Transient Vibration Simulation of Motor Gearbox Assembly Driven by a PWM Inverter

Predicting the vibration of a motor gearbox assembly driven by a PWM inverter in the early stages of development is demanding because the assembly is one of the dominant noise sources of electric vehicles (EVs). In this paper, we propose a simulation model that can predict the transient vibration excited by gear meshing, reaction force from the mount, and electromagnetic forces including the carrier frequency component of the inverter up to 10 kHz. By utilizing the techniques of structural model reduction and state space modeling, the proposed model can predict the vibration of assembly in the operating condition with a system level EV simulator. A verification test was conducted to compare the simulation results with the running test results of the EV. Although the absolute value of the simulation was at most 10 dB different from the test, we conclude that the model can adequately predict the trend of the dominant order vibration caused by the electromagnetic force of the motor, including the carrier frequency of the inverter.