Wound Rotor Synchronous Motor Design for a Mining Application

The rising global focus on environmental issues and strict regulations on greenhouse gas emissions are propelling a significant shift towards widespread electrification of wheeled vehicles. The high costs and decreasing availability of rare earth materials, along with their environmental impact, require exploring alternatives that minimise or eliminate their usage. This momentum extends comprehensively to the off-highway sector. This paper proposes the design feasibility of a wound rotor synchronous machine to replace an interior permanent magnet motor in a mining truck propulsion system. The evaluation encompasses crucial parameters such as torque, torque ripple, efficiency, thermal overload capacity, dimensions, and structural constraints, necessitating in-depth finite element electromagnetic, thermal, and structural analyses. Cost reduction and constructive simplicity are the guidelines of the project. Three optimal configurations emerge as prime candidates from an optimisation study, each meticulously assessed and compared against the defined design criteria. This comprehensive analysis conclusively demonstrates that the proposed wound rotor motor perfectly meets the performance expectations, positioning this machine type as optimal contender to interior permanent magnet motors in mining truck applications.