Motor-CAD Links to SPEED

Mircea Popescu & Dave Staton

Motor Design Ltd
March 2012

Topics
Motor Design Ltd
Motor-CAD software and other design tools marketed by
MDL
The SPEED Thermal Models
SPEED and Motor-CAD together
Automatically links from SPEED to Motor-CAD and MotorCAD to SPEED
Calibration of the SPEED thermal model using Motor-CAD

Motor Design Ltd

Based in Ellesmere, Shropshire, UK
On England/Wales border
South of Chester and Liverpool

MDL Team:

Dave Staton (Software Development & Consultancy)

Mircea Popescu (Consultancy)
Douglas Hawkins (Software Development & Consultancy)
Gyula Vainel (Motor Design Engineer)
Lyndon Evans (Software Development)
Lilo Bluhm (Office Manager)

Many University Links:

Sponsor 3 Students at present

Bristol University
Edinburgh University
Sheffield University

Motor Design Ltd (MDL)

set up in 1998 to develop software for design of electric

motors and provide motor design consulting and training
distribute SPEED, Motor-CAD, FLUX and PORTUNUS
software
complete package for electric motor and drive simulation
software package also used in our consulting work

developed the following software products:

Motor-CAD Analytical Network Software for Thermal Analysis of
Electric Machines
PORTUNUS Thermal Library - system simulation software for thermal
simulation of any device
Other software currently under development to make the design
process easier for the user (link to SPEED software):
Motor-LAB developed with EngD student at Bristol new software to optimise
design for full torque/speed envelope rather than a single torque/speed
Motor-FLOW to allow the user to automate SPEED/Motor-CAD calculations
without having to write a computer script (draw a flow diagram instead)
Eff-MAP model run in Motor-FLOW to calculate and plot efficiency maps
4

Motor Design Software Suite

SPEED

the worlds leading analytical software package for the

design of electric motors (with integrated FEA)

Motor-CAD

unique analytical software package for the thermal

analysis of electric motors
SPEED & Motor-CADs analytical based algorithms
give instantaneous calculation speeds and allow
'what-if' analysis in real time

FLUX

finite element software well adapted for accurate

electromagnetic simulation of electric motors

PORTUNUS

system simulator developed for the calculation of

drives and mechatronic systems
thermal library allows thermal analysis of almost any
device with mixed electrical/mechanical/thermal simulation

STAR-CCM+

now have STAR-CCM+ for advanced thermal

analysis using CFD

Motor Design Software Suite

Complete software solution for electric motor & drive simulation and design

IPM T/S PC-BDC

50.00
45.00
40.00
T[gamma=0]

Torque [Nm]

35.00

T[gamma=10]

30.00

T[gamma=20]

25.00

T[gamma=40]

T[gamma=30]
T[gamma=50]

20.00

T[gamma=60]
T[gamma=70]

15.00

T[gamma=80]

10.00
5.00
0.00
0

2500

5000

7500

10000

SPEED [RPM]

Motor-CAD Software

Analytical network analysis package

dedicated to thermal analysis of electric
motors and generators
input geometry using dedicated editors
select cooling type, materials, etc.
and calculate steady state or
transient temperatures
all difficult heat transfer data
calculated automatically
easy to use by non heat transfer
specialists

provides a detailed understanding

of cooling and facilitates
optimisation
what-if and sensitivity analysis

Near instantaneous calculation

speeds

Thermal Network Analysis

similar to electrical network
thermal resistances rather than
electrical resistances
power sources rather than
current sources (losses)
thermal capacitances rather
than electrical capacitors
nodal temperatures rather than
voltages
power flow through resistances
rather than current

In Motor-CAD the thermal

network is automatically set
up based on the motor
geometry and cooling type
selected
8

Motor-CAD Motor Types

Brushless Permanent Magnet

Induction
3ph and single phase

Switched Reluctance
9

Motor-CAD Motor Types

PMDC
Outer Rotor BPM
Claw Pole
Synchronous
10

Motor-CAD Cooling Types

Motor-CAD includes proven models for an
extensive range of cooling types
Natural Convection (TENV)
many housing design types

Forced Convection (TEFC)

many fin channel design types

Through Ventilation
rotor and stator cooling ducts

Open end-shield cooling

Water Jackets
many design types (axial and circumferential ducts)
stator and rotor water jackets

Submersible cooling
Wet Rotor & Wet Stator cooling
Spray Cooling
Direct conductor cooling
Slot water jacket

Conduction
Internal conduction and the effects of mounting

Radiation
Internal and external
11

Motor-CAD Housing Types

Many housing designs can be modeled and optimized

the designer selected a housing type that is appropriate for the cooling type to be used and
then optimizes the dimensions, e.g. axial fin dimensions and spacing for a TEFC machine
12

Steady-State/Transient Analysis
Motor-CAD can be used
to calculate both the
steady-state and
transient duty cycle
thermal performance

13

Accurate results with Motor-CAD

A few of the many excellent comparisons between MotorCAD and test data:

