Motor-CAD is an Electromagnetic and Thermal analysis package for
electric motor
An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate forc ...
s and
generators, developed and sold by Motor Design Ltd. It was initially released in 1999.
Modules are available for
brushless permanent magnet motors (BPM), outer rotor BPM motors,
induction motor
An induction motor or asynchronous motor is an AC electric motor in which the electric current in the rotor needed to produce torque is obtained by electromagnetic induction from the magnetic field of the stator winding. An induction motor ...
s,
permanent magnet dc machines,
switched reluctance motor
The switched reluctance motor (SRM) is an electric motor that runs by reluctance torque. Unlike common brushed DC motor types, power is delivered to windings in the stator (case) rather than the rotor. This greatly simplifies mechanical design as ...
s,
synchronous machines and
claw pole machines.
An integrated ultra fast finite element module (EMag) provides accurate electromagnetic and electrical performance predictions.
The thermal module (Therm) combines lumped circuit and finite element thermal calculations for optimising the cooling system of the machine.
Cooling methods modelled include
natural convection
Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the conve ...
(Totally enclosed non ventilated - TENV),
forced convection
Forced convection is a mechanism, or type of transport, in which fluid motion is generated by an external source (like a pump, fan, suction device, etc.). Alongside natural convection, thermal radiation, and thermal conduction it is one of the me ...
(Totally enclosed fan cooled - TEFC), through ventilation,
water jacket
A water jacket is a water-filled casing surrounding a device, typically a metal sheath having intake and outlet vents to allow water to be pumped through and circulated. The flow of water to an external heating or cooling device allows precise ...
s,
submersible
A submersible is a small watercraft designed to operate underwater. The term "submersible" is often used to differentiate from other underwater vessels known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully self-sufficient craft, capable of in ...
, wet rotor and wet stator, spray cooling,
radiation
In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes:
* ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, vi ...
and
conduction.
A wide range of housing types can be modelled.
The Lab module works with the EMag and Therm modules to help develop new design concepts. It provides efficiency mapping and duty cycle / drive cycle transient outputs within a few minutes.
Thermal analysis of electric machines is regarded as a more challenging area of analysis than electromagnetic analysis in the construction of the model and the accuracy achievable.
Thermal analysis of electrical machines is becoming ever more important due to the increasing drive for energy efficiency and compact design machines. This is particularly true for the aerospace and automotive sectors where size, weight and efficiency are driving the design of machines.
The design approach often taken is to consider both electromagnetic and thermal aspects of a machines design at the early stages in machine design, where Motor-CAD allows this to be done.
Other possible thermal modelling techniques include computational fluid dynamics. Motor-CAD has been shown to give results with a similar accuracy in a fraction of the time.
[TASSI, A., ZANOCCHI, G., STATON, D.A. : 'FEM and Lumped Circuit Thermal Analysis of External Rotor Motor' IECON 2006, Paris, Nov 2006]
References
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External links
Thermal Behaviour of Electrical Motors
Windows-only software
Computer-aided design software
Electric motors