www.motor-design.com
MDLTORQUE
moving motors forward
IN THIS ISSUE: Motor-LAB launched FE-Therm available
New book published
Issue 1 : April 2013
Motor Design Limited has come a long way since those early days in the late 1990s when it was just me sitting at home here in Ellesmere quietly working on my computer.
I had no idea back then that the new software I was developing Motor-CAD - would go on to become the world’s best selling thermal analysis tool for the design of electric motors and generators. I still find that hard to believe today!
MESSAGE FROM DAVE STATON CEO : MDL
Since moving into our new offices in Scotland Street, Ellesmere, the company has gone from strength to strength. We now have a team of hard-working, dedicated professionals who are highly-skilled in their fields. Their expertise, particularly that of our Software Manager, Dougie Hawkins, has enabled us to develop Motor-CAD to the point where it is unbeatable in the global marketplace.
WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR
2013 is shaping up to be a major year for the team at Motor Design Limited. There are so many changes taking place that it’s hard to know where to start, but I thought it might be helpful if I introduced myself first.
I’m Shirley Carnegie and I’m the new Communications Manager for MDL. I was brought in to oversee the launch of MDL’s exciting range of new products and to revamp the existing website and general communications.
MDL has also benefited from the support of our team of worldwide distributors who have helped carry the company name of MDL’s products to the global marketplace. With the help of our new Communications Manager, Shirley Carnegie, we will be working even closer with them in the coming months.
But it goes without saying that without our loyal customers, MDL wouldn’t be the company it is today. They have bought and used our software, and helped us develop it over the years, so we can be confident that it now fully meets the needs of users in a wide variety of industries.
team at MDL has contributed to the content.
In future issues, we’ll be asking some of our customers and partners to submit articles and comments so that, eventually, MDLTORQUE, will be a shared platform for news. We’ve also just launched our revamped website with audio-visual demos that showcase MDL’s new modelling tool, Motor-LAB (shown opposite), and our world-leading software Motor-CAD.
The new MDLTORQUE magazine is MDLTORQUE is a quarterly just one of the many ways in which publication and I hope you enjoy we’ll be communicating with you in the first issue. the coming months. We’ve got our Software Developer, Lyndon Evans, SHIRLEY CARNEGIE to thank for the title and the whole COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER 2
We also have the support of our Engineering Manager, Dr Mircea Popescu, who has helped position this company as one of the easiest, swiftest and most knowledgeable consultancy services in the industry.
MDL TORQUE MAGAZINE
4 Scotland Street Ellesmere Shropshire SY12 0EG, UK www.motor-design.com
media@motor-design.com +44 (0) 1691 623305 ISSUE 1
We’ve found the missing piece
Motor-LAB
MDL’s unique combined electromagnetic and thermal modelling tool
Couples with various software tools such as SPEED, Flux and Motor-CAD Specifically designed for Brushless AC motors in traction applications Fast, accurate and easy to use with experimentally verified techniques Able to create efficiency maps and plot torque/speed characteristics Optimum gamma is automatically calculated for maximum torque/amp Electromagnetic and thermal data can be calculated over any drive cycle
Visit: www.motor-design.com
Email: info@motor-design.com Call +44 (0) 1691 623305
Dave Staton (right) on a recent training trip to Borgonovo Val Tidone in Italy. Third from right at the rear is Alessandro Tassi from MDL’s Italian distributors Spin Applicazioni Magnetiche SrI. Sandro is a long-standing friend and supporter of MDL. Far left is Giuseppe Zanocchi who works with Sandro. The training focused on thermal analysis of electric motors.
JOINT TRAINING IN CHICAGO
Motor Design Limited has teamed up with the Magsoft Corporation to deliver a four-day training course at the Holiday Inn O’Hare, North Cumberland Avenue in Chicago USA.
be discussed, including new analysis techniques and design options to achieve low cost, high efficiency, high power density, and maximum torque per amp.
Goss from MDL and Tan Pham from Magsoft Corporation.
The training will be held over four days from Tuesday 7 to Friday 10 May 2013. Sessions run from 8.45am to 5.00pm.
