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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 38, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER 2002

Simple End Effect Compensator for Linear Induction Motor

N. Fujii, Member, IEEE, T. Kayasuga, and T. Hoshi
AbstractThe new end effect compensator for linear induction motor (LIM) is proposed, which is based on the theory that the end effect can be compensated only by supplying the eddy current synchronizing with the LIM frequency in front of LIM without adjusting the pitch of eddy current with the operating slip of LIM, although the phase adjustment of current is required. The theory is confirmed analytically on the models of the magnet rotator type and the ac coil type compensators. The slip characteristics compensated by the magnet rotator is smooth in spite of simple method with the constant rotating speed and the constant magnetomotive force (MMF). The static type of ac coil can compensate the thrust of LIM too, but the improvement of total thrust of LIM and the compensator is not so large in this numerical example, because of the large own end effect. Index TermsCompensation, end effect, LIM, linear drive, linear induction motor, linear motor, transit.

Fig. 1. LIM driven vehicle.

I. INTRODUCTION S PART OF A NEW type of transit, linear induction motors (LIMs) have been used as a direct electromagnetic drive device without adhesion. In Japan, the LIM-driven train has been used in the subway in some metropolitans, as the LIM reduces the construction cost of tunnel because the thin shape makes the sectional area of tunnel small and the large gradability enables the minimum length of the route. On these LIMdriven trains, there is the problem of large power consumption. The essential measure is to overcome the end effect, which is a long-pending issue. The compensating winding method was proposed previously [1], [2], but it was not effective [3]. In this paper, the authors propose the new type of end effect compensator. The proposed method is based on the new concept that the end effect can be compensated only by supplying the eddy current synchronizing with the LIM frequency in front of LIM, which was derived from the previous study [4]. By way of example to realize the theory, the magnet rotator with permanent magnets (PMs) as a mechanical rotating type and the ac (superconducting) coil type with concentrated winding as a static compensator are discussed. The effect of compensator is discussed by the analytical study using the numerical electromagnetic analysis on the LIM with the parameters for the subway train in Tokyo.
Manuscript received February 12, 2002; revised May 22, 2002. This work was supported in part by the Grant-in-Aid (12450112) for Scientific Research (B) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan. The authors are with the Department of Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan (e-mail: fujii@ees.kyushu-u.ac.jp; t_kaya@ees.kyushu-u.ac.jp; t_hoshi@ees.kyushu-u. ac.jp). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TMAG.2002.802132.

(a)

(b)

Fig. 2. End effect compensator. (a) Magnet rotator type. (b) AC coil type.

II. END EFFECT COMPENSATOR Fig. 1 shows the LIMs in a vehicle. The end effect compensator is attached in front of the entry end of primary of LIM. Fig. 2 shows the compensators based on the new concept of end effect, in which the following points are considered: 1) simple method for compensation; 2) the ability to overcome its own end effect; 3) small power consumption for the compensator; 4) compact size. In the magnet rotator with pole numbers of shown in Fig. 2(a), the rotating speed (rps) is (1) where is the frequency of LIM. In the ac coil type shown in Fig. 2(b), the supply frequency is equal to that of LIM. There is no need to adjust the pitch of eddy current with the operating slip of LIM, although the phase adjustment of current is required. The phase adjustment between the compensator and the LIM can be done by controlling the inverter of LIM in the practical use. This is much simpler than the previous method. The permanent magnet rotator type shown in Fig. 2(a) has the merit that there is little power consumption except the joule loss by the eddy current in the secondary conducting plate, and it is a compact size with large magnetomotive force and without ohmic loss.

0018-9464/02$17.00 2002 IEEE

FUJII et al.: SIMPLE END EFFECT COMPENSATOR FOR LIM

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TABLE I MAIN DESIGN PARAMETERS OF LIM

TABLE II DESIGN PARAMETERS OF THE MAGNET ROTATOR AND THE AC TYPES OF COMPENSATORS

Fig. 4. Characteristics of LIM compensated by the magnet rotator.

IV. EFFECT OF MAGNET ROTATOR TYPE COMPENSATOR Fig. 3(a) shows the space distribution of instantaneous flux density (normal component) on the surface of reaction plate. Fig. 3(b) shows the space distribution of thrust density. The broken lines represent the curves of LIM alone at the rated speed (40 km/h, frequency of 23.9 Hz, current of 163 A, slip ). The solid lines show the curves of the same LIM with the magnet rotator type compensator at the rated speed (40 km/h, ), in which the phase for compensator 22.0 Hz, 163 A, is adjusted optimally [5]. For the LIM alone, as the flux density at the entry end is always zero, the flux and thrust near the entry are small and the degree of increase of those from the entry toward the exit depend on various parameters, this is the (entry) end effect. The wave forms of LIM with the compensator are improved in the entry region and they are larger values and uniform in the whole region of LIM. Fig. 4 shows the effect of compensator on the speed (slip) characteristics for the constant frequency and the constant current drive. The broken lines represent the curves of LIM alone at the drive of 23.9 Hz and 201 A. The dotted lines represent the curves of the same LIM without end effect at 22 Hz and 163 A. The solid lines represent the curves of the same LIM compensated by the magnet rotator type compensator at the drive of 22 Hz and 163 A, which are characteristics of the part of LIM. At the rated speed of 11.1 m/s (40 km/h), the slips are 0.17 and 0.10

Fig. 3. (a) Flux and (b) thrust density distribution of LIM with the magnet rotator.