14

Motor-CAD Users
Some of the many Motor-CAD users:
aerospace, automotive, industrial, renewable, transport and university
sectors:

ABB
Alarko Carrier
Alstom Ecotecnica
Ametek
BAE Systems
Bombardier Transportation
Bosch
BMW
Brose
Caterpillar
Continental
Cummins
Crompton Greaves
Daewoo
Daimler
Dana
Danaher Motion
Delphi Corporation

Dupont
Eaton
Esterline
Ford
GE Energy
GE Transportaion
General Dynamics
General Motors
Goodrich Aerospace
Grundfos
Hewlett Packard
Johnson Electric
Kollmorgen
Liebherr Aerospace
Lockhead Martin
Magna
Magneti Marelli
Moog

Otis Elevators
Parker Hannifin
Peugeot
Porsche
Precilec
QinetiQ
Renault
Rolls Royce
SEM
Siemens
Thales
Valeo
Vestas Wind Systems
Visteon
Volvo
VW
WEG
Whirlpool
15

SPEED & Motor-CAD Together

SPEED is predominantly used for electromagnetic
performance prediction
very simple thermal network models built into software but
require calibration

Motor-CAD has sophisticated thermal models that

require the user to have NO knowledge of heat transfer
To predict the performance accurately both packages
can be used together
losses are critically dependent on temperature
temperatures are critically dependent on loss

Automated links ease the transfer of geometry, loss and

temperature data between packages
16

SPEED & Motor-CAD Together

Both SPEED and Motor-CAD are analytical analysis
packages providing instantaneous calculation speeds
Most Importantly - the user just needs to input the geometry
and selects a few winding/drive/material options and then
all the difficult magnetic and heat transfer parameters are
calculated automatically
User need not be a magnetic or thermal expert
Also ideal for training
Both SPEED and Motor-CAD are excellent for carrying out
What If calculations
direct access to physical input parameters such as Tooth
Width, Airgap, Liner Thickness, Turns Per Coil, Liner
Thermal Conductivity, etc.
direct access to physical output parameters such as Shaft
Torque, Copper Loss, Winding Average Temperature,
Winding Hotspot Temperature, Magnet Temperature, etc.
17

Motor-CAD & SPEED Complement

Each Other
Design Aim s

Possi ble Solutions

Specialist Motor De sign Packages

[Electomagnetic & Thermal]
e.g. Electromagnetic - Speed
Thermal - Motor-CAD

Numerical Analysi s
[Electomagnetic & Thermal]

e.g. Electromagnetic - Flux-2d & Flux-3d

Thermal - CFD

Prototypes & Test

Motor-CAD fits ideally

alongside SPEED to give
instantaneous answers to
design questions

electromagnetic and thermal

Both have a similar user

interface and work with
parameters such as Tw
(tooth width), SD (slot
depth), etc.
Automated data transfer
between packages
Geometry
Losses
Temperatures

18

SPEED Thermal Models

SPEED has a range of thermal models but the user
must set them up in order to obtain reliable results
This process assumes the user has some test data or can be done
automatically using Motor-CAD

19

SPEED Thermal Models

If SPEED thermal models are not set up the user
can predict false temperatures and so inaccurate
performance data (losses, efficiency, etc.)
SPEED steady state simple models shown below:

20

SPEED Thermal Models

SPEED transient model shown below

SPEED thermal model not recommended for

general use if not calibrated by Motor-CAD or test
21

SPEED/Motor-CAD Link History

The original SPEED/Motor-CAD Links were initiated by a call
from Motor-CAD to SPEED to import geometry and losses
and pass back temperatures
first released Motor-CAD v1.6 (October 2002)
After this proved successful we developed direct links from
SPEED to Motor-CAD
Termed GoTAR Go Thermal Analysis and Return
ActiveX call to Motor-CAD with most of linkage code
implemented in Motor-CAD
Facilitates automated calibration of SPEED thermal models
User has full control of this calibration process
First released in 2007
22

Motor-CAD Links to SPEED

Run option from

Motor-CAD using [Sp]
button
Automatically runs
SPEED
import/export geometry (with choices of what data to transfer)
import losses
export temperatures

[Single Shot] or [Iterate to Converged Solution]

loss function of temperature and temperature function of loss
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SPEED links to Motor-CAD

a design can be exported from
SPEED to Motor-CAD
geometry, winding and losses
intelligent geometry scaling means that
dimensional details not available in
SPEED are given reasonable values
housing, endcaps, bearings, etc.