The course is designed for: The course Brushless PM Magnet • Motor design engineers To find out more, or to book your or Induction Machine? Design • Application engineers, especially place on the course, visit the Traction Motors without for high efficiency EV / HEV Magsoft Corporation website at: Permanent Magnets evaluates a • Engineering and R&D managers permanent magnet BPM machine • Suppliers of motor manufacturers www.magsoft-flux.com and uses MDL tools to design an • Motor manufacturers equivalent AM. It will be run by instructors who are Then follow the navigation links for Details in design differences and experts in their fields: Mircea training. new trends in induction motors will Popescu, Dave Staton and James
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MDL TORQUE MAGAZINE
ISSUE 1
TRAINING COURSES SUMMER 2013
INDUCTION TRAINING BPM TRAINING THERMAL TRAINING ADVANCED MOTOR DESIGN WORK MDL’s courses are consistently rated “excellent” by trainees who have benefited from the one-to-one support and advice offered by MDL’s highly-experienced team of motor design experts.
The first three days of the 2013 summer programme outlined above will cover the theory behind each of the subject headings.
Day Four is advanced motor design workshop where trainees will be given the opportunity to work on their own motor designs using the Motor-CAD, Motor-LAB, SPEED and Portunus software. The training will take place at MDL’s popular training venue - the Monkhouse Granary which is located in Shropshire, UK.
This attractive venue is located in open countryside on the outskirts of the historic tourist town of Shrewsbury.
Freshly prepared home-cooked refreshments will be available throughout the day and there are a number of excellent hotels nearby.
Visit: www.motor-design.com
DAY 1:
DAY 2:
DAY 3:
DAY 4:
11 June 2013
12 June 2013
13 June 2013
14 June 2013
Prices, excluding VAT, are as follows:
£500 per day for one or two days £1,300 for three days £1,600 for four days
Send two or more trainees from the same organisation and receive a 25% discount per person.
We also offer a 40% discount to all students and universities.
For more information, or if you would like to book your place on one or more of the training days, please send your email to:
info@motor-design.com You can also call Lilo Bluhm on +44 (0) 1691 623305
Email: info@motor-design.com
Call +44 (0) 1691 623305
MOTOR-LAB SET TO TAKE MO Accurate efficiency maps can be generated rapidly, enabling engineers to optimise their design across the whole operating envelope as shown below.
A brand new software tool has been launched by Motor Design Limited. Designed as an add-on tool, MotorLAB is the first of its kind in the marketplace. No other modelling tool offers equivalent functionality.
permanent magnet AC motor over frequency. Motor-LAB’s modelling the entire operational envelope. techniques utilise FEA coupling to account for saturation effects and With Motor-LAB, engineers can accurately predict the variation of create efficiency maps, plot iron loss across the envelope. torque/speed characteristics, study Integrated links to SPEED software the continuous and peak thermally allow automatic generation of these The combined electromagnetic and constrained operational envelope models with PC-FEA. thermal modelling toolbox couples and analyse performance over with world-leading software brands, driving cycles. such as SPEED, Motor-CAD, Flux and FEMM. It is specifically designed for It is fast, easy to use and all of the the Brushless AC motor in traction techniques have been verified experimentally. applications. Developed with a number of partners as part of a research project with the University of Bristol, Motor-LAB enables rapid and accurate modelling of any
The new software includes various methods to account for DC and AC copper loss, magnet loss, iron loss and mechanical losses. This allows the user to accurately predict the variation of loss with load and
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MDL TORQUE MAGAZINE
Optimum operating points are automatically calculated for maximum efficiency. Saturation effects are accurately modelled. ISSUE 1
OTOR DESIGN TO NEW LEVELS Motor-LAB has an intuitive user interface: data is produced in a simple format that can be easily exported to Matlab, Microsoft Excel and other applications. A wide variety of graphs can be generated and a number of publication-quality output formats
are supported.
Motor-LAB also includes a set of standard cycles and a vehicle model which can generate driving cycles automatically. Alternatively, users can import their own driving cycle data.
Motor-LAB was designed and developed by James Goss – a Research Engineer with Motor Design Limited and the University of Bristol. James has been working on the project for the last 3 years.
