Simulation based efficiency prediction of a Brushless DC drive applied in Ventricular Assist Devices

Abstract

Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs) are mechanical blood pumps that support the human heart in order to maintain a sufficient perfusion of the human body and its organs. During VAD operation blood damage caused by hemolysis, thrombogenecity and denaturation has to be avoided. One key parameter causing the blood's denaturation is its temperature which must not exceed 42 °C. As a temperature rise can be directly linked to the losses occuring in the drive system, this paper introduces an efficiency prediction chain for Brushless DC (BLDC) drives which are applied in various VAD systems. The presented chain is applied to various core materials and operation ranges, providing a general overview on the loss dependencies.

Design of an BLDC drive with iron core to improve the efficiency of Ventricular Assist Devices

“…As in [5] the objective of this parameter study is to balance the axial forces and to keep the resulting as low as possible. While in [5] soft magnetic material has been studied, this time the drive design itself is studied, e.g. the shape or height of the stator teeth.…”