Rotor Position Sensor Fault Detection Isolation and Reconfiguration

of a Doubly Fed Induction Machine Control

M. Abdellatif1, M. Pietrzak-David2, I. Slama-Belkhodja3
LAPLACE, 1,2 Universit de Toulouse; Laplace; INPT, UPS; Toulouse, France
Tel. : +33 / 5 61 58 82 57, Fax : +33 / 5 61 63 88 75
1,3
L.S.E, 1,3ENIT BP 37-1002 Tunis le Belvdre, Tunis, Tunisia
Tel. : +216 / 71 874 700 448, Fax : +216 / 71 872 729
E-Mail: meriem.abdellatif@laplace.univ-tlse.fr1, maria.david@laplace.univ-tlse.fr2,
ilhem_slama@enit.rnu.tn3
1,2

Keywords
Direct torque and flux control, Doubly fed induction motor, Efficiency, Reliability,
Sensorless control

Abstract
In this paper, a Doubly Fed Induction Machine (DFIM) operating in motor mode and supplied by two
Voltage Source Inverters (VSI), in stator and rotor sides, is presented. The aim is to analyze the
position sensor fault effects on a Direct Torque Control (DTC) of the DFIM. This justifies the
necessity of a reconfiguration control when a position sensor fault appears in order to avoid an
interruption in system operations. In the other hand, this study emphasizes the close dependency
between system performance and the output accuracy of the rotor position sensor. Moreover,
simulation results point out the operation system deterioration in case of position sensor fault, which
leads in most cases to its shut down in contrast to industrial expectations. This work presents a control
reconfiguration for a DFIM speed drive when a position sensor fault occurs, in order to ensure system
service continuity. For this purpose, SABER simulation results illustrate the system behavior before
and after a position sensor fault. System performance preservation is carried out after control
reconfiguration. The proposed solution is relevant especially due to its simplicity.

Introduction
Systems equipped with electrical drives are nowadays widely used in industry. Most developed
controls are either a Field Oriented Control (FOC) or a Direct Torque Control (DTC). All of them
closely depend on the measured signals like the three phase currents, the DC bus voltage and the rotor
position. Since reliability has become a criterion of outstanding importance for the satisfactory
operation drive, sensor investigations are now of increasing interest; especially for the electrical
systems based on Doubly Fed Induction Machine (DFIM), where four current sensors and one position
sensor are needed. For instance, authors in [1], [2] and [3] have developed Fault Detection and
Isolation (FDI) algorithms associated with Reconfiguration algorithms in order to ensure on service
continuity of DFIM control in case of any current sensor fault.
However, concerning position sensors, studies on sensorless operation are made because of several
drawbacks: robustness, cost, cabling and maintenance. Nevertheless, most of these studies address
applications where the DFIM operates in generator mode. In the bibliography, authors treat this
problem either by applying the Model Reference Adaptive System (MRAS) structure [4] or by
estimating both the speed and the rotor position. One of these earliest studies on this subject is about a
commercial product named ROTODRIVE [5], this was followed by research work introduced in [6]
and [7].
Concerning the motor mode operation of the DFIM, most research deals with speed generation based
on observers. In [8], authors present a closed loop deterministic observer for the speed and load
torque, which is a second order Luenberger observer. Furthermore, in [9] and [10], the authors use the
association of both MRAS and Luenberger observers for sensorless operation.

In this paper, a new method to estimate speed and rotor position for a motor DFIM operating mode is
described in detail. The main advantage of this method is its simplicity, since the reconfiguration
algorithm is obtained by a basic transformation of mathematical equations. The resulting rotor position
sensorless algorithm is used to reconfigure the control in case of a rotor position sensor fault. This
allows preventing system shut down. The service continuity is then performed by the use of a FDI
algorithm, which is included in the DFIM control. This algorithm allows making decisions about the
control reconfiguration. The effectiveness of the proposed method is ensured through simulations
performed in SABER software environment and validated by experimental tests.

System presentation
The system studied is focused on a DFIM operating in motor mode. As shown in Figure 1, both the
stator and rotor windings are connected to Voltage Source Inverters (VSI).In addition, the stator and
rotor VSI switching states are generated using a double DTC control. Normally, only four current
sensors and a rotor position sensor are needed for the DFIM control.

Fig. 1: The DFIM Control system.

