Interactive computer aided design of permanent magnet DC motors

A summary of the design theory associated with DC commutator motors is presented. This is followed by a detailed description of a computer aided design program written specifically for this class of motor. The software engineering content is extremely important: once the engineering design equations are developed and validated, the productivity of the design engineer depends critically on the efficiency and user-friendliness of the software itself. The program described in the main text permits the integration of the motor design with the design of the electronic controller, together with the simulation of the whole system. When sizing motors for a particular application, speed of execution and the flexibility to evaluate a wide range of design options and parameter variations are essential, while absolute accuracy is only of secondary importance