Shape design optimization of interior permanent magnet motor for vibration mitigation using level set method

This paper presents a new optimization method to obtain the structural design of permanent magnet motor which can reduce the mechanical vibration. The optimization problem is formulated to minimize a multi-objective function including the mean compliance of the whole stator for maximizing the stiffness under the magnetic force and the torque ripple by aligning torque profiles to a constant target value for maximizing the magnetic performance, with constraint for material usage. The level set function is introduced for representing the structural boundaries and calculating the material properties. A coupled magneto-mechanical analysis is performed to verify the vibration characteristic of the motor system and obtain the design sensitivities. To confirm the usefulness of the proposed design method and to obtain the optimum structural design for low vibration motor, a design example of 20 kW interior permanent magnet motor developed for the power train of a hybrid electric vehicle is provided.