Analysis and modeling of magnetic characteristics in surface-mounted permanent-magnet machines with rotor overhang

The rotor overhang is used to enhance air-gap flux and improve power density. Due to asymmetry in the axial direction caused by the overhang, the time consuming 3D analysis is necessary to design the motor with overhang. To solve this problem, this paper proposes the equivalent magnetic circuit model (EMCM) that can consider overhang effects without the 3D analysis by using effective air-gap length. The analysis time can be reduced significantly via the proposed EMCM. The reduction of the analysis time is essential for the preliminary design of the motor. In order to verify the proposed model, the 3-D finite-element method (FEM) analysis is adopted. 3-D FEM results confirm the validity of the proposed EMCM.