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A modular motor drive (MMD) is composed of multiple identical pole drive units (PDUs), which consist of a concentrated stator winding fed by a dedicated power electronic converter module. To exploit the full flexibility and reliability of these MMDs, they are equipped with multiple controllers, operating as synchronized peers, and each driving only a limited set of PDUs. An MMD can hence be considered as a multiagent system, in which all the agents cooperate to deliver a certain torque demand. The goal of this work is to distribute this torque demand among the agents of a modular drive in a completely decentralized way, in order to comply with the flexibility and reliability of the hardware, while still taking into account the present condition of each agent. A deterministic consensus algorithm is used for this purpose, in combination with decentralized proportional integral (PI) current controllers. Communication is only allowed between neighboring agents, to limit the communication load. It is shown in this article that the total torque demand is delivered, under healthy conditions as well as during agent malfunctions and with nonidentical agents. The concept is demonstrated on a modular axial-flux permanent magnet synchronous machine with 15 PDUs that are assigned to five agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a circulating-current-excited switched reluctance generator system using a standard diode rectifier is proposed and examined. It features a dc power source connected in series with the ring-connected windings, which provides the dc-bias current as the excitation current in the windings. Using a series-connected dc power source, a dc-bias current is easily realized in the ac winding. Compared with the existing machine having dc-bias in the ac winding, the proposed generator can provide dc power with a standard diode rectifier. Less active legs and no rotor position sensor are needed for the control of the circulating current of the proposed generator, which increases the reliability of the generation system. The system configuration and the operation principle are introduced in detail. Then, the electromagnetic performance of the proposed generation system is analyzed at both open-circuit and load conditions. The asymmetric current distributions are deduced and verified by the simulations. At last, the prototype is tested under varied operation conditions and the experiments agree well with the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiphase machines with a prime number of phases (five and seven) have shown better torque density than machines with other phase numbers. Unfortunately, these machines require a special stator design. Hence, this article proposes general rewinding techniques to obtain a five-phase winding from the existing standard three-phase stator frames. The proposed rewinding techniques are applied to construct a five-phase star-connected synchronous reluctance machine (SynRM 1) and a novel combined star-pentagon winding (SynRM 2). Simple mathematical formulations are introduced to compute the equivalent winding factor. The performance of five-phase SynRMs is analyzed using two-dimensional Ansys Maxwell transient simulations under the same copper volume for both healthy and faulty cases. SynRM 1 and 2 provide 6.56% and 13.35% higher torque compared to the three-phase SynRM at rated current and at optimal current angle. The torque ripple is decreased by 17% and 30%, respectively. Moreover, SynRM 1 and 2 offer a better performance at the faulty case; e.g., at one phase opened, the average torque of SynRM 1 and 2 is 82% and 108% higher compared to the three-phase SynRM. In addition, the torque ripple is reduced by about 63% and 81%. Finally, experimental results are done to validate the proposed winding techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a circulating-current-excited switched reluctance generator system with the diode rectifier is comparatively studied with a field-current-separated switched reluctance generator. By using a DC power source connected in series with the winding to provide the circulating current, a controllable excitation field is established in the proposed generator. To highlight the influence of this DC voltage source, the injected field current of the field-current-separated generator is kept the same as the circulating current of the circulating-current-excited generator. Then, both advantages and disadvantages of the generators are summarized. The circulating-current-excited switched reluctance generator system inherits both the advantages of good reliability of the separated-winding generator by using the diode rectifier and low copper loss of the integrated-winding machine by combining the AC and DC current in one set of windings. Furthermore, two more practically conventional field-current-separated generators are also compared with the proposed generator in terms of the external characteristics. These two conventional generators have different winding configurations. At last, the analysis is verified by experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a dc-link structure feasible for integration with the circumscribing polygon modular integrated drives is proposed. The proposed dc-link structure combines both the dc-link capacitors and the bus-bar together and integrates them with the machine and the converter modules without increasing the outer diameter of the integrated machine/converter