A Novel approach towards Electrical Loss

Minimization in Vector Controlled Induc-

tion Machine Drive for EV/HEV
1
Debarshi Biswas, 2Kaushik Mukherjee, Member, IEEE, and 3Narayan C. Kar, Senior Member, IEEE
Centre for Hybrid Automotive Research and Green Energy, University of Windsor, ON, Canada N9B 3P4
1
biswasd@uwindsor.ca, 2kmukh@uwindsor.ca, and 3nkar@uwindsor.ca

AbstractThe usage of niche copper-rotor induction motor iqr : Rotor q-axis current
(CRIM) in all the variants of the Tesla Roadster electric vehicle idm : d-axis magnetizing current
has bolstered the technology of using induction motor for electri- iqm : q-axis magnetizing current
fied transportation. Understanding the merits, demerits and state
idc : d-axis core loss current
of art technology of induction motor and its drive in electric and
hybrid electric vehicle (EV/HEV) application, this research man- iqc : q-axis core loss current
uscript proposes a novel approach towards electrical loss minimi- Te : Electromagnetic torque
zation in vector controlled induction machine drives for the : Speed of the arbritarily rotating d-q frame
aforementioned application. This paper serves as a good theoreti- r : Rotor speed
cal study of the developed loss minimization scheme which would P : Number of poles
be later incorporated into an overall vector controlled induction p : d/dt operator
machine drive for enhancing the efficiency of the electrified vehi- J : Moment of inertia
cle. Firstly, an insight is provided on the state or art induction
motor technology in EV/HEV and the significance of incorporat-
ing core loss in an induction machine. Secondly, the conventional II. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND STUDIES
two-axis model of an induction motor incorporating core loss has
been used to propose a novel loss minimization algorithm. Rotor The threat of global warming and other environmental
flux has been used as the control variable for this purpose. concerns have made the automobile industry shift its focus to
hybridize and electrify the vehicles they manufacture. Hybrid
Index Terms Copper-rotor induction machine, electric vehi- electric vehicles (HEVs) have been with us for a considerable
cle, loss minimization, rotor flux-oriented vector control, efficien- time now. The progress towards complete electrification of
cy. vehicles has been gradual though as evident from Table I.
There has always been a debate over the motor best suited
I. NOMENCLATURE for electric vehicle (EV) propulsion. The requirements for
vds : d-axis stator voltage drive systems of HEV/EVs are high torque and high power
vqs : d-axis stator voltage density combined with a wide range of speed and high effi-
vdr : d-axis rotor voltage ciency. Other minor factors that should not be neglected are
vqr : d-axis rotor voltage cost and ruggedness, augmented with reliability. Thus, for EV
Rs : Stator resistance propulsion, the induction motors seem to be a good candidate
Rr : Rotor resistance, referred to stator that fulfills the above mentioned criteria. However, permanent
Rc : Core loss resistance magnet (PM) brushless motors have been the favorite choice
Lls : Leakage inductance of stator of car manufacturers to be used as propulsion engines. The
Llr : Leakage inductance of rotor, referred to stator advantages of using a PM motor are that they have high power
Lm : Magnetizing inductance density and most importantly high efficiency. The main reason
ds : Stator d-axis flux for its high efficiency is the fact that the rotor does not have
qs : Stator q-axis flux windings which contribute to loss, but at higher speeds the
dr : Rotor d-axis flux, referred to stator efficiency does tend to drop. Also, the permanent magnets of
qr : Rotor q-axis flux, referred to stator the PM motor may suffer from demagnetization, whereas no
ids : Stator d-axis current such problems exist for induction motors. The closest com-
iqs : Stator q-axis current, referred to stator petitor of the PM motor in HEV/EV application is therefore
idr : Rotor d-axis current the induction motor. Factors favoring the induction motor to
have such high recommendations are reliability, ruggedness,
low maintenance, low cost and the ability to operate in hostile
The authors of this paper are with the Centre for Hybrid Automotive Re- environments [1]. Improving the efficiency of an induction
search and Green Energy, University of Windsor, ON, Canada. (email: motor would therefore make it a formidable contender to the
1
biswasd@uwindsor.ca, 2kmukh@uwindsor.ca, and 3nkar@uwindsor.ca) PM motor.

