Ain Shams Engineering Journal 14 (2023) 101836

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Ain Shams Engineering Journal

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Experimental validation of computationally efficient lumped parameter

thermal model developed for hybrid excited linear flux switching
machine
Noman Ullah a,b,⇑, Faisal Khan a, Abdul Basit b, Mohsin Shahzad a, Ahmad H. Milyani c, Sultan Alghamdi c
a
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad (Abbottabad Campus), Abbottabad, Pakistan
b
University of Engineering & Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan
c
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Regarding thermal analysis of electrical machines, Lumped Parameter Thermal Model (LPTM) is preferred
Received 1 September 2021 over Thermal Finite Element Analysis (TFEA) due to computational efficiency and ease of model forma-
Revised 17 March 2022 tion. In this paper, thermal performance of the proposed Hybrid Excited Linear Flux Switching
Accepted 11 May 2022
Machine (HELFSM) is analysed by proposing computationally efficient LPTM based on differential equa-
Available online 04 June 2022
tions. LPTM is established for worst case scenario i.e., locked-primary and MATLAB software is utilized to
solve temperature rise equations. Firstly, to define hot spots of proposed machine, thermal analysis
Keywords:
results up to steady state maximum temperature under 100% duty cycle are investigated. All three heat
Finite element analysis
Hybrid excited linear flux switching
flow mechanisms i.e. conduction, convection, and radiation are accounted. Secondly, 75% and 50% duty
machine cycles solutions for the hottest parts of proposed machine are investigated by LPTM. Finally, 3-D Thermal
Lumped parameter thermal modelling FEA (3DTFEA) is developed to validate results of proposed LPTM, followed by experimental validations
Thermal analysis utilizing thermographic analysis.
Ó 2022 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction secondary part completely passive. This unique feature allows a

better temperature control [1], machine can be excited to high cur-
In recent years, Double Sided Hybrid Excited Linear Flux rent densities for higher average thrust force [2], and makes this
Switching Machine with Segmented Secondary (DSHELFSMSS) design suitable for transportation vehicles [3]. Higher current den-
have been the object of increasing attention for long stroke appli- sities increase copper losses that ultimately results in temperature
cations due to; (a) elimination of mechanical conversion system, rise of electrical machine components. Excess temperature levels
(b) low manufacturing cost and variable air-gap magnetic flux den- may cause deformation of structure and can damage inter turn
sity, (c) segmented secondary reduces volume and cost of long sta- insulation resulting in incipient faults and also insulation medium
tor, and (d) double sided design diminishes high normal force installed between winding and core [4].
problem. Geometric structure of DSHELFSMSS possesses an inher- For safe and appropriate thrust force generation operation, two
ent property of confining all excitation sources (PM, Field Excita- possible solutions can be; (a) special cooling arrangements influ-
tion Coils (FECs), and AC) to short moving primary, leaving encing cost and volume of electrical machine, and (b) limit electri-
cal and magnetic loadings after detailed thermal analysis of
machine’s performance designed for specific application [5]. The
⇑ Corresponding author at: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
latter is preferred to reduce manufacturing cost and avoid addi-
COMSATS University Islamabad (Abbottabad Campus), Abbottabad, Pakistan.
E-mail address: [email protected] (N. Ullah).
tional cooling facilities’ failures.
This work was supported by Technology Development Fund-Higher Education Thermal and electromagnetic phenomena are two different
Commission, Pakistan (Grant No. HEC-TDF 03-067). aspects of electrical machine design. In literature, thermal models
of machines are not addressed extensively compared to its electro-
magnetic designs. Thermal modelling plays an important role
regarding operation limits and choice of insulation class [6]. Ther-
Production and hosting by Elsevier mal modelling results can be obtained by; (a) numerical methods