structure. A generic design methodology for the proposed dc-link structure is provided and applied on a reconfigurable 15 stator coils concentrated winding axial flux machine for all its possible phase configurations. The design methodology presented in this article involves the determination of the required dc-link capacitance and the multiphysics design of the bus-bar. The parasitics of the bus-bar part of the proposed dc-link structure are evaluated using electromagnetic finite element method (FEM) models and their influence on the dc-link waveforms is evaluated. Due to the expected high ambient temperature inside an integrated drive, electromagnetic and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models are developed for the proposed dc-link structure to evaluate the loss density and the temperature distribution of the bus-bar to ensure reliable operation. An experimental setup is built to validate the design methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To meet the demand for increasingly high power density in electric drives, the concept of a so-called integrated modular motor drive has emerged. The machine is composed of multiple identical modules, which receive individual control signals for multiphase control, to reduce unwanted stator current harmonics. Each module is equipped with its own power electronic converter, which is integrated in the machine housing. This integration imposes strict constraints on the dc-link capacitor design. To reduce the dc-link current ripple, and hence relax the design constraints on the dc-link capacitor, without compromising the possibility to eliminate unwanted stator current harmonics by means of multiphase control, a new interleaving strategy is proposed in this article. The n modules of the machine are split into p subgroups of m modules for interleaving, while the n-phase control is preserved. An analytical model, simulations and experimental results are provided for a 4 kW test setup, confirming that multiphase control can be combined with interleaving. As a result, both the stator current harmonic distortion and the dc-link current ripple can be reduced simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concentrated windings are favourable in electric motors with a high torque density because of the achievable high winding filling factor and their short end-windings. Nevertheless, the performance of the cooling system has the biggest impact on the reachable torque density limits. This article introduces a thermally conductive insert piece that encloses the stator end-windings with extensions in the stator slots. This results in an extended contact surface between the stator windings and the machine housing, which is advantageous for the conductive heat transfer. The introduced indirect cooling concept is compatible with traditional cooling techniques such as forced air and water jacket cooling. The concept is illustrated with 3D thermal finite element simulations, including the anisotropic thermal material properties, as well as ad hoc measurements on a stator pole unit mock-up of a 6-4 switched reluctance machine. Where the stator with reference cooling system was only able to handle a continuous current density of 19.0 A/mm $^2$ , 26.5 A/mm $^2$ could be obtained in the winding of the stator with the extended end-winding cooling inserts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a fault tolerant deadbeat controller is proposed, which is able to compensate for both partial and uniform demagnetization faults in axial flux permanent-magnet synchronous machines with double rotor, even with asymmetric defects in both rotors. For this purpose, the system model used by the deadbeat controller is equipped with a look-up table of the back-emf, in function of the mechanical rotor position. This look-up table is generated by means of an analytical model based on the magnetic vector potential. With this information, the deadbeat controller can eliminate both the additional bias and ripple in the stator current components caused by demagnetization faults. The proposed control strategy is validated on a 4 kW test set-up of an axial flux permanent-magnet synchronous machine with yokeless and segmented armature topology fed by a three-phase two-level voltage source inverter, both by simulations and experiments. Key performance indicators concerning bias and ripple of the current components illustrate the superior performance of the proposed control strategy in comparison to a standard deadbeat controller without an up-to-date look-up table of the back-emf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a method to design an electrical variable transmission (EVT) of which the stator and inner rotor contain a distributed three-phase winding, and the outer rotor is equipped with permanent magnets and a dc-field winding. The main problem with the design of EVTs is that the modeling relies on time-consuming finite-element (FE) calculations. Studying the effect of design changes is, therefore, a cumbersome task. To minimize the need for FE calculations, scaling laws are applied, which reduce the computational effort to a matter of milliseconds per design. Therefore, the losses of multiple scaled designs can be analyzed for a given load cycle while taking constraints into account such as maximum torque. By presenting this data in a performance map, the optimal design regarding the losses is easily deduced. To validate the presented methodology, FE calculations, measurements, and