2019 22nd International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS)

Analysis of Stiffness and Critical Speed of High

Speed Permanent Magnet Motor Rotor System
Tao Dajun * , Ma Ruifeng, Wang Likun, Ge Baojun
National Engineering Research Center of Large Electric Machines and Heat Transfer Technique，Harbin
University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150080, China
Email: tao.dj@163.com, 1245087069@.qq.com

Abstract—In this paper, the stiffness analysis and critical To facilitate the analytical calculation, the dimensional
speed calculation of the whole rotor system including the rotor parameters of the rotor system obtained by the principle of
and rotor shaft of high-speed permanent magnet motor are equal mass are shown in Fig. 1 without causing large errors.
carried out. Firstly, based on analytical method and finite Each part of the ruler l0=36.25mm, l1=24.3mm,
element method, it is verified whether the rigidity of the rotor l2=167.45mm, l3=120mm, l4=27mm, l5=68mm, l6=49mm,
system meets the requirements. Secondly, the finite element d0=42mm, d1=49.8mm, d2=60mm, d3= 94mm,
method is used to carry out the rotor system. The modal d4=79.4mm, d5=60mm, d6=49.8mm, uniform distributed
analysis is used to calculate the natural frequency and critical load q=(112.328+25.431)/0.12=1148N/m.
speed of the rotor. Finally, the influence of the rotor system
structure on the critical speed of the rotor is analyzed.

Keywords—high speed permanent magnet motor, rotor

stiffness, critical speed
I. INTRODUCTION
Fig1 Motor rotor system size drawing
The vibration problem of the motor is a key issue that
needs to be paid attention to when designing a high-speed Analysis of the force of the rotor system shows that the
motor. When the motor rotates at high speed, it must ensure rotor system is mainly subjected to its own gravity, and the
its stable operation to avoid the occurrence of resonance two sections of the shaft l1 and l5 need to be matched with
phenomenon. The stiffness of the rotor system and the the bearing, so it is also subjected to the upward supporting
critical speed of the rotor become the key factors. It is reaction force [4]. In actual machining, the matching distance
necessary to calculate the rotor stiffness of the designed between the rotor and the bearing of the motor is small,
motor to determine whether the rotor stiffness meets the much smaller than the axial length of the whole rotor.
requirements. At the same time, when the working speed of
the rotor is close to the critical speed, the resonance
phenomenon of the rotor system may cause irreversible
bending of the rotating shaft, resulting in unsafe operation of
the motor. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the critical
speed of the rotor of the motor so that the operating speed of
the rotor avoids the critical speed [1, 2]. In this paper, a finite
element method is used to study the rotor stiffness and
critical speed of a motor with a 120kW high-speed
permanent magnet synchronous motor as an example. Table
Ⅰshows the main design parameters of the high speed Fig2 Motor rotor system size drawing
permanent magnet motor.
Therefore, the supporting reaction force at both ends of
TABLE I. DESIGN INDEX OF HSPMM the rotor can be simplified to two concentrated stresses
concentrated in the middle of the respective shaft segments.
parameter Numerical value The force of the shaft is shown in Figure 2.
Rated power / kW 120 In Fig. 2, l7 = 50 mm, l8 = 178 mm, l9 = 417.5 mm, and l
Rated voltage / V 380
= 120 mm. From the force balance equation and the moment
balance equation, you can get:
Rated speed / rpm 24000
FRA + FRB = q l
effectiveness ≥95% (1)
l8
II. STIFFNESS ANALYSIS OF ROTOR SYSTEM FRB l9 + ql ( + l) = 0
2 (2)
First, In this paper, the rotor core and the rotating shaft
are all made of carbon steel material S45C. The rotor core Calculated by equations (1) and (2), the reaction force at
and the rotating shaft adopt an integrated structure, which is both ends of the shaft is FA=59.23N, FB=78.53N. The rotor
beneficial to improve the mechanical properties of the rotor. system is divided into five sections according to the force,
Therefore, in the rotor stiffness analysis, the rotor core of the AB, BC, CD, DE, EF. Let A point be the coordinate origin,
motor and the permanent magnet in the rotor core are The and the distance between any point on the axis and point A is
shaft is considered as a whole for analysis [3]. The actual x. According to the section method of material mechanics,
structure of the rotor of the motor is relatively complicated. the bending of each section is obtained. Moment equation.