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2022.101836
2090-4479/Ó 2022 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
N. Ullah, F. Khan, A. Basit et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal 14 (2023) 101836

e.g. Thermal Finite Element Analysis (TFEA) and Computational 2. Proposed motor topology, prototype and electromagnetic
Fluid Dynamics (CFD) [7], and (b) Lumped Parameter (LP) models performance
[8] by utilizing analogy between thermal and electrical circuits
[9,10]. Although TFEA and CFD are universally accepted accurate 2.1. Topology of proposed DSHELFSMSS
techniques, however, requirement regarding model formation
and computational time, compatible hardware, and high license 3-D illustration and corresponding 2-D schematic diagram of
cost compel designers to adopt alternate modelling techniques proposed DSHELFSMSS is shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, respectively
[11]. [18]. Number of primary teeth ðP t Þ, PM or DC windings ðW PM=DC Þ,
In the limited literature regarding thermal analysis of flux AC windings ðW AC Þ, and stator to mover pole pitch ðss =sm Þ of the
switching machines, thermal equivalent circuit model predicting proposed complementary coil design DSHELFSMSS having combi-
transient and steady state performance of PM flux switching nation of series/parallel magnetic circuit is achieved utilizing fol-
machine using Schwarz-Christoffel mapping is developed and pre- lowing design guidelines equations [19]:
sented in [12]. However, the model is for rotary machines and may
not predict accurate results for linear machine topology. Reasons Pt ¼ 4ab þ 1 ð1Þ
behind poor documentation for thermal analysis of linear flux W PM=DC ¼ 2ab þ 1 ð2Þ
switching machines are; (a) special open structure, (b) large mod- W AC ¼ 2ab ð3Þ
elling area, and (c) complex working patterns. Furthermore, LP ss =sm ¼ 4ab=ð2ab þ 2Þ ð4Þ
Thermal Model (LPTM) for linear machines cannot be created by
using commercial software, whereas it can be done for rotating where a ¼ 3 and is quantity of AC phases and b ¼ 2 that indicates
machines by utilizing geometric parameters and material proper- AC winding coil pair repetition. Aforementioned equations lead to
ties [13]. Although numerous LP modelling methodologies [13– single side guidelines of Pt ¼ 25; W PM=DC ¼ 13, and W AC ¼ 12, lead-
15] for other classes of linear electrical machines are proposed ing to ss =sm ¼ 24=14. Structure design variables are presented in
and validated in literature, however, no thermal modelling refer- Fig. 4 and their values are tabulated in Table 1.
ence regarding linear hybrid excited flux switching machine is
available till date. 2.2. Working principle of proposed DSHELFSMSS
Authors of [13] performed thermal resistance-network analysis
(TRA) for PM linear motor and validated its results by prototype. Working principle of proposed DSHELFSMSS can either be
However, the model is for water cooled single sided linear machine explained with the help of air-gap field modulation theory [20]
with elimination of heat transfer by radiation. Linear generator, to or through magnetic circuit. Later one methodology is adopted in
be used in marine environment is also investigated by LPTM in this paper to reduce complexity. Linear displacement of one stator
[14], however the model is for tubular PM machine and requires pole pitch representing 360 electrical degrees with two important
measurement based model calibrations. Authors of [15] developed points of positive maximum flux linkage and negative maximum
one dimensional transient temperature field model for linear flux linkage is shown in Fig. 5. Red lines indicate flux flow gener-
induction motor to study main factors that impact stator temper- ated due to PMs and makes series magnetic circuit encompassing
ature decay rate. Consequently, thermal analytical model with suf- two stators and complete mover. Flux represented by green lines
ficient accuracy, less convergence time durations, and free from is due to FEC electromagnets and make combination of two parallel
measurement based model calibrations is essential need of present magnetic circuits and also follow PM flux flow paths. Positive max-
time. imum flux linkage of Phase A is shown in Fig. 5(a) and negative
In this paper, a novel DSHELFSMSS is proposed for long stroke maximum flux linkage is shown in Fig. 5(b). Both PM and DC elec-
linear motion applications such as electric train and vertical lifting tromagnets’ flux follow same paths to ensure philosophy of hybrid
system [16], comparison of existing and proposed scheme is shown excitation, bipolar sinusoidal flux linkage, and flux strengthening/
in Fig. 1. Comparison of existing and proposed traction scheme for weakening phenomenon.
electric train and elevator system shows that proposed configura-
tions have the ability to wipe out meshing of rotatory machines 2.3. Electromagnetic performance
and Mechanical Conversion System (MCS). Besides these, two dis-
advantages of conventional elevator system are hoist cables and The proposed machine was simulated utilizing JMAG Commer-
counterweights. Hoist cables may suffer strength and stability fail- cial FEA Package ver. 18.1 and considering design parameters
ures whereas counterweights absorb significant accommodation shown in Fig. 4 and Table 1. Magnetic flux lines obtained from
space throughout the building height [17]. Proposed ropeless ver- FEA is shown in Fig. 6. Twenty-nine (29) silicon steel sheets each
tical elevator scheme is capable to increase stability by avoiding having 0.35 mm depth are stacked to develop stack length of
hoist cables and helps in better utilization of building accommoda- 10 mm, and wire-cut methodology is utilized to manufacture sta-
tion by removing counterweights requirements. Further, computa- tor and mover core. Manufactured DSHELFSMSS and test bed hav-
tionally efficient Lumped Parameter Thermal Model (LPTM) based ing stroke length of two (2) meters established for electromagnetic
on first order differential equations for novel DSHELFSMSS is pro- performance analysis is shown in Fig. 7. Two Key Performance
posed and validated by 3-D Thermal Finite Element Analysis Indicators (KPIs) termed as no-load induced EMF of centre phase
(3DTFEA) and experimental results. Design topology, variables (B  EMF pp ) and peak-to-peak detent force [21]
and methodology, operating principle, and electromagnetic perfor- (Detent  Forcepp ) are considered for analysis of proposed
mance of proposed DSHELFSMSS utilizing JMAG Commercial FEA machine.
Package ver. 18.1, followed by experimental electromagnetic per- DSHELFSMSS was driven by servo motor at the rated speed of
formance validations is presented in Section 2. Computationally 1500 mm/s resulting in a B-EMF frequency of 50 Hz. No-load B-
efficient LPTM of proposed machine, its solution methodology EMF and detent force results are recorded using intelliSENS DAQ
and its 3DTFEA is done in Section 3. Full scale hardware validation device and electrical resistance strain sensor. Waveforms obtained
using thermographic analysis utilizing ”Fluke VT04 Visual IR Ther- from FEA and experiments are presented in Fig. 8 and 9, whereas
mometer” for duty cycles of 100%, 75%, and 50% up to maximum numerical values are tabulated in Table 2. It can be seen that the
steady state temperature is done in Section 4. Finally, some conclu- results obtained by experiment show a good agreement with
sions are drawn in Section 5. corresponding FEA results. A minor deviation in the results
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N. Ullah, F. Khan, A. Basit et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal 14 (2023) 101836