978-1-4673-1408-4/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE

 TABLE I. CURRENT ELECTRIC AND HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS

Toyata Prius Chevrolet Volt Honda CR-Z Honda FCX Clarity Honda Insight Honda Civic Tesla Roadster Mitsubishi Nissan Leaf
Vehicle (HEV/PHEV) (PHEV) (HEV) (Fuel Cell HEV) (HEV) Hybrid (HEV) (EV) iMiEV (EV) (EV)
Battery Type NiMH Li-ion NiMH Li-ion NiMH Li-ion Li-ion Li-ion Li-ion
Motor Type PMSM PMSM BLDC PMSM BLDC PMSM IM PMSM Sync-motor
Power 80 hp 150 hp 13 hp 134 hp 13 hp 23 hp 288 hp 49 kW 80 kW
Torque 207 Nm 368 Nm 79 Nm 256 Nm 79 Nm 106 Nm 370 Nm 196 Nm 280 Nm
E-Range 23 km 40 to 80 km -- 240 -- -- 394 km 155 km 160 km

Conventional induction motors have aluminum rotors and
these motors have proven to be less efficient. These rotors are
fabricated by pressure die casting which is an extremely eco-
nomical method of manufacturing these rotors. Recently, cop-
per rotors are also being manufactured in the same process.
Copper has proved to be huge advancement as far as efficien-
cy is concerned in induction motors. Recent developments
have shown that die casting copper rotors can bump up the
efficiency of an induction motor by 2.1% [2].
Another aspect that plagues operation of any electrical mo-
tor is the generation of heat within the motor itself. Not only
does this mean that the heat given off by the motor is essen-
tially loss but it also adversely affects the life of the motor. As
a general rule, for every 7-10oC increase in the motor operat-
ing temperature above the maximum temperature as dictated
by its class of insulation, the insulation life of the motor is
halved.
The shift towards the use of induction motors has already
begun for electric vehicles. Tesla has launched the Tesla
Roadster not very long ago which uses an induction motor.
However, they themselves agreed that it was a difficult task to
come up with a motor design that offered less resistance so
that higher values of currents could be handled. This shows
that the losses incurred by the motor is always a concern and
industries strive towards keeping the losses as low as possible.
The various losses that affect an induction motor are: 1)
stator copper losses; 2) hysteresis and eddy current losses
commonly known as core loss; 3) rotor copper losses; and 4)
rotational losses such as friction and windage losses. Eddy
current losses and hysteresis losses, which essentially make up
the core loss are frequency dependent. State of the art control,
such as vector control and direct torque control (DTC) use the
method of varying the frequency in order to control the syn-
chronous speed of the induction motor. The core loss compo-
nents mentioned earlier are functions of frequency. Thus any
change in frequency will change the value of the core loss
exhibited by the machine. The higher the frequency the more
will be the core loss of the machine. Also, the efficiency of an
induction motor decreases under light loads due to the imbal-
nipulating the slip also provides a novel method of achieving
maximum efficiency [8], [9].
The control technique used to implement loss minimiza-
tion can be categorized as: 1) loss-model-based controller
(LMC) and 2) search controller (SC). LMC calculates the op-
timum flux level required for minimum loss based on the mo-
tor model being used. However, inaccuracies in the model and
approximations made in the measurement of the parameters
will reflect in the control technique. On the other hand, search
control measures input power for the optimization process. For
any load torque and speed the flux level is iteratively adjusted
until the minimum value is obtained. This technique favours
vector controlled drives as the torque and flux control can be
decoupled [10]. Care should be taken that the measurement of
input power should be accurate. The major advantage of this
method is that prior knowledge of the motor parameters is not
required [11].
Loss minimization approach has been utilized till date to
improve the performance of induction motors in general appli-
cations. This paper aims at implementing the algorithm for the
benefit of EVs. Minimizing losses will eventually lead to less
heat being generated. Thus, the motor size can be reduced by a
certain extent and the available space can be utilized for some
other application in the EV as from Figure 1 we can infer that
electrifying a vehicle leads to the increment in motor size [12].
Also, a smaller motor means that the overall weight of the EV
will be lower giving the EV extended range per charge.
III. LOSS MODEL OF INDUCTION MOTOR AND CALCULATION
OF ROTOR FLUX FOR OPTIMAL CONDITIONS
The two-axis model of an induction motor neglecting iron
loss is very well depicted in [13]. As in the per phase equiva-
lent circuit the core loss is modeled by connecting a resistance
in parallel with the magnetizing branch [14]. The machine
equations thus obtained are as follows.
160
Peak On-boardsupply/Vehicle

