Abstract: A V-coil permanent magnet synchronous linear motor（PMSLM） was designed and its key structural parameters were optimized to solve the thrust ripple problem. Firstly, the equivalent magnetization method was used to establish the analytical model of the thrust and thrust ripple of the motor, to analyze the influence of each parameter on the thrust ripple, and to select the key structural parameters for optimization. Secondly, through the finite element calculation, the key structural parameters were used as the design variables, and the response was adopted. Response surface methodology（RSM） was used to establish a fast accurate calculation model. Then, the "thrust was not weakened, the minimum thrust ripple" was taken as the optimization target, and the genetic algorithm was used to optimize the key structural parameters of PMSLM. Finally, the effectiveness of designed motor to suppress thrust ripple was verified by prototyping and conducting the physical experiments of the motor under different working conditions.