Impact of slot/pole combination on inter-turn short-circuit current in fault-tolerant permanent magnet machines

This paper investigates the influence of the slot/pole (S/P) combination on inter-turn short-circuit (SC) current in fault-tolerant permanent magnet (FT-PM) machines. A 2-D sub-domain field computational model with multi-objective genetic algorithm is used for the design and performance prediction of the considered FT-PM machines. The electromagnetic losses of machines, including iron, magnet, and winding losses are systematically computed using analytical tools. During the postprocessing stage, a 1-D analysis is employed for turn-turn fault analysis. The method calculates self-and mutual inductances of both the faulty and healthy turns under an SC fault condition with respect to the fault locations, and thus SC fault current, considering its location. Eight FT-PM machines with different S/P combinations are analyzed. Both the performance of the machine during normal operation and induced currents during a turn-turn SC fault are investigated. To evaluate the thermal impact of each S/P combination under an inter-turn fault condition, a thermal analysis is performed using finite element computation. It is shown that low-rotor-pole-number machines have a better fault tolerance capability, while high-rotor-pole-number machines are lighter and provide higher efficiency. Results show that the influence of the S/P selection on inter-turn fault SC current needs to be considered during the design process to balance the efficiency and power density against fault-tolerant criteria of the application at hand

A high-speed permanent-magnet machine for fault-tolerant drivetrains

This paper details the design considerations of a permanent magnet (PM), three phase, high speed, synchronous machine for fault tolerant operation. A multidisciplinary approach to the optimal design of the machine is adopted targeted at minimising the additional losses resulting from faulty operating conditions and accounting for the remedial control strategy implemented. The design of a closed slot, 6 slots, 4 pole machine is presented. The machine is prototyped and tested to validate the analytical-computational performances predicted in the design and analysis stage under healthy and faulty condition

Thermal Model Approach to Multisector Three-Phase Electrical Machines

© 1982-2012 IEEE. Multisector machines reveal a high fault-tolerant capability, since failure events can be isolated by de-energizing the faulty sector, while the healthy ones contribute in delivering the required power. This article is focused on the thermal analysis of multisector three-phase machines in healthy and faulty operations. First, a 3-D lumped parameter thermal network (LPTN) of a single sector is developed and finetuned against experimental data, through a genetic algorithm for identifying the uncertain parameters. According to the operating conditions, the varying housing surface temperature affects the heat exchanged to the ambient. Hence, an analytical formula is proposed to adjust the natural convection coefficient value depending on the operating condition. Then, the 3-D LPTN, modeling the whole machine, is built aiming at investigating the thermal behavior during faulty conditions. Finally, the complete 3-D LPTN is employed for predicting the machine thermal performance under several faulty conditions. Furthermore, the current overload experienced by the healthy sector (in order to keep the same torque level as during the pre-fault operation) is determined, in accordance with the magnet wire thermal class. The effectiveness of the 3-D LPTN in predicting the temperature is experimentally demonstrated

Multiphase PMSM and PMaSynRM flux map model with space harmonics and multiple plane cross harmonic saturation

© 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes,creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Multiphase Synchronous Machines vary in rotor construction and winding distribution leading to non-sinusoidal inductances along the rotor periphery. Moreover, saturation and cross-saturation effects make the precise modeling a complex task. This paper proposes a general model of multi-phase magnet-excited synchronous machines considering multi-dimensional space modeling and revealing cross-harmonic saturation. The models can predict multiphase motor behavior in any transient state, including startup. They are based on flux maps obtained from static 2D Finite-Element (FE) analysis. FE validations have been performed to confirm authenticity of the dynamic models of multiphase PMaSynRMs. Very close to FE precision is guaranteed while computation time is incomparably lower.Postprint (author's final draft

A High-Fidelity Computationally Efficient Transient Model of Interior Permanent-Magnet Machine With Stator Turn Fault

An accurate transient model of interior permanent-magnet (IPM) machine with stator turn fault with due account of magnetic saturation is essential to develop robust and sensitive interturn fault detection algorithms and to evaluate drive controller performance and stability under fault conditions. This paper proposes a general method of modeling stator turn fault using flux linkage map of IPM machine under fault extracted from finite-element (FE) analysis. Simulation results from the proposed fault model are compared against FE and experimental results. The results show that the proposed model matches well with experimental data

Design optimization on conductor placement in the slot of permanent magnet machines to restrict turn-turn short-circuit fault current