140 E-Motor Engine

ance between copper and core losses. Selection of proper flux 120
Power Demand (%)

level is very important to ensure that the induction motor is 100

operating at maximum efficiency. There have been improve- 80
ments in choice of materials used and construction techniques 60
to improve efficiency and minimize losses [3]. However, the 40
losses mentioned are very much predominant and cannot be 20
minimized by only improving materials and construction tech- 0
niques. As a result, attention should be given to loss a minimi-
zation algorithms. To ensure maximum efficiency, mathemati-
cal calculations prove that minimum loss condition is achieved
when direct-axis losses and quadrature-axis losses are equal
[4]. Implementing the loss minimization algorithm has mainly Fig. 1. Peak motor and engine power as a percentage of peak vehicle power
been done by keeping the control variable as flux [5]-[7]. Ma- demand.
 vds = Rs ids + p ds qs (1) the modeling. Neglecting the core loss allows the stator cur-
rent to be chosen as the control variables which can be easily
vqs = Rs iqs + p qs + ds (2) obtained by measuring the per phase currents and then trans-
vdr = 0 = Rr idr + p dr ( r ) qs (3) forming them to the corresponding d- and q-axis values. How-
ever, the same cannot be said about the magnetizing branch
vqr = 0 = Rr iqr + p qr + ( r ) ds (4) currents mainly because these current cannot be measured.
Rcidc = Lm pidm Lmiqm (5) Thus it is necessary to estimate the reference stator currents
from the reference magnetizing branch currents in order to
Rciqc = Lm piqm Lmidm (6) maintain the proper rotor flux orientation in presence of core
ids + idr = idm + idc (7) losses. These can be calculated from the modified equations of
the model. They are as follows.
iqs + iqr = iqm + iqc (8)
*
ds = Llsids + Lmidm (9) i*dm = r (22)
Lm
qs = Llsiqs + Lmiqm (10)
L T*
dr = Llr idr + Lmidm (11) i*qm = lr e (23)
Lm *r
qr = Llr iqr + Lmiqm (12)
(
r = *sl + r dt ) (24)
Te =
3P Lm
4 Lr
{ ( ) }
dr iqs iqc qr (ids idc ) (13)
Lmi qm*
*sl = (25)
where Lr = Llr + Lm r *r
It is now evident from the equations that including core
loss in induction motor modeling increases the order of the ( )
i*ds = i*dm *sl + r ci*qm (26)
system by two.
For a vector controlled induction machine there are three ( ) L
i*qs = *sl + r ci*dm + r + s c i*qm