Fig. 1. Existing and proposed schemes of targeted applications: (a) existing electric train, (b) proposed electric train, (c) existing vertical lifting, and (d) proposed rope-less
elevator.

comparison is due to manufacturing imperfection and assembly

impreciseness.
Average thrust force and power versus variable armature cur-
rent density plot of DSHELFSMSS at fixed field excitation is pre-
sented in Fig. 10. Furthermore, average thrust force and power
versus velocity graph of DSHELFSMSS is shown in Fig. 11. As losses
affect electromagnetic performance of a machine [22], efficiency of
DSHELFSMSS at eight different points considering core and copper
losses is computed and presented.

3. Thermal modelling

3.1. LPTM

Thermal resistances and heat transfer coefficients are two

important parameters to be calculated for thermal modelling
[23]. All three mediums of heat transfer i.e. conduction, convection,
Fig. 2. 3-D structure of proposed DSHELFSMSS. and radiation are accounted to obtain accurate results. Machine
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N. Ullah, F. Khan, A. Basit et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal 14 (2023) 101836

Fig. 3. 2-D schematic diagram of proposed DSHELFSMSS.

parts having direct contact through solid material such as winding

and core separated by epoxy and insulation sheet is modelled as
conduction. Heat transferred to ambient from machine surfaces
is studied as convection. Heat transfer in between two metal sur-
faces through air-gap is considered as radiation. Nine nodes with
seven types thermal resistances are defined for proposed thermal
model (as shown in Fig. 12 and 13). Heat transfer process and sur-
roundings of defined thermal resistances are tabulated in Table 3.
In order to simplify LPTM, following assumptions are made;

1. Heat flow is assumed in the yz-direction because machine’s

structure is periodic in x-direction and same heat generation
is observed due to uniform periodic current excitation,
2. Initial and ambient temperature are maintained at 28  C in the
solution process,
3. Equivalent square winding structure is utilized to model cop-
per, epoxy, and insulation sheet of excitation sources [13] (as
shown in Fig. 14),
4. As the model is developed for worst case scenario i.e. locked
mover case hence forced convection is neglected.