available literature are used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a simple and efficient magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) model for surface axial flux permanent magnet synchronous machines. The MEC model is used to solve all the electromagnetic properties of the machine including the no load, full load voltages, cogging torque, torque ripple, and stator iron core losses. Moreover, this approach can be extended for all surface permanent magnet synchronous machines. The main novelty of this approach is the development of a static system, which accounts for the rotation. The model takes into account the rotor rotation via time-dependent permanent magnet magnetization sources. The static system matrix facilitates a very fast solving. In addition, to take into account the three-dimensional (3-D) effect, a multislicing of the machine in the radial direction is done. This boosts the simulation time to only 60 s for six slices and 50 time steps including the nonlinear behavior of the stator elements with a great accuracy. Additionally, the number of elements in the MEC can be adjusted to reduce the computational time. This model is verified by means of 3-D and two-dimensional (2-D) multislice finite-element models. In addition, experimental validations are also provided at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A continuous demand for more efficient and more compact drives is pushing the popularity of high-speed permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs). However, high rotational speeds and extreme power densities imply that an appropriate cooling of the rotor may be difficult. This is all the more important because of the risk of demagnetization when permanent magnets are operated at high temperatures. Therefore, it is paramount to reduce the losses in the rotor of high-speed machines as much as possible. One technique to reduce the eddy-current losses is introducing a shielding cylinder, i.e., a conductive sleeve that is wrapped around the magnets. However, when badly designed, such a shielding cylinder may increase, rather than decrease, the losses. Therefore, an in-depth study of the effect of the shielding cylinder on the eddy-current losses in high-speed PMSMs is required. By studying how the eddy-current losses are affected by the shielding cylinder’s thickness and its conductivity, this paper aims at providing more insight in how the eddy-current losses can be reduced. Moreover, the study of the eddy-current losses is repeated for different stator sources to evaluate the importance of accounting for the actual control strategy during the machine’s design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing performance requirements for electrical machines such as energy efficiency and torque density require a multiphysics design approach. In these designs, many machine parts very often combine multiple functions, such as electromagnetic, thermal, and mechanical, to keep the design compact and reduce the overall weight, or introduce nonconventional materials in electrical machines. In this paper, epoxy potting techniques are used to keep the different stator parts of a yokeless and segmented armature axial flux PM machine together, and it focuses mainly on the multiphysics aspects of the epoxy resins as well as on their implications on the overall stator design. In this multiphysics design approach, the effect of specific epoxy resin parameters such as maximum service temperature, thermal conductivity, Brookfield viscosity, tensile strength, and coefficient of thermal expansion, on the electromagnetic, thermal and mechanical behavior of the stator are examined. Epoxy resin parameters are evaluated in detailed experiments on small test samples, and finally, measurements on a full prototype 4 kW, 2500 rpm stator are performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the use of state-of-the-art thermal modeling tools in the design stage, the measured thermal behavior of prototype electrical machines can differ significantly from the modeled ones. This paper shows how a thermal model, based on the finite-element method, of an electric machine can be improved using inverse modeling techniques. In a thorough study, a forward high fidelity finite-element thermal model of a 4-kW axial flux permanent magnet (PM) machine is introduced and improved using inverse modeling techniques via noncollocated thermal sensors. Parametric model order reduction of the high fidelity finite-element thermal model based on the moment matching method is performed to make the recovery of the actual thermal parameters characterizing the thermal behavior of the axial flux PM machine tractable. Furthermore, the same reduced order model is used to identify the different power loss components in the machine. Experimental results confirm that the presented two-stage approach is capable of identifying the thermal parameters and losses with high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-speed electric machines with permanent magnets are sometimes equipped with a shielding cylinder; a conductive sleeve that is wrapped around the magnets in order to reduce the rotor losses and/or retain the magnets. Despite the every increasing popularity of such high-speed permanent-magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs), there are still a lot of question regarding the effect of the shielding cylinder. Earlier work in literature evaluates how the shielding cylinder’s