Influence of amorphous and silicon steel on performance of permanent magnet synchronous motors used in steering pump of electric vehicles

Amorphous materials have the advantages of high permeability and low core losses. Their application in the motor can reduce the energy consumption and improve the efficiency. To investigate the advantage of amorphous materials on the performance of permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) at lower speed situation, three 1.5 kW motors used in steering pumps of electric vehicles are analyzed and compared. Two prototypes and the experimental platform are built. The experimental results indicate that the efficiency of the PMSM motor with amorphous materials increases by 1.4 % at 1200 rpm, which shows that amorphous materials can also improve the motor performance at lower speed. To further take advantage of amorphous materials, the particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to optimize the dimensions of amorphous motor and the efficiency is increased by 0.54 %.