Design optimization and performance analysis methodology for PMSMs to improve efficiency in hydraulic applications

Pla de Doctorats Industrials de la Generalitat de CatalunyaIn the recent years, water pumping and other hydraulic applications are increasingly demanding motors capable to operate under different working conditions, including variable pressure and volumetric flow demands. Moreover, the technical evolution trend of pumping components is to minimize the size, offering compact and adaptable hydraulic units. Hence, the need to optimize the electric motor part to reduce the volume according this trend, maximizing the efficiency, decreasing material and fabrication costs, reducing noise and improving thermal dissipation have originated the research field of this project. So far different methodologies have been focused on designing electrical machines considering few aspects, such as the rated conditions with some size limitations. In addition, the optimization strategies have been based on single operation conditions, improving multiple aspects but not considering the overall performance of the machine and its influence with the working system. This research changes the design and optimization paradigm, focusing on defining beforehand the desired performance of the electrical machine in relation with the application system. The customization is not limited to an operating point but to the whole performance space, which in this case is the torque-speed area. Thus, the designer has plenty of freedom to study the system, and define the desired motor performance establishing the size, thermal and mechanical limitations from the beginning of the process. Moreover, when designing and optimizing electrical machines, the experimental validation is of major importance. From an industrial scope so far, the testing methodologies are focused on evaluating point by point the electrical machine performance, being a robust and trustable way to measure and validate the electrical machine characteristics. Nevertheless,this method requires a large time to prepare the experimental setup and to evaluate the whole motor performance. For this reason, there is a special interest on improving parameter estimation and performance evaluation techniques for electrical machines to reduce evaluation time, setup complexity and increase the number of physical magnitudes to measure in order to have deeper information. This research also develops methodologies to extend the electrical machine experimental validation providing information to evaluate the motor performance. This doctoral thesis has been developed with a collaboration agreement between UPC and the company MIDTAL TALENTOS S.L. The thesis is included within the Industrial Doctorates program 2018 DI 019 promoted by the Generalitat de Catalunya.En los últimos años, el bombeo de agua, entre otras aplicaciones hidráulicas, exige cada vez más motores capaces de operar en diferentes condiciones de trabajo, incluyendo las demandas variables de presión y caudal volumétrico. Además, la evolución técnica de los componentes de bombeo está cada vez más minimizando el tamaño ofreciendo unidades hidráulicas compactas y adaptables. De ahí la necesidad de optimizar la parte del motor eléctrico para reducir el volumen de acuerdo con esta tendencia, maximizando la eficiencia, disminuyendo los costos de material y fabricación, reduciendo el ruido y mejorando la disipación térmica. Todos estos factores han creado el campo de investigación sobre el cual se desarrolla este proyecto. Hasta ahora las metodologías se han centrado en diseñar las máquinas eléctricas considerando unos pocos aspectos técnicos, como las condiciones nominales con algunas limitaciones de tamaño. Además, las estrategias de optimización se han basado en condiciones de operación única, mejorando múltiples aspectos sin considerar el rendimiento general de la máquina y su influencia en el sistema de trabajo. Esta investigación cambia el paradigma de diseño y optimización centrándose en definir de antemano el rendimiento deseado de la máquina eléctrica en relación con el sistema de aplicación. La personalización no se limita a un punto de funcionamiento sino a todo el espacio de operación, que en este caso se expresa en el espacio par-velocidad. Así, el diseñador tiene libertad para estudiar el sistema, definir el rendimiento deseado del motor estableciendo el tamaño, limitaciones térmicas y mecánicas desde el inicio del proceso. Además, a la hora de diseñar y optimizar máquinas eléctricas, la validación experimental es de gran importancia. En el ámbito industrial hasta ahora, las metodologías de ensayo han sido enfocadas a evaluar punto por punto la máquina eléctrica, siendo una forma robusta y confiable de medir y validar sus características. Sin embargo, este método requiere mucho tiempo para preparar la configuración experimental y evaluar el motor en toda su zona de operación. Por esta razón, existe un interés especial en mejorar la estimación de parámetros y las técnicas de evaluación de la operación de las máquinas eléctricas reduciendo tiempo, complejidad y aumentando el número de magnitudes físicas a medir teniendo más información sobre la máquina. Esta investigación también desarrolla metodologías para extender la validación experimental de la máquina eléctrica proporcionando información para evaluar el rendimiento del motor. Esta tesis doctoral ha sido desarrollada con un convenio de colaboración entre la Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña UPC y la empresa MIDTAL TALENTOS S.L. La tesis se engloba dentro del plan de Doctorados Industriales 2018 DI 019 impulsado por la Generalitat de Catalunya.Postprint (published version