The control developed is a Dual Direct Torque Control (DTC), since it is applied to control the VSI in
both stator and rotor sides. The aim is to control the electromagnetic torque (Tem). Basing on Figure 2,
this last is expressed as follows:
G
G
p .(1 )
Tem = s r = KTem . s . r . sin( )
with
(1)
K Tem =
.M sr
and - dispersion coefficient, p number of the pole pairs, Msr stator/rotor mutual inductance
r

s r

Fig. 2: Controlled angles in the Dual DTC of DFIM.

By analyzing relation (1), it can be noted that two strategies can be proposed for the torque control:
- by fixing the angle and adjusting the flux modulus
- by adjusting the angle and fixing the flux modulus

The authors in [11] and [12] have proposed a DTC control according to the first strategy. They also
developed an optimization algorithm to find out the best value in order to obtain optimized system
operation. In this paper, we choose to treat the second strategy.
The mechanical equation of DFIM is given by relation (2).
J.

d
= Tem Tl f .
dt

(2)

In a steady state, the derivative of angle is equal to zero. According to Figure 2, the angular self
piloting and the frequency self piloting relations are expressed as follows
s = m + r +

s = + r

(3)

The resulting DTC control algorithm

The stator flux modulus s is imposed equal to its nominal value. By assuming that the flux transients
can be neglected, the nominal stator flux value is expressed as follows

sn =

Vsn . 2

(4)

sn

Vsn . 2
srf =
n

rrf = K . srf

(5)

Due to the fact that the DFIM is fed by stator and rotor sides, a power ratio can be defined to share the
transferred power to each side. The authors in [11] have demonstrated that if the power ratio kp is
chosen equal to 0.5, then the ratio K between the rotor and stator flux modulus is equal to Lr Ls , Lr
and Ls are the stator and rotor inductances. As a consequence, the imposed flux moduli are obtained as
in equation (5). Generally, a vector can be defined either by its polar coordinates, its real and
imaginary parts or by its three phase components. In this work we choose to define each of the stator
and rotor flux vectors by their three phase components. To regulate each of them, the flux reference
and flux estimated components have to be generated. The stator and rotor flux reference components
are calculated in (6).

xref = xref .cos( xref

2
4

cos xref
cos xref

3
3

(6)

The sref and rref angles are computed as in (7) according to the power ratio and also to the ref angle.
This angle is deduced from the controlled electromagnetic torque Temref as illustrated in (8).
sref = k p . p. ref .dt

rref = sref ref

(7)

Temref
K . sref . rref

ref = sin 1

(8)

The three phase estimated fluxes are calculated using the sensed currents as in (9)
s = Ls .is + M .ir

T
r = Lr .ir + M .is

Where

cos( )

2
2

M = .M sr .cos

3
3

cos +

3

s = [ s1 s 2
ir = [ir1 ir 2

(9)

2
2

cos +
cos
3
3

cos( )
cos +
3

cos
cos( )

s 3 ]T , r = [ r1 r 2

r 3 ]T , xref = x1ref

x 2 ref

x3ref

]T , is = [is1

ir 3 ]T and x replaces s for stator variables and r for rotor ones.

is 2

is 3 ]T ,

The stator and rotor VSI switching states are obtained by a simple hysteresis control. So, the
difference between the estimated and the reference fluxes is calculated as follows
x = xref x

(10)

With x = [ x1 x 2 x 3 ]T
As a conclusion, the resulting DTC control adjusts stator and rotor flux vectors, the electromagnetic
torque and the mechanical speed. The proposed control strategy is shown in Figure 9.
m
Is1
Is2
Ir1
Ir2

s1rf
s1
s2 rf
- + s2
Stator and s3 rf - +
s3
rotor flux
+

Ss1
Ss2
Ss3

srf generations
r1rf
r1
+
rrf
r2 rf

r2
+
r3 rf + r3
r1
Is1
3-phase

r2
Is2
Rotor flux
r3
Ir1
estimation
Ir2

Sr1
Sr2
Sr3

srf
rrf
rf

kp

rf
m

+
-

m
+
-

Temrf

VSI

reference

srf

s1

3-phase
Stator flux s2
estimation s3

rf

generation

rf

VSI

Fig. 3: Structure of the proposed DTC control.

Note that the rotor position angle m is needed to calculate fluxes: even reference or estimated
components. Therefore, correct control operation closely depends on the output accuracy of the rotor
position sensor.

