Comparative Study of Surface-Mounted and Interior Permanent-Magnet Motors for High-Speed Applications

This paper investigates the surface-mounted permanent-magnet (SPM) and the interior permanent-magnet (IPM) motors for high-speed applications. An SPM motor and an IPM motor are designed with the same power/speed rate and the same key dimensions. Finite-element analysis is used to compare the mechanical, electromagnetic, and antidemagnetization performances of the two motors, and lumped parameter thermal networks are involved to compare their thermal performances. It can be concluded from the comparisons that the IPM motor has comparable electromagnetic performances with the SPM motor in high-speed operations, and its costs and torque per PM weight are superior to those of the SPM motor. However, its rotor structure is not as robust and is prone to irreversible demagnetization.