Switched Reluctance Machines (SRMs) are receiving significant attention from industries in the last decade. They are extremely inexpensive, reliable and weigh less than other machines of comparable power outputs. Although the design principles of the machine are available as a concatenation of many different sources, the need for a unified, step-by-step design procedure from first principles of electromagnetics is an absolute requirement. This dissertation discusses a procedure that can be applied by engineers with a basic background in electromagnetics. Subsequent to the design of the machine, existing finite element software can do the analysis of the machine. However, this is a laborious process and the need for an analytical method is preferable to verify the design procedure before the final verification by finite elements. The analytical procedure as well as a procedure to calculate iron losses is also developed in this dissertation. A prototype machine has been developed as an example of the design process and an existing prototype is analyzed to verify the analysis procedure. The similarities between the SRM and the Permanent Magnet Brushless DC Machine (PMDBC) beg the consideration of the development of a converter that can be used to drive either machine. One such converter has been developed in this dissertation. The design of the drive for both the machines is seen to be very similar. As a consequence, a universal controller that can be used to operate both machines has been developed and implemented with a DSP. Simulations and experimental correlation for both drives have been presented. / Ph. D.

As traditional control schemes, open-loop Hysteresis and closed-loop pulse-width-modulation (PWM) have been used for the switched reluctance motor (SRM) current controller. The Hysteresis controller induces large unpleasant audible noises because it needs to vary the switching frequency to maintain constant Hysteresis current band. In contract, the PWM controller is very quiet but difficult to design proper gains and control bandwidth due to the nonlinear nature of the SRM. In this thesis, the ac small signal modeling technique is proposed for linearization of the SRM model such that a conventional PI controller can be designed accordingly for the PWM current controller. With the linearized SRM model, the duty-cycle to output transfer function can be derived, and the controller can be designed with sufficient stability margins. The proposed PWM controller has been simulated to compare the performance against the conventional Hysteresis controller based system. It was found that through the frequency spectrum analysis, the noise spectra in audible range disappeared with the fixed switching frequency PWM controller, but was pronounced with the conventional Hysteresis controller. A hardware prototype is then implemented with digital signal processor to verify the quiet nature of the PWM controller when running at 20 kHz switching frequency. The experimental results also indicate a stable current loop operation. / Master of Science

In step with development of advanced, cost effective semiconductors and electrical motor drive components, the Switched Reluctance Machine (SRM) has become the center of public attention. Interest in a single-phase SRM has arisen in many places, especially because of its low cost applications. However, some drawbacks have plagued single-phase SRM: the lack of self-starting capability and restricted operation conditions. This thesis presents a four-quadrant operation SRM drive system with a single controllable switch for two phase configuration. The SRM's configuration has four main stator poles, four rotor poles, and four auxiliary stator poles. Because of this special arrangement, a four-quadrant operation with a given power converter topology and proposed control algorithms has been realized. The focus of the paper is to realize a four-quadrant operation with a single-switch converter based SRM. In addition, this research resulted in a new self-starting scheme without adding permanent magnets. Simulation results and experimental results utilizing the control algorithm verify the performance of the system. / Master of Science

This paper presents a novel controller architecture and speed control design methodology suitable for low cost, low performance switched reluctance motor drives. By utilizing inexpensive components in a simple, compact architecture, a low cost controller is developed which achieves a performance level similar to many high performance controllers. A speed control design methodology is established and analyzed based on the linearized small signal model of the switched reluctance motor. This unique control methodology is simple and provides a starting point for further research into speed/current controller parameter design for switched reluctance motors. The analysis, design and realization of the speed controller are presented. The derivation of the design methodology for speed controlled, switched reluctance motor drives is discussed, along with computer simulations for verification. Experimental results utilizing the proposed architecture and design methodology verify the control design and performance capabilities of the speed controller system. / Master of Science