(27)
different types of orientations. They are: 1) Rotor flux orienta- Llr
tion; 2) Air gap flux orientation; and 3) Stator flux orientation. The derivative terms of the model have been omitted in the
In order to facilitate the minimization the rotor flux orientation calculations as accounting for core loss is valid for steady
is chosen. states only.
The constraints for rotor flux orientation are as follows: As in any electrical circuit, losses in a motor can be given
dr = r (14) by the product of the square of current flowing through a resis-
qr = 0 (15) tor with the value of the resistance itself. The total losses in an
induction motor can be modelled by considering losses due to
r = r dt (16) the stator and rotor windings along with core losses. The
When these constraints are applied to the aforementioned losses that arise due to the windings in the stator and rotor
equations defining the induction motor, the rotor flux oriented constitute the stator copper loss and rotor copper loss respec-
model of the induction motor can be rewritten as tively.
r + r p r = Lmidm (17) The total loss, neglecting friction and windage losses, can
Lmiqm be given as:
sl = (18) Ptotal = PCus + PCore + PCur (28)
r r
Lr Where, PCus is stator copper loss, PCore is core loss and PCur is
idm + c pidm = ids + r + r ciqm (19) rotor copper loss. As mentioned earlier, the magnetizing
Llr Llr branch currents need to controlled to ensure accurate vector
Lr control it is necessary to express each term in the loss expres-
iqm + c piqm = iqs r cidm (20)
Llr sion as a function of the magnetizing branch currents. Rewrit-
ing each term yields
L
Te = m r iqm (21)
Llr 2 2 2
The slip sl=-r. The two time constants are defined as i 2 1 + Lm + Lm + i 2 Lm + 1
qm dm
r=Llr/Rr and c=Lm/Rc. Llr Rc Rc
PCus = R s
(29)
Examining the reframed equations provides an insight that 2

the introduction of core loss yields in the cross coupling of the + 2i i Lm
qm dm
d- and q-axis currents in the magnetizing branch. Also, it can
Rc Llr

be said the stator currents do not directly govern the electro-
magnetic torque. Instead, it is the magnetizing branch currents
that govern the electromagnetic torque. Therefore, the magnet-
izing branch currents should be controlled instead of the stator
PCore =
Rc
(
(Lm )2 i 2 + i 2
qm ) dm (30)
currents, which is the control variable if core is excluded from
 Rr L2 dPtotal 3 Te2 4 Llr
2

PCur = m i2 (31) = 3 K1 + 2 r K 2 (34)
2 r 3Lm P
2 qm
L d r Lm
lr
Having derived each loss term the total loss in terms of the Equating the above expression to zero will provide the
magnetizing branch currents can now be written as condition for minimum loss which is as follows
2 2
Ptotal = iqm K1 + iqm K 2 + iqmidm K 3 (32) 4 L K1
2
r _ opt = Te 4 lr (35)
where 3P 2 K 2
2 2 2
L L Rr L m (Lm )2 The controller should be designed to enforce this above
K1 = Rs 1 + m + m + + condition to ensure loss minimization.
Llr Rc L2 Rc
lr
L 2 (L )2 IV. BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THE PROPOSED SCHEME

K 2 = Rs m + 1 + m
R R Figure 2 depicts the block diagram of the proposed control
c c
scheme. The control circuit of the drive has the speed refer-
R L2 ence. This is derived from the user which is nothing but the
K 3 = 2 s m input from the accelerator pedal of the EV. The reference
Rc Llr
speed is compared with the actual rotor speed. The actual
Upon examining the loss equation it is evident that the total speed is a measured value which is obtained from the speed
loss is dependent upon two variables, namely the d- and q- encoder. A speed error signal is generated which is fed to the
axis magnetizing currents. However, it will be convenient to speed controller. This speed controller is then responsible for
express the total loss in terms of a single variable such that it generating the reference torque level. As mentioned earlier the
is easier to calculate the condition for minimum loss. From magnetizing branch currents should be controlled ultimately
equations (22) and (23) it is clear that both the currents can for optimal loss. This reference torque will be used to generate
expressed in terms of r and Te. Now, to facilitate loss mini- i*qm. Again, from the same torque reference *r required to
mization at a particular operating point the electromagnetic implement minimum loss condition is calculated. Now by
torque is constant. Thus it can be said that at any operating using equation (22) i*dm can be generated. The condition ob-
point the total loss is a function of r. Therefore, after making tained for ensure minimum loss comprises of two constants K1
the appropriate substitutions the loss expression can now be and K2 which are dependent on the speed of the rotating rotor
written as flux oriented reference frame of the induction motor. In order
2 2 2 to estimate this speed online the angular slip frequency must
3 T 4 Llr 8T L
Ptotal = e2 K1 + r K 2 + e lr K 3 (33) be estimated which can later be added to the already measured
2 r 3Lm P 2
Lm 3PLm
rotor speed. The slip speed estimator generates the angular slip
* *
To find out the value at which the minimum loss will occur speed based on r and i qm. Having generated the reference
Ptotal should now be differentiated with respect to r which magnetizing currents the same can be used to obtain the stator
yields the following expression. d- and q-axis reference currents using equation (26) and (27).

