Comparative Study of Reliability and Fault Tolerance of Multi-Phase Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors for Safety-Critical Drive Trains

Abstract

This  paper  is  a  continuation  of  research  on  the choice  of  the  optimum  type  of  traction  electric  motor  for  safety-critical  applications  (such  as an  electrical  helicopter),  based  on the results of previous works. The paper describes a comparative research of the today’s  most promising type of electric  motorsfor    this    purpose,    namely    multi-phase    permanent    magnet synchronous  motor  from  the  point  of  view  of  ensuring  flight safety  requirements.  The  results  of  comparative  study  of  those motors  with five,  six,  seven,  and nine  phases  are  allowing  the selection of the most appropriate electric traction machine for the electrical helicopterregarding specified operating conditions.