3.1.1. Calculation of thermal resistances

Thermal conduction resistance is calculated utilizing (5) [24];
Fig. 4. Design variables.
l
Rcond ¼ ð5Þ
kA
where l is length of the block, k is thermal conductivity, and A is the
surface area of the block. Thermal convection resistance is calcu-
lated utilizing (6) [25];
Table 1
Structure design parameters. 1
Rconv ¼ ð6Þ
Symbol Parameter (Unit) Value hconv A
sm Mover pole pitch (mm) 35 where hconv is convective heat transfer coefficient and A is the sur-
ss Stator pole pitch (mm) 30
face area. Also,
hm Mover height (mm) 91
hs Stator height (mm) 19 hconv ¼ f ðNu; Pr; Gr; ReÞ ð7Þ
wDCt Mover DC tooth width (mm) 9.5
wACt Mover AC tooth width (mm) 8.5 Here, Nu is the Nusselt number, Pr is Prandtl number, Gr is Grashof
wslot Slot width (mm) 8.5 number, and Re is Rayleigh number. All aforementioned numbers
hslot Slot height (mm) 20.6
are dimensionless quantities.
hy Mover yoke height (mm) 8.6
wPM PM width (mm) 7
Nusselt number for natural convection can be calculated as (8) [5];
hPM PM height (mm) 3.5
V PM PM volume (grams) 45.5
Nu ¼ a  ðGrPrÞb ð8Þ
wsst Stator segment tip width (mm) 28.5
where a and b are constants and depends on the geometry of sur-
wssb Stator segment base width (mm) 12.825
hss Stator segment height (mm) 9.5 face and heat flow. Constant a for vertical and horizontal plate is
g Air-gap height (mm) 2 0:59 and 0:54, respectively. Whereas, constant b is considered as
L Stack length (mm) 10 0:25 [26]. Pr number can be obtained by (9);
v Mover velocity (m/s) 1.5
IDC DC current (A) 5 Momentum Diffusivity C p  l
N AC;DC Number of AC and DC coil turns 40
Pr ¼ ¼ ð9Þ
Heat Diffusivity k
IAC AC RMS current (A) 5

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N. Ullah, F. Khan, A. Basit et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal 14 (2023) 101836

Fig. 5. Magnetic circuit based working principle, (a) Positive max. flux linkage, and (b) Negative max. flux linkage.

Fig. 6. Magnetic flux lines of proposed DSHELFSMSS obtained from FEA.

Fig. 8. No-load induced B-EMF at 1.5 m/s.

Fig. 7. DSHELFSMSS prototype and electromagnetic performance test bed.

where C p is specific heat capacity of air and is considered as 1007 J/

kg°C, l is air kinematic viscosity and its value at 30  C is
1:60  105 K g/ms, and k is thermal conductivity of air and its
value at 30  C is 0:025 W/m°C.
Gr number can be calculated as (10);

buoyancy forces b  g  DT  L3
Gr ¼ ¼ ð10Þ
viscous forces l2
where b is cubical expansion coefficient and DT is difference
between surface and air temperature. Product of b and DT repre-
sents the air volume change that corresponds to temperature
change DT at constant pressure. g is gravitational attraction force Fig. 9. Detent force comparison.
(m=s2 ) and L is characteristic length of the surface.
Eq. (9) results in Pr number value of 0.62. Whereas, four Gr
number values are obtained due to variation of surface’s length 21:88 for stator, 13:86 for mover horizontal surface, 12:91 for
and temperature difference, resulting in Nu number value of mover vertical surface, and 4:66 for winding.

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N. Ullah, F. Khan, A. Basit et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal 14 (2023) 101836

Table 2
Key Performance Indicators of DSHELFSMSS.

Key Performance Indicator (Unit) FEA Experimental

B  EMF pp ðVÞ 0.25 0.225
Detent  Forcepp ðNÞ 765 810

Fig. 10. Average thrust force and power versus variable armature current density.