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 2019 22nd International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS)

The AB segment is located to the left of the support point of Calculate the bending stiffness of the rotor system
the shaft. Because of the force, the shear and bending according to the energy method, and apply a unit force
moment equations are: Fi=1N at the center point, then the unit torque of the rotor is:
 Fs( x) = 0 (0 < x < l7 ) L−x
 M '( x) = (0 ≤ x ≤ L)
 M ( x) = 0 (0 < x < l7 )
(3)
2 (8)
Similarly, the BC segment is mainly affected by the Then the deformation amount of any section of the rotor
reaction force FA on the left side of the rotating shaft, and system is calculated as follows:
the shear force and bending moment equation of the BC ln MM '
segment is: Dn =  dl
0 EI n (9)
 Fs ( x ) = FA (l7 < x < l7 + l8 )

 M ( x ) = FA ( x − l7 ) ( l7 < x < l7 + l8 )
(4) Among them, Dn represents the deformation of each
segment of the rotor, M is brought into the bending moment
Similarly, the shear and bending moment equations for of each segment, M' is the bending moment of each segment
the CD segment are: in the applied unit, and E is the elastic modulus of the carbon
material of the rotor material, taking 2× 105MPa, ln is the
Fs(x) = FA −q(x −l7 −l8) (l7 +l8 < x < l7 +l8 +l) length of each segment, In is the moment of inertia of each

 q 2 segment, and its calculation expression is as follows:
M(x) = FA(x −l7 ) − 2 (x −l7 −l8) (l7 +l8 < x < l7 +l8 +l)
(5) π d 4

In the calculation of the shear force and bending moment

In = n
64 (10)
equation of the DE segment, the above law can also be used,
but it can be seen from the force diagram 2 of the rotor Where dn represents the diameter of the corresponding
system that the right side of the DE segment contains only segment. According to the known diameter dimensions of
one bearing reaction force FB, so the force can be applied each section, the section moment of inertia of each section
according to the right side. Obtain the shear and bending can be obtained as shown in Table Ⅱ.
moment equations as:
Substituting equations (4) to (6) into equation (9) can
Fs(x) =−FB (l7 +l8 +l < x < l7 +l9 ) determine the deformation of each segment of the rotor
 system. Because BC has two diameters, the deformation of
M(x) = FB (l7 +l9 − x) (l7 +l8 +l < x < l7 +l9 )
(6) the BC segment is divided into two parts. The expression is
as follows:
The right EF section of the bearing support point is not
l0 + l1 FA ( x − l7 )( L − x )
affected by force, and the shear force and bending moment of D1 =  l1 dl
the same section are zero. The shear force and bending l0 +
2 2 EI1 (11)
moment equation are as follows:
l0 + l1 + l2 FA ( x − l7 )( L − x)
 Fs ( x) = 0 (l7 + l9 < x < L) D2 =  dl
 l0 + l1 2 EI 2 (12)
 M ( x) = 0 (l7 + l9 < x < L)
(7)
TABLE II.
According to the formulas (3) to (7), the shear force
diagram and the bending moment diagram of the rotor MOMENT OF INERTIA OF EACH SECTION OF THE ROTOR SYSTEM
system are calculated, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.
Diameter
d0 d1 d2 d3
dn/mm

Moment

of inertia 152745.0 301916.8 636172.5 3832492.5

I/mm4

Diameter
Fig 3 Rotor system shear diagram d4 d5 d6
dn/mm

Moment

of inertia 1950975.9 636172.5 301916.8

I/mm4

Fig4 Rotor system bending moment diagram

 2019 22nd International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS)