design affects the machine’s performance. However, that work assumes a sinusoidal current, hence neglects the stator current’s higher time-harmonic orders. Therefore, this paper aims at evaluating how different stator sources affect the way in which the shielding cylinder influences the torque production in high-speed PMSMs. The study is performed using a 2-D analytical subdomain model that accounts for slotting and the eddy current reaction field. Both current and voltage sources are considered. The torque is divided in two components, the classical torque due to interaction between the magnets and the stator currents and the torque due to interaction with the eddy currents in the shielding cylinder. This approach results in a better insight in the machine’s physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A time-harmonic analytical model is presented for a combined study of demagnetization and rotor eccentricity in single-stator double-rotor axial flux permanent magnet synchronous machines (AFPMSM). Demagnetization defects are modeled by scaling the magnetization “square wave” by magnetization factors for each individual magnet on both rotors. Static, dynamic, and mixed rotor eccentricities are modeled using a permeance function. The original contribution of the model is that asymmetrical defects in the two air gaps of the machine can be described with acceptable accuracy and limited additional calculation time. The model is validated with a finite element method and experiments in both healthy and defected operations. Because the model has a short computation time, it is useful for real-time condition monitoring of any AFPMSM with double air gap and either concentrated or distributed windings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper studies demagnetization detection in axial flux permanent magnet synchronous machines of the yokeless and segmented armature (YASA) type. In YASA machines, asymmetrical defects can occur: the demagnetization defects in the permanent magnets of both rotors differ from each other. Many techniques can indicate that there is a defect, even if it is an asymmetrical defect, but cannot detect which rotor has the defect, i.e., exactly locate the asymmetrical defect. In this paper, a method is proposed to detect and locate asymmetrical demagnetization defects in AFPMSMs. The method is useful for real-time condition monitoring of demagnetization defects, or as virtual temperature sensor for the magnets. A sensing coil is placed in each air gap. An analytical model is constructed, which uses the demagnetization defect and the three-phase current as input and calculates the sensing coil back-EMF. Sensing coils back-EMF data are combined with the data from the analytical model to solve an electromagnetic inverse problem. The results are the demagnetization amount and location of the demagnetization defect. The method is validated with the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An electrical variable transmission (EVT) is an electrical machine consisting of a stator and two concentric rotors. It is a competitive alternative for power split devices used in current series–parallel hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Although tending to have high power densities, permanent magnet (PM) machines suffer from no-load iron losses. Since the torque interaction between stator and outer rotor is low during large time intervals, the EVT in this paper possesses a flux bridge with dc-field winding to modulate the stator field, while maintaining the inner rotor flux linkage. In this paper, a torque controller is proposed that optimally combines the stator, dc-field, and inner rotor currents in order to minimize the copper and iron losses in every operating point of torque and speed on both rotors. Also the electromagnetic coupling between both rotors is considered. It turns out that there are two optimal load angles for the stator currents, of which one of the two is dominant depending on speed and torque. The control is tested on a 120 kW prototype EVT, and measurement results are given to illustrate the optimal performance obtained with the proposed torque control. In addition, efficiencies are measured in order to support the statements made concerning the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The use of power electronics has led to a growing importance of higher time-harmonic content in electrical machines. To gain insight in phenomena related to these higher harmonics, such as noise and losses, a good understanding of the magnetic field’s harmonic content is mandatory. Moreover, the development of fast and accurate, harmonic-based, analytical models requires a qualitative knowledge of the machine’s time- and spatial-harmonic content. Although the harmonic content of electric machines is an extensively studied topic, previous publications tended to focus on one type of synchronous machines and often did not consider higher time-harmonic orders. This paper complements the existing theory by providing a more general approach, thereby covering machines and operating points that were not covered until now. It considers both three-phase and multi-phase machines with an odd number of phases. The winding distribution can either have an integer or a fractional number of slots per pole and per phase, and higher time-harmonic content is regarded as well. Note that the saturation is neglected. Despite its general validity, this paper succeeds at providing one simple equation to