Dans ce mémoire de thèse, nous présentons la conception, l'analyse de la stabilité, les simulations numériques et aussi les résultats des expérimentes concernant différents contrôleurs de vitesse mécanique du moteur à réluctance variable (MRV).Dans les deux premiers chapitres une brève description de la physique et de la construction du MRV est présenté ainsi que le problème du contrôle d'être abordé, c'est la commande de vitesse sans capteur. Il est aussi présenté l'état de l'art de ce problème et certains des solutions proposées dans d'autres travaux. On propose notre solution et on présente un petit résumé des articles scientifiques qui ont été publiés dans des magazines et des conférences.Dans le chapitre numéro trois est présenté le design du contrôleur adaptatif et sans capteur du MRV. On suppose, dans une première étape que seule la vitesse mécanique est inconnue et la stabilité exponentielle uniforme des erreurs de suivement est obtenue. Dans une deuxième étape, les conditions d'opération sont aggravées et, en plus de la vitesse, les paramètres physiques sont également supposées inconnues, la stabilité asymptotique uniforme est obtenue dans ce cas. L'estimation des paramètres du MRV est garantie grâce à la condition de persistance d'excitation. Cette commande se compose de deux boucles, une boucle interne basée sur un contrôleur de type PI2D qui est particulièrement intéressant parce qu'il est libre de modèle; cette boucle entraîne les variables mécaniques -la position et la vitesse- vers une référence désirée. Une deuxième boucle de contrôle externe prend le courant électrique vers un ' "courant de référence virtuelle" qui est généré sur la base d'une approche de partage de couple. Le contrôleur propose est testé au niveau de simulations numériques qui sont également présentés.Dans le quatrième chapitre, une nouvelle approche de modélisation du MRV est utilisée pour concevoir le contrôleur. Dans ce scénario, on suppose que l'ensemble de l'état et tous les paramètres physiques sont disponibles, cette approche est pensée pour être adapté au contrôleur basé sur observateur, recherche qui est en cours de développement. Le contrôleur est composé de deux boucles, également que celui qui a été mentionné précédemment. Ce contrôleur est sélectionné parce qu'il est approprié pour le contrôle d'équivalence vraie, qui il s'agit de remplacer les «mesures physiques» provenant d'un capteur par les «observations» provenant d'un observateur. La mise en oeuvre numérique est effectuée sur Simulink de Matlab.Enfin, dans le chapitre cinq, les résultats expérimentaux qui ont été effectués pour évaluer la performance des contrôleurs proposés -ce sont les PI2D et adaptatif PI2D pour le modèle simplifie ainsi que le PID pour le nouveau approche de modélisation- sont présentés. Dans la première partie, une brève description de la construction du banc de tests utilisé est présenté ainsi que quelques-unes caractéristiques techniques. Trois différentes profils de vitesse sont imposées à chacun des contrôleurs proposés -ce sont la tangente hyperbolique, la rampe saturée et la référence sinusoïdal- et de bonnes résultats sont obtenus en considérant que la variable contrôlée est la vitesse. Le dernier chapitre correspond aux conclusions de la recherche effectuée ainsi qu'aux travaux futurs. / In this thesis dissertation we present the design, stability analysis, numerical simulations and physical experiments of different controllers designed to drive the mechanical velocity of the switched reluctance motor (SRM). In the First and Second Chapters a brief description of the physics and construction of the SRM is presented, as well as the problem of control to be aboard, that is the velocity sensorless control of motors and the state of the art of this problem. The proposed solution is introduced and a summary of the published papers as well as the contribution are also presented.In the Chapter number three is presented the velocity sensorless and adaptive control of the SRM. It is assumed, in a first stage, that only mechanical velocity is unknown, uniform exponential stability of the errors is achieved in this scenario. In a second stage, conditions are stressed and in addition to the velocity, physical parameters are also assumed unknown, uniform asymptotical stability is achieved in this case and parameters estimation is guaranteed under a persistence of excitation condition. This controller consists of two loops, an internal loop based on a PI2D–type controller which is of particular interest given it is free-model; this loop drives the mechanical variables –that is position and velocity- towards a desired reference. An external control loop takes the electrical current towards a ‘’virtual” current reference which is generated based on a torque share approach. The controller is tested on numerical simulations, which are also presented.In the fourth chapter, a new approach on the modeling of the SRM is utilized to design the controller, in this scenario is assumed that the whole state and all the physical parameters are available, however this approach is thought to be suitable to observer based controller, whose ongoing research is being performed. The controller is composed by two loops, similarly to the one mentioned previously. This controller is selected because it is suitable for certainty equivalence control, that is, to substitute the “measurements” by the “observations” coming from a virtual sensor. Numerical implementation is performed on Simulink of Matlab.Finally, in the Chapter five, the experimental results carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed controllers are presented, these are the PI2D and the adaptive PI2D controllers for the simplified model and the $PID$ controller for the novel modeling approach. In the first part, a brief description of the construction of the utilized bench is presented as well as the some technical characteristics. Three different velocity profiles were imposed to each of the overmentioned controllers –these are the so called smooth step, the saturated ramp and the sinusoidal reference- and good results, considering that the controlled variable is the velocity, were obtained. The last chapter corresponds to the conclusions of the performed research as well as to the future work.

