A Scalable System Architecture for High-Performance Fault Tolerant Machine Drives

When targeting mission critical applications, the design of the electronic actuation systems needs to consider many requirements and constraints not typical in standard industrial applications. One of these is tolerance to faults, as the unplanned shutdown of a critical subsystem, if not handled correctly, could lead to financial harm, environmental disaster, or even loss of life. One way this can be avoided is through the design of an electric drive systems based on multi-phase machines that can keep operating, albeit with degraded performance, in a partial configuration under fault conditions. Distributed architectures are uniquely suited to meet these challenges, by providing a large degree of isolation between the various components. This paper presents a system architecture suitable for scalable and high-performance fault tolerant machine drive systems. the effectiveness of this system is demonstrated through theoretical analysis and experimental verification on a six-phase machine

Multistress characterization of fault mechanisms in aerospace electric actuators

The concept behind the More Electric Aircraft (MEA) is the progressive electrification of on-board actuators and services. It is a way to reduce or eliminate the dependence on hydraulic, mechanical and the bleed air/pneumatic systems and pursue efficiency, reliability and maintainability. This paper presents a specialised test rig whose main objective is to assess insulation lifespan modelling under various stress conditions, especially investigating the interaction between ageing factors. The test set-up is able to reproduce a multitude of environmental and operational conditions at which electric drives and motors, used in aerospace applications, are subjected. It is thus possible to tailor the test cycle in order to mimic the working cycle of an electrical motor during real operation in aircraft application. The developed test-rig is aimed at projecting the technology readiness to higher levels of maturity, in the context of electrical motors and drives for aerospace applications. Its other objective is to validate and support the development of a comprehensive insulation degradation model

csi and csi7 current source inverters for modular transformerless pv inverters

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Sampling-time harmonic control for cascaded H-bridge converters with thermal control

Cascaded H-bridge converter (CHB) is a multilevel topology that is a well-suited solution for multiple applications such as flexible ac transmission systems or motor drives. This paper is focused on a CHB where the cells present an aging mismatch. This can be caused by the maintenance operation which forces the replacement of some damaged cells of the converter with new or repaired ones. In this paper, a new improved approach of the active thermal control (ATC) of the CHB using discontinuous pulsewidth modulation (PWM) (D-PWM) is presented. The D-PWM technique is used to reduce the power losses of one cell reducing its average temperature in order to increase its remaining lifetime. However, the combination of D-PWM with traditional phase-shifted PWM (PS-PWM) introduces high harmonic distortion in the output voltage of the CHB converter at twice the carrier frequency. A detailed harmonic distortion analysis of the CHB output voltage when the D-PWM based ATC is active is presented. From this analysis, a modification of the traditional PS-PWM is derived to eliminate the harmonic distortion at twice the carrier frequency. Experimental results show how the ATC using D-PWM is achieved whereas the harmonic distortion around twice the carrier frequency is eliminated. © 1982-2012 IEEE

Multistress characterization of fault mechanisms in aerospace electric actuators

The concept behind the More Electric Aircraft (MEA) is the progressive electrification of on-board actuators and services. It is a way to reduce or eliminate the dependence on hydraulic, mechanical and the bleed air/pneumatic systems and pursue efficiency, reliability and maintainability. This paper presents a specialised test rig whose main objective is to assess insulation lifespan modelling under various stress conditions, especially investigating the interaction between ageing factors. The test set-up is able to reproduce a multitude of environmental and operational conditions at which electric drives and motors, used in aerospace applications, are subjected. It is thus possible to tailor the test cycle in order to mimic the working cycle of an electrical motor during real operation in aircraft application. The developed test-rig is aimed at projecting the technology readiness to higher levels of maturity, in the context of electrical motors and drives for aerospace applications. Its other objective is to validate and support the development of a comprehensive insulation degradation model

Common-mode voltage mitigation of dual three-phase voltage source inverters in a motor drive application

Electric variable speed drives (VSDs) based on two VSDs connected to a multiphase machine are an attractive solution to replace high-power mechanic and hydraulic systems in many sectors of industry and transportation because they present high performance with reduced cost, volume and weight. Among the causes which affect the reliability of dual VSDs, the common-mode current flowing through the machine bearing is an important issue. This paper faces the mitigation of the common-mode current by reducing the common-mode voltage (CMV) generated by the operation of a dual VSD. The CMV reduction is carried out without introducing any extra device and/or passive filtering method. This CMV reduction is performed by applying a specific phase-displacement between the modulation strategies of each single inverter drive. The proposed technique has been evaluated in a down scaled experimental setup in order to test its effectivenes

Detection Method of the DC bias in Distribution Power Transformers

Non-linear loads such as AC drives switch-mode power supplies and grid-connected converters can cause, besides the generation of unwanted current harmonics, a DC current component injection into the grid. This DC current component can lead to magnetic saturation of the distribution power transformers, leading to higher current distortion and overheating. This paper presents a method to detect the DC current component flowing into the distribution power transformer with a precise measurement of the DC voltage component at the transformer winding. A magnetic sensor has been developed and implemented in a closed-loop control system to achieve a high sensitivity and guarantees a good linearity with a high rejection ratio to grid voltage variations. Simulation and experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach

Detection Method of the DC bias in Distribution Power Transformers

Non-linear loads such as AC drives switch-mode power supplies and grid-connected converters can cause, besides the generation of unwanted current harmonics, a DC current component injection into the grid. This DC current component can lead to magnetic saturation of the distribution power transformers, leading to higher current distortion and overheating. This paper presents a method to detect the DC current component flowing into the distribution power transformer with a precise measurement of the DC voltage component at the transformer winding. A magnetic sensor has been developed and implemented in a closed-loop control system to achieve a high sensitivity and guarantees a good linearity with a high rejection ratio to grid voltage variations. Simulation and experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach

A Five-Level Single-Phase Grid-Connected Converter for Renewable Distributed Systems

In low-power renewable systems a single-phase grid-connected converter is usually adopted. This paper deals with a novel five-level converter topology that follows this trend. A review of the state of the art of the five-level topologies and a theoretical power loss comparison with the proposed solution is realized. The proposed converter architecture is based on a full-bridge topology with two additional power switches and two diodes connected to the midpoint of the DC Link. Since the two added levels are obtained by the discharge of the two capacitors of the DC Link, the balancing of the midpoint voltage is obtained with a specific PWM strategy. Simulation and experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed solution

A Sensor to Detect the DC Bias of Distribution Power Transformers

The widespread use of power converters in low-voltage distribution grids has given rise to issues regarding the power quality. In fact, non-linear loads such as AC Drives, switching-mode power supplies and grid-connected converters can cause, besides the generation of several current harmonics, also a DC current component injection into the grid. This DC current component can lead to magnetic saturation of the distribution power transformers; in this condition, the transformers present distorted current waveforms, increased power absorption and overheating, that can damage the transformer insulations. This paper presents a way to diagnose the magnetic saturation by a non-direct measurement of the DC current component flowing in the power transformer. In other words, the proposed solution provides an information about the total DC injection produced by the sum of all the electric devices connected to the distribution power transformer. The DC current component causes a DC voltage drop across the parasitic resistance of the transformer's winding: sensing this DC voltage drop allows to evaluate the DC current component. A magnetic sensor was developed in order to obtain a great sensitivity, and the implemented closed loop control allowed to guarantee a good linearity with a high rejection ratio of the grid voltage variations. Simulation and experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach