electronics

Editorial
Robust Design Optimization of Electrical Machines
and Devices
Tamás Orosz 1, * , David Pánek 2 , Anton Rassõlkin 3 and Miklós Kuczmann 1

1 Department of Automation, Széchenyi István University, Egyetem ter 1., 9026 Győr, Hungary;
kuczmann@sze.hu
2 Deparment of Theory of Electrical Engineering, University of West Bohemia, Univerzitni 26,
306 14 Plzen, Czech Republic; panek50@kte.zcu.cz
3 Department of Electrical Power Engineering and Mechatronics, Tallinn University of Technology,
Ehitajate Tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia; anton.rassolkin@taltech.ee
* Correspondence: orosz.tamas@sze.hu

This article introduces a Special Issue (SI) that contains fourteen chosen articles from
robust design optimization of electrical machines and devices. Optimization is essential
for the research and design of electromechanical devices, especially electrical machines.
Finding the optimal solutions may lead to cheaper, more economical products, faster and
more efficient production, or more sustainable solutions. However, optimizing such a
complex system as an electrical machine is a computationally expensive optimization
problem, where many physical domains should be considered together. However, a good,
practical design needs to consider the electrical device’s design parameters; it should be
insensitive to parameter changes or manufacturing tolerances. This Special Issue focused
on papers showing how modern artificial intelligence (AI) tools can be used for robust
design optimization of electric machines and electrical devices, how these tools can be
benchmarked, or the correctness of the result validated.



The articles which are published in this special issue present the latest results of

 current research fields. Hopefully, the presented models and various application fields will
Citation: Orosz, T.; Pánek, D.; provide useful information for researchers and professionals interested in these techniques
Rassõlkin, A.; Kuczmann, M. Robust themselves or who have other problems from different fields.
Design Optimization of Electrical Testing and benchmarking the numerical tools for electromagnetic analysis is an
Machines and Devices. Electronics important task. The Compumag Society provides openly accessible, challenging benchmark
2022, 11, 1427. https://doi.org/ problems (TEAM problems) for testing novel numerical solvers. In [1], the authors deal
10.3390/electronics11091427 with a solution of a robust design of a solenoid, and the test problem aims to search for the
Received: 20 April 2022 optimal shape of a coil, which ensures a uniform field distribution in the control region,
Accepted: 25 April 2022 while the sensitivity and the mass/DC loss of the coil are also considered in the context
Published: 29 April 2022 of robust design. The paper points out that if we are looking for designs with acceptable
tolerances, not only symmetrical designs can be favoured. The paper points out the fact
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
that the cheapest solutions are symmetrical setups. They perform worse than the cheapest
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional affil-
asymmetric ones in these uniformity and sensitivity criteria. Therefore, some asymmetric
iations.
solutions that were previously neglected from the solution space can be competitive and
interesting for practical design.
A variety of electromechanical systems requires special techniques for optimization;
each optimization is unique and focused on specific parameters aimed at performance im-
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. provement. In [2], a fast and accurate optimization tool is presented for optimal exploitation
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. of permanent magnet synchronous machine with hairpin winding intended for transport
This article is an open access article applications. The focus of the optimization is maximizing power density and efficiency.
distributed under the terms and As a benchmark case study, a surface-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motor
conditions of the Creative Commons designed for a student racing competition vehicle was considered. Several optimization
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// steps are presented in the paper, and as a result, the main indexes, such as efficiency, volume
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ power density, and power losses, were improved by 0.15%, 10.55%, and 3.4%, respectively.
4.0/).

