Electromechanical Modelling and Analysis of Motor Whine in Electric Propulsion Systems

Electric motor whine is a major source of tonal noise and vibration for electric propulsion systems. The lack of engine masking noise in electric vehicles (EVs) further pronounces the pure tones, which can be annoying to the occupants. The associated vibration can also cause durability issues due to resonance and lead to failure of the sub-assembly or the supporting structure. A source-level NVH assessment of electric propulsion systems in modern EVs aims to achieve first-time quality designs at the advanced design stage. Accurate modelling of the motor stator and the electromagnetic (EM) forces at the air gap between the stator and rotor are critical to the NVH assessment. This work investigates the interaction between EM force application and the stator design in all four quadrants in which the electric motor operates, including both driving and regenerative braking in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions. A finite element (FE) model of the stator is developed, and the EM forces are mapped on the stator teeth, including different clocking and application directions. The stator model is integrated in the electric drive unit (DU) model, which enables the evaluation of the NVH performance of the propulsion system due to the reversal the EM force directions. The predicted analysis results are compared with the measured mount vibration results for the electric DU used in EV. Good correlation is achieved at critical motor orders, which validates the accuracy of the proposed NVH analysis method.