Electrically excited Wheel Hub Motors for High Speed Trains

To optimize the energy efficiency and to reduce the CO2-emissions in the railway transport area new vehicle concepts are needed. Regarding the drive concept for high-speed trains the question of using wheel hub motors always comes back into the discussion. Especially for low-floor vehicles or double-deck vehicles it is likely to use the space, which is now taken by the chassis, to use it as a walk-through area. The distribution of the drive power between several axes represents another advantage. In this paper basic considerations for the design of wheel hub motors for high speed trains with electrically excited synchronous machines are carried out.