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Even if modern diagnostic techniques in power electrical engineering are considered as mature, there are still innovations to be published. Therefore, among the 188 papers submitted to this Special Section, 28 have been selected to be published in two parts. This Introduction is related to the first 14 selected papers, which have been divided into three topics dealing with: electrical machines failures detection with bearings (four papers), backlash phenomena (one paper), shaft trajectories (one paper), and winding short circuits (one paper); adjustable-speed drives with permanent-magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs) winding short circuits (one paper), drive sensors (one paper), prognosis (one paper), inverter open-circuit detection (one paper), and multiphase induction motors (one paper); power systems (one paper) and transformers (one paper) particular fault detection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although the concept of a multiphase drive system dates back to the middle of the 20th century, the initial pace of development was rather slow, as witnessed by the first two surveys of the area published in the beginning of this century. However, considerably new developments have resulted in the last decade of the 20th century and the beginning of this century, leading to an authoritative survey of the asymmetrical six-phase drive control and subsequently of the review of the complete area. This also initiated the organization and subsequent publication of the first IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics "Special Section on Multiphase Machines and Drives" in May 2008, which commenced with another survey paper, and that contained 12 original research papers. Since the publication of this Special Section in May 2008, the level of interest and pace of developments in the area have further accelerated and substantial new knowledge has been generatedwith an ever-increasing number of published research papers and reported new industrial applications. Such a trend has been emphasized in a recent paper. It therefore seemed appropriate to revisit the area and organize this Special Section as a sequel to the first one. The call for the Special Section papers resulted in 51 submissions, almost twice as many as the total back in 2008, thus confirming a substantial growth of the area. Indeed, the amount of new knowledge acquired since the publication of the first Special Section in 2008 has meant that it was not possible to provide a complete and thorough survey of the field in a single review paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pole-phase modulation (PPM) is one of the effective speed and torque control techniques for multiphase induction motor (MIM) drives. Performance of the drive in low-pole high-speed mode for steady run is good even with two-level voltage excitation due to the inherent advantages of high phase number. The drive operation under high-pole high-torque starting mode suffers degradation in performance due to reduction in phase number in a way to increase number of poles. Extending conventional multilevel converter topologies for performance improvement of MIMs increases the device count and control complexity considerably. In this paper, a simple technique to generate multilevel voltage across the phase of a pole-phase-modulated induction motor (PPM IM), for improving the performance of the drive under high-pole operation is presented. The technique requires least changes in the control scheme and no additional switches for the power circuit. Exploiting the advantages of equal voltage profile coils (EVPCs) for carrier phase-shifted PWM control is the main focus of this paper. In addition, generalization of PPM is revisited in this paper to add a small constraint on the pole ratio to avoid unequal pole width for some pole-phase combinations. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is shown through simulation with finite-element method (FEM) model of nine-phase squirrel cage induction motor and two-level nine-phase inverter cosimulated in Ansys Maxwell two-dimensional (2-D) and Simplorer environment. Experimental validation is also done on 5 hp nine-phase two-level induction motor drive controlled using Spartan6 FPGA board. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear induction motors (LIMs) have been extensively adopted in urban railway transportation given their nonadhesion thrust and simple stator structure. However, these LIMs undergo unfavorable power factor and efficiency considering their copper and eddy losses. Recently, linear flux-switching permanent-magnet motors (LFSPMs) have attracted the attention of researchers due to their high power density, simple structure, easy heat dissipation, high efficiency, and high power factor. However, so far, no quantitative comparison exists between LFSPMs and LIMs of the size 1:1 to prove the feasibility of LFSPMs to be used in railway transit systems. Therefore, a comparative analysis between the two motors is conducted in this paper. First, this paper investigates the LIMs for railway transit using the finite element method (FEM). Second, the LFSPMs for railway transit is designed and optimized. Third, the electromagnetic performance of the two motors is compared and analyzed through the FEM. Finally, a small-sized prototype of the LFSPMs is constructed to validate the FEM results. It is concluded that LFSPMs offer a favorable thrust force, have high efficiency, and high power factor but have large normal force and force ripple. Therefore, applying LFSPM requires a reliable supporting device and a shock absorber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a six-step mode-combined field-weakening control scheme to improve the maximum output torque of induction motor (IM) in the voltage-extension region. Compared with the conventional inscribed circle and hexagon methods, the proposed six-step mode method can increase the utilization of dc-link voltage, leading to extended maximum output torque capability. However, the six-step mode operation will inevitably result in torque ripple and current harmonic. To figure out the quantitative relation between the torque extension and ripple, an “equivalent-circuit”-based method is proposed for theoretical torque analysis in six-step mode. To cut off the main current harmonic (sixth harmonic), a second-order generalized integrator based band-stop filter is designed for the feedback current in the current loop. The designed filter can achieve IM stable operation in a six-step mode without affecting the bandwidth of the current loop. The experimental results from a 3.7-kW IM setup verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Induction motor