Electromagnetic performance data, such as currents and losses, can be calculated over the driving cycle shown below.
These losses can be exported into the Motor-CAD software to calculate transient thermal performance as shown here.
“I have been privileged to work with a number of high-profile, experienced customers throughout the development process,” said James. “This has helped us ensure that the tool is well suited to meet the needs of the industry.” Currently, Motor-LAB supports Brushless AC permanent magnet motors, but James and the team at MDL are now considering extending the software’s capabilities to support other motor types.
To find out more about Motor-LAB and how it can help your motor design process, visit the website www.motor-design.com or email sales@motor-design.com MDL TORQUE MAGAZINE
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NEW BOOK PUBLISHED BY WORLD LEADING MOTOR DESIGN EXPERTS TIM MILLER & DAVE STATON
ELECTRIC MACHINE DESIGN USING SPEED AND MOTOR-CAD
p in the field have come together to present a practical guide to the design of electric machines using the SPEED and Motor-CAD software packages.
Ten different machine types are introduced in the book, starting with a simple specification and proceeding through to a credible prototype. Rules of thumb and basic engineering principles are used throughout to guide and inform the design process.
The book has been used and tested in training classes in the United States, Japan, and Europe. It can be used as a course text, either in intensive sessions covering up to 10 days of instruction, or as a self-study text in conjunction with the SPEED and Motor-CAD software.
BUY YOUR COPY NOW S and Motor-CAD, simply email using SPEED your purchase order with your name, company and the delivery address to: sales@motor-design.com sales@motor-design.com The book costs:
£95 £95 iincluding ncluding postage postage or or
115 iincluding ncluding postage postage or or € €115 $150 iincluding ncluding postage postage $150
www.motor-design.com www.speedlab.co.uk
MOTOR-CAD NEW FEATURES
FE-Therm now available
MDL has announced the launch of a new module: FE-Therm. The feature was first piloted free for six months in order to gain useful feedback and develop its capabilities in line with customer requirements. However, the feedback was so positive that MDL decided to extend the free trial period for a further three months. Now, with the enhancements firmly in place, the new tool is available for purchase.
heat transfer for complex geometries such as multi-layer interior magnet motor rotors.
FE-Therm can be used to calibrate analytical lumped circuit models, thus improving accuracy. It is fully automated and takes only a few Above is a form wound machine seconds to calculate. showing the winding hotspot.
Motor-CAD uses powerful analytical methods to calculate the performance of electric machines and cooling systems.
The new add-on module provides increased detail on conduction heat transfer in various components. It The above image shows the A slot water jacket cooling with can be used to analyse conduction machine’s magnet temperatures. two cooling ducts inside the slot. MDL TORQUE MAGAZINE
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PARTNERSHIP WORKING WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL MDL’s Research Engineer, James Goss, is in the process of building three electric motors at the University of Bristol’s laboratories. The motors are designed to drive a small electric vehicle.
website for each of the motors. This will be hugely useful and beneficial to customers. In particular, the project is seeking to validate:
At the end of the project, • loss modelling and temperature one will be mounted into prediction the German Hotzenblitz • the comparison between the City car. The other two different slot/pole combinations will remain at Bristol’s • the comparisons between the research laboratories to performance levels of distributed be used in future and concentrated windings. research. The methodology used to design The project will enable these motors will be presented at MDL’s customers to access the IEMDC conference in Chicago in the valuable test data that May. validates MDL tools such as Motor-CAD and Motor-LAB. This Full details of this will be published will confirm the accuracy of in the next issue of MDLTORQUE MDL’s models and tools. magazine. Motor Design Limited will also be publishing a step-by-step design process on its
MDL WELCOMES AN OLD FRIEND
MDL has recently been enjoying a visit from Dave Dorrell: an Associate Professor at the School of Electromagnetic, Mechanical and Mechatronic Systems at the University of Technology in Sydney.
Dave has worked in the area of electrical machines for 25 years and has a long list of journal papers in this area. He is currently on a sixmonth Professional Enhancement Programme (PEP) in order to develop his research and industrial collaborations that will feed into his research group in Australia.
During his time at MDL, Dave has been familiarising himself with the latest enhancements to Motor-CAD and has received one-to-one training in the new Motor-LAB thermal modelling tool. He is now 10
looking forward to using the software in the future thus ensuring that his students are able to benefit from the advanced capabilities.
Dave is an old friend of MDL and a familiar figure in the world of electric machine design. Together with Mircea Popescu, he has published a number of technical papers and also worked at Glasgow University with Professor Tim Miller the developer of SPEED.
Said Dave: “I always enjoy coming to the MDL offices in Ellesmere. I’ve worked with these people for many years. They’re specialists in their field and possess a level of knowledge that isn’t available in my university so that I am able to exchange ideas and develop new research projects.” MDL TORQUE MAGAZINE
SUBSCRIBE TO MDLTORQUE If you would like to receive a free copy of MDLTORQUE magazine every quarter, simply email your name and email address to:
media@motor-design.com ISSUE 1
MDL PARTNER SOFTWARE
FLUX
Flux is the world's leading software for electromagnetic simulations. Developed over 30 years, Flux is reliable and accurate. It is a finite element software application used for electromagnetic and thermal physics simulations in 2D and 3D.
Flux can handle the design and analysis of any electromagnetic device. It has various functions dedicated to electromagnetism.
SPEED
Flux features include extended multi-parametric analysis, advanced electrical circuit coupling and kinematic coupling. It is suitable for static, harmonic and transient analysis. Flux is suitable for designing, analyzing and optimizing a variety of devices and applications such as:
• • • • • •
Transformers Induction heating devices Sensors HV devices Cables Non-destructive Evaluation
Flux is a CEDRAT product.
• Rotating machines • Linear actuators • Electromagnetic compatibility
leading manufacturers, designers, developers and users of electric machines. Thousands of machines SPEED is a specialized analysis tool have been designed with SPEED, for the design of electric machines, and millions have been produced. such as motors, generators and alternators. It was originally SPEED is a simple, intuitive, fast and developed at the SPEED Lab at the efficient tool for the sizing and University of Glasgow by Professor preliminary design of new Tim Mller with MDL's own experts, prototypes. It is also capable of the Dr Dave Staton and Dr Mircea characterization of new and existing products, performance Popescu, instrumental in its study and quick assessment of the development. effects of parameter changes. Its highly organized data in both SPEED now has more than 1500 numerical and graphical form international users, including
facilitates communication between company sites, and often between supplier and customer.
Portunus® includes a wide range of library components and models covering different multi-physics Portunus® is a system simulation environments. Examples include software which provides a powerful electrical, mechanical, power environment for carrying out multi- electronics, heat transfer, flow and physics calculations. It combines magnetic building blocks. powerful numerical algorithms and interfaces for programming, Possible applications of Portunus® automation and the import and range from simulations of electrical and energy systems, power export of data. electronics and drives, thermal and Portunus® comes with a clear and magnetic circuit calculations and powerful graphical user interface: control systems. component models are placed into Portunus® allows efficient models the schematic via drag-and-drop.
to be developed with linkage between different physical domains. For example, electrothermal simulations may be run to ascertain heating levels for power transistors, or electro-magnetic simulations can be made for modelling the steady-state or a given load cycle of electrical machines.
PORTUNUS
SPEED is used in conjunction with Motor-CAD for thermal problems. SPEED is a CD-adapco product.
Portunus is an Adapted Solutions product.
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MDLEVENTS www.motor-design.com
IEEE International Electric Machines and Drives Conference, IEMDC 2013
12-15 May 2013 Chicago, USA www.iemdc13.org
Computer Simulation of Novel Electromagnetic Devices
22 May 2013 Rolls Royce, Derby, England www.ukmagsoc.org.uk
CWIEME 2013
4, 5, 6 June 2013 Berlin, Germany www.coilwindingexpo.com/berlin
Techno-Frontier 2013
17-19 July 2013 Tokyo, Japan http://www.jma.or.jp/tf/en
IEEE Energy Conversion Congress & Expo, ECCE 2013
15-19 September 2013 Denver, USA www.ecce2013.org