Fig. 11. Average thrust force and power versus velocity. Fig. 13. Proposed LPTM for DSHELFSMSS.

Table 3
Thermal resistances.

Symbol Process Definition

RACw Conduction Thermal resistance between AW and mover teeth
RDCw Conduction Thermal resistance between AW and mover teeth
Rww Conduction Thermal resistance between AW and mover teeth
Rs Convection Thermal resistance between AW and mover teeth
Rp Convection Thermal resistance between mover tooth inner
surface (air-gap region) and ambient
Rc Convection Thermal resistance between mover upper surface
and ambient
Rew Convection Thermal resistance between end winding and
ambient
Rps Radiation Thermal resistance between mover tooth inner
surface (air-gap region) and stator segment

Nu  kair
Fig. 12. Thermal model node locations. hconv ¼ ð11Þ
Lsurface

Generalized equation for convection heat transfer coefficient Utilizing 0:025 W/m°C as value of K air , aforementioned Nu values
can be written as; and corresponding surface lengths, hconv for stator, mover horizontal
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N. Ullah, F. Khan, A. Basit et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal 14 (2023) 101836

h
dh_ 5
dT
¼ C15 P5  ðh5 T amb Þ
Rew

i ð19Þ
ðh5 h6 Þ ðh5 h9 Þ
Rww
 Rw

h
dh_ 6
dT
¼ C16 P6  ðh6 T amb Þ
Rew

i ð20Þ
ðh6 h5 Þ
Rww
 ðh6Rh
w
9Þ

h
dh_ 7
dT
¼ C17 P7  ðh7 T amb Þ
Rew

Fig. 14. Equivalent square winding structure. i ð21Þ
ðh7 h8 Þ
Rww
 ðh7Rh
w
9Þ

surface, mover vertical surface, and winding is concluded as h

dh_ 8
5:66; 5:93; 3:34, and 8:53 W/m2°C. dT
¼ C18 P8  ðh8 T amb Þ
Rew

i ð22Þ
As mentioned before, heat transfer in between stator segment ðh8 h7 Þ ðh8 h9 Þ
Rww
 Rw
inner surface and mover tooth surface through air-gap is
accounted as radiation. Thermal radiation resistance is calculated h
dh_9
using (12); dT
¼ C19 P9  ðhR9CT amb Þ
þ2Rp
 ðh9Rh
ps
1Þ
 ðh9Rh
w
5Þ

i ð23Þ
1 ðh9 h6 Þ
 ðh9Rh 2Þ
 ðh9Rh 3Þ
 ðh9Rh 4Þ
 ðh9Rh 7Þ
 ðh9Rh8Þ
Rrad ¼ ð12Þ Rw ps ps ps w w
hrad Asurface
where hrad is radiation heat transfer coefficient and can be repre- where h_ i ; Pi ; hi , and T amb represents temperature rise, copper loss,
sented as; temperature level, and ambient temperature, respectively.

