Application of Genetic Algorithms to Core Loss Coefficient Extraction

Core loss data are usually provided in the form of tables or curves of total loss versus flux density or frequency for electrical machine designers. These tables or curves can be used to extract the loss coefficients of the core loss formulas because accurate calculations of the coefficients have an important issue in electrical machine design. In this study, using original loss data given for M19 steel material, the core loss coefficients are calculated by the genetic algorithm developed in Matlab environment and electromagnetic analysis software (Ansoft Maxwell) is also used to extract the core loss coefficients in order to verify the proposed method. It is found that the exponent of flux density (B) depends on the flux range or the frequency range and these changes in the exponent of B can be correlated to the physical phenomenon of domain wall movement in response to an external field. As a difference from existing studies in literature, this study suggests a new method for extracting the core loss coefficients without any requirement for mathematical operations due to the nature of genetic algorithms and over the range of frequencies between 50–400 Hz and flux densities from 0 to 1.5 T, the new method yields lower errors for the specific core losses than those obtained by the magnetic field analysis software.