Similarly, the expression of the deformation of the CD hexahedral mesh is divided by the multi-body method for the
segment is as follows: rotor system, and the results of the splitting are shown in Fig.
5. It can be seen from Fig. 6 that the meshing quality of the
q
[(FA(x −l7 ) − (x −l7 −l8 )2 ](L − x)
l7 +l8 +l3
outer circumferential surface of the rotor is good, which is a
D3 =  2 dl uniform hexahedron, and an irregular tetrahedral mesh is
l0 +l1+l2 2EI3 (13) used at the cross section of each section of the rotor, and the
finite element model is meshed. The number of nodes is
It can be seen from Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 that the DE segment 53530, the number of units is 11065, and the maximum
includes three-stage rotors with diameters d4, d5 and d6. distortion is 0.394. The overall grid quality meets the
Therefore, the deformation amount of the DE segment needs calculation requirements [5].
to be divided into three segments, and the calculation
formula is as follows:
l7 +l8 +l3 +l4 FB (l7 + l9 − x)(L − x)
D4 =  dl
l7 +l8 +l3 2EI4 (14)
l7 +l8 +l3 +l4 +l5 FB (l7 + l9 − x)(L − x)
D5 =  dl
l7 +l8 +l3 +l4 2EI5 (15) Fig5 Finite element model of rotor system

l7 +l9 FB (l7 + l9 − x)(L − x)

D6 =  dl
l7 +l8 +l3 +l4 +l5 2EI6 (16)
The known data is brought into the equations (4-11) to
(4-16), and the deformation amount of each segment of the
rotor system can be obtained as shown in Table 3. By taking
the known data into equations (11) to (16), the amount of Fig.6 Meshing diagram of rotor system
deformation of each segment of the rotor system can be
determined as shown in Table Ⅲ. The constraint conditions of the finite element model of
the rotor system and the bearing are applied, and the
TABLE III. DEFORMATION OF EACH SECTION OF THE ROTOR SYSTEM downward inertial load standard gravity load is added to the
whole rotor system. The overall deformation is added to the
solution option, and the finite element analysis result of the
Rotor segment D1 D2 D3 overall deformation of the rotor system can be obtained. 7 is
shown.
0.003326 Max
Deformation
0.002957
-5 -3 -3
1.159×10 1.187×10 2.546×10 0.002587
Dn/mm 0.002217
0.001848
0.001478
0.001108
Rotor segment 0.000739
D4 D5 D6 0.000370
0 Min

Deformation Fig.7 Deformation diagram of rotor

Dn/mm
3.775×10-5
1.1×10 -4
7.97×10 -6
It can be seen from Fig. 7 that the maximum deformation
of the total deformation of the rotor system is 0.003326 mm,
and the maximum deformation position is located at the
center of the entire rotor system. The finite element analysis
The total amount of deformation at the center point of the results are close to the analytical results, and the correctness
rotor system can be obtained as: of the analytical results is verified. For a general induction
D total = D1 + D2 + D3 + D 4 + D5 + D6 motor, the maximum allowable deformation of the shaft
(17) should be less than 10% of the air gap of the motor. It is
According to Table 3, the deformation amount of each known that the air gap of the motor is 4mm, and the
section of the rotor is brought into equation (17), and the maximum allowable deformation is 0.4mm. The calculation
total deformation amount of the center of the rotor system is result is much smaller than the maximum allowable
calculated as Dtotal=0.003899 mm. deformation. Quantity, so the rigidity of the shaft can meet
the stiffness requirements.
In the analytical calculation of rotor stiffness, the rotor
system model is simplified more easily for calculation, and III. ROTOR SYSTEM CRITICAL SPEED ANALYSIS
there is a certain error with the actual rotor model. In order to In addition to rotor stiffness, another key factor affecting
verify the accuracy of analytical calculation, the finite motor vibration is the critical speed of the rotor of the motor.
element method is used to establish the analysis model of the In the motor design, the critical speed of the rotor system is
rotor system. Compare the finite element calculation results obtained by calculation. When the working speed of the rotor
with the analysis results. The finite element analysis model is close to the critical speed, the resonance phenomenon of
for establishing the rotor system is shown in Fig. 5. The the rotor system may cause irreversible bending of the
 2019 22nd International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS)