Fault Tolerant Power Electronics Systems

Research work reported in this Ph.D. thesis is in the area of power electronics systems, specifically in the sector of electrical drives. A trustworthy operation of power electronics systems in critical applications like electric vehicles, aircrafts, satellites, and so on, has pushed engineers to develop fault-tolerant solutions. Indeed, in such applications it is necessary for the system to continue its operation, possibly with downgraded performance, even under faulty case. Present thesis reports the studied solutions to make fault-tolerant a class of electric drives under faulty conditions. It has initiated by addressing the need and importance of the usage of power electronic systems in the field of transportation sector, in particular in the automobile and aerospace industry. Permanent magnet (PM) brushless (BL) drives have become very popular thanks to their higher torque-per-ampere capabilities. Among the two different types of PM BL drives, namely those with sinusoidal back-emf (BLAC) and those with trapezoidal back-emf (BLDC), the latter ones are preferred for light-duty propulsion such as minicars and scooters, and in aeronautics as control-surface actuators. However, some concern have emerged on the use of electrical drives in such applications with regard to the fault tolerance and the power capability per volume unit. A way to effectively cope with these concerns is the adoption of multiphase drives. In this sense, a five-phase drive is a promising solution as it is the most simple multiphase structure of practical interest. The thesis starts with the study of the phase current and torque behavior in three-phase PM BLDC drive in healthy conditions. To validate the mathematical findings, a study case is used, represented by an electrical drive with in-wheel motor utilized for the propulsion of a city car. Afterwards, various types of faults in voltage source inverter (VSI) of a three-phase PM BLC drive are considered, such as one leg open, one switch open and one switch shorted. Remedial control strategies for the faults of the VSI are envisaged, that enable the three-phase PM BLDC drive to continue to operate even if in a degraded way. The resulting performance is calculated in terms of developed torque and torque ripple. The mathematical findings are substantiated with graphs obtained by simulation. A five-phase PM BLDC drive is successively considered. First, its operation and its torque capabilities are investigated in healthy conditions under ideal square-wave current supply. The torque capabilities are compared to the three-phase counterpart; torque comparison is carried out by keeping motor size constant and by considering two hypotheses: equal phase back-emf and equal phase rms current. Then, the torque available from a five-phase drive is determined under various supply modes, characterized by the conduction of a reduced number of phases; the torque available is determined by imposing an rms phase current equal to the nominal one. Moreover, the current behavior during the phase commutations for the five-phase PM BLDC drives is analyzed as they exhibit some differences with respect to the three-phase counterpart. The outcomes of the current analysis are used to derive the effective torque developed by the drive and the torque ripple exhibited as a function of the motor speed. The base speed of the drive is also determined. Also for the torque results, the differences from the well-known characteristics of the three-phase PM BLDC drives are pointed out. Lastly, an algebraic approach is developed to describe the operation of a five-phase PM BLDC drive in healthy conditions. The approach has led to the formulation of a model of the phase current supply of the motor in healthy conditions. Further, the model has been suitably adjusted to derive the mode (scheduling and magnitude) of current supplying the survival phases in the case of one or more motor open phase faults. The cases of one /two/three open phase faults have been examined and, in the case of two and three faulty phases, the cases of adjacent and non-adjacent faulty phases. For each case, the current magnitude has been found by imposing that the rms value of the current in the most solicited phase is equal to the nominal value, and the torque that the drive is able to develop as well as the maximum value of the torque ripple have been calculated. The obtained results indicate that the reduction in the motor torque as well as the extent of the torque ripple is depending, besides on the number of the faulty phases, on the relative location of the faults. The thesis work also address the evolution of electrical power generation and conversion methodologies in more electric aircraft, fault-tolerant solutions under faulty Hall sensors, and the concepts of dependability and safety aspects. The thesis work has been carried out at the Laboratory of “Electric systems for automation and automotive” headed by Prof. Giuseppe Buja. The laboratory belongs to the Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Italy

NASA-ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program at NASA Lewis Research Center

