General formulation of winding factor for fractional-slot concentrated winding design

Fractional-slot winding configurations have attracted much attention due to the availability of concentrated windings and low cogging torque in permanent magnet brushless motors. For the design of the winding configurations, many design parameters must be determined. The winding factor provides a useful index for the optimal design. However, no general expressions of the winding factor have been derived for all the winding configurations. This study performs the general formulation of the winding factor for the fractional-slot concentrated windings. The winding factor is redefined for stator windings without any information of the numbers of poles. For given stator windings, the optimal numbers of poles are determined from the obtained winding factors. The design strategy for the winding configurations is validated through a finite element method analysis.