Electronics 2022, 11, 1427. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11091427 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics

Electronics 2022, 11, 1427 2 of 4

Another study on permanent magnet synchronous machines [3] is focused on 8-pole

9-slot and 8-pole 12-slot machines and considers rotor eccentricity. Authors have performed
a magnetic field analysis using an analytical method and the torque characteristics for
benchmark machines. The optimization is based on perturbation and electromagnetic
theories. In both cases, two models (slotted and simplified without slots) were analyzed
using the FEM. The research work confirms that the slotted model can obtain similar results,
even if the magnetic flux density is predicted without slots and the back-EMF is derived
using it. The results obtained using the analytical method are compared with the FEM and
experimental results.
The next paper in SI [4] aims to investigate the reconfigurations of rotor flux barriers
for a five-phase permanent magnet assisted synchronous reluctance machines. That type
of electrical machine is relatively new on the market. However, they are gaining popu-
larity in industrial applications due to their electromagnetic characteristics (robustness,
torque/power density, performance, etc.). In this research work, a Lumped Parameter
Model conducted to a 2D FEM was applied to the proposed permanent magnet assisted
synchronous reluctance motor models under the steady-state condition. Based on the
FEM results, the maximum torque, minimum cogging torque, and minimum torque rip-
ples were achieved. As a result, the optimal model of the electrical machine operates
at high-performance values with desirable values of line-to-line back-EMF and air-gap
flux density.
Wind generators are integrated with electrical machines that require a reliable opera-
tion. However, the increasing use of non-linear loads introduces undesired disturbances
that may compromise the integrity of the electrical machines inside the wind generator.
Ref. [5] proposed a five-step methodology for power quality disturbance detection in grids
with the injection of wind farm energy. The proposed method is validated using a set of
synthetic signals and is then tested using two different sets of real signals from an IEEE
workgroup and from a wind park located in Spain.
In [6], the dielectric properties of a Bi3 −xNdxTi1.5 W0.5 O9 material is investigated.
Many recent studies showed that replacements of atoms in A and also in B-positions of an
AP’s crystal lattice led to a change in the structure, the dielectric properties and significantly
influenced the polarization processes in this compounds.The dependences of the relative
permittivity e/e0 and the tangent of loss tanδ at different frequencies on temperature were
examined in this paper, together with the piezoelectric properties of the material.
Nanotechnology provides an effective way to upgrade the thermophysical characteris-
tics of dielectric oils and creates optimal transformer design. The properties of insulation
materials have a significant effect on the optimal transformer design. Ester-based nanofluids
(NF) are introduced as an energy-efficient alternative to conventional mineral oils, pre-
pared by dispersing nanoparticles in the base oil. Ref. [7] presents the effect of graphene
oxide and TiO2 nanoparticles on the thermophysical properties of pure natural ester and
synthetic ester oils with temperature varied from ambient temperature up to 80 °C. A range
of concentrations of graphene oxide (GO) and TiO2 nanoparticles were used in the study to
upgrade the thermophysical properties of ester-based oils. The experimental results show
that nanoparticles have a positive effect on the thermal conductivity and viscosity of oils
which reduces with an increase in temperature
Low voltage cables are widely used in nuclear power plants and photovoltaic genera-
tors. In the case of nuclear power plants the low voltage cables link the system components
with the controlling and monitoring instrumentation and control equipment and supply-
ing power to the devices. During the service period these cables are exposed to a wide
range of stresses: high-temperature, radiation, mechanical stresses, etc. Since the proper
function of the low voltage cables is essential for these power plants’ continuous and
reliable operation. In [8], the authors examine the effect of mechanical stresses during
the aging procedure of these cables, it shows that the Shore D hardness was also higher
on the thermo-mechanically aged samples. These findings show the combined aging has
a higher impact on the insulation properties. Hence, involving the mechanical stress in
Electronics 2022, 11, 1427 3 of 4

