Radial Forces in External Rotor Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors With Non-Overlapping Windings

In external rotor permanent magnet synchronous motors with non-overlapping windings, the higher frequency harmonics of the radial forces generate considerable resonant vibrations and acoustic noise. Therefore, diversity of spatial and specifically frequency harmonic ordinal numbers of representative slot and pole number combinations are derived analytically with open circuit and under load. Amplitudes of radial force waves are calculated by means of the finite element method and 2-D Fourier analysis. The obtained results confirm the analytical investigation. Determining factors on amplitudes are studied on machines having different slot and pole numbers and double-layer windings. Higher frequency harmonics significantly depend on the pole and tooth shape as well as the current profile. With open circuit, the calculations are validated by experiments. The findings are applied to reduce the noise of a centrifugal fan.