two motors. Set Total mass 822.54g 756.05g
the input current of the two motors to be the same, both of
which are 3.5A. At this time, the output torque of 10 pole 12 V. CONCLUSION
slot is 2.04Nm, and the torque fluctuation is 7.6%; The output This paper compares 10 pole 12 slot and 20 pole 18 slot
torque of 20 pole 18 slot is 2.34Nm, and the torque fluctuation DSSR motors, and compares their no-load characteristics,
is 18%. load characteristics and output torque characteristics. The 20
pole 18 slot back EMF air gap has a high magnetic density,
10 pole 12 slot 20 pole 18 slot and the back EMF has a good sinusoidal degree, iron loss, and
2.5
low eddy current loss. With the same input current, it has a
lower copper loss and higher efficiency, which can effectively
2.0
reduce the negative impact of FSCW. 10 pole 12 slot torque
Torque (Nm)

1.5 fluctuation is low. Suitable electrode groove matching can be

selected according to the situation.
1.0
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