CAE Tool Enables Rotating Machine Design

Altair Engineering has released FluxMotor, a platform focused on the pre-design of electric rotating machines. Using its dedicated interface, motor designers can define electric machines and assess a design’s technical and economic potential step-by-step within minutes, according to the company. A standalone solution, FluxMotor’s computations can connect with other tools in Altair’s HyperWorks CAE suite of applications for advanced design studies when needed.

Altair Engineering’s FluxMotor platform offers a dedicated interface for the pre-design of electric rotating machines. Image courtesy of Altair Engineering Inc.

FluxMotor, explains Altair, provides a set of tools for designing and creating machines from standard or customized parts. It has design areas and tools for adding windings and materials as well as a selection of tests for evaluating and comparing machine capacity. Its automatically driven workflow offers an efficient user-oriented environment that accommodates different types of designers from all sectors related to the electric motors field, reports Altair.

The software comes with automated, ready-to-run standard and relevant tests. Among these are maps vs (Id, Iq), flux, inductance, torque, iron losses, etc.; as well as open circuit tests with cogging torque and back-emf (back electromotive force). Users can control test conditions through relevant parameters, and they can edit as well as export detailed motor data sheets.

The FluxMotor Winding tool has four modes of operation and, says Altair, is designed to help users find the right winding architecture for their job. Image courtesy of Altair Engineering Inc.

Altair says that the FluxMotor working environment is designed to ensure a better visualization of machine performance, which enables fast and accurate computations. Computations are easily connected to the company’s Flux finite element (FE) software for low-frequency electromagnetic and thermal simulations. Additionally, computations can connect to other tools in Altair’s HyperWorks CAE suite of applications for advanced studies such as eccentricity, vibro-accoustics, drive and control strategies and multiphysics optimizations.

FluxMotor provides users with a series of automated tests ready to be performed. Shown here is an efficiency map. Image courtesy of Altair Engineering Inc.

The software features dynamic libraries that offer standard or customized options to compose motors; a motor catalog project management environment for managing many products as well as quick access to past studies and computational methods using FE modeling. FluxMotor offers four winding modes (automatic, easy, advanced and expert level) and an automatic diagnostic to help evaluate the quality criteria of a winding.

The FluxMotor parts library focuses on the visualization and choice of parts. Users can edit and customize standard parts, magnets and slots. FluxMotor’s scalable material database provides a wide selection of typical materials such as lamination, magnet, electric conductor and electric insulator. All the topologies are said to be parameterized.

The FluxMotor Parts Library focuses on the visualization and choice of parts. It provides users with the option to use standard or customized parts. Image courtesy of Altair Engineering Inc.

“We wanted to develop an easy-to-use software without compromising on accuracy,” explained Fabrice Marion, program manager for FluxMotor at Altair, in a press statement. “FluxMotor helps reduce computing time to a minimum while still maintaining accurate results.”

For further details on FluxMotor, click here.

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Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.