fault identification is essential to improve efficiency in industrial processes improving costs, production line, and maintenance time. This paper presents a novel motor fault detection methodology based on quaternion signal analysis. The proposed method establishes the quaternion coefficients as the value of motor current measurement, and the variables x, y, and z are the measurements from a triaxial accelerometer mounted on the induction motor chassis. The method obtains the rotation of quaternions and applies quaternion rotation statistics such as mean, cluster shades, and cluster prominence in order to get their features, and these are used to classify the motor state using the proposed tree classification algorithm. This methodology is validated experimentally and compared to other methods to determine the efficiency of this method for feature detection and motor fault identification and classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduced switch active phase converters (APC) are cost-effective solutions for running three-phase loads from single-phase grids. This paper proposes a novel auxiliary-capacitor-based APC (AC-APC) for this application. The combination of the topological location of the auxiliary capacitor and the control of the AC-APC reduces current stress on the semiconductor devices. In this paper, a selection criterion for the optimal auxiliary capacitor value is formulated to reduce the device currents in such a way that the overall efficiency is enhanced. This paper presents a comparative analysis of converter volt-ampere (VA) rating and device power loss for conventional H-bridge active front-end and inverter-based topology, APC, and AC-APC. To evaluate the efficacy of the proposed AC-APC, an experimental study is conducted on the APC and the AC-APC feeding a 3-hp three-phase induction motor. At a full load of $\text{2.5}\,\text{kW}$ and $\text{0.8 } \text{power factor}$ , the measured maximum efficiency of the AC-APC is $2\%$ higher than that of the APC. Analytical evaluation of converter currents and device power loss are in close agreement with experimental observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including current technologies for high-speed electrical machine applications, a novel motor topology with a lateral stator used for drilling, and use of amorphous laminations on induction motor.

This paper gives an overview of the topological variations of multi-winding induction machines (IMs) and drives. The study is restricted to IMs having two distributed windings on the stator and a brushless rotor. The mathematical modeling techniques and control algorithms available in the literature are highlighted. Being magnetless and brushless, a Dual Stator Winding IM is highly reliable, maintenance free, and economic. Thus, it possesses the necessary potential to become a part of ac and dc microgrids. Recent research trend shows growth in the application of such generators for off-grid and grid-connected systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Exploiting the rich switching redundancies of the dual inverter, new hybrid pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) switching methods are proposed in this paper using the degree of freedom of operating the individual inverters independently, in addition to exercising the degree of freedom of controlling the switching action of the individual legs independently. Two voltage entities, namely, common-mode voltage (CMV) and differential-mode voltage are identified in the dual inverter, and all hybrid PWMs are envisaged aimed at reducing and also eliminating the CMV in it. The effects of such attempts on motor shaft voltage and also the motor bearing currents are presented in detail. Furthermore, bearing current profiles of an open-end winding induction motor are also presented with both conventional and hybrid PWMs proposed in this paper. Electric discharge machining discharge currents are completely eliminated with the use of all hybrid PWM methods proposed in this paper. In addition, implications of completely eliminating the CMV are also presented in this paper. All hybrid PWMs proposed in this paper are first simulated using MATLAB and are experimentally verified on a dual two-level inverter feeding a 1.1-kW 415-V 3- $\phi$ open-end winding induction motor drive. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Multilevel inverters with dodecagonal (12-sided polygon) voltage space vector structure have advantages, such as complete elimination of fifth and seventh harmonics, reduction in electromagnetic interference, reduction in device voltage ratings, reduction of switching frequency, extension of linear modulation range, etc., making it a viable option for high-power medium-voltage drives. This paper proposes two power circuit topologies capable of generating multilevel dodecagonal voltage space vector structure with symmetric triangles (for the first time) with minimum number of dc-link power supplies and floating capacitor H-bridges. The first power topology is composed of two hybrid cascaded five-level inverters connected to either side of an open-end winding induction machine. Each inverter consists of a three-level neutral-point-clamped inverter, which is cascaded with an isolated H-bridge making it a five-level inverter. The second topology is for a normal induction motor. Both of these circuit topologies have inherent capacitor balancing for floating H-bridges for all modulation indexes, including transient operations. The proposed topologies do not require any precharging circuitry for startup. A simple pulsewidth modulation timing calculation method for space vector modulation is also presented in this paper. Due to the symmetric arrangement of congruent triangles within the voltage space vector structure, the timing computation requires only the sampled reference values and does not require any offline computation, lookup tables, or angle computation. Experimental results for steady-state operation and transient operation are also presented to validate the proposed concept. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper simply investigates experimentally multiple “rotor” bar current waveforms at standstill, on a dedicated inverted induction motor prototype as a basis to analyze the bar currents distribution in the symmetrical and unsymmetrical cage. A phasor calculus scheme based on primary magneto-motive-force space harmonics is developed to explain this asymmetry of bar currents system at standstill even for a symmetrical cage. The results of the paper should be a strong experimental foundation to investigate thoroughly the effects of rotor speed and loading and of broken bars on additional losses, torque pulsations, noise, and vibrations in high performance induction machines. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Multilevel inverters are now-a-days being applied in electric vehicles (EV). Considering the dynamic operating conditions of an EV propelled by an induction motor, this paper proposes a flexible discontinuous modulation strategy for three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) inverter that can shift modulation pattern seamlessly from sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation (SPWM) to discontinuous PWM (DPWM). The modulation scheme is generalized at each degree of discontinuity to ensure minimum switching losses for variable load power factors. Additionally, a hybrid voltage balancing strategy, which comprises two sets of compensating offset signals with complementary features, has been introduced to mitigate voltage deviation problem at neutral point of the inverter. The unique feature of the proposed hybrid balancing approach is that it generates uniform compensating neutral current regardless of the level of discontinuity. This results in identical and predictable voltage balancing dynamics for the entire modulation transition covering SPWM and DPWM. It has been shown that the proposed hybrid balancing strategy does not lose its unbalance compensation strength even during transition from one modulation pattern to another. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme for wide variations in operating conditions is studied through extensive simulation, and validated in experimentation using a prototype NPC inverter with induction motor loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel sensorless startup strategy for a 315-kW high-speed magnetic suspension brushless dc (BLDC) motor with small inductance and nonideal back electromotive force (EMF). Two key strategies on the sensorless startup strategy of the BLDC motor are presented: First, small current startup strategy for the high-speed BLDC motor with small inductance; and second, self-adaption control strategy to compensate the commutation error for the BLDC motor with nonideal back EMF in the startup stage. A hybrid pulsewidth modulation strategy based on the load torque is proposed to limit the startup current. An optimal motor startup curve based on the system parameters is presented, and a self-adaption control strategy is proposed to solve the synchronous switching problem. The effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method is verified by a series of experiments on the 315 kW, 20 000 r/min magnetic suspension blower platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Induction motor drives operated with a low ratio of the switching frequency to the fundamental frequency (i.e., pulse number) are prone to have high magnitudes of low-order torque harmonics. This paper proposes a method to analytically evaluate the harmonic torque spectrum based on the pulsewidth-modulated voltage waveforms for low pulse number operation. The predicted torque harmonic spectra for different pulsewidth-modulated waveforms are validated through simulations and experiments. This paper also reports optimal switching angles to minimize the total rms value of torque harmonics of order 6, 12, 18 $,\dots,$ $6(N-1)$ , considering the number of switching angles per quarter ($N$) to be 4 and 5. Compared to sine triangle pulsewidth modulation and selective harmonic elimination pulsewidth modulation with the same pulse number, the proposed optimal switching angles significantly reduce the total rms value of all harmonic torques of order lower than $6N$. Extensive simulation and experimental results on a 3.7-kW induction motor drive are presented to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed optimal pulsewidth modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dual two-level voltage source inverter (VSI) can synthesize a three-level voltage space vector employing an open-end winding induction motor. Space-vector-based pulsewidth modulation (PWM) variants for this dual VSI are proposed in this paper that offer the dual advantage of limiting the switching power loss to a single VSI at all instants and also reducing the switching commutations in the dual VSI by 50%. The influence of different error volt seconds (affected with different PWM variants) on the motor phase current in the dual VSI is critically analyzed. To this end, two analytical approaches (one using error-voltage trajectory information and the other using switching state information of the dual VSI) are also proposed in this paper to predict the current trajectory and the ripple content in the drive system. Expressions for rms ripple current are developed with different PWM variants. The efficacy of the proposed analytical approaches to predict the current trajectory and the ripple content is confirmed from the experimental results. All the PWM variants are first simulated using MATLAB and verified experimentally by conducting tests on a three-phase open-end winding induction motor drive controlled with volts per hertz control. The implementation of the PWM algorithms only requires instantaneous magnitudes of three-phase reference voltages and completely avoids the sector identification and lookup tables. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

AC–DC–AC converter-fed induction motor (IM) drive is mainly realized by back-to-back three-phase converters. However, fault in a single semiconductor switch will make it inoperative. To enable continued controllable operation in case of the faults occurring in the converter, the five-leg converter with a shared leg between the grid and load sides is a possible solution. However, this topology poses an inherent two-objective control problem, because its grid and load sides should be controlled simultaneously. More importantly, the potential increase of the shared-leg current may destroy the converters. In this paper, a new control scheme based on the FCS-MPC combined with intrinsic characteristic of the five-leg converter is proposed for independent control of the rectifier and inverter subsystem with the shared-leg overcurrent constraint. The condition for independent control is analyzed. In order to give a complete evaluation of the proposed control scheme, the conventional pulsewidth modulation (PWM) control scheme is conducted for comparison. Experimental results are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates possible reduction of pulsating torque in open-loop and vector-controlled induction motor drives through deployment of certain advanced bus-clamping pulsewidth modulation (ABCPWM) method. Toward this goal, a simple and machine-independent method is proposed to analyze the torque harmonic spectrum of a voltage source inverter fed induction motor, operated with any real-time pulsewidth