 Electrical power loss (main source of heat generation) is calcu-
hrad ¼ ksb  ess  T 2stator þ T 2mover tooth  ðT stator þ T mover tooth Þ ð13Þ lated by using (24) and (25) for both armature windings and FECs,
respectively.
where ksb is Stefan-Boltzmann constant, ess is emissivity of silicon
steel, T stator is stator inner segment surface temperature, and PJAC ¼ ðSAC  J AC Þ2  RAC =NAC ð24Þ
T movertooth is mover tooth surface temperature facing towards stator.
Aforementioned equation resulted in hrad of 6:32 W/m2°C. PJDC ¼ ðSDC  J DC Þ2  Rf =NDC ð25Þ
Under transient condition, capacitor is utilized to represent heat
storage in the core and windings. whereas, under steady-state con- where SAC and SDC is armature winding and FEC slot area, JAC and JDC
dition the capacitor is assumed as fully charged. Capacitance under is armature winding and FEC current densities, RAC is the armature
transient condition can be calculated as; winding per phase resistance, Rf is the field excitation coil resis-
X tance, N AC is the number of AC coil pairs, and NDC number of FECs
Ci ¼ mi  ci ð14Þ coil pairs. Further details regarding solution methodology can be
i obtained from [27].
where mi represents mass of stator segment for i ¼ 1; 2; 3, and 4,
mass of FEC for i ¼ 5, mass of AC windings for i ¼ 6, mass of mover 3.2. 3-D Thermal Finite Element Analysis (3DTFEA) model
tooth for i ¼ 7, mass of PM for i ¼ 8, and mass of mover yoke for
i ¼ 9. ci is specific heat capacity of aforementioned machine parts. In order to verify proposed LPTM results, 3DTFEA is conducted
ci is considered as 450 J=Kg  C for silicon steel, 190 J=Kg  C for utilizing JMAG Commercial FEA Package ver. 18.1 (as shown in
PMs, and 385 J=Kg  C for windings. Fig. 15). 3DTFEA divides the machine into many small segments,
each with appropriately specified thermal properties, and solves
3.1.2. Solution methodology heat flow equations to calculate temperature distribution over
In order to calculate temperature rise of nine nodes illustrated the whole system. The properties of different materials used in
in Fig. 12, following first order differential equations are deduced proposed machine are listed in Table 4.
from Fig. 13 and processed using MATLAB-SIMULINK. Four of the Although 3DTFEA predict accurate temperature distribution
following equations ((15)-(18)) represent four stator segments’ compared with other analytical techniques, however it is computa-
temperature rise, (19) shows FECs temperature rise, (20) shows tionally complex and expensive in terms of hardware/software
AW temperature rise, (21) illustrates mover teeth temperature requirements. In order to reduce computational complexity, geo-
change, (22) depicts PM temperature rise, and (23) helps to calcu- metric simplification such as conversion of winding part into three
late temperature rise of mover yoke. distinct homogeneous material regions i.e. copper, epoxy, and
  insulation sheet (as shown in Fig. 14) can be done. Intrinsic mate-
dh_1 1 ðh1  T amb Þ ðh1  h9 Þ rial and excitation symmetry over a length of one mover pole pitch
¼ P1   ð15Þ
dT C1 Rs Rps
 
dh_ 2 1 ðh2  T amb Þ ðh2  h9 Þ
¼ P2   ð16Þ
dT C2 Rs Rps
 
dh_ 3 1 ðh3  T amb Þ ðh3  h9 Þ
¼ P3   ð17Þ
dT C3 Rs Rps
 
dh_ 4 1 ðh4  T amb Þ ðh4  h9 Þ
¼ P4   ð18Þ
dT C4 Rs Rps
Fig. 15. Spatial temperature distribution in degree Celsius.

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Table 4
Material properties.

Material Thermal Conductivity Density Specific Heat Capacity

(W=m  C) (Kg=m3 ) (J=Kg  C)

Copper 380 8900 385

Epoxy 0.4 1800 900
Insulation sheet 0.18 930 1340
Silicon steel 45 7800 450
Air 0.025 1.205 1007
PM 13 7600 190

can further reduce the problem with assumption of periodic nature

in x-direction (as shown in Fig. 12). In the 3DTFEA, a heat genera- Fig. 17. Fluke VT04 Visual IR Thermometer results.
tion reflecting 47.5 W AC power loss and 52.5 W FECs power loss is
assigned to the copper losses part, which is the same value as in
LPTM and experimental work.

