Recommended reading
The following is a list of texts and resources adapted from my personal blog. They are approximately in order from undergraduate to postgraduate levels.
Electric motors
More of a quick reference guide than a consolidated book, this PDF covers the most common concepts and terms that you will encounter when first learning about electric motors There is also a
lecture available by the same author which focuses more on field-oriented control (FOC).
A relatively new (as of August 2020) weekly Youtube channel that explores concepts related to electric motors at an approachable undergraduate level.
According to their website, “CWIEME is the world’s largest coil winding, electric motor and transformer manufacturing exhibition series” and its associated YouTube channel contains a large number of lectures on a wide range of topics. Unlike most of the other sources listed here, this channel gives you a glimpse into the cutting-edge developments being made in the world of electric motors and electric vehicle drive trains. These three lectures by James Hendershot are of particular interest.
By the same author of the book mentioned above, this lecture video lecture series covers the history of electric motors and the general working principles before focusing on the design principles of induction, reluctance and permanent magnet motors.
An excellent master’s thesis by James Mavey goes to great lengths to develop a well-cited first principles understanding of electric machines. The first three chapters will introduce you step-by-step to the fundamental concepts and derivations required for a true understanding of torque production and electric motor constants. The second half of the book takes an equally painstaking approach to advanced motor control theory.
As the name suggests, this 824-page tome focuses almost exclusively on permanent magnet machines. While prior knowledge of electric motors is helpful, it is not required. This text is especially helpful for those who wish to design their own electric motor. It provides a suggested road map for designing, building and testing of an electric motor and goes into great detail about the engineering design considerations and compromises that must be made. If you can, try and obtain the more recent 2010 revised version of this text (ISBN 978-0-9840687-0-8)
This text assumes a strong background in physics and mathematics. It does away with the many layers of abstraction typically seen in undergraduate-level textbooks and builds up the principles of electric motors one partial differential equation at a time. Ideal for those in the process of writing their own magnetostatic FEM software package or anyone wanting the deepest fundamental understanding of this topic.
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