As the world moves towards a cleaner and greener future, electrical machines for various industrial purposes and transport applications have gained a lot of attention. Permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs) are usually the solution for electric vehicle (EV) applications thanks to their high efficiency, compactness and high-power density. On the downside, although the price of rare-earth materials has recovered close to historical levels, concerns still remain and the questions on the environmental sustainability of these materials have also been raised, which has encouraged the researchers to consider rare-earth-free machines.The switched reluctance machine (SRM) is one of the competitive alternatives, thanks to the simple and robust construction, high reliability and inherent fault tolerance capability. However, it has a bad reputation when it comes to torque ripple and acoustic noise. And the highly nonlinear characteristic brings much difficulty to routine design purposes and machine optimisation.Therefore, some of the above mentioned problems are addressed - a torque-ripple-reduction, reliable and low-cost system of SRMs is presented in this thesis. Firstly from the modelling point of view, a combined magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) and finite element (FE) model of SRMs is developed for fast characterization the nonlinear behavior. Secondly from the control point of view, various torque-ripple reduction techniques are implemented and compared. Moreover, a minimal current sensing strategy with enhanced fault-detection capability is proposed and validated experimentally. It requires two current sensors, to replace the phase current sensors, with no additional devices for fault detection, to achieve a more compact and low-cost drive. Finally from the reliability point of view, an interturn short-circuit fault detection method and a rotor position estimation approach are investigated and validated experimentally, which leads to a more reliable system. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This thesis deals with the design and implementation of a feedback control scheme for a DC Hybrid Active Power Filter used to filter harmonics from a Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) Drive load. Power electronic systems are non-linear & dynamic [1,3,5]. Power electronic systems employ switching circuits to maximize their efficiency at the penalty that switching circuits generate electrical noise called ripple current and voltage or conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI). The ripple current drawn by the power electronic systems needs to be attenuated to an acceptable level. Filters attenuate this to an acceptable level. Traditionally filters with passive inductors and capacitors are used. Active filters contain switching elements in addition to passive inductors and capacitors which reduce overall size of passive components used. Two control approaches, full-state state space, and plain proportional feedback, are evaluated for this filter. Circuit models are simulated in SPICE and mathematical models are simulated in Matlab/Simulink for evaluating these control approaches. Proportional feedback control was chosen for implementation and the reason for this is provided in the thesis. The active filter was tested with chosen feedback control and experimental results were compared with simulation results. Inferences and scope for further work are finally presented.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The purpose of this thesis is to perform modeling from different perspectives for an airgapless motor. The airgapless motor is a proposed type of electric machine whose purpose is to replace hydraulic machines in low speed high torque applications. Because of the nature of the movement for this device, modeling of this device is atypical to the modeling done with other electric machines. This thesis will present the operating principle of the airgapless motor and take an analytical approach to modeling the torque and total energy in the device. In addition, this thesis will present the power electronics necessary to drive this device and offer recommendations to maximize the torque and minimize the torque ripple. MATLAB simulations are used to verify that the conclusion of this thesis are consistent with observations made by previous publications and prototypes.

The permanent magnet switched reluctance motor (PMSRM) is hybrid dc motor which has the potential to be more effect than the switched reluctance (SRM) and permanent magnet (PM) motors. The PMSRM has a both a salient rotor and stator with permanent magnets placed directly onto the face of common pole stators. The PMSRM is wound like the SRM and can be controlled by the same family of converters. The addition of permanent magnets creates nonlinearities in both the governing electrical and mechanical equations which differentiate the PMSRM from all other classes of electric motors. The primary goal of this thesis is to develop a cohesive and comprehensive control strategy for the PMSRM so as to demonstrate its operation and highlight its efficiency. The control of the PMSRM starts with understanding its region of operation and the underlying torque production of the motor. The selection of operating region is followed by a both linear and nonlinear electrical modeling of the motor and the design of current controllers for the PMSRM. The electromechanical model of the motor is dynamically simulated with the addition of a closed loop speed controller. The speed controller is extended to add an efficiency searching algorithm which finds the operating condition with the highest efficiency online. / Master of Science

A novel multilevel converter that is especially suited for high speed multi-megawatt switched reluctance motor drives operating at the medium voltage level is presented. The drive is capable of variable speed, four-quadrant operation. Each phase leg of the converter contains an arbitrary number of cascaded cells connected in series with the phase winding. Each cell contains a half-bridge chopper connected to a capacitor. The converter is named the cascaded chopper cell converter. The modular nature of the converter with the ability to add redundant cells makes it very reliable, which is a key requirement for medium voltage drive applications. A comprehensive control algorithm that overcomes the challenges of balancing and controlling cell capacitor voltages is also proposed. A suitable startup algorithm to limit startup current and switching losses, as well as ensure that cell capacitor voltages remain controlled at startup, is suggested. Details of the drive design such as component sizing and control parameter selection are also discussed. A detailed simulation model is developed and explained, and simulation results are provided for primary validation. Operation with standard current and speed control is first simulated. Then a scheme that gives way to a controller that operates the drive in single-pulse mode is developed and presented. This single-pulse control scheme controls the turn-on and turn-off angles, as well as the energization voltage level, in order to obtain high efficiency. Practical considerations related to the drive such as reliability, efficiency, and cost considerations are also discussed. Finally, a detailed comparison of the proposed converter to another competing converter is performed. Besides its scalability to high voltages and powers, the reliability and efficiency of the proposed converter makes it also a candidate for sub-megawatt applications requiring minimum downtime, or any application where high efficiency or improved performance is required. A small part of this work is also dedicated to brushless dc machines. Control methods for a new converter for brushless dc machines are proposed and verified via simulation. The main advantage of this converter with the proposed control is that it allows exact control of torque or speed up to twice the rated speed, without resorting to current phase advancing or other flux-weakening techniques. / Ph. D.