4. Experimental validations

Temperature levels for worst case scenario (i.e., locked-mover

condition) of DSHELFSMSS predicted by proposed LPTM and
3DTFEA are compared with that of corresponding experimental
results measured by Fluke VT04 Visual IR Thermometer. Investiga-
tion of time to reach steady state temperature level was also
desired during these tests. Utilized IR Thermometer has tempera-
ture measurement range of 10  C to þ250  C with an expected
error of 1:0%.
Experimental test bench for thermal measurements is shown in
Fig. 16. All three AC phases are connected in series and supplied
with a single source. Series connection is chosen to obtain an over-
all null air-gap force on the mover and maintain standstill condi-
tion. Also, series connection guarantees that all connections are
intact, and same heat is generated throughout the armature wind-
Fig. 18. Comparison of stator temperature levels.
ings. Due to geometric and electrical excitation symmetry, nodes 1,
2, 3, and 4 are assumed at same temperature level and is termed as
stator temperature level, node 5 is termed as FECs temperature
level, node 6 is armature winding temperature level, node 7
reflects mover tooth temperature level, and node 8 shows PM tem-
perature level. Similarly, node 9 is termed as mover yoke temper-
ature level.
Locked mover scenario eliminates influence of heat transfer by
forced convection. Both of the models were run to simulate contin-
uous power supply to the proposed machine (100% duty cycle) and
all nine nodes’ temperature levels are monitored. The process con-
tinues until temperature level of machine approaches steady state.
Result fetching time interval of four (4) min is selected for LPTM,
3DTFEA, and experimental one. All machine’s parts monitored
using IR Thermometer are shown in Fig. 17. Comparison of temper-
ature levels obtained by LPTM, 3DTFEA, and Fluke VT04 Visual IR
Thermometer for stator segments, FECs, AW, mover tooth, PM,
and mover yoke is presented in Fig. 18, Fig. 19, Fig. 20, Fig. 21,
Fig. 22, and Fig. 23, respectively.

Fig. 19. Comparison of FEC temperature levels.

The first thermal test i.e., 100% duty cycle enables researchers to
investigate hot spots of the proposed machine and continuous
operation capability. Two nodes with highest temperature levels
are then selected as reference nodes and two different duty cycles
(75% and 50%) are generated. Temperature levels of only reference
nodes are monitored in the 75% and 50% duty cycles to analyse the
influence of rest condition on the temperature levels and operation
Fig. 16. Thermal experimental test bench. time.

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N. Ullah, F. Khan, A. Basit et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal 14 (2023) 101836

Fig. 20. Comparison of AW temperature levels. Fig. 23. Comparison of mover yoke temperature levels.

A good agreement between LPTM, 3DTFEA, and experimental

results can be witnessed in all the temperature level comparison
plots, hence validating accuracy of the developed LPTM model. It
can also be seen that temperature levels of almost all the nodes
reflect non-linear variation near knee-point of the plot. Possible
reason can be the capacitance of material representing heat stor-
age. Detailed analysis of results shows that node 9 (mover yoke)
preceded all other nodes in achievement of maximum steady state
temperature level in 100 min and is considered as hottest compo-
nent of the machine. Second hottest part of the machine is consid-
ered as FEC node (node 5) and achieved second maximum steady
state temperature level at the same operational time. Possible rea-
son is that mover yoke is sandwiched between two FECs and con-
duction process of heat transfer from FEC to mover is dominant
over convection to ambient. This is due to less exposure area of
FECs to ambient. Detailed comparison of machine’s components
temperature levels is tabulated in Table 5.
After recognition of hottest components, two duty cycles of 75%
and 50% are defined. Time period for the duty cycles is sixteen (16)
minutes. Twelve (12) minutes turn on and four (4) minutes rest
Fig. 21. Comparison of mover tooth temperature levels.
time is adopted for 75% duty cycles whereas eight (8) minutes turn
on and eight (8) minutes rest time is adopted for 50% duty cycles.
Again, result fetching time interval of four (4) min is selected. Tem-
perature plots for hottest parts of the machine (node 9 and node 5)
obtained from LPTM, 3DTFEA, and IR Thermometer under 75% duty
cycle are presented in Fig. 24 and 25. Whereas, results for 50% duty
cycle are compared in Fig. 26 and 27.
It can be seen that all three investigation techniques i.e., LPTM,
3DTFEA, and experimental test results shows reasonable agree-
ments for 75% and 50% duty cycles. Difference among predicted
and measured values is due the fact that LPTM and 3DTFEA
predicts temperature levels subject to assumptions defined in

Table 5
Steady state temperature levels obtained by LPTM, 3DTFEA, and Visual IR
Thermometer.

Component LPTM ( C) 3DTFEA ( C) Experimental

(Node) ( C)
Stator segments (1–4) 40.8 41.3 41.4
FEC (5) 78.2 80.7 87.7
AW (6) 75.7 76.9 78
Mover tooth (7) 60.8 62.4 63.2
PM (8) 62.6 64.5 67.5
Mover yoke (9) 83 85 88
Fig. 22. Comparison of PM temperature levels.

