Vicent Sala

Fault Detection and Fault Tolerant Operation of a Five Phase PM Motor Drive Using Adaptive Model Identification Approach

Nowadays, the use of multiphase fault tolerant permanent magnet (PM) machines is a suitable solution for increasing the reliability of high-performance motion control applications. This solution requires fault detection, isolation, and control adaptation. For this reason, a new open switch fault detection scheme in voltage-source inverter supplying a PM motor is presented in this paper. The detection method is based on model identification of the motor phase currents. The detection scheme is fast, robust, general, and capable of detecting multiple faults. The control algorithm, detection method, isolation, and reconfiguration strategies are discussed. After that, the proposed method is implemented in the fault tolerant control of a five-phase brushless direct current (BLDC) motor drive. Simulation results in MATLAB/Simulink are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed detection technique. Experimental results on a five-phase fault tolerant BLDC motor validate the theoretical developments.

Fault tolerant operation of a five phase converter for PMSM drives

In this paper a five phase fault tolerant converter is proposed for permanent magnet (PM) drives. The proposed configuration is an extension of conventional three phase double switch redundant topologies. In contrast to three phase systems, the proposed configuration has more flexibility and reliability regarding simultaneous faults in more than one phase. Different faulty cases are explained. Optimal reconfiguration strategies are derived under several faulty conditions. Design criteria are defined and a comparative loss analysis is conducted on converter behavior under various conditions. Simulation results are included to validate the theory.

A novel AC-AC converter based SiC for domestic induction cooking applications

This paper presents the analysis and design of a new high frequency ac-ac converter applied to domestic induction heating. The proposed topology uses only four switches to control power. Converter operation is same as a conventional class D inverter. Working above the resonant frequency, a sinusoidal input current and a unit power factor are obtained. To bring higher efficiency and power density, application of emerging SiC technology in proposed converter has been evaluated. The analytical and simulation results have been verified by means of a 380-W induction heating prototype.

FPGA Based Robust Open Transistor Fault Diagnosis and Fault Tolerant Sliding Mode Control of Five-Phase PM Motor Drives

The voltage-source inverters (VSI) supplying a motor drive are prone to open transistor faults. To address this issue in faulttolerant drives applicable to electric vehicles, a new open transistor fault diagnosis (FD) method is presented in this paper. According to the proposed method, in order to define the FD index, the phase angle of the converter output current is estimated by a simple trigonometric function. The proposed FD method is adaptable, simple, capable of detecting multiple open switch faults and robust to load operational variations. Keeping the FD in mind as a mandatory part of the fault tolerant control algorithm, the FD block is applied to a five-phase converter supplying a multiphase fault-tolerant PM motor drive with nonsinusoidal unbalanced current waveforms. To investigate the performance of the FD technique, the fault-tolerant sliding mode control (SMC) of a five-phase brushless direct current (BLDC) motor is developed in this paper with the embedded FD block. Once the theory is explained, experimental waveforms are obtained from a five-phase BLDC motor to show the effectiveness of the proposed FD method. The FD algorithm is implemented on a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

A Novel Active Gate Driver for Improving SiC MOSFET Switching Trajectory

The trend in power electronic applications is to reach higher power density and higher efficiency. Currently, the wide band-gap devices such as silicon carbide MOSFET (SiC MOSFET) are of great interest because they can work at higher switching frequency with low losses. The increase of the switching speed in power devices leads to high power density systems. However, this can generate problems such as overshoots, oscillations, additional losses, and electromagnetic interference (EMI). In this paper, a novel active gate driver (AGD) for improving the SiC MOSFET switching trajectory with high performance is presented. The AGD is an open-loop control system and its principle is based on gate energy decrease with a gate resistance increment during the Miller plateau effect on gate–source voltage. The proposed AGD has been designed and validated through experimental tests for high-frequency operation. Moreover, an EMI discussion and a performance analysis were realized for the AGD. The results show that the AGD can reduce the overshoots, oscillations, and losses without compromising the EMI. In addition, the AGD can control the turn-on and turn-off transitions separately, and it is suitable for working with asymmetrical supplies required by SiC MOSFETs.

A novel active gate driver for silicon carbide MOSFET

A novel active gate driver (AGD) for silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET is studied in this paper. The gate driver (GD) increases the gate resistance value during the voltage plateau area of the gate-source voltage, in both turn-on and turn-off transitions. The proposed AGD is validated in both simulation and experimental environments and in hard-switching conditions. The simulation is evaluated in MATLAB/Simulink with 100 kHz of switching frequency and 600 V of dc-bus, whereas, the experimental part was realised at 100 kHz and 100 V of dc-bus. The results show that the gate driver can reduce the over-voltage and ringing, with low switching losses.

Power converters and its application in electric traction systems. Analysis Present and Future Technologies

The traction systems for electric vehicles have advanced considerably over recent years, with the application of different topologies of power converters for the control of various types of electric induction motors and permanent magnet. Furthermore, the evolution of power semiconductor elements of Si to SiC wideband have opened up lines of research and development in this area. The trend of manufacturers traction systems is to reach compact systems where the power dissipation is high and the reduction of losses is minimal, for it the implementation of topologies of converters with SiC devices seems to be a good alternative of use to improve the performance of these systems This paper describes a study and review of the different types of converter topologies proposed for the development and application in traction systems for electric vehicles. This review will identify the different works presented and analyze their problems, with the aim of seek to optimize these topologies or propose new types of topologies for implementation in traction systems.

Open circuit fault detection based on emerging FCS-MPC in power electronics systems

In this paper, a novel fault detection method based on cost fault evaluation is proposed. The cost function is same as one used in finite control set model predictive control of power converters. Two simple methods are presented to locate the faulty IGBT. Considered methodology is studied for fault detection and fault tolerant operation in a five phase PMSM drive. Theory has been developed and validated by simulation results of a five phase two level converter in Matlab/Simulink.

EMA fault detection using fuzzy inference tools

The present work shows a condition monitoring system applied to detect Fault Condition in EMA Systems. Removal of the engine hydraulic pumps requires fully-operative electrical power actuators and mastery of the flight control architecture. However, unexpected faults and lack of safety hinder the massive use of EMAs in flight control actuators and force to develop new systems and methods for supervision in aircrafts actuators. This research covers wide-range irregularities which are very often more difficult to analyse. In addition to traditional techniques like vibration and current signals, high frequency current bearing pulses and acoustic emissions are also analysed. A multivariable fuzzy inference analysis approach is presented to get around the diagnostic difficulty.

A novel EMI reduction design technique in IGBT gate driver for turn-on switching mode

This paper proposes a novel insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) gate driver. The new gate driver (GD) has positive effect on the injected gate current to enhance the IGBT switching mechanism. The approach is based on the Posicast control method. Simple structure is the most important advantage of this feedforward controller. The main objective is to improve turn-on switching transients without harmful effect on the IGBT efficiency. The electro-magnetic interface (EMI) reduction has been discussed as another important benefit of this control method.