Design and control of axial-flux brushless DC wheel motors for electric vehicles - Part I: Multiobjective optimal design and analysis

We have applied multiobjective optimal design to a brushless do wheel motor. The resulting axial-flux permanent-magnet motor has high torque-to-weight ratio and motor efficiency and is suitable for direct-driven wheel applications. Because the disk-type wheel motor is built into the hub of the wheel, no transmission gears or mechanical differentials are necessary and overall efficiency is thereby increased and weight is reduced. The dedicated motor was modeled in magnetic circuits and designed to meet the specifications of an optimization scheme, subject to constraints such as limited space, current density, flux saturation, and driving voltage. In this paper, two different motor configurations of three and four phases are illustrated. Finite-element analyses are then carried out to obtain the electromagnetic, thermal, and modal characteristics of the motor for modification and verification of the preliminary design. The back-electromotive forces of prototypes are examined for control strategies of current driving waveforms.