Reduction of Cogging Torque in Surface Mounted Permanent Magnet Brushless DC Motor by Adapting Rotor Magnetic Displacement

Cogging torque is a critical dilemma in Permanent Magnet Brushless DC (PMBLDC) motors. In medium-low power PMBLDC motors, redundant vibrations and forbidding noises arise as a result of the harmonic magnetic forces created by cogging torque. This paper introduces a simple approach for minimizing cogging torque in PMBLDC motors by applying placement irregularities in rotor magnets. An angle shift in the rotor magnets in surface-mounted PMBLDC motors helps to attain magnet displacement. This displacement imparts an asymmetrical magnet structure to the rotor. Maintaining pole arc to pole pitch ratio (L/tau) of between 0.6 and 0.8, shifting angles from 1 degrees to 8 degrees were considered in order to analyze the effect of the angle shift on the rotor magnets. An analytical expression was also derived for finding the shifting angle with the minimum cogging torque in the PMBLDC motor by using the Virtual Work Method (VWM). The optimization of the shifting angle with minimum cogging torque was investigated using 3D Finite Element Analysis (FEA). A comparison of the simulation and analytical results of cogging torque was carried out. It was determined that the reduction of cogging torque in the analytical results showed good agreement with the FEA analysis.