determine the machine’s time-and spatial-harmonic content. Moreover, this paper also extensively discusses the physical causes of the harmonic content. The combination of this general validity, the simple result, and the insight in the physics makes that this paper is a strong tool to both study harmonic-related phenomena in electric machines and to develop harmonic-based analytical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In synchronous reluctance motors (SynRMs), the d- and q-axis inductances ( Ld and Lq) are nonlinear functions of d- and q-axis currents (id and iq) and rotor position ( \theta r). The main research question for dynamic studies of SynRMs in this paper is how accurate should the inductance model be to have a reliable computation of dynamic behavior and stability limits? The stability limits are important in the case of $V/ f$ control without position feedback. To answer the question, we consider three cases: 1) inductances are function of id , iq, and \theta r; 2) inductances are function of id and iq, averaged over the position \theta r; and 3) inductances are constant values, with properly chosen values. The cases 1 and 2 include saturation and cross saturation, while case 3 does not. It is found that averaging the rotor position \theta r is almost not jeopardizing accuracy of the SynRM model. However, including magnetic saturation is crucial: it is observed that using constants Ld and Lq to represent the SynRM modeling leads to a large deviation in the prediction of the torque capability compared to the practical motor. In addition, including the magnetic saturation effect in the closed-loop control of SynRMs is necessary. Then, maximum torque per ampere can be achieved. Finally, the proposed method of including the magnetic saturation and the rotor position effects in the SynRM modeling has been validated by experimental measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An electrical variable transmission (EVT) is an electromagnetic device with dual mechanical and electrical ports. In hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), it is used to split the power to the wheels in a part coming from the combustion engine and a part exchanged with the battery. The most important feature is that the power splitting is done in an electromagnetic way. This has the advantage over mechanical power splitting devices of reduced maintenance, high efficiency, and inherent overload protection. This paper gives a conceptual framework on how the torque on both rotors of the EVT can be simultaneously controlled by using a field-oriented control (FOC) scheme. It describes an induction-machine-based EVT model in which no permanent magnets are required, based on classical machine theory. By use of a predictive current controller to track the calculated current reference values, a fast and accurate torque control can be achieved. By selecting an appropriate value for the flux coupled with the squirrel-cage interrotor, the torque can be controlled in various operating points of power split, generation, and pure electric mode. The conclusions are supported by simulations and transient finite-element calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The rotor discs in axial flux permanent magnet (PM) machines have similar properties as a radial fan, and therefore, the convective cooling may have a significant influence on the thermal design of these machines. To research the impact of convective cooling on the thermal properties of axial flux PM machines, a coupled electromagnetic and thermal model is introduced in this paper. This technique models a segment of the stator and the rotor only and links them together by analytical equations of the convective heat transfer at different boundaries of the machine model. This results in an accurate and time efficient multiphysics model. The coupled electromagnetic and thermal modeling technique is validated with measurements on a 4 kW axial flux PM machine having the yokeless and segmented armature topology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the calculation of the electromagnetic losses for a 2.1-MW permanent magnet synchronous generator for wind energy application. The focus is on recognizing the significance of including the analysis of higher harmonics in the electromagnetic loss calculation. The analyzed harmonics include the ones resulting from the use of a pulse width modulation (PWM) of the voltage of the generator. The magnet losses calculated for the PWM current are several times higher than the ones calculated for the sinusoidal current. In addition, frequency-domain and time-domain models for iron loss calculation are compared. The frequency-domain model that assumes a sinusoidal variation and considers only the fundamental component of the magnetic induction in the stator core material underestimates the iron losses in the machine. Especially, when the additional losses resulting from the higher harmonics, rotational fields, and minor loops are taken into account. Finally, it is shown how the composition and thickness of the electrical steel used in the stator core of the generator influences the total core losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a complete analytical model for surface-mounted permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs). A new simple and fast technique was developed to obtain accurate results in the calculation of machine parameters electromotive force (EMF), torque, and losses. This