III. ANALYSIS In this paper, the design parameters of LIM for the subway vehicle in Tokyo, Japan, is used. The values of main parameters of the primary member are shown in Table I. The design examples of the magnet rotator using the rare-earth type PMs and the ac coil types of compensators are shown in Table II. As it is very difficult to analyze of LIM with the magnet rotator type compensator exactly, the rotator is replaced with the equivalent static winding with rotating field [5]. In the procedure, the three-dimensional (3-D) dynamic electromagnetic analysis (Package ELF/MAGIC) for the real model of magnet rotator and the 2-D finite element method (FEM: Package ANSYS) for the equivalent model are used. The quasi-3-D analysis is done by using the 2-D FEM for the LIM with the compensator, considered with the effect of transverse direction by using RussellNorsworthy coefficient [5].

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 38, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER 2002

Fig. 5.

Driving torque of the magnet rotator type compensator.

Fig. 7. Thrust of LIM with the ac coil type compensator.

Fig. 7 shows the relation between the thrust and the mmf of the compensating coil. The solid line represents the thrust of LIM region. The compensated thrust increases linearly as the mmf of compensator increases. That is, it will not need to adjust the quantity of compensating mmf delicately for the speed or slip. This characteristics is similar in the magnet rotator type compensator. In this model, it is not difficult to analyze the total of LIM with the compensator. The alternate long and short dash line represents the total thrust of the model. The figure shows that the coil type compensator generates relative large negative thrust in the region due to the own end effect, although it can compensate the end effect of LIM. For the study on the overall improvement, the ohmic loss in the eddy current in the region of compensator and in the compensating coil and the total capacity must be considered. In this model, the total improvement is not so large even if the superconductor is used for ac coil without generating ohmic loss in itself.
Fig. 6. (a)Flux and (b)thrust density distribution of LIM with the ac coil type compensator.

VI. CONCLUSION The validity of new theory to compensate the end effect of LIM is confirmed analytically on the models of the magnet rotator type and the ac coil type compensators. The magnet rotator type compensator can improve the thrust, efficiency and output per input capacity of the LIM. The compensated slip characteristics are smooth in spite of the simple method which does not need the sensitive adjustment of the rotating speed and mmf of the compensator. The total characteristics included the compensator is for future study. The static type of ac coil can compensate the thrust of LIM too, but the negative thrust generates in the compensator region due to the own end effect, which increases as the mmf of compensator increases. The improvement of total thrust is not so large in the numerical example. The more effective configuration will be needed for the static compensator. REFERENCES
[1] S. Yamamura, Theory of Linear Induction Motors, second ed. Tokyo, Japan: Univ. Tokyo Press, 1978, pp. 111123, 204206. [2] S. A. Nasar and I. Boldea, Linear Motion Electric Machines. New York: Wiley, 1976, pp. 127128. [3] S. Nonaka and N. Fujii, Evaluation of the method for compensating the end effect by primary winding in high speed LIM, Elect. Eng. Jpn., vol. 104, no. 6, pp. 4351, 1984. [4] N. Fujii and H. Harada, A new viewpoint of end effect of linear induction motor from secondary side in ladder type model, IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 35, pp. 40404042, 1999. [5] N. Fujii and T. Harada, Basic consideration of end effect compensator of linear induction motor for transit, in Conf. Rec. 2000 IEEE Industry Applications Conf., Oct. 2000, pp. 16.

at 23.9 and 22 Hz, respectively. Three kinds of thrust characteristics have the same rated thrust of 12.2 kN at 11.1 m/s, which is marked by the black dot in Fig. 4(a). The characteristics curves of compensated LIM are smooth in spite of the simple compensating method with the constant MMF of PM and the constant rotating speed. The efficiency and the output power per input capacity of the compensated LIM are improved by 10.8% and 18.5%, respectively, at the rated speed, compared with the LIM alone. Fig. 5 shows the torque characteristics of the magnet rotator in the real model without the primary of LIM, which is calculated in 3-D analysis by using ELF/MAGIC. The torque means the driving torque related to the driving power which includes the eddy current loss and the output for thrust by the magnet rotator. The total performance for LIM and the compensator must be studied for the net improvement by the compensator, but it is too difficult to analyze the model at the current stage. V. EFFECT OF AC COIL TYPE COMPENSATOR Fig. 6 shows the flux density and the thrust density distribution of the LIM with the ac coil type compensator shown in Fig. 2(b) and Table II. The distribution compensated by the coil type compensator is similar to that of the magnet rotator in the LIM region, that is, the end effect in LIM region can be compensated by the ac coil too.