The fault impact of the rotor position sensor

Any rotor position sensor fault could disturb the satisfactory system operation and in most of cases
leads to its shut down. Some simulation results are shown in Figure 4. They point out the effect of a
100% gain fault of the rotor position sensor when the rotation speed specified is reached in steady
state conditions. As has been illustrated, ripples appear on controlled variables when a rotor position
sensor fault occurs. This leads to the stator and rotor current deterioration, and consequently to the
electromagnetic torque deterioration. In this case, the resulting system behavior is not tolerated.
The DFIM drive process and the corresponding control are simulated in the SABER software
environment. The physical process model is coded using MAST language, which is the internal
language of SABER. The control strategy is coded in C language. The coded control program is, then,
linked with MAST templates. The machine used is a 4kW-25Nm DFIM. The operation cycle studied
is as follows: Firstly magnetization step, then application of an 80rad/s speed reference and finally
application of a 15 Nm nominal load torque.

100% sensor fault

100% sensor fault

90

rad/s

80

ref

70

rad

60

50

40

30
20

10

1
0
-10

50

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4
0.5
t(s)

0.6

0.7

0
0

0.8

0.2

0.3

100% sensor fault

70

Nm

0.1

Tem

0.4
0.5
t(s)

0.6

0.7

0.8

100% sensor fault

60

Tl

50

-50

40
30

-100

Ir

20
-150

10
-200
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4
0.5
t(s)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.1

0.2

Is0.3

0.4
0.5
t(s)

0.6

0.7

0.8

Fig. 4: Impact of a 100% rotor position sensor fault on the DFIM control.
In order to satisfy the industrial requirements concerning electrical system reliability, research studies
have tried to ensure service continuity, even in case of a rotor position sensor fault. In the following
section, a Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI) algorithm associated with a Reconfiguration algorithm
are developed.

Sensorless reconfiguration
In order to ensure reliability of position measurement, two solutions are mainly proposed
- Sensorless operation: In this case, the rotor position sensor is removed and replaced by a
position estimator or observer.
- Supervision operation: In this case, the rotor position sensor is retained unless it is faulty.
Thus, a Fault Detection and Isolation algorithm (FDI) is taken into account, followed by a
Reconfiguration algorithm to ensure system service continuity.
The goal of this section is to develop an algorithm ensuring estimation of the rotor position and speed.
The rotor current vector components defined in r,r frame are calculated directly from the two
measured rotor currents (11). However, for its components in s,s frame, they are generated according
to the stator flux and the stator current components in s,s frame as expressed in (12). Having the
four component expressions of the rotor current vector in different frames, the estimated rotor position
o can be computed as in (13).
Experiments were carried in order to validate both control and reconfiguration algorithms coded in C
language and loaded on a DSP. The sample period used is 100s. The experimental setup is based on
the DFIM. The two VSIs are supplied by two independent dc links with different voltage levels. Also,
a step-down transformer is used.

ir

irs
irr

r
irr
irs

Fig. 5: The rotor current components in different frames.

i xx = 3 2 .i x1

i xx = 2 2 .i x1 + 2 .i x 2

(11)

s s Ls .is s

ir s =
M sr

s s Ls .is s
ir =
s
M sr

(12)

ir s .ir r ir r .ir s

ir .ir + ir .ir
r
s
s r

o = tan 1

(13)

The DFIM speed is then computed according to an ATO (Angle Tracking Observer). This algorithm is
normally used to generate the speed captured by a synchro-resolver sensor [13, 14]. The ATO
principle is explained in Figure 6.a.
e(rd/s)
e(rd/s)
o
sin(o)
X
+
1
K1
1
+
K1
1
1
s
s
s
cos(o)
+
s
+
X

K2

sin(e)
Trigonometric
cos(e)
functions

K2

e(rd)

e(rd)

(b)

(a)

Fig. 6: The ATO principle (a): without the linearization; (b): with the linearization.
Note that the error , expressed in (14), is a non linear function as follows
= sin ( o ). cos( e ) sin ( e ). cos( o ) = sin ( o e )

Sine wave

Fig. 7: Linearization zone of a sine wave.

(14)

Nevertheless, a linearization of this expression can be made if we consider that

o e

as

explained in Figure 7. The simplified ATO is thus show in Figure 6.b.