modulation (PWM) method. The analytically evaluated torque harmonic spectra, pertaining to conventional space vector PWM (CSVPWM), bus-clamping PWM (BCPWM), and ABCPWM, are validated through simulation and experimental results. Theoretical and experimental studies bring out the superiority of the ABCPWM in terms of torque harmonics over CSVPWM and BCPWM. The magnitude of the dominant torque harmonic with the ABCPWM scheme is shown to be significantly lower than that with CSVPWM, over a wide range of speed. The rms torque ripple (i.e., total rms value of all harmonic torques) is lower with ABCPWM than with BCPWM over the entire range of speed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a space-vector modulation (SVM) algorithm for a five-phase open-end winding motor drive system, fed by a dual nonsquare matrix converter (MC). The input to each of the MCs (MC-1 and MC-2) is a three-phase utility grid, and the output is a five-phase with variable voltage, variable frequency capability. The major contribution of this paper is the elimination of the detrimental common-mode voltage (CMV) that appears across the motor winding. In addition, the proposed SVM allows for a unity power factor at the input side, while boosting the output phase voltage by up to 150% of input. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis, to obtain the expression for the SVM modulating signals that are used to generate the switching pulses for the MC. To verify the idea, a modular, reconfigurable 5-kW MC prototype, feeding a five-phase induction motor is built. The control algorithm is implemented on a dSPACE-1006 platform. The test shows that the CMV is successfully eliminated from the motor winding. Other results (i.e., current and voltage waveforms) are also found to be in very close agreement with the theoretical prediction and MATLAB simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper compares the experimental performance of three flux and speed observers for speed-sensorless induction motor drives and discusses the cause of their differences. The small signal analysis using the linearized model is carried out to analyze stability. Three methods are generally accepted to be representative candidates for high sensorless performance, namely: 1) rotor-flux model reference adaptive system (MRAS); 2) torque-current MRAS; and 3) adaptive nonlinear flux observer. Many other sensorless methods improved these methods. The paper discusses baseline conditions for the experiments and the stability analysis, which include matched load inertia, specified speed estimator dynamics, and sensorless operation within a speed control loop. For the comparison tests in the paper, the speed estimation dynamics of the methods are the same; this is important for parameter sensitivity. The paper concentrates on the low-speed performance, and all results shown are under sensorless speed control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Section on "Optimization of Electrical Machine Designs" summarizes the state-of-the-art on the latest researches carried out on the topic, both in the academic and industrial environments. Basically, all the electrical machine topologies and optimization techniques have been discussed in this Section, suggesting to the readers interesting solutions of several optimization problems related with modern applications. The second part of the special section (the first one has been published in the December 2017 issue of the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics) includes 20 papers from a total of 44 accepted contributions. The studies included in the Part II are categorized in a table and are outlined to some extent in order to help the readers to quickly compare the main peculiarities of the mathematical approaches and the practical implementations. The Part II paper categorization of this Special Section presents a second set of four papers focused on the permanent magnet synchronous machines [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Transient-based fault diagnosis in induction motors has gained increasing attention over the recent years. This is due to its ability to avoid eventual wrong diagnostics of the conventional motor current signature analysis in certain industrial situations (presence of load toque oscillations, light loading conditions, and so on). However, the application of these transient methodologies requires the use of advanced signal processing tools. This paper presents a detailed comparison between the two main groups of transforms that are employed in transient analysis: discrete and continuous. This paper does not focus on trivial fault cases but on difficult real situations where the application of the conventional methods often leads to false diagnostics (outer bar breakages in double-cage motors, motors with rotor axial duct influence, and combined faults). Indeed, it is the first time that continuous tools are applied to some of these controversial situations. The results in this paper prove the special advantages of the continuous transforms, tearing down some false myths about their use. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the design, online, of an electrical machine's healthy reference by means of statistical tools. The definition of a healthy reference enables the computation of normalized fault indicators whose value is independent of the system's characteristics. This is a great advantage when diagnosing a broad range of systems with different power, coupling, inertia, load, etc. In this paper, an original method called spectral kurtosis with reference is presented to design a system's healthy reference. Its principle is first explained on a synthetic signal. This approach is then evaluated for mechanical unbalance detection in an induction machine using the stator current instantaneous frequency. The normalized behavior of the proposed indicator is then confirmed for different operating conditions, and its robustness with respect to load variations is demonstrated. Finally, the advantages of using a statistical indicator based on a healthy reference compared with a raw fault signature are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A multilevel inverter topology for a four-pole induction-motor drive is presented in this paper, which is constructed using the induction-motor stator winding arrangement. A single dc source with a less magnitude when compared with conventional five-level inverter topologies is used in this topology. Therefore, power balancing issues (which are major challenges in conventional multilevel inverters) are minimized. As this configuration uses a single dc source, it provides a path for zero-sequence currents because of the zero-sequence voltages present in the output, which will flow through the motor phase winding and power electronic switches. To minimize these zero-sequence currents, sine–triangle pulsewidth modulation (SPWM) is used, which will shift the lower order harmonics near to switching frequency in the linear modulation region. However, in the case of overmodulation, harmonic voltages will be introduced close to the fundamental frequency. In this regard, a modified SPWM technique is proposed in this paper to operate the drive in the overmodulation region up to the modulation index of 2/\!