"The goal is to get more power out of the same size motor," Dionysios Aliprantis recently told the university’s media specialist. "Or, that could mean getting the same power with a smaller motor."
While Aliprantis was quick to say he’s not expecting to achieve huge improvements in a single motor’s performance – his modest estimate in between 1 percent and five percent, he nonetheless says multiplied across large numbers of hybrid cars, his research could result in the saving of billions of dollars.
Aliprantis' project is supported by a five-year, $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development Program.
The grants support junior faculty identified as teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research.
He is being assisted on the motor design project by Yanni Li, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering.
Aliprantis and Li want to take advantage of the fact that most electric motors and generators operate in just one direction - in most applications there's no real need for them to go into reverse. The motors, however, have long been designed to offer equal performance no matter which way they're rotating.
And so the engineers are exploring how electric motors can be improved by optimizing performance in a preferred direction of rotation. To do that, they've written a computer modeling program that incrementally changes the design of the motors - just like a sculptor chipping away - and calculates when the surface shape is just right.
The teeth that hold coils of wire within an electric motor, for example, have typically been built with a symmetrical shape that maintains performance in either direction. By making the teeth asymmetrical, the engineers hope the motor can pick up some power when rotating in the preferred direction.
"We are trying to develop a systematic way of getting to the right shape," Aliprantis said. "This idea is very simple, but motors are still being designed using techniques that are essentially one hundred years old."
Aliprantis is also busy with other projects to improve electric motors, advance alternative energy systems and improve engineering education.
One of these projects is aiming to improve the models used to predict the dynamic performance of electric motors as engineers experiment with different power electronics and control technologies. The idea is to develop more sophisticated control systems that capture more of a motor's performance characteristics. The project is supported by Iowa State's department of electrical and computer engineering and includes Yuanzhen Xu, a master's student in electrical and computer engineering.
The professor is also collecting data on how much solar energy is available throughout a day. The idea is to improve power forecasts by developing better models of cloud cover. That would help utilities make better estimates of the power they can expect from solar panels on a given day. Chengrui Cai, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering, is assisting with the project.
Finally, Aliprantis is part of an Iowa State faculty team that's developing a new, multidisciplinary doctoral program in Wind Energy Science, Engineering and Policy. He's also using a National Science Foundation grant to work with Purdue University faculty to improve undergraduate education in power electronics and motor drives by modernizing student lab equipment and course content.
Because electric motors are all around us -- in vehicles, wind turbines, power plants and all kinds of machinery -- Aliprantis said finding new ways to improve their performance can make a real difference in the development of sustainable energy resources.
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