rotating shaft, resulting in unsafe operation of the motor. TABLE IV. NATURAL FREQUENCY AND CRITICAL SPEED OF THE
ROTOR SYSTEM
Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the critical speed of the
rotor of the motor so that the operating speed of the rotor
First Second Third Fourth
avoids the critical speed [6]. Order
Generally, an axis whose operating speed is lower than order order order order
the first-order critical speed is referred to as a rigid shaft, and
an axis whose operating speed is higher than the first-order Natural
critical speed is referred to as a flexible shaft. For a rigid
frequency 1070.8 1088.1 1861.8 2904.9
rotor, its working speed is generally lower than 0.75 times of
the first-order critical speed. For a flexible shaft, its working /Hz
speed should be controlled to be 1.3 times greater than the
first-order critical speed and less than 0.7 times the second- Critical
order critical speed [7].
speed 64248 65286 111708 174294
Modal analysis and calculation of natural frequency are
the key steps to determine the critical speed of the rotor -1
/(r·min )
system. The calculation of the frequency and the analysis of
the vibration mode can make the motor avoid the resonance
phenomenon. The finite element method is used to analyze
the modality of the rotor system, and the first four natural It can be seen from Table 4 that the first-order critical
frequencies and vibration modes of the rotor system are speed of the rotor of the motor is much larger than the rated
obtained as shown in Fig. 8 to Fig. 9. working speed of the rotor, and the motor does not resonate
during normal operation, which proves that the rotor design
is reasonable and can ensure safe and reliable operation.
A. Effect of Rotor Structure on Critical Speed
In the design of high-speed motors, the rotor's
operating speed needs to avoid the first-order critical
speed. When the working speed is close to the first-order
Fig.8 First-order natural frequency of rotor system critical speed, in order to prevent the resonance
phenomenon, it can be considered to change the critical
speed of the motor rotor by changing the rotor structure.
Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the influence of the
change of the rotor system structure on the critical speed.
The rotor system structure is divided into several parts as
shown in Fig. 12, where La is the bearing mating length
Fig. 9 Second-order natural frequency of rotor system
of the motor. When the motor bearing is selected, La is
basically determined; Lb is the non-effective length inside
the motor, and the end of the winding The length is
related to the design of the ventilation structure; Lc is the
electromagnetic effective length of the motor. After
determining the electromagnetic scheme of the motor, Lc
is basically determined; Ld is the rotor shaft elongation.
Therefore, this section mainly studies the influence of the
axial elongation Ld of the rotor system on the critical
Fig. 10 Third-order natural frequencies of rotor system speed.

Fig. 11 Fourth-order natural frequencies of rotor system Fig. 12 Finite element model of rotor system

Figure 13 shows the effect of shaft elongation on the

From Fig. 8 to Fig. 11, the natural frequencies of the critical speed of the rotor system. It can be seen from the
various stages of the rotor are known, and the critical figure that when the shaft elongation Ld is less than 120mm,
speeds corresponding to the various circles are calculated the first-order critical speed of the rotor system is less
affected. When the shaft elongation is greater than 120mm,
as shown in Table Ⅳ.
the first-order critical speed of the rotor decreases more
obviously, when the rotor shaft extends. The lower the first-
 2019 22nd International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS)

order critical speed, the lower the rotor stiffness, and the [7] X. Song, J. Fang, B. Han. High-Precision Rotor Position Detection
for High-Speed Surface PMSM Drive Based on Linear Hall-Effect
rotor of the motor may develop from a rigid rotor to a Sensors [J]. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 2016, 31(7 ):
flexible rotor. Therefore, the shaft should be prevented from 4720-4731.
extending too long to prevent resonance of the rotor system.

Fig. 13 Effect of rotor shaft elongation on critical speed

IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a 120kW, 24000r/min high-speed
permanent magnet synchronous motor is taken as the
research object. The rotor strength analysis and critical speed
of high-speed permanent magnet motor are calculated and
analyzed. The following conclusions are drawn: the key
factors affecting rotor vibration mainly include rotor stiffness
and rotor. In the two aspects of critical speed, the maximum
deformation of the rotor is calculated based on the analytical
method and the finite element method. The bending stiffness
of the rotor is less than 10% of the air gap value of the motor,
which can meet the rigidity requirement. The first-order
critical speed of the rotor system is much larger than that of
the rotor. The working speed will not cause resonance, which
can ensure the safe and stable operation of the rotor of the
motor; the first-order critical speed of the rotor system
decreases with the increase of the rotor shaft extension, and
the excessive extension of the shaft should be avoided to
make the rigid rotor develop into a flexible rotor.
V. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported in part by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (nos. 51777048 and 51407050)
and the University Nursing Program for Young Scholars
with Creative Talents in Heilongjiang Province (UNPYSCT-
2016163). The authors would like to thank the anonymous
reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions that
strengthened this paper.
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