Improved Propulsion Motor Design for a Twelve Passenger All-Electric Aircraft

Hebala, Ahmed; Nuzzo, Stefano; Connor, Peter H.; Giangrande, Paolo; Gerada, Chris; Galea, Michael

Abstract

This paper investigates the design of a 12-seater aircraft electric propulsion motor (ProMo). The design procedures aim to improve the performance of a previously designed motor, while adding further restrictions to the electrical and thermal boundaries. The main targets are to achieve the required output power of 550 kW, low torque ripple and an efficiency higher than 97%. The proposed procedures include an optimum slot/pole combination study, investigation on the winding configuration and connection, scaling of the airgap thickness and permanent magnet (PM) thicknesses, and finally minimising of the motor volume. The electromagnetic design is performed through a finite element electromagnetic software package, whereas the thermal analysis uses a lumped parameter thermal network-based. The mechanical stress above the rated speed of 2000 rpm is also examined. The final design fulfils the design requirements and meets the electrical and thermal constraints.

Citation

Hebala, A., Nuzzo, S., Connor, P. H., Giangrande, P., Gerada, C., & Galea, M. (2021, April). Improved Propulsion Motor Design for a Twelve Passenger All-Electric Aircraft. Presented at IEEE Workshop on Electrical Machines Design, Control and Diagnosis (WEMDCD 2021), Modena, Italy

• Presentation Conference Type: Edited Proceedings
• Conference Name: IEEE Workshop on Electrical Machines Design, Control and Diagnosis (WEMDCD 2021)
• Start Date: Apr 8, 2021
• End Date: Apr 9, 2021
• Acceptance Date: Mar 1, 2021
• Online Publication Date: May 11, 2021
• Publication Date: Apr 8, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jun 29, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 29, 2021
• Pages: 343-348
• Series Title: IEEE Workshop on Electrical Machines Design, Control and Diagnosis (WEMDCD)
• Book Title: 2021 IEEE Workshop on Electrical Machines Design, Control and Diagnosis (WEMDCD)
• ISBN: 9781728176154
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/wemdcd51469.2021.9425667
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5746506
• Publisher URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9425667
• Additional Information: © 2021 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.