IM Load

ia ib
abc to de-qe r
PWM conversion

va* vb* vc*

ids iqs
r* Speed Te* iqm*
Te* to iqm* idm* to ids* Novel Rotor flux
Controller
+ oriented
- r* idm* controller
Te* to r* r*to idm* Iqm* to iqs*

Slip speed
estimator

sl +

+
Fig. 2. Block diagram of proposed loss minimization controlled induction motor drive.
 The induction motor under consideration has star connect-
ed stator windings. Thus measuring the currents from only two
phases serves the purpose as the current in flowing in the third
phase can easily be calculated. Having made these measure-
ments the phase currents can now be easily transformed into
their corresponding direct- and quadrature-axis values. The
novel vector control block then generates the three-phase ref-
erence voltages required for ensuring loss minimized rotor-
flux oriented control performance and sends them to the pulse
width generation (PWM) block which eventually generates the
switching pulses of the six inverter devices.
V. CONCLUSION
In this paper loss minimization approach is taken to ensure
that maximum efficiency is extracted from an induction motor
to be used for electric vehicle applications, where, constraints
on size, space, weight, temperature rise and burden on the
vehicles battery pack are critical issues. To implement this,
the rotor flux is taken as the control variable. An analysis has
also been provided in the paper which targets the rotor flux to
be controlled in an effective way to minimize the losses, main-
taining decoupled rotor flux oriented control considering pres-
ence of stator core losses. The novelty of the paper lies in the
fact that a conventional two-axis model of an induction motor
incorporating loss has been used to compute the losses. Also,
it has been shown that to ensure proper vector control the
magnetizing branch currents should be controlled and not the
stator currents to maintain proper detuning between the d- and
q-axis components. A block diagram of the control scheme is
presented ultimately in this paper. It comprises of a suitable
loss minimization controller and a novel rotor flux oriented
controller considering core losses, which are capable of im-
plementing the targeted loss minimization.
The theory is yet to be verified experimentally which will
be the future scope of this research. It is expected that the ma-
chine losses will be less when this algorithm is put into place
as compared to the losses when the induction motor is running
with the algorithm switched off.
VI. REFERENCES
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VII. BIOGRAPHIES
Debarshi Biswas received the B.Tech. degree in Elec-
tronics and Communication Engineering from Sikkim
Manipal Institute of Technology, Sikkim, India, in the
year 2008. He is currently pursuing the MASc degree in
Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of
Windsor, Ontario, Canada. His research presently focuses
on design of efficient electric machine drives for electri-
fied transportation application.
Kaushik Mukherjee (M03) was born in 1970. He re-
ceived the B.E. degree from the Department of Electrical
Engineering, Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India, in
1993, the M.E. degree from the Department of Electrical
Engineering, Bengal Engineering College, Howrah,
India, in 1998, and the Ph.D. degree from the Department
of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology,
Kharagpur, India, in 2003. Since 1993, he has spent
almost two and a half years in the industry. In 2002, he joined the Department
of Electrical Engineering, Jadavpur University, India as a Lecturer. From
2006 onwards, he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical
Engineering, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Howrah, India. Dr.
Mukherjee is presently a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Hybrid Automo-
tive Research & Green Energy, Department of Electrical & Computer Engi-
neering, University of Windsor, Canada. His research interests include electri-
cal machine drives and power electronics applications in general.
Narayan C. Kar received the B.Sc. degree in Electrical
Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering
and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 1992 and the
M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from
Kitami Institute of Technology, Hokkaido, Japan, in
1997 and 2000, respectively. He is an associate professor
in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
at the University of Windsor, Canada where he holds the
Canada Research Chair position in hybrid drivetrain
systems. His research presently focuses on the analysis, design and control of
permanent magnet synchronous, induction and switched reluctance machines
for hybrid electric vehicle and wind power applications, testing and perfor-
mance analysis of batteries and development of optimization techniques for
hybrid energy management system. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE.