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Multiphase electric drives are today one of the most relevant research topics for the electrical engineering scientific community, thanks to the many advantages they offer over standard three-phase solutions (e.g., power segmentation, fault-tolerance, optimized performances, torque/power sharing strategies, etc...). They are considered promising solutions in many application areas, like industry, traction and renewable energy integration, and especially in presence of high-power or high-reliability requirements. However, contrarily to the three-phase counterparts, multiphase drives can assume a wider variety of different configurations, concerning both the electrical machine (e.g., symmetrical/asymmetrical windings disposition, concentrated/distributed windings, etc...) and the overall drive topology (e.g., single-star configuration, multiple-star configuration, open-end windings, etc…). This aspect, together with the higher number of variables of the system, can make their analysis and control more challenging, especially when dealing with reconfigurable systems (e.g., in post-fault scenarios). This Ph.D. thesis is focused on the mathematical modelling and on the control of multiphase electric drives. The aim of this research is to develop a generalized model-based approach that can be used in multiple configurations and scenarios, requiring minimal reconfigurations to deal with different machine designs and/or different converter topologies, and suitable both in healthy and in faulty operating conditions. Standard field-oriented approaches for the analysis and control of multiphase drives, directly derived as extensions of the three-phase equivalents, despite being relatively easy and convenient solutions to deal with symmetrical machines, may suffer some hurdles when applied to some asymmetrical configurations, including post-fault layouts. To address these issues, a different approach, completely derived in the phase variable domain, is here developed. The method does not require any vector space decomposition or rotational transformation but instead explicitly considers the mathematical properties of the multiphase machine and the effects of the drive topology (which typically introduces some constraints on the system variables). In this thesis work, the proposed approach is particularized for multiphase permanent magnet synchronous machines and for multiphase synchronous reluctance machines. All the results are obtained through rigorous mathematical derivations, and are supported and validated by both numerical analysis and experimental tests. As proven considering many different configurations and scenarios, the main benefits of the proposed methodology are its generality and flexibility, which make it a viable alternative to standard modelling and control algorithms.

This article proposes a modeling approach and an optimization strategy to exploit a third-harmonic current injection for the torque enhancement in multiphase isotropic permanent magnet synchronous machines with nonsinusoidal back electromotive forces. The modeling approach is based on a proper vector space decomposition and on the associated rotational transformation, aimed to properly select a set of stator current space vectors to be controlled. It is presented for a generic (i.e., asymmetrical, with an arbitrary angular shift) winding configuration. The injection strategy is related to the choice of a constant synchronous current set aimed at minimizing the average stator winding losses for a given reference torque by using the first and the third spatial harmonics of the air-gap flux density. The optimal solution has been found analytically and has been developed in detail for a selected set of asymmetrical winding configurations. Both the numerical and experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis.

The increase of electrical drives power density and reliability allows the possibility to develop an all-electric propulsion systems for the aircraft. A configuration based on a mono-inverter dual-parallel (MIDP) permanent magnet synchronous motors could be suitable in order to reduce the cost and the weight of the propulsion systems. This paper proposes a novel current references limitation strategy to improve the overall dynamic behaviour of the system during transient operations, without the worsening of oscillations damping. The effectiveness of the proposed solution is demonstrated through numerical simulations.

This paper deals with a Power Electronic Transformer (PET) topology for a 3-phase AC distribution grid. In the discussed topology, a Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) and a Full-Bridge converter are employed for the medium voltage (MV) and the low voltage (LV) side, respectively. By using the space vector, approach a mathematical model for the MMC is presented and a grid-synchronous algorithm is implemented to easily control the power flow through the structure. The MV and LV side converters are linked through a High Frequency (HF) transformer, whose control strategy is a Dual-Active Phase-Shift Control (PSC) with Square Wave Modulation (SQM). This technique is combined with a predictive algorithm, which is able to keep each leg’s capacitors’ voltages balanced both in stationary and in transient conditions. The proposed algorithm is numerically validated in the Matlab/Simulink® environment.