technique is based upon the combined solution of two models. The first model generates an exact solution of Maxwell’s equations in the air gap area applied to a very simple geometry. The second model gives an accurate solution in the detailed parts with complex geometry, based on a magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) to obtain fast and accurate results in a simple way. The machine’s global quantities are then obtained and validated using the results of a finite element model (FEM) for different loading conditions and geometries. Compared with FEM, the proposed combined solution has the advantage of flexibility in the geometrical machine parameters, significantly less CPU time and an accuracy for the considered PMSM up to 4.85% in the EMF, 4.41% in the torque, and 4.44% in the iron losses. Finally, the relation between grid refinement in the MEC (coarse or fine grid of reluctances) and accuracy is pointed out, showing that the EMF can be accurately computed with a rather coarse grid, while accurate loss computation requires a fine grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the efficiency study of a 6-pole and 2-pole induction motor (IM), converted into a 6-pole and 2-pole permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM). Firstly, the stator of the IM was kept unchanged and the rotor was converted into a permanent magnet (NdFeB magnets) rotor, resulting in higher average efficiency. Secondly, we investigated how much the efficiency can be increased by replacing the electrical steel in the stator by another material grade. The numerical approach is based on the finite element method (FEM), taking into account the rotor movement. Iron losses are computed according to the loss separation theory. From measurements and simulations, it is observed that the efficiency increases significantly compared to the original IM. The average efficiency of the original 1.5 kW IM converted into the 1.5 kW PMSM led to a 14% higher efficiency in a speed range 0.5\Omeganom-\Omeganom and torque range 0.5Tnom-Tnom. When the stator iron is replaced by M235-35A laminations with the same geometry, the average efficiency increases by an additional 2% for the 1.5 kW PMSM with modified stator. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

At low speed, the rotor-position estimation in sensorless control is often carried out based on the evaluation of the phase-current ripples resulting from the supply of high-frequency voltage test signals. However, the rotor-position estimation is affected by cross-saturation in the machine, resulting in less accurate position estimations at higher loads. As the importance of sensorless control of interior permanent-magnet synchronous machines (IPMSMs) increases, it is useful to design IPMSMs in such a way that they are optimized for accurate sensorless control. The goal of this paper is to determine design aspects in the rotor geometry of an IPMSM to minimize the position estimation error due to cross-saturation. Simulations of a sensorless drive are usually based on a state-space model with constant q- and d-axis inductances and no mutual inductances. In this paper, this technique is improved by calculating the inductance matrix from several finite-element models, which allows the study of the effect of variable q- and d-axis inductances and cross-saturation on the performance of the sensorless control. The rotor design is discussed, for both IPMSMs with and without flux barriers, in order to reduce the estimation error caused by cross-saturation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a simple lamination stacking method for the teeth of an axial flux permanent-magnet synchronous machine with concentrated stator windings is proposed. In this simple lamination stacking method, only two lamination profiles are used and are stacked alternately. To evaluate the performance of this stacking method, a comparison is made between the proposed method with two profiles and a conventional stacking method that uses different profiles for each lamination layer, using a multilayer 2-D finite element model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• Effect of core welding on an induction machine performance. • Magnetic measurements on welded and unwelded ring cores. • Finite element modeling of induction machine including the welding effect. • Measurement of stator core losses with blocked dummy rotor test setup. There is a growing interest towards increasing the efficiency of electrical machines to reduce the ecological footprint. The efficiency of an electrical machine is closely related to the understanding and accurate estimation of the associated losses. One loss component is related to the welding of the electrical steel sheets as a part of manufacturing. This paper studies the effect of the core welding on a typical industrial induction motor. The effect of core welding on the magnetic permeability and core losses is first analyzed with the help of magnetic measurements on the unwelded and welded ring cores assembled from the stator sheets. Further, the derived material parameters are applied in finite element analysis of the induction machine and the effect of welding on the machine performance parameters is analyzed. It was observed that stator core losses increased about 10% due to the welding effect. A mock-up prototype is then manufactured to measure the stator core losses which follow the simulated values closely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]