Design and optimization of a six-phase fault-tolerant permanent magnet motor

This paper presents a six-phase fault tolerant permanent magnet (FTPM) motor with high performance and reliability for use in safety critical motor drive systems. Fault tolerance is achieved by design and optimization of motor parameters. The influence of the number of phases on motor operation performance is discussed. The method of optimization of main motor parameters, namely armature core length and armature core diameter, is proposed. The winding configuration and the slot and pole number combination are considered. Finally, the proposed six-phase 12-slot 10-pole FTPM motor is verified by Finite Element Analysis (FEA), and the simulation results shows good output performance with low cogging torque and high power density.