\surd3. The proposed quad two-level inverter topology is experimentally verified with a laboratory prototype on a four-pole 5-hp induction motor. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed topology in the complete linear modulation region and the overmodulation region. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the study of an alternative space vector modulation (SVM) implementation for matrix converters (MCs), which reduces the output common mode (CM) voltage. The strategy is based on replacing the MC zero vectors with rotating ones. In doing this, the CM voltage (CMV) can be reduced, which, in turn, reduces the CM leakage current. By reducing the CM current, which flows inside the motor through the bearings and windings, the induction motor (IM) deterioration can be slowed down. This paper describes the SVM pattern and analyzes the CMV and the leakage current paths. Simulation and experimental results based on an MC-IM drive are provided to corroborate the presented approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As a step toward the self-commissioning of the next generation of ac drives, this work deals with an automatic procedure for the identification of the inverse-\Gamma equivalent circuit of inverter-fed induction motors (IM) at standstill. The algorithm, cut out for the modern microprocessors combines different test signals with the aim of extracting and mapping the magnetic model nonlinearity. As a key feature, the procedure uses the existing inverter as a precise voltage probe to get the complete parameter set usually required by the advanced control of ac drives. The theoretical investigations are supported by experimental results and are reported in the paper. A distinguishing characteristic of the proposed method among the other existing solutions is the accuracy of the results confirmed by the comparison with finite-element analysis tools and tailored to the laboratory IM prototypes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dual-inverter configuration has been attracting increasing attention, especially in motor drives, for its advantages in fault tolerance, multilevel modulation effect, dc voltage utilization, etc. However, its switch fault diagnosis is difficult due to the symmetry of the two sub-inverters. A signal processing approach is proposed in this paper to detect the switch open-circuit fault occurrence and further identify the specific faulty switch, benefiting maintenance and fault-tolerant operation. In this scheme, the faulty phase and the faulty switch pair, consisting of the faulty switch and the switch on its diagonal, are identified using the stator phase currents average values. Following that, the bridge of the faulty phase is forced into a unipolar mode by artificially turning off one switch in the healthy pair continuously. Through properly controlling the duty ratios of the other switches in this bridge, the faulty switch is allowed to be further identified from the faulty pair by analyzing the behavior of the induced current in this phase. This approach is independent of either the speed or the voltage information. The effectiveness is validated through experiments on a sensorless controlled open-end winding induction motor drive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability of adaptive full-order observer (AFO) can be improved by feedback gain tuning and speed adaptive scheme modification for sensorless induction motor (IM) drives in low-speed regenerating mode. However, few research concern this problem with attention to IM operating point changes. To cope with this problem, this paper proposes an operating-point tracking method to design feedback gain and speed adaptive scheme for AFO. Compared with the existing approaches, lower synchronous speed can be accessible during step speed and load changes in low-speed regenerating mode without signal injection. Addressing the operating point changes, the estimated flux error is derived by adapting the projection of estimated current error with respect to speed and torque. The derivative estimated flux error with changing parameters is taken as an additional variable to design feedback gain. Meanwhile, the speed adaptive scheme is modified by the operating-point tracking expression. As a result, the proposed method acquires the capacity to track the operating point in real time. The experimental results on a 2.2-kW IM experimental setup confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finite control set predictive controllers perform a direct digital control of power converters without a modulation stage such as pulsewidth modulation. Opposed to the inherent positive traits such as high flexibility and enhanced bandwidth, an increase in harmonic content is usually reported. The concept of variable sampling time (VST) has been recently introduced as a means to alleviate the harmonic content. The nonuniform sampling approach can be seen as an extra degree of freedom that is conferred to the controller, keeping its model-based feature. This paper goes beyond the state-of-the-art of VST controllers, introducing a new scheme for the computation of the sampling time. The resulting VST controller is experimentally assessed for a two-level five-phase induction motor drive, where steady-state and dynamic performance tests confirm the interest of the proposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper designs a double-side linear vernier permanent-magnet motor, which incorporates the merits of high thrust force capability, high power factor, and high efficiency. Since the parameters of the motor are very sensitive and the high thrust force capability comes along with the high force ripple, a framework of multiobjective optimization is proposed to improve the overall motor performances. The sensitivity analysis is used to select significant variables and the multiobjective differential evolution with ranking-based mutation operator is conducted with the response surface models to generate the Pareto solution set. The electromagnetic performances of the optimal motor are compared with the initial motor by simulating step by step based on finite-element analysis. Finally, a prototype motor is manufactured and the experimental results