

Another advantage of distributed windings is a high synchronism, which means that the torque ripple and therefore also the noise of the motor are very low. Distributed windings are used wherever high efficiency is required, such as in electric vehicles. This means that the proportion of harmonics is very low and so are the losses in the laminations of the stator and the windings. A very important advantage of a distributed winding for an electric motor is that the resulting back EMF has a smooth mostly sinusoidal characteristic. For longer electric motors, the influence of the losses from the winding head is not so great in relation to the total losses. This allows the ohmic losses from the winding head to be reduced. For very short electric motors, therefore, a concentrated winding is usually used rather than a distributed winding. Because of the overlap, the winding head is larger in a distributed winding than in a concentrated winding. In a distributed winding, the windings overlap at the top and bottom of the electric motor, this area of the motor is also called the winding head. How many teeth are wound over is called coil pitch or step size and of course you can also wind over 3, 4, 5 or more teeth. With a distributed winding, at least two teeth of the stator are always wound, as in this example on the picture. This can be compensated, for example, by moving the magnets on the rotor relative to each other or by shaping the magnets accordingly. Another disadvantage of concentrated windings is a not insignificant torque ripple. Concentrated windings are also used for drives that require high dynamics and efficiency is not so critical. An example of this is wheel hub drives for electric bicycles without gears. Concentrated windings are primarily used for motors that are short and have a large diameter. These losses can occur in the windings in the laminations as well as in permanent magnets. This is because the main disadvantage of a concentrated winding is the harmonics that are generated, which can lead to high losses, especially at high speeds. However, this does not mean that it also results in high efficiency. As a result, high torque can be generated with this type of winding, especially in the lower range. When using a classical design of an electric motor with a concentrated development, the back EMF is trapezoidal. Due to the smaller winding head of concentrated windings, the ohmic losses in the lower speed range, are lower all for a distributed winding. In a distributed winding, this winding head is larger because of the overlap of the windings. A major advantage of a concentrated winding is the very small winding head at the top and bottom of the motor. However, the design of the stator’s teeth must be designed for this. For example, already finished windings can simply be pushed onto the stator. This has significant advantages in the manufacture of the stator. With a concentrated winding, the stator is always wound exactly over one tooth.