In Permanent Magnet (PM) machines, a turn-turn Short-Circuit (SC) fault is the most critical fault to eradicate. The fault introduces high SC current in the shorted turn which may consequently lead to secondary faults unless the fault is appropriately controlled. This paper proposes feasible conductors’ placement in a slot of PM machine to minimize such turn-turn fault current. In order to minimize the fault current, the conductor arrangement in a slot is optimized using multi-objective Genetic Algorithm (GA) incorporating with both analytical and Finite Element (FE) numerical tool. The possible combinations of conductors’ placement are set as variables and optimized for a given machine which is designed for safety critical applications. It is shown that the fault current associated to a single turn fault can be significant for the random winding placement even though the remedial strategies are put in place. It is also shown that the fault current can be limited significantly by rearranging the winding placement in a way to share slot-leakage fluxes. This is confirmed via experiment on E-core. Influences of the winding arrangement on both frequency dependent resistances and windings capacitances are experimented. It is demonstrated that adopting the winding arrangement that shares the slot-leakage flux effectively benefits to minimize the AC losses in addition to improved fault tolerance. But it increases the turn-turn capacitances whose effect however can be neglected as the resonance frequency occurs beyond the operational frequency range of the machines of interes

Rotor losses in fault-tolerant permanent magnet synchronous machines

The necessary reliability of safety-critical aerospace drive systems is often partly achieved by using faulttolerant (FT) electrical machines. There are numerous published literatures on the design of FT machines as well as on control algorithms used to maintain drive operation with an incurred fault. This study is set to look at the rotor losses in three- and five-phase surface mount permanent magnet machines when operating in faulty mode in order to highlight the influence of the post-fault control strategy and winding configuration. Although the work presented in this study is mainly focused on FT control methodologies targeted at mitigating phase open circuit faults, the implications of short-circuit faults is also considered and discussed

Investigation into Fault Tolerant Capability of a Triple Redundant PMA SynRM Drive

Fault tolerant machine drives are being favored in safety critical applications, thus they are being actively investigated. However, most of the solutions address the winding or switch open circuit only, which is insufficient since intra-phase and inter-phase turn short circuits are more likely in the machine drives as a result of insulation degradation, and the consequences are usually catastrophic. Magnets and capacitor may also fail and cause damage during operation. All these faults should be properly addressed in fault tolerant machine drives for safety critical applications. Hence, a triple redundant, 9 phase (3x3phase) permanent magnet assisted synchronous reluctance machine (PMA SynRM) drive is presented by investigating the fault tolerances against various faults. The different fault behaviors are evaluated and the corresponding fault tolerant capabilities are analyzed. The machine fault tolerance is examined on a 35kW prototype drive. Both the analysis and experimental tests demonstrate that the machine drive exhibits excellent fault tolerant capability under most common types of faults, including the intra-phase and inter-phase short circuit, uncontrolled rectification, demagnetization and DC capacitor fault

Stator Interturn Fault Detection in Permanent-Magnet Machines Using PWM Ripple Current Measurement

This paper proposes a novel method of interturn fault detection based on measurement of pulsewidth modulation (PWM) ripple current. The method uses the ripple current generated by the switching inverter as a means to detect interturn fault. High-frequency (HF) impedance behavior of healthy and faulted windings is analyzed and modeled, and ripple current signature due to interturn faults is quantified. A simple analog circuit is designed to extract the PWM ripple current via a bandpass (BP) filter and a root-mean-square (RMS) detector for fault detection. In addition, this method can also identify the faulted phase, which can be used for fault mitigation strategies. The method is tested experimentally on a five-phase permanent-magnet (PM) machine drive

Improving fault tolerant drives for aerospace applications

D EngThe aerospace industry is moving towards the more electric aeroplane where traditional hydraulic systems are being replaced with electrical systems. Electrical technology offers some strong advantages compared to hydraulic technology including; cost, efficiency, power on demand and relative ease of maintenance. As with most new technologies, a major disadvantage is its limited reliability history. A lot of research in the aerospace field therefore focuses on improving fault tolerant electrical systems. Work done in this thesis builds on an existing fault tolerant drive, developed by Newcastle University and Goodrich Actuation Systems as part of the ELGEAR (Electrical Landing Gear) project. The purpose of this work is to continue improving the drive’s fault tolerant features; especially in areas where the drive is most vulnerable. The first part of this thesis focuses on improving the overall system reliability by monitoring the health of the dc-link capacitors in the fault tolerant drive. The implemented estimation technique makes use of voltage and current sensors which are already in place for protection and control purposes. The novel aspect of the proposed technique relates to monitoring capacitors in real time whilst the motor is operational. No external interferences, such as injected signals or special operation of the drive, are required. The condition monitoring system is independent of torque and speed, and hence independent of a variation in load. The work was validated using analytical methods, simulation, low voltage experimentation and high voltage implementation on the ELGEAR drive. The second part of this thesis focuses on single shorted turn faults, in fault tolerant permanent magnet (PM) motors. Despite the motor being able to withstand a wide range of faults, the single shorted turn fault remains a difficult fault to detect and handle. The problem arises from the magnets on the spinning rotor that cannot be ‘turned off’ at will. This thesis investigates the severity of the faulted current in a shorted turn and how it varies depending on the turn’s location in the stator slot. The severity of the fault is studied using 2D finite element analysis and practical implementation on the ELGEAR rig. Finally, recommendations are proposed for improving the ELGEAR motor for future fault tolerant designs.EPRSC and Goodrich Aerospace (now United Technologies