High–Fidelity Simulation of Electrical Machines: A Comparison of Modeling Techniques

High-fidelity models of electrical machines are essential for accurate simulations in modern applications. These models enable realistic analysis, control system design and optimization prior to hardware implementation, thus accelerating the validation process. In simulation environments, both the circuital and non-circuital approaches are in use for high-fidelity modeling. To capture key nonlinearities such as magnetic saturation, cross-coupling and spatial harmonics both approaches rely on look-up tables (LUTs) derived from finite element analysis (FEA). These LUTs also help model various loss mechanisms, including iron, magnet and copper losses. The circuital approach represents the machine by equivalent electrical circuits, while the non-circuital approach directly implements the equations governing the behavior of the machine without explicit representation of the circuits. This paper presents a comparative analysis of these modeling approaches, focusing on their implementation in MATLAB/Simulink using the FEA dataset of a permanent magnet machine within the open-source tool SyR-e. The study evaluates key performance criteria such as accuracy and computational efficiency, while the results provide valuable insights for the selection of a suitable modeling strategy based on application-specific requirements, e.g. non-circuital models offering higher computational speed and reduced software dependency, whereas circuital models enable more detailed operational analysis.