During the summer of 1996, a ten-week Summer Faculty Fellowship Program was conducted at the NASA Lewis Research Center (LeRC) in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), and the Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI). This is the thirty-third summer of this program at Lewis. It was one of nine summer programs sponsored by NASA in 1996, at various field centers under the auspices of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). The objectives of the program are: (1) to further the professional knowledge of qualified engineering and science educators, (2) to stimulate an exchange of ideas between participants and NASA, (3) to enrich and refresh the research activities of participants' institutions. (4) to contribute to the research objectives of LeRC. This report is intended to recapitulate the activities comprising the 1996 Lewis Summer Faculty Fellowship Program, to summarize evaluations by the participants, and to make recommendations regarding future programs

A Review of Pneumatic Actuators Used for the Design of Medical Simulators and Medical Tools

International audienc

Design, Development and Force Control of a Tendon-driven Steerable Catheter with a Learning-based Approach

In this research, a learning-based force control schema for tendon-driven steerable catheters with the application in robot-assisted tissue ablation procedures was proposed and validated. To this end, initially a displacement-based model for estimating the contact force between the catheter and tissue was developed. Afterward, a tendon-driven catheter was designed and developed. Next, a software-hardware-integrated robotic system for controlling and monitoring the pose of the catheter was designed and developed. Also, a force control schema was developed based on the developed contact force model as a priori knowledge. Furthermore, the position control of the tip of the catheter was performed using a learning-based inverse kinematic approach. By combining the position control and the contact model, the force control schema was developed and validated. Validation studies were performed on phantom tissue as well as excised porcine tissue. Results of the validation studies showed that the proposed displacement-based model was 91.5% accurate in contact force prediction. Also, the system was capable of following a set of desired trajectories with an average root-mean-square error of less than 5%. Further validation studies revealed that the system could fairly generate desired static and dynamic force profiles on the phantom tissue. In summary, the proposed force control system did not necessitate the utilization of force sensors and could fairly contribute in automatizing the ablation task for robotic tissue ablation procedures

Volume 3 – Conference

We are pleased to present the conference proceedings for the 12th edition of the International Fluid Power Conference (IFK). The IFK is one of the world’s most significant scientific conferences on fluid power control technology and systems. It offers a common platform for the presentation and discussion of trends and innovations to manufacturers, users and scientists. The Chair of Fluid-Mechatronic Systems at the TU Dresden is organizing and hosting the IFK for the sixth time. Supporting hosts are the Fluid Power Association of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), Dresdner Verein zur Förderung der Fluidtechnik e. V. (DVF) and GWT-TUD GmbH. The organization and the conference location alternates every two years between the Chair of Fluid-Mechatronic Systems in Dresden and the Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Systems in Aachen. The symposium on the first day is dedicated to presentations focused on methodology and fundamental research. The two following conference days offer a wide variety of application and technology orientated papers about the latest state of the art in fluid power. It is this combination that makes the IFK a unique and excellent forum for the exchange of academic research and industrial application experience. A simultaneously ongoing exhibition offers the possibility to get product information and to have individual talks with manufacturers. The theme of the 12th IFK is “Fluid Power – Future Technology”, covering topics that enable the development of 5G-ready, cost-efficient and demand-driven structures, as well as individual decentralized drives. Another topic is the real-time data exchange that allows the application of numerous predictive maintenance strategies, which will significantly increase the availability of fluid power systems and their elements and ensure their improved lifetime performance. We create an atmosphere for casual exchange by offering a vast frame and cultural program. This includes a get-together, a conference banquet, laboratory festivities and some physical activities such as jogging in Dresden’s old town.:Group 8: Pneumatics Group 9 | 11: Mobile applications Group 10: Special domains Group 12: Novel system architectures Group 13 | 15: Actuators & sensors Group 14: Safety & reliabilit