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N. Ullah, F. Khan, A. Basit et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal 14 (2023) 101836

Fig. 27. Comparison of LPTM, 3DTFEA, and experimental results for node 5 under
Fig. 24. Comparison of LPTM, 3DTFEA, and experimental results for node 9 under 50% duty cycle.
75% duty cycle.

Section 3.1. It can also be witnessed that by reducing duty cycle,

heat generation the machine is intermittent and operational time
can be increased due to continuous heat dissipation. Fluctuations
in the temperature level plots for 75% and 50% duty cycles repre-
sent cooling of the machine in the rest time. Results of the pro-
posed thermal analysis can be utilized to design forced cooling
system. Forced cooling arrangements are beneficial in terms of
increasing operational time and allows higher electric loadings to
compensate thrust force overloads.

5. Conclusion

In this paper, a novel HELFSMSS combining advantages of

PMLFSM and FELFSM such as reduced consumption of PM volume
and long secondary material, controllable air-gap magnetic flux
density, high thrust force and power density, high efficiency,
reduced thrust force ripple ratio (TFRR), symmetrical and sinu-
soidal flux linkages, and balanced magnetic circuit is developed
Fig. 25. Comparison of LPTM, 3DTFEA, and experimental results for node 5 under
75% duty cycle. for long stroke linear motion applications. Design guidelines, oper-
ation principle, and methodology of the proposed model is pro-
vided in detail for reproduction and further advancements.
Segmented secondary design is involved to provide low reluctance
short paths for flux linkage and also reduce manufacturing cost.
Secondly, computationally efficient Lumped Parameter Thermal
Model (LPTM) based on first order differential equations is pro-
posed. All three types of heat flows i.e. conduction, convection,
and radiation are accounted. The approach is developed for worst
case scenario (locked-mover), hence forced convection is
neglected. 3DTFEA followed by a large range of experiments utiliz-
ing thermographic analysis are conducted to validate proposed
approach. Comparison among LPTM, 3DTFEA, and experiment
results has validated the proposed analytical approach. All experi-
mental measurements are done through IR thermometer i.e., with-
out disturbing machine’s geometry or setting sensors. Detailed
thermal analysis revealed that mover yoke and field winding are
the hottest parts of machine, reason is reduced heat escape caused
by convection and radiation. Also, safe operational time can be
increased by reducing operation duty cycle. Regarding the compu-
tational performance, it has been proved that use of proposed
approach can be done at initial design stages instead of time-
Fig. 26. Comparison of LPTM, 3DTFEA, and experimental results for node 9 under consuming 3DTFEA that typically require several hours to produce
50% duty cycle. almost same results.
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N. Ullah, F. Khan, A. Basit et al. Ain Shams Engineering Journal 14 (2023) 101836

Declaration of Competing Interest [15] Zhang Y, Ma W, Lu J, Sun Z, Xu J. The transient thermal characteristics of
periodic pulse-type linear induction motor. In: The XIX International
Conference on Electrical Machines-ICEM 2010. IEEE; 2010. p. 1–5.
The authors declare the following financial interests/personal [16] Jung C, Awad R, Awad J. A study of optimal design process for complex-shaped
relationships which may be considered as potential competing skyscrapers’ structural systems in united arab emirates. Ain Shams Eng J
2022;13(5):101683.
interests: Faisal Khan reports financial support was provided by
[17] Fan H, Chau K, Liu C, Cao L, Ching T. Quantitative comparison of novel dual-pm
Higher Education Commission Pakistan. linear motors for ropeless elevator system. IEEE Trans Magn 2018;54(11):1–6.
[18] Ullah N, Khan F, Basit A, Ullah W, Haseeb I. Analytical airgap field model and
experimental validation of double sided hybrid excited linear flux switching
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From 2013 to 2015, he was a Research Assistant with
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the Pakistan Engineering Council. Since 2015, he has
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Conference and Exhibition on Ecological Vehicles and Renewable Energies Engineering Department, COMSATS University Islam-
(EVER). IEEE; 2013. p. 1–7. abad (Abbottabad Campus), Pakistan. His research
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IEEE Trans Ind Appl 2014;51(3):2086–96.
[14] Ridge A, Mathekga M, Clifton P, McMahon R, Kelly H-P. Thermal modelling of a
tubular linear machine for marine renewable generation.

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