Energies, Vol. 12, Pages 1134: Rotor Eddy Current Loss Calculation of a 2DoF Direct-Drive Induction Motor (Energies)

A two-degree-of-freedom direct-drive induction motor (2DoFDDIM), whose solid rotor is coated with a copper layer, is capable of linear, rotary, and helical motions and has widespread applications. For solid-rotor motors, the calculation and analysis of rotor total eddy current loss (TECL) are crucial in studying the factors causing such a loss and possible loss reduction methods. In this study, a new nonlinear analytical method considering the saturation of the rotor core is proposed to solve the fundamental magnetic field. The new method divides the time period into segments. The magnetic field distribution at any time is obtained using Maxwell equations. The eddy current losses in the copper layer and rotor core caused by the fundamental magnetic field are calculated. The surface eddy current losses in the copper layer and rotor core caused by harmonics are calculated using a 2D analytical method. TECL is determined by the sum of eddy current and surface eddy current losses. Coefficients are utilized to consider eddy, saturation, and end-region effects when calculating the rotor core TECL. The new method is verified using 3D FEM, and the results show the proposed method has higher accuracy than the original method. The errors of the rotor core and copper layer TECLs are less than 6% and 7.3%, respectively.