Calculation of iron loss in rotating machines by direct consideration of eddy currents in electrical steel sheets

AbstractA method for calculation of iron loss in rotating machines is proposed. The calculation employs the finite element method while taking into consideration the eddy currents in electrical steel sheets. First, the electromagnetic field distribution and iron loss of several types of electrical steel sheets are calculated by the proposed method, formulated as a one‐dimensional model. The results are compared with those of experiments and the conventional method in order to verify the validity of the proposed method. The influence of the skin effect and magnetic saturation in the electrical steel sheets on the iron loss characteristics is also investigated. Next, the proposed method formulated as a three‐dimensional model is applied to several types of rotating machines. It is shown that the skin effect is significant in the case of high‐frequency harmonic fields and that direct consideration of eddy currents by the finite element method is indispensable in such cases. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 176(3): 69–80, 2011; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.21053