Developing Detailed Motor Model for Electromagnetic and Thermal Analysis

Overview

Engineers involved in developing electric motor controls often encounter the challenge of simulating the nonlinear behavior exhibited by motors, which is influenced by factors like load torque, speed, and rotor angle. To address this, motor design tools employ finite element (FE) analysis, enabling the accurate solution of such nonlinear behavior.

In this webinar, we will demonstrate a comprehensive approach to tackle this issue. Firstly, we will showcase how motor data from a motor design tool can be imported into a Simscape Electrical model as practical look-up tables. These tables can be used in Simulink for control design, considering nonlinear effects like saturation and spatial harmonics.

Furthermore, we will delve into the development of a detailed thermal model, which is based on FEA data. This advanced thermal model is instrumental in predicting the transient temperature of motor components under various dynamic operating conditions and diverse cooling scenarios. Accurate thermal modeling is crucial to ensure the motor's reliability and efficiency while optimizing its performance.

Highlights

• Develop an FEM parametrized motor model to capture nonlinearities such as saturation and spatial harmonics.
• Utilize FEM-tables to calculate optimal currents (Id, Iq) and design a control algorithm.
• Generate a Reduced Order Model based on motor thermal data and develop an active cooling system for the motor.

About the Presenter

Rahul Choudhary
Rahul is a senior application engineer at MathWorks India Private Limited and specializes in the field of System Modelling and Control Design. He has over 10 years of experience in power electronics control, motor control, multi-domain modelling, and real-time simulation. Before joining MathWorks, Rahul worked with Eaton India Engineering Centre as a Control Engineer where he was involved in developing prognostics and health monitoring algorithms for proof-of-concept projects for their electrical business using MATLAB and Simulink.

He holds a master’s degree in systems and Control Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai and a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering from Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow, India.

Richa Singh
Richa Singh is part of Application Engineering Group in MathWorks. Currently she supports customers from various domains such as servo control, autonomous systems (robotics and UAV), and Simulink real-time.
She has a Master’s and  PhD in Aerospace Engineering Department from IIT Bombay, Mumbai.

Her research domain includes physical modelling and nonlinear control design of dynamical systems where she was deeply involved in exploring data-driven and first-principles approach.