Computational methods for the evaluation of the electromagnetic losses in electrical machinery

This paper deals with the numerical modelling of electromagnetic losses in electrical machines, using electromagnetic field computations, combined wit h advanced material characterisations. Due to the complexity of this object ive, simplified settings, deliberately choosen by physical arguments, must be considered first. The idea is to proceed gradually to the actual problem of an electrical machine through intermediate models showing physical rele vance on their own. The numerical methods used to solve these various probl ems mainly involve modified finite element - finite difference discretisati ons, which properly take into account the nonlinear and memory properties o f the magnetic material. To this end, one must start from suitable variatio nal formulations of the underlying magnetic field problems. The combined ma gnetodynamic-hysteresis models are validated in several ways, particularly by comparison of numerically obtained electromagnetic losses with experimen tal results.