24

SPEED/Motor-CAD Data Links

Typical Procedure:
import geometry, winding and losses from SPEED with
temperatures of winding and magnets at expected values
set geometric data for non electromagnetic components
such as the housing and bearings
set the cooling type and choose materials
default materials can often be used initially with fine selection later

calculate the temperatures and compare with expectations

[Iterate to Converged Solution] to make both models use
the same loss and temperature data
can change both electromagnetic (SPEED) and thermal
(Motor-CAD) designs and try to optimise total solution
25

SPEED / Motor-CAD Link Example

Create a new design in SPEED PC-BDC

26

SPEED / Motor-CAD Link Example

Export the data to Motor-CAD

27

SPEED / Motor-CAD Link Example

In this example SPEED uses a thermal resistance between

winding-ambient model to predict the winding temperature
but has no value set so Motor-CAD and SPEED have
very different results
Motor-CAD predicts the thermal resistance between
winding and ambient to be 2C/W

28

SPEED / Motor-CAD Link Example

We can set the thermal resistance between windingambient in SPEED to be 2C/W
Motor-CAD and SPEED now give similar results

29

GoTAR Example (PC-BDC)

For a simple example of the GoTAR calibration of the

different thermal models in PC-BDC we will use the Alt-1
standard machine (Nd-Fe-B and Xfe = 2)
1. transfer data to Motor-CAD and set temperatures in PCBDC using Fixed temperature model
2. calibrate the winding-ambient thermal resistance [C/W]
3. calibrate the housing convection/radiation heat transfer
coefficient [W/m2/C] and the internal thermal resistances
winding-stator and stator-housing
4. calibrate the Hot10 thermal lumped circuit (10 nodes with
convection/radiation heat transfer paths on the outside of
the machine and internal resistances for winding-stator,
winding-end winding, end winding-endcap, statorhousing, rotor-stator, etc).
30

GoTar Example (PC-BDC)

Calculate rated performance in PC-BDC with [Dynamic

Design] and then export geometry, winding and losses
creates a .mot file with same name as .bd4 file in the same folder

31

GoTar Example (PC-BDC)

Geometry in Motor-CAD
Can fine tune certain dimensional parameters that have no direct
equivalent in PC-BDC, housing type, bearings etc.
intelligent geometry scaling makes sure all parts fit the size of
machine under consideration

32

GoTar Example (PC-BDC)

Imported winding details

Imported wire size and turns correctly

Colours represent amounts of copper (yellow) and insulation (green)

33

GoTar Example (PC-BDC)

Imported losses

34

GoTar Example (PC-BDC)

Predicted temperatures

35

GoTar Example (PC-BDC)

Can study the steady state schematic to see where restrictions to cooling
exist and what can be done to make the machine cooler
Materials, mounting, improved impregnation, interface gaps, etc.

36

TempCalc = Fixed

Check Select/Deselect all value and press [Iterate]

Motor-CAD and PC-BDC values of Tw and Tm and losses match

37

TempCalc = DegCW

Check Select/Deselect all value and press [Iterate]

Good prediction of winding temperature

38

TempCalc = ThRcct

Check Select/Deselect all value and press [Iterate]

Good match between conductor, stator, housing and magnet temperatures

39

TempCalc = Hot10

PC-BDC carries out a transient solution to find the steady-state

temperatures so need to check that steady state reached (200min)
Need to set starting temperatures to 20C rather than 25C (ambient)

40

TempCalc = Hot10

Many parameters are calibrated

41

TempCalc = Hot10
Max Heat Bal can be used to see if steady-state is reached in PC-BDC
Warning given if PC-BDC not reached steady state

42

TempCalc = Hot10

We can also compare the calibrated Hot10 and Motor-CAD transient graphs
Should plot magnet and winding average temperature

43

TempCalc = Hot10

The user can change to a duty cycle in PC-BDC and have accurate
predictions of temperatures (3 times current with 50% duty cycle, 10 min):

44

SPEED/Motor-CAD Links
Max Heat Bal can be used to see if steady-state is reached in PC-BDC
Warning given if PC-BDC not reached steady state

45

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SPEED Thermal Model Recommendations

Most used thermal model in SPEED is the Fixed temperature model
Easy to set these temperatures from Motor-CAD (iterative model losses/temperatures
available)

DegCW & ThRcct models have some limited use if they are calibrated by
Motor-CAD
Can then change load in SPEED and calculate losses with more accuracy than Fixed
temperature model
Assumes all thermal quantities in the SPEED model are not functions of rotational speed &
temperature
Need to re-calibrate if change design

Hot10 model in PC-BDC of very limited use as

always calculates a transient and so must ensure that time period is long enough if steadystate results required
only able to set up limited duty cycle waveforms with Hot10
Must calibrate the Hot10 model each time a change is made to the design otherwise invalid
temperature and so overall performance predictions often result
Many parameters to calibrate
Assumes all thermal quantities in the Hot10 model are not functions of rotational speed &
temperature
Hot10 model can be unstable

46

46

SPEED Thermal Model Recommendations

Best to use Motor-CAD for thermal and SPEED for
electromagnetics
Motor-CAD has models to scale losses with speed,
temperature and load so accurate thermal duty cycle
analysis can be performed in Motor-CAD with the
losses just input at one fixed speed and load and at
set winding and magnet temperatures
Only need to predict losses in SPEED at one load
point and transfer these to Motor-CAD

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