This paper proposes a method for the electromagnetic field analysis of permanent magnet synchronous motors
(PMSMs) considering the axial leakage flux. To the axial leakage flux while employing two-dimensional (2D)
finite-element analysis (FEA), the permeance of the axial leakage path is added into a slot region by increasing
the permeability of elements in that region. The increased permeability is calculated based on the permeance
relationship of the main magnetic and axial leakage paths, which are calculated using the equivalent magnetic
circuit method. The effect of the proposed method is verified by comparing it with the 3-dimensional FEA
results. The proposed coupling method uses finite element analysis and is developed from the lumped method
proposed in our previous research. The developed method enables the analysis of distributed winding
machines, which is not possible with the existing method.