Low cost electronically controlled motors for vehicle actuation systems

An investigation into improving a design of the flux switching motor for use in an automotive application is presented. This concentrates on developing computer simulation tools to model the motor performance effectively and hence enable the development of an alternative design.;The flux switching motor is introduced as a relatively new type of brushless drive with a high level of robustness and low cost power electronics. These properties in particular make the flux switching motor well suited to the automotive industry, where reliability and cost are paramount.;This thesis details research carried out to develop a new circuit simulation of the motor and its power electronics using the program PSpice. The model developed here is then used as a tool to investigate the performance of the motor. This is used in conjunction with static finite element analysis performed in the program Opera and later on with time stepping finite element analysis also in Opera. These simulation tools are tailored to model the flux switching motor accurately and aid with the improvement, in terms of torque production, of the design.;The models are used to produce a new motor design making use of 12 rotor teeth instead of the 4 teeth originally presented. This design shows promise in early static simulations with the potential for higher power due to a higher operating frequency, although high iron loss indicates this may be outweighed. However, time stepping simulation shows that torque production is actually lower than the original 4 tooth design due to lower flux in the small rotor teeth.