NASA Tech Briefs, April 2003

Topics include: Tool for Bending a Metal Tube Precisely in a Confined Space; Multiple-Use Mechanisms for Attachment to Seat Tracks; Force-Measuring Clamps; Cellular Pressure-Actuated Joint; Block QCA Fault-Tolerant Logic Gates; Hybrid VLSI/QCA Architecture for Computing FFTs; Arrays of Carbon Nanotubes as RF Filters in Waveguides; Carbon Nanotubes as Resonators for RF Spectrum Analyzers; Software for Viewing Landsat Mosaic Images; Updated Integrated Mission Program; Software for Sharing and Management of Information; Optical-Quality Thin Polymer Membranes; Rollable Thin Shell Composite-Material Paraboloidal Mirrors; Folded Resonant Horns for Power Ultrasonic Applications; Touchdown Ball-Bearing System for Magnetic Bearings; Flux-Based Deadbeat Control of Induction-Motor Torque; Block Copolymers as Templates for Arrays of Carbon Nanotubes; Throttling Cryogen Boiloff To Control Cryostat Temperature; Collaborative Software Development Approach Used to Deliver the New Shuttle Telemetry Ground Station; Turbulence in Supercritical O2/H2 and C7H16/N2 Mixing Layers; and Time-Resolved Measurements in Optoelectronic Microbioanal

A Retrofit Sensing Strategy for Soft Fluidic Robots

Soft robots are intrinsically capable of adapting to different environments by changing their shape in response to interaction forces with the environment. However, sensing and feedback are still required for higher level decisions and autonomy. Most sensing technologies developed for soft robots involve the integration of separate sensing elements in soft actuators, which presents a considerable challenge for both the fabrication and robustness of soft robots due to the interface between hard and soft components and the complexity of the assembly. To circumvent this, here we present a versatile sensing strategy that can be retrofitted to existing soft fluidic devices without the need for design changes. We achieve this by measuring the fluidic input that is required to activate a soft actuator and relating this input to its deformed state during interaction with the environment. We demonstrate the versatility of our sensing strategy by tactile sensing of the size, shape, surface roughness and stiffness of objects. Moreover, we demonstrate our approach by retrofitting it to a range of existing pneumatic soft actuators and grippers powered by positive and negative pressure. Finally, we show the robustness of our fluidic sensing strategy in closed-loop control of a soft gripper for practical applications such as sorting and fruit picking. Based on these results, we conclude that as long as the interaction of the actuator with the environment results in a shape change of the interval volume, soft fluidic actuators require no embedded sensors and design modifications to implement sensing. We believe that the relative simplicity, versatility, broad applicability and robustness of our sensing strategy will catalyze new functionalities in soft interactive devices and systems, thereby accelerating the use of soft robotics in real world applications

Efficiency and time-optimal control of fuel cell - compressor - electrical drive systems

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) based power generation sys- tem is regarded as one of the perspective energy supply solutions for a wide variety of applications including distributed power plants and transport. The main compo- nent of the FC system is the FC stack, where the process of electrochemical energy conversion takes place. Additionally, such systems usually contain an auxiliary compression subsystem which supplies the reactant gases to the FC stack as well as maintains certain operation conditions: pressure, temperature, humidity, etc. The proper operation of the compression system signi¯cantly improves the performance characteristics of the total system. On the other hand, it consumes a portion of the electrical energy produced, thus reducing the net e±ciency of the total system. This thesis focuses on an innovative way to improve both the energy e±ciency and the response characteristics of a power generation system with a PEMFC. The approach principally consists of the control of the air compressor powered by the electrical drive. This method could be considered as an alternative to a redesign of the complete system (changing the power level, using an extra energy bu®er, etc). The modern high-speed centrifugal compressor has been regarded as one of the best candidates for the FC system. It has appropriate characteristics with respect to e±ciency, reliability, compact design, etc. However, the presence of a stability margin or so-called "surge line" limits its operation area. With the aim to overcome this constraint, a novel active surge suppression approach has been proposed for application in the system. This control method relies on the high-performance speed control of the electrical drive and accurate measurement and estimation of the thermodynamic quantities, such as air pressure and mass °ow. The choice of an induction motor drive has been justi¯ed by its commonly known advantages: low cost, simple construction, high reliability, etc. These features be- come especially important in high-speed applications. For the detailed investigation and performance prediction of the prime mover, a global electromagnetic design pro- cedure with thermal analysis of a high-speed induction motor has been performed. The obtained analytical results have been veri¯ed numerically by a high-precision Finite Elements Method. A good agreement between the analytical and FEM simu- lation results has been achieved. The mentioned active surge control in combination with the high-performance ¯eld-oriented control of the induction motor has been im- plemented and tested. The test bench comprises the centrifugal compressor with the PVC piping system, the high-speed induction motor drive, the real-time data acquisition and the control system. The experimental results proved the e®ective- ness of the active surge suppression by means of the drive torque actuation: the operation point of the compressor can be moved beyond the surge line while the process remains stable. Using the combined mathematical models of the FC stack, the centrifugal com- pressor and the ¯eld-oriented controlled induction motor drive, the static and dy- namic behavior of the total system have been simulated, allowing to clarify the interaction between the electrochemical processes in the FC stack, the thermody- namic processes in the compression system and the electromechanical performance of the drive. Various system operating regimes have been proposed and analyzed. When the FC electrical load changes frequently and fast, the constant-speed operating regime can be used. In case of a slow variation of the FC electrical load, the variable- speed operating regime is advisable, providing a high energy e±ciency at low FC load. In intermediate cases, the load-following-mass °ow operating regime with the application of the active surge control of the compressor becomes preferable. This operating regime eliminates the relatively long mechanical transient process, keep- ing the energy consumption of the balance of plant (BoP) approximately linearly proportional to the main load. The operating regime with applied linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) time-optimal control has been proposed as an alternative to the load-following-mass °ow operating regime and the variable-speed operating regime. The transition between two steady-state operating points, where the system e±- ciency is maximum, follows the time-optimal trajectory, keeping the transient re- sponse time small. Finally, recommendations for further research have been formulated concerning the dynamic response and energy-e±ciency of a fuel cell system. Mainly, the recom- mendations concern further improvements of presented control strategies and their more comprehensive experimental veri¯cation using a complete FC system. First of all, the use of a direct induction motor drive for the compressor stabiliza- tion would signi¯cantly improve the e®ectiveness of the surge control. It would allow to control the surge of higher frequency, or to stabilize the compressor operation at larger distance from the surge line. Second, a combination of the electrical drive torque control with a valve position control would result probably in a more e®ective surge control, together with fast transients of the system operating point. Third, the application of the electrical drive for the compressor active surge control in a FC system would require new control algorithms for energy-e±ciency improvement of the induction motor, not compromising its high-performance capa- bilities

