A Frequency Response Method to Estimate Inductance Profile of Switched Reluctance Motor

S.S. Murthy, Bhim Singh, Virendra Kumar Sharma Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hauz Khas, New Delhi, INDIA, 110 016 Fax. No.:091-011-6862037, Phone No.:091-011-666979 Ext. 2230
Abstract Inductance profile has an important bearing on the

performance of a Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) This paper presents the results of a frequency respolse method to estimate the inductance profde of SRMs. Stator winding is energized by a variable voltage variable Frequency supply. An approximate equivalent circuit incorporating stator resistance, winding inductance and loss component has been used to estimate the inductance at different rotor positions. The inductance value is obtained over a band of rotor positions spanning one rotor pole pitch. Supply frequency is varied from 10 Hz to 55 Hz. The method is found to be simpler to the one using dc switching and processing of transient response. Interestingly, inductance at any given rotor position is not found to be sensitive to excitation frequency. However, as could be expected, cure l s under test condition is very as much sensitive to supply frequency. Typical test results on a 4 kW, $16 pole, 4 pbase SRM are presented and discussed.
1. Introduction

Switched Reluctance Motors (SRMs) are becoming popular in industrial applications due to simple and robust consmiction, less weight, low inertia, less number of manufacturing steps, reduced number of semiconductor devices and therefore are competing well with inverter fed induction motors. Substantial work is being carried out on various aspects of SRM such as analysis, design, control, instrumentation, application, rotor position sensing and its elimination and torque ripple minimization. Due to doubly salient structure of SRM with salient poles on stator as well as rotor, the ar gap of the motor is noni uniform. Hence, the inductance of stator winding not only depends upon excitation current magnitude but also on the rotor position with respect to excited stator pole. Accurate knowledge of inductance profile is important in design verification, performance analysis and rotor position sensing. The estimation of rotor position from inductance profile [l-7) is used in various forms including look up table so as to excite the stator winding at appropriate instant of rising inductance zone. This has led to various techniques to estimate the inductance of stator winding. Depending upon the use of inductance profile , the measurement of inductance 1s carried out off-line or on-line during motor operation. Offline measurement of inductance is required for design, analysis, performance prediction and indirect rotor position sensing based upon look up table approach. Whereas, on-line instantaneous inductance information is required for eliniination of rotor position sensors. This paper deals with

the off-line inductance measurement of SRh4 winding. The flux linkage method of determining the self inductance of large machines [8]using a fluxmeter is not suited for doubly salient machines such as SRM having non-uniform air gap. Krishnan et al. [9] have compared flux linkage method of determining inductance with high frequency superposition method, The flux linkage method of determination of inductance has led to different propositions [lO,l1,12] to accurately determine the flux linkage by direct measurement of flux using flux sensors or by using indirect methods based on hardware of software integration. It has been felt by researchers that the existing reported methods of inductance measurement of SRh4 are cumbersome and require either involved experimentation and data processing system or sophisticated software using FEM.It is, therefore, felt desirable to have a simple method for inductance measurement and compare it with the other methods in order to effect any correction and modification, if required. The flux-linkage method requires ripple free dc scarce, high speed data acquisition system with Pc interface, digital filtering of data acquired and curve fitting techniques. Design based method of inductance estimation requires FEM package with high speed computational power with large memory and skilled expertise. While the authors had an access to all these, the validity of the present simple approach established by comparing with other approaches would be very useful for those involved in analysis of SRM. This paper reviews the existing methods of measwenlent of inductance and then presents the proposed frequency response method. Experiments are conducted to obtain the inductance profile of a 4-phase 8/6 pole, 4 kW Oulton SR motor. The validity of the experimental results is critically evaluated by comparing the inductance profile with that obtained by the flux linkage and finite element method.
2. Methods of Measuring Inductance of SKM

Normally, the inductance of a coil in a linear circuit is determined by calculating the coil impedance and then obtaining its inductance. Various methods using ac bridge and direct measurement by LCR meter are also available t obtain o the value of inductance. However, the above methods cannot be readily used for the precise information of inductance of SRM winding because die magnetic circuit of the motor is highly non-linear compounded by non-uniform air gap. The stator windings of the motor are excited sequentially by pulses of current and normally the motor operates in saturation region of B-H characteristics. Th~ls, inductance the

7803-3773-.5/97/$10.00 0 1997 IEEE

of stator winding of SRM is a function of excitation current u magnitude, rotor position and frequency of excitation. D e to these complexities, it is desired that the measurement of inductance must satisfy the following criteria: (i) Validity of results in linear and non-linear region (ii) Requirement of a single set-up for measuring inductance at all rotor positions from unaligned to aligned (iii) Simplicity of die method The various schemes of off-line measurement of inductance are briefly discussed here to put the proposed method in proper prospective.

