Co-simulation tools for the permanent magnet machine design oriented to the application

The aim of this work is to analyze the viability of using co-simulation tools in the electrical machine design process. Coupling among different simulation domains such as thermal, electromagnetic, electric or mechanical permits to optimize the machine design before a prototype is built. A conventional electric machine design consists in two steps: an initial analytic design is complemented by a more accurate FEM analysis. This work deals with the addition of a third design step in order to achieve an optimal design. Thanks to co-simulation tools, critical aspects related to the operation could be identified by the designer, so the design could be modified in order to solve any performance problem. As an example, a surface mounted permanent magnet synchronous machine design is presented for a gearless elevator application. A coupling between control, electromagnetic and mechanical domains is presented in order to evaluate the influence of the machine design parameters on the ride quality of an elevator system.