validate the improved motor performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Induction motors are widely used in industrial plants for critical operations. Stator faults, bearing faults, or rotor faults can lead to unplanned downtime with associated cost and safety implications. Different sensors may be used to monitor the health state of induction motors with each sensor typically being better suited for diagnosing different faults. Condition monitoring approaches that fuse data from multiple sensors have the potential to diagnose a greater number of faults. In this paper, a sensor fusion approach based on the combination of a two-stage Bayesian method and principal component analysis (PCA) is proposed for diagnosing both electrical and mechanical faults in induction motors. Acoustic, electric, and vibration signals are gathered from motors operating under different loading conditions and health states. The inclusion of the PCA step ensures robustness to varying loading conditions. The obtained results highlight that the proposed method performs better than the equivalent single-stage or feature-based Bayesian methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fast and accurate analytical inverter-fed induction machine iron loss calculation model is proposed in this paper. The proposed model takes account of the influence of the output voltage harmonics from the inverter on the iron loss of the motor based on the piecewise variable coefficients method. Additionally, the proposed method incorporates slot harmonic component's influence on the iron loss. The validity of the proposed model is verified by comparing its calculated core loss values with measured ones of a 5.5- and a 55-kW inverter-fed induction motors under different speeds and load conditions. Compared with the classical iron loss model and piecewise variable coefficient iron loss model based on the finite-element method, the proposed model can reduce the computational burden significantly with desirable accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-phase pulsewidth modulation inverter fed induction motor drive system is widely applied in high power drive applications. Sensor faults are very common in the drive system, which, once occur, might result in degraded system performance or even system shutdown. In order to rapidly and accurately diagnose the sensor faults, this paper proposes an intelligent time-adaptive data-driven method to identify the fault location and fault type of sensors in the drive system. An emerging machine learning technology named extreme learning machine (ELM) is applied to learn the sensor fault dataset; an ensemble ELM classifier is then designed to improve diagnostic accuracy, based on which a time-adaptive fault diagnosis process is proposed to achieve a high and balanced diagnostic accuracy and speed. As a data-driven method, the proposed method only employs the phase current, dc-link voltage, and speed signals as the inputs to the ensemble ELM classifiers and requires no additional sensors and other hardware. Simulated and experimental tests show that the proposed method can rapidly and accurately detect the fault sensor location and identify offset fault, stuck fault, and noise faults with an average diagnostic accuracy of 98% and the average decision time of 10 ms after the fault occurs. Moreover, such diagnosis method is robust to the fluctuation of catenary voltage and dc-link voltage, fault severity, and variation of model parameters, speed, and load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Induction motors (IMs) are among the fully developed electromechanical technologies that are still in use today. Over the course of the last century, their structure, control, and operation have been undergone through several stages of development. Among stages of development, the automated control and continuous monitoring of IMs has benefited from the emergence of modern artificial intelligence (AI) methods. IM automation schemes have demonstrated the ability to provide machine fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) function. AI-based FDD methods in IMs have employed frequency-domain, time–frequency, and time-domain analyses as the basis of their feature extraction schemes. A promising feature extraction scheme is one that uses symmetrical components (SCs) in time-domain FDD systems. Current SC-based approaches, however, are limited in their generalizability to different fault classes, may require detailed machine models, and can suffer from computational limitations. In this paper, an improved feature extraction method that uses SCs for a pattern recognition based FDD scheme for three-phase ($3\phi$) IMs will be presented. This novel feature extraction method will be implemented and verified experimentally to demonstrate high classification performance, increased generalizability, and low computational cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a doubly fed induction machine (DFIM) operating in motor mode and supplied by two voltage source inverters—in stator and rotor sides—is presented. The aim is to analyze the sensorless rotor position operation of a dual direct torque control (DDTC) of the DFIM. This paper presents a sensorless DDTC for a DFIM speed drive in order to guarantee the static and dynamic system performances. The sensorless DFIM operation provides an analytical redundancy in the case of mechanical sensor failure and ensures the service continuity of the drive. SABER simulation and experimental results illustrate the satisfactory behavior of the system with or without the use of the rotor position sensor. These confirm the preservation of system performances, particularly during the low-speed sensorless control operation. The proposed solution is particularly relevant due to its simplicity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An introduction to various articles published within the issue is presented including the design of a sports car's direct-driven interior permanent-magnet synchronous motors (IPMSMs), a claw-pole double-rotor synchronous machine and the electromagnetic sizing procedure for an electrical machine.

In this paper, an improved direct torque control (DTC) technique of a two-level inverter-fed five-phase induction motor (FPIM) drive for low-speed operation is presented. The operation of the FPIM with distributed winding requires the elimination of third-harmonic voltage, which, if not taken care of, would generate distorted stator current. For this, the concept of virtual vectors (VVs) is utilized. Before selecting the VVs for the DTC operation, a theoretical analysis is carried out to find the effects of these VVs on the torque and flux response of the FPIM under different speed and loading conditions. It is found that the rotor speed plays a crucial role in the selection of VVs. A particular VV has different effects on the torque change as speed varies. This analysis helps in the selection of VVs, hysteresis torque bandwidth, flux bandwidth, and efficient formation of sectors. Furthermore, in this paper, the performance of the FPIM during low-speed operation is improved by avoiding the demagnetization of the stator flux. To achieve this, a new modified lookup table is proposed. Superiority of the proposed method over the reported approaches is illustrated by experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the distinct advantages of stator fault detection using a novel radial flux sensing technique. Intensive research efforts in the past have been focused on the flux signature analysis as they have been more efficient compared to classical motor current signature analysis. In this paper, it is observed that a flux sensing simple internal observer coil (OC) is more succinct than external flux sensors. The proposed simplified, inexpensive technique has yet not been reported in the literature. The new results of root mean square (RMS), fundamental, third harmonic, and total harmonic distortion analysis of the voltage spectra of the OCs are found to exhibit variations in relation to the severity of interturn faults as compared to the healthy condition. The mathematical theory of the technique is provided and supported by an experimental validation. An experiment for confirming the performance of the proposed method was done on a 2.2-kW three-phase four-poles, 440-V squirrel-cage induction motor, increasing the fault level in steps from 1% to 15% combined with variations in load from no load to full load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zero-common-mode-voltage (CMV) operation of multilevel inverters results in reduced dc-bus utilization and reduced linear modulation range. In this paper, a method to increase the linear modulation range for zero-CMV operation without increasing the dc-bus voltage using a cascaded multilevel inverter with a single dc supply is presented. Using this method, the peak fundamental output voltage can be increased from 0.499 to 0.637  \textV\text{dc} with zero CMV inside the linear modulation range. Also, various pulse width modulation (PWM) switching sequences are analyzed in this paper, and the PWM sequence that gives minimum current ripple is used for the zero-CMV operation of the inverter. The inverter topology with single dc supply is realized by cascading a two-level inverter with two floating-capacitor-fed full-bridge modules. Simulation and experimental results for steady-state and dynamic operating conditions are presented to validate the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quasi-three-dimensional (3-D) analytic method is presented for calculating the performance of single-sided linear induction motor with the ladder secondary. To simplify the analytic model, the ladder aluminum plate is equivalent to the flat-solid one, and the equivalent conductivity is derived and given. In the direction of the motion, the finite primary length and end effect are considered by the method of the Fourier transform and Residue theorem. In the transverse direction, considering finite width of the primary core and the region between the overhang of the primary windings and the secondary, the equivalent integral length is given. Finally, the thrust, vertical force and secondary efficiency are calculated and compared with the results of the 3-D finite-element method and experiment, it is shown that the method presented in the paper is much simpler and the accuracy of the analytic method is verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents techniques for testing fractional horsepower (FHP) induction and brushless dc motors. The procedures for segregation of losses in these motors are presented. The issues encountered in testing FHP motors are discussed, and guidelines are provided to avert the issues. This paper also provides insights into understanding the test procedures outlined in the IEEE 114 Standard. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a single-vector-based model predictive control (MPC) for an induction motor drive supplied by a three-level neutral-point-clamped inverter operating at a low switching frequency. Unlike the torque and flux control in the conventional MPC, the proposed MPC tries to minimize the error between the applied voltage vector and a reference voltage vector obtained based on the principle of deadbeat control, thereby reducing the number of weighting factors in the cost function. To reduce the computational burden and restrict the high jumps in both phase and line voltages, two switching tables are proposed and compared for the preselection of candidate voltage vectors. The neutral point potential fluctuation and switching frequency are also included in the cost function to achieve the balance between the upper and lower dc voltages and a relatively low switching frequency. Furthermore, a speed adaptive stator flux observer with a novel gain matrix is proposed to achieve speed-sensorless operation, which has a higher speed and flux estimation accuracy than conventional fixed gains. Finally, the proposed MPC is extended to the field-weakening operation by adjusting the torque and stator flux references online, which significantly widens the speed range and improves the practical value of the MPC. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by the experimental results obtained at an average switching frequency of less than 600 Hz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with data-driven fault diagnosis of three-phase induction motor. The tools from subspace identification based data-driven scheme are utilized to design a framework of fault detection and isolation. The fault detection scheme is so designed that it caters for even small magnitude faults. In order to discriminate different faults, a fault isolation algorithm is proposed. Isolation thresholds are designed. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the influence of the flat and cap secondary, which are usually applied in the linear metro system on transverse forces of linear induction motors, is calculated and analyzed. First, the cap-aluminum plate and lamination back iron of the cap secondary caused relative difficulty in the analytical calculation. Then, the equivalent of the cap-aluminum plate and lamination back iron is presented, and two equivalent coefficients are obtained. The two types of the asymmetry are discussed and the different magnetic motive forces are presented. Second, the analytical model and the method of the linear induction motor are presented. Third, for a cap secondary in practice, the two equivalent coefficients are calculated and discussed. Then, the flat and cap secondary are applied, and the different transverse forces are calculated and analyzed. For two types of the secondaries, the different eddy currents and air-gap flux densities are compared. Finally, the test workbench is built and the analytical result of the transverse force is experimentally validated. It shows that cap secondary has less influence on the railcar when the transverse displacement occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cost-effective and high-performance linear motors attract more and more attention for many applications. This paper proposes a novel double-side linear flux-modulation permanent-magnet (DS-LFMPM) motor with low cost, high thrust force density, and high power factor. The novelty of the proposed DS-LFMPM motor is to improve power factor by using double-side topology. Its topology is presented, and its operation principle is investigated. From the harmonic spectrums of the flux density in the air gap before and after the modulation of the mover teeth and the stator teeth, it can be concluded that the proposed motor has good flux-modulation effect. Also, the expression of the orders of the harmonic spectrums is given. The design process of sizes and structure is particularly explained. The electromagnetic performances are predicted by using the finite-element method and the proposed motor is prototyped for verification. The results show that the proposed DS-LFMPM motor can produce high thrust force density and high power factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel approach for detection of stator short-circuit faults in three-phase induction motors. The method is based on two stages: feature extraction and classification by intelligent systems. First, mutual information is estimated from delayed stator current signals, which are used as inputs of C4.5 decision trees and multilayer perceptron neural networks in the second step. Several offline and online experimental tests are presented considering voltage unbalance, load torque variations, and 1% to 10% short-circuit levels. The obtained results corroborate the effectiveness of this new diagnostic approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel cascade proportional-integral (PI) continuous second-order sliding mode control (SMC) for induction motor in the presence of operational constraints. The inner-loop SMC is designed to control the current dynamics of the motor, while the outer-loop control is the PI control of speed. The main advantage of the proposed method is that the PI control provides reference to the inner-loop SMC with constraints according to the system requirements in terms of maximum current and speed limits. Moreover, because the inner-loop dynamics of the motor are nonlinear, SMC design has more importance in terms of robustness and disturbance rejection capability. The proposed control is a continuous-time design strategy with fixed-time convergence, while its discretization is performed at the implementation stage. The performance of the developed controller is validated by carrying out real-time experimental studies on an industrial size induction machine. Experimental results demonstrate remarkable robust tracking performance of the controller in terms of transient speed response and steady-state accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes advanced speed control for a five-leg voltage source inverter (FLVSI) that drives the dual three-phase induction motor system used in industrial manufacturing processes. The advanced speed control method consists of two controllers: 1) The first is a slip controller that satisfies the application requirement, i.e., to control the mechanical speed of two motors equally regardless of the load condition. 2) The second is an angle controller that satisfies the FLVSI requirement, i.e., to control the phase angle difference between the two motors for minimizing the common leg current because the common leg current can be twice higher than other leg's current depending on the operation condition of the dual motor. Stability analysis of the two controllers under advanced speed control is implemented, and the whole performance of the advanced speed control for the FLVSI-fed dual-motor drive system is shown to identify its feasibility through the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safe and reliable operation of systems relies on the use of online condition monitoring and diagnostic systems that aim to take immediate actions upon the occurrence of a fault. Model-based solutions are often not practical in nonstationary environments. Thus, the evolving data stream requires the data-driven model to be adaptive. In this paper, we propose a framework for the fault detection and classification that is accomplished on the data stream with both the gradual and abrupt drifts. The framework is only provided with prior information about the possible faults at the initial step; however, despite this, the framework can still detect the novel faults without receiving any update. Furthermore, an efficient fault classification algorithm is presented to maximize the efficiency of the proposed framework. Finally, the proposed framework is applied for diagnosing bearing defects in the induction motors to demonstrate its feasibility for industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a practical approach to model and analyze transient thermal effects in air-cooled electric traction motors. The developed thermal modeling method enables accurate estimation of temperature in motor critical parts including winding and bearing. Advantages of both numerical and analytical modeling methods are exploited with the aim of realizing accurate estimation of hot spot temperatures in traction motors while keeping the computation time within a reasonable range. Computational fluid dynamics simulations are carried out to model air flow in the motor in order to provide heat transfer boundary inputs to the developed combined finite-element (FE) and lumped parameter (LP) thermal models. The combination of the FE and LP models keeps the size of the model relatively small and enables running transient calculations reasonably fast. Also, the developed model provides the possibility to study the influence of stator and rotor duct blockages on the motor thermal performance, which is a common root of failure in traction applications during operation in dirty environments. The proposed thermal model is verified using experimental results on a traction motor equipped with temperature sensors at different running conditions and a good agreement between the estimated and measured temperatures is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]