Towards Energy-Efficient Electrified Mobile Hydraulics : Considering Varying Application Conditions

In the face of global warming, companies in all kinds of industries need to take measures to reduce the use of fossil fuels, which is explicitly enforced by more and more upcoming emission legislation in many countries. In the case of heavy-duty mobile machines (HDMMs), a currently high-emitting sector, the most feasible method of reducing harmful emissions during operation is battery-based electrification. However, the relatively low capacities and high costs of available battery packs are restricting the operation times as well as upper power limits of battery-electric HD-MMs—at least under economically feasible conditions. In this scenario, the typically low energy-efficiencies of conventional hydraulic systems, which are essential for realizing linear actuation on HDMMs, are becoming more critical than ever before, and more efficient alternative concepts are required. As an answer to this demand, this thesis and the six publications on which it is based analyze how alternative hydraulic concepts for electrified HDMMs should look like, and two specific concepts are proposed as well as evaluated. In this scope, the focus is not only on improving the efficiency but also on other aspects that can prevent or accelerate the success of alternative hydraulic concepts on the market, such as costs and feasibility. Since those aspects cannot be analyzed in isolation from the application conditions, the essential characteristics of HDMMs and the differences of those characteristics between HDMM types are elaborated systematically. Furthermore, the implications of the transition from internal combustion engines (ICEs) to electric machines (EMs) as the prime movers for hydraulic pumps are identified by means of a literature review. Considering the insights from the analyses of those aspects, already existing hydraulic concepts—i.e., conventional as well as proposed alternatives for improved efficiency—are reevaluated, and beneficial elements of those concepts are filtered out for constructing two new concepts. Those two proposed concepts are characterized by a modular approach in which actuators can be valve-controlled, which might be less efficient but more cost-effective, or pump-controlled, as an alternative for more efficient yet costly actuation of selected functions on the HDMM. Simulation studies are used to demonstrate the efficiency of both concepts under varying configurations that are enabled through the modular nature of the concepts, and the differences in applying them on a telehandler, wheel loader, or excavator are analyzed. For the second concept, which is based on displacement-control and performed best in the simulations, a cost analysis is used to prove additionally that reasonably short payback times of the increased investment costs can be reached in different scenarios. Furthermore, the efficiency performance as well as feasibility—in terms of using commercially available components only and achieving good controllability—are experimentally validated on a telehandler