The transportation is inevitable for the human race till they exist on the earth. The depletion of oil resources and augmentation of pollution question the guarantee of transportation day by day. The adoption of hybrid as well as vehicle with with alternative sources of energy is the viable solution and has been a trend since last few years. In most of the cases energy is converted from electrical to mechanical with the help help of an electric motor. The small improvements in its efficiency or power density do lot more in savings of energy. This idea inspired me to go further deep from the knowledge which I have acquired in three years of experience as a motor design engineer. I strongly believe Doctoral Research will help me me to achieve my goal. My interest in electrical machine is dated long back when I first fixed a household mixer grinder at the age of 12. After finishing high school, the accrued interest convinced me to pursue three year diploma in electrical engineering where I did a project on protection of induction motor. After finishing the course at 2003, the quest for advancing my knowledge in electrical engineering stopped me to go for taking a job and decided to pursue undergraduate degree from Institution of Engineers India. I got thorough understanding in the electrical engineering subjects after finishing the course at 2006 and became class topper out of 60 students. By the time I habituated with the idea of “advancing knowledge”. The pursuit to it led me to apply for Master Degree in electrical machines and drives. I secured good score in graduate aptitude test in engineering (GATE) and it helped me in getting admission for MS (by research) in India‟s one of the elite institute, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras ( IIT). The research environment and support from supervisors at the IIT helped me in building an attitude towards research. The mini projects as part of course work gave me exposure in mathematical modeling of electrical machines and simulation of its control with the help of MATLAB and Simulink. I was fortunate to get industry sponsored project for my research after finishing the course work. The project was to analyze the causes of low efficiency and chances of improving it for annular linear induction pump (ALIP) which is used to pump liquid sodium in nuclear reactors. With the support of literature study and extensive analyses I was able to improve the efficiency of the ALIP from 6% to 14%. It was interesting to found that ALIP is more efficient at lower operating frequency as eddy current losses in the channel walls are less. In addition, the quantification of magnetic flux in the air gap with the help of finite element and experimental results helped me in proposing an improved equivalent circuit of ALIP by including air gap leakage reactance. Some part of the research work yielded a conference publication titled “Design “ Design and Analysis of Annular Linear Linear Induction Pump” presented at IEEEIEEEPES PowerCon '08 & 2008 IEEE Power India Conference, New Delhi India I realized from my experience of doing industry sponsored project that industrial experience is inevitable in research career to connect the original research in to an end product. By keeping PhD in my mind for future I decided to go for doing job as a motor design engineer in India‟s India‟s one of the leading two two and three wheeler manufacturer, TVS Motor Company Ltd (TVSM), one who serves majority of the rural India by manufacturing and selling of low cost motor scooters. .
While working in Advanced Engineering Group of TVSM, I came to know the several practical aspects of motor design. The first project on reduction of cost and weight of BLDC hub motor gave me a chance to realize how important these aspects in industrial perspective. My inquisitiveness in improving the performance of permanent magnet motor led me to explore the possibility of dual topology (radial and axial flux). As a result, axial radial motor having enhanced torque density due to common „T‟ core stator structure came out. This yielded a patent and IET conference publication (March 2012, Bristol, UK). My consistent performance and passion in electric motor helped me to grab next project on starter generator (SG). This project gave me exposure in designing motor with very tight specification. First I designed compact SG with NdFeB magnets and then low cost design by using Ferrite magnets with 50% more stack length. The rectangular type conductors are preferred for high power density motor as it improves the fill factor thereby reducing resistance and copper loss, and improves the thermal stability. However, skin and proximity effect, and eddy current loss induced by permanent magnet flux are prominent with these types of conductors. The next project on high speed and low speed motor gave me good understanding of these concerns. The work on low speed motor titled “Design Aspects of High Torque Density-Low Speed Permanent Magnet Motor for Electric Two Wheeler Applications” is accepted for presenting at IEMDC13, Chicago, IL. I have four conference publication, one journal publication, and five patents within three years of my career in industry and two years of master research. I‟m proficient in software like MAGNET, FLUX, FEMM, SPEED, MotorCAD, Ansys, Matlab, Simulink, Orcad-Pspice, SABER,Codewarrior, Pro-Engineer, and AutoCAD. The permanent magnet motor gave a new direction to motor technology at when both academicians and industrialist believed that it is at the verge of saturation. The invention of high power magnet and advancement in power electronics and control helped the situation. The each application demands a customized topology. This is what I believe the future of motor technology- „customized topology‟. This idea excited me to think about a customized topology for starter generator. Finally, I ended up in single phase permanent magnet motor. The low starting torque and dead torque regions gave me a less hope. However, I believe that with proper utilization of reluctance torque and starting the engine at non-compression stroke will help me in achieving this simple and low cost solution. The work of Professor Zi-Qiang Zhu on influence of topology and design parameters on starting torque of single phase BLDC motor gave me more insight. His work on single phase flux switching machine helped me in thinking of alternative topologies. The vast research back ground on different motor topologies and it‟s in depth analyses fascinated me to carry out my research work under Professor Zi-Qiang Zhu. I strongly believe that under his supervision, I can realize my idea of „customized topology‟ and become a contributor to future motor technology. I believe that my motivation, keenness, skills and aptitude will provide the indispensable elements to ensure a successful graduate career at Sheffield University. I look forward to an offer of admissions and financial assistance from you.
