Computationally efficient multi-objective optimization of an interior permanent magnet synchronous machine using neural networks

Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, vol. 160, pp. 111753

Abstract

Improving the power density of an interior permanent magnet synchronous machine requires a complex and comprehensive approach that includes electromagnetic and thermal aspects. To achieve that, a multi-objective optimization of the machine’s geometry was performed according to selected key performance indicators by using numerical and analytical models. The primary objective of this research was to create a computationally efficient and accurate alternative to a direct finite element method-based optimization. By integrating artificial neural networks as meta-models, we aimed to demonstrate their performance in comparison to existing State-of-the-Art approaches. The artificial neural network approach achieved a nearly 20-fold reduction compared with the finite element method-based approach in computation time while maintaining accuracy, demonstrating its effectiveness as a computationally efficient alternative. The obtained artificial neural network can also be reused for different optimization scenarios and for iterative fine-tuning, further reducing the computation time. To highlight the advantages and limitations of the proposed approach, a multi-objective optimization scenario was performed, which increased the power-to-mass ratio by 16.5%.

Authors 3

1. Mitja Garmut corresponding

   University of Maribor

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Electrical Power Engineering, FERI, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 46, Maribor, 2000, Slovenia

2. Simon Steentjes Aachen Institute of Electrical Machines (IEM)

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Electrical Machines, RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 4, Aachen, 52062, Germany

3. Martin Petrun

   University of Maribor

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Electrical Power Engineering, FERI, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 46, Maribor, 2000, Slovenia