Comparison of one-way and two-way coupled analyses of electromagnetic machines considering magnetic and structural interactions

Abstract

We compared one-way and two-way coupled analyses of electromagnetic machines considering magnetic and structural interaction to identify the frequency components of magnetic excitation and to determine the structural coupling effects predicted only by the two-way coupled analysis. We developed finite element models of a C-core switch and an electric motor. In the two-way coupled analysis method, the magnetic force calculated by using the Maxwell stress tensor was applied to the structural finite element model to determine the elastic deformation, and the magnetic finite element model was rearranged by means of the moving mesh method to represent the structural elastic deformation. We showed that two-way coupled analysis predicted the excitation frequency of 80 Hz (4 times the input current frequency) of magnetic force in the C-core switch and the excitation frequency of 667 Hz (the first natural frequency of the rotor, corresponding to the translational mode) of magnetic force in the electric motor undergoing rotor eccentricity. We showed that two-way coupled analysis predicted magnetic excitation and its corresponding structural response more accurately than the one-way coupled analysis, especially for electromagnetic machines in which the structural deformation affects magnetic field through variation of the air gap length.