In Figure 8, estimated and captured DFIM rotor position and speed are superimposed. It can be noted
that estimated, with the regard to real signals, are affected by a small delay. This is due to the
integrations used in the ATO algorithm. Anyway, this delay is acceptable because it is related to
mechanical variables. It causes an error rate less than 10% between estimated and captured speed.
90

rad/s

80

ref

70
60
50

rad

40

30

20

10
1

0
-10

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0
0

0.2

0.4

90

10

rad/s

rad/s

80

r1=m - e

70

0.8

(b)

(a)
100

0.6
t(s)

t(s)

r2=m - o

60
50

40

30

-2

20

-4

10

-6

0
-10

6
t(s)

10

-8

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

t(s)

(c)

(d)

Fig. 8: Simulation results of the estimated and captured (a): speed; (b): rotor position (c): errors
between estimated and measured signals and (d): experimental results obtained.

Sensorless operation
In this section, a sensorless system operation is tested. Figure 10 illustrates the obtained simulation
results.
It can be noted that, using estimated rotor position and speed, DTC operation is satisfactory. Also, the
electromagnetic torque presents ripples, which are acceptable in some applications.
Ts

Fig. 9: The total time used for DFIM sensorless operation.

90

40

rad/s

80

Tem

30

ref

70

Nm

60

Tl

20

50

40

10

30

20

10

-10

0
-10

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

-20

0.2

0.4

t(s)

0.6

0.8

t(s)

(a)

(b)

1.5

120

rad/s

Wb

100

80

0.5

60

3
. s
2

0
40

-0.5

3
. r
2

20
-1

0
-20

6
t(s)

10

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0
t(s)

0.5

1.5

(c)

(d)

Fig.10: Simulation results of (a): speed; (b): torque and (c): stator and rotor fluxes obtained with
sensorless DTC and (d): the experimental results obtained.

Supervision and reconfiguration operation

In this section, the main idea is to detect and to isolate any rotor position sensor fault in order to
preserve the system service continuity. The fault is detected when the estimated angle is different from
the measured angle. This is found by computing the error of the equation (15) and by comparing it to a
threshold. Estimated and measured currents are firstly compared. Based on this comparison, a
reconfiguration decision is made.
(15)

error = m e

Once the fault is detected, a binary variable Kd is generated. Kd remains equal to zero as long as no
fault is detected. It rises to the unit as soon as the error goes above the threshold. The Kd behavior
before and after a fault detection is illustrated in Figure 11.
Ts= 100 s
FDI&R
tn

DFIM Control
tn+1

Sample
Sample
is(1,2)[n], ir(1,2)[n], [n]
is(1,2)[n+1], r(1,2)[n+1], [n+1]
Application Sx(1,2,3)[n-1]
Application Sx(1,2,3)[n]
Fig. 11: Timing Chronogram of the DFIM control with the FDI and Reconfiguration algorithms.

Figure 11 gives the global control chronogram with rotor position FDI and reconfiguration algorithms.
It is seen that when the rotor position sensor fault occurs, control signals are usually computed from
healthy measured currents or obtained by the reconfiguration module.
According to the results shown in Figure 12, even in case of a rotor position sensor fault, system shut
down is prevented and service continuity is ensured.
100% sensor fault
7

1.5

100% sensor fault

rad

4
0.5

Kd

1
0
-0.5

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

t(s)

t(s)

100% sensor fault

35

90

Nm

30

100% sensor fault

Tem

25

rad/s

80
70

Tl

ref

60

20

50
40

15

30

10

20

5
10

0
-5

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

-10

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

t(s)

t(s)

100% sensor fault

100% sensor fault

1.5

s1ref s1

s21re s2
f

r1ref r1 r2ref r2

0.4

1
0.3

Wb

0.2

Wb

0.5
0.1
0

0
-0.1

-0.5

-0.2
-1
-0.3
-1.5

0.2

0.4

0.6
t(s)

0.8

1 -0.40

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

t(s)

Fig.12: The different controlled signals before and after a 100% rotor position sensor fault in case of
reconfiguration.

Conclusion
In this work, a simple method ensuring the service continuity of a system based on a DFIM working in
motor mode is presented. This method prevents system shut down since the processing of rotor
position sensor fault is taken into account in the resulting Dual Direct Torque Control of the DFIM fed
by two Voltage Source Inverters. This is carried out by the development of the Fault Detection and
Isolation algorithm associated with the reconfiguration algorithm. It has been shown that these
algorithms are quite simple. Their efficiency was proved by both the simulation and experimental
results obtained, since the system operation continues without performance deterioration even after
sensor fault detection.

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