the aging procedure of cable qualification enables the design of more robust cables in a
harsh environment.
New materials and manufacturing technologies have influence also on design opti-
mization process of electromechanical devices. In [9], the authors present an optimization
of a additively manufactured permanent magnet coupling. Two approches are introduced -
time-consuming Genetic Algorithm method and faster Taguchi method. The research work
analyze the abilities of compared methods within the optimization of studied coupling with
minimization of volume and maximization of transmitted torque as objectives. Taking into
account that resulting optimal geometry (the clutch volume is reduced by 17%) and charac-
teristics (magnetic torque density is enhanced by more than 20%) achieved by compared
methods are nearly identical, the Taguchi method is found to be more time-efficient and
effective within the considered optimization problem. The permanent magnet coupling
was manufactured and simulation results were validated using an experimental setup.
Model predictive current control has recently become a powerful advanced control
technology in industrial drives. In [10], the authors proposed a computationally efficient
calcualtion of the current prediction control for synchronous reluctance motors. The
porposed methodology can reduce the computational cost by a merging the predictive
current control model with a simple hysteresis current control. Therefore, only four voltage
vectors should used to predict the current and evaluate the cost function. The proposed
methodology can reduce the computation cost of a classical predictve current model by
about 20%.
Linear motors are a special type of electrical machine that requires special attention
due to nonlinearities caused by side effects. The authors of the paper [11] propose a
modified dynamic equivalent circuit model for a linear induction motor. A proposed
model considering both longitudinal (speed-dependent) end effect based on conventional
Duncan’s approach and transverse edge effect investigated by using additional correction
factors. In addition, the field-analysis method is used to include the typical linear motors
iron saturation effect, the skin effect, and the air-gap leakage effect. Model simulation
results show a good agreement between field analysis and FEM estimation of the electrical
parameters. Moreover, to validate the proposed paper method, 3-D FEM was employed.
Thrust-velocity characteristic of studied linear induction machines shows that the proposed
method provides more precision as compared to Duncan’s model.
An investigation of linear induction motors in SI continues with work by Zhang et al.
in [12]. An improved equivalent circuit model of double-sided linear induction motors that
takes into account the linear motor skin effect and the nonzero leakage reluctance of the
secondary, longitudinal, and transverse end effects into consideration is proposed. The
proposed equivalent circuit is presented described in detail and highlights the modification
in comparison with the traditional equivalent circuit with longitudinal and transverse end
effects. 3D FEM is used to verify the proposed equivalent circuit model under varying air
gap width and frequency. The results show that the equivalent circuit model that takes into
account only the longitudinal end effect considered, and the model considered with both
longitudinal and transverse end effect have more than 11% errors with the FEM simulation
results in the slip range, while the errors between the value of proposed equivalent circuit
and simulation are less than 5%.
There is a great potential in small satellite technology for testing new sensors, processes,
and technologies for space applications. The design of their receiving antennas for their
ground stations needs a careful design to establish stable communication. Paper [13]
shows an interesting solution to the antenna design problem with the antenna array
technology. This novel approach can have many advantages over parabolic antennas. From
a mechanical point of view, it does not require the design and maintenance of the drive
system, which sets the azimuth and the elevation angles. Such systems have a simpler
feeding network that cannot be disconnected during the connection time. These tools are
insensitive to the moisture and weather conditions during the mission. Moreover, with a
pattern reconfigurability algorithm, they can support multi-task missions. This work is
Electronics 2022, 11, 1427 4 of 4

motivated by the design of an antenna array for a future rotatorless base station for the
VZLUSAT group of Czech nano-satellites.
The advancement of a device like an insulated core transformer involves the opti-
mization of several parameters. Special attention must be paid to parameters that affect
the uniformity of disk output voltage. In the paper, Ref. [14], the accuracy of the FEM
model was verified by comparing test data of the insulated core transformer prototype
with the simulation results. Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm was implemented for
the design parameters (including the number of secondary winding turns and the compen-
sation capacitance) optimization of dummy primary winding. The optimization results
presented in the research work show that the maximum non-uniformity of the disk output
voltage is reduced from 11.1% to 4.4% from no-load to a full load for a 200 kV/20 mA for an
insulated core transformer prototype. The proposed method improves the performance of
the insulated core transformer high voltage power supply and cuts down the design time.

Funding: The research work by Anton Rassõlkin has been supported by the Estonian Research
Council under grant PSG453 ”Digital twin for propulsion drive of autonomous electric vehicle”.
Acknowledgments: For this valuable collection of research works focuses on optimization of elec-
trical machines and devices, the Guest Editors are thankful for all authors who submitted their
manuscripts for this SI and congratulate them on publishing their research works with MDPI Elec-
tronics. This SI edition would not be possible without the the Academic Editors and all reviewers,
our gratitude for their important work. Last but not least, we would like to thank the MDPI team for
their support of this SI.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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