2.1.3 Flux Linkage Method The terminal equation of a non-linear series excited by a dc m c e is given by

RL circuit
(4)

v = Ri + d$ / dt

where v is the applied dc voltage, i is the current through the winding and $ is the flux linkage. From eqn. (4), the flux linkage is obtained as

J'(v0

Ri)dt

(5)

2. I Existing Methodrr The experimental methods of determining the inductance of S R M winding are briefly discussed here.
2.1.1 Static Inductance Method The rate of rise and fall of current in a series RL circuit excited by a dc source is governed by the time constant (4R) of the circuit. Hence, the inductance of stator winding is obtained by solving the differential eqn. v = Ri + L di/dt (i) for rising current, by using

L = - tR
In

I (E)

(ii) for falling current, by using

where, I is the steady state current. The current (i) and voltage (v) transients are recorded on the DSO and the data is downloaded to PC. Tlae post-processing of data is done to obtain the flux linkage using qn. (5). The flux linkagecurrent (q-i) characteristics is plotted for rotor positions 8 from Maligned to aligned position for A 0 = 2". The experimentally obtained flux linkage-current (Q-i) characteristics to determine inductance by flux-linkage method, for the test motor is shown in Appendix I. For a particular rotor position 8, the experimantal points of $-i curve are used to obtain flux linkage ($) as a function of current (i) by w e f i h g . i.e.
$ = f (i)

L=- tR

(6)

The differentiation of this function gives the value of inductance for the desired current and rotor position 8.

where L is the stator winding inductance, I is the steady state current, i is t l instantaneous current at time t after the switch ~ is closed/opened and R is the resistance of the stator winding. The current transient is recorded on a digital storage oscilloscope (DSO) and the data is downloaded to personal computer (PC). Inductance is than calculated using eqns. (1) or (2) by appropriately processing the data. This method i s well suited for linear region of saturation characteristics where inductance (L) is independent of current (i).
2.1.2 High Frequency Superposition Method In this method the inductance of a coil is obtained by

2.1.4 Design Based Method Finite element method is used for the estimation of inductance profile of S R M by using motor design parameters such as stamping details, axial length, winding details and material c h a r a h t i c as input data. After generating the mesh, flux plotting is &ne through the computed magnetic vector potentials for different angular positions. Flux plot of excited stator winding with respect to aligned and unaligned positions of rotor for winding current of 8 A is shown in Appendix 11. Energy method [13] is used to obtain the per phase inductance of stator winding by using the following equation in post processing package of FEM software

where v, is the rms value of ac source voltage, I, is the rms value of resulting current and f is the source frequency. The procedure requires that, initially, the winding be excited by dc source up to rated current. A high frequency ac current i s now supcrimpcsd along with dc excitation. The true rms values of voltage, current and die ac source frequency are then recorded. The procedure is cumbersome requiring true rnls meters, two excitation s o u r k s and coupling capacitors to prevent interaction of ac and dc source.

where B is the flux density, V is the volume of the material region, p is the permeability of the material used and I is the steady state current at which inductance is desired.
2.2 Proposed Frequency Response Method The equivalent circuit used to obtain the inductance of SRM winding is shown in Fig. 1 where the flux leakage and end effects are not considered. In the equivalent circuit R, is the stator winding resistance representing the copper losses.

The shunt branch comprising of L i parallel with R, n represents the winding inductance and c ~ f e loss component respectively. Since the rotor is blocked under t s conditions, et there is no friction and windage lass in the motor. Tbe cote loss under this condition is obtained as the difference of iaput power and copper loss @R) in the motor winding. Under running conditions, the back emf effect is also present. It can be modeled as [2]. But the rotor is blocked while measurements are raken and hence tbe effect of ti t r is hs e m neglected. RI I Y
0

records nns values of voltage and current, power, frequency and harmonic -tents, if any. A graduated angular scale with angular resolution of 0.5" was used to lock the rotor at specific positions. However, for experimental purpose, readings were taken at an interval of 2".

3. Experimental Results and Discussions

Experiments are conducted on four phase switched reluctance motor and the inductance is calculated to study the effect of excitation frequency on inductance and m e loss.
3.1 Inductance Profile 'Ihe experimentally obtained inductance profile of SRM for diffaent values of excitation frequency and current is shown m Fig. 3. A comparison of inductance profiles of Fig. 3(a) for 2 A, 3(b) for 4 A, 3(c) for 5 A and 3(d) for 6 A shows that the value of inductance varies between 16.20 mH and 120 mH between unaligned to aligned position of rotor with respect to excited stator. As seen, the effect of variation of excitation frequency from 10 H to 60 H has negligible z z bearing on the inductance profile. These effects are clearly demonstrated in Fig. 4 where the variation of inductance with frequency is plotted for two extreme positions of the rotor and current as the parameter. r It is clear f m Fig. 4 that the experimental values of inductance thus obtained do not vary with either current or frequency especially in the unaligned position of the rotor. At the aligned position, the value of inductance remains practically constant with frequency but decreases with increase in current. This is due to the saturation in the bulk of magnetic material in the aligned position.

p,

v,
f
0

- + 1, I
L

v; 5"
7

R,

Fig.1 Equivalent circuit used to determine inductance pcofiie of Switched Reluctance Motor

The simple experimental setup used to obtain the inductance profile is shown in Fig. 2. A variable voltage, variable frequency generator capable of supplying current up to rated value of motor current i used to feed power to stator s winding with rotor blocked.
Three Phase Input

Power Analyzer

Winding

Fig. 2 Experimental setup to evaluate inducance profile of SRM by proposed frequency respanse method
I

The stator winding is excited and the current is adjusted to a constant value. The source frequency i varied from 10 Hz s to 55 H i steps of 5 H while keeping the current constant. z n z At each frequency, the input power, rms value of current and voltage and frequency are recorded using single phase power analyzer. Similar readings are taken at different values of constant Currents up to rated value of stator winding current The same procedure is repeated for next rotor position by incrementing the rotor position by 2" till one rotor pole pitch is covered. Using above set of readings, the value of inductance and core loss is calculated using the following relations: P=VICoS9p Y =I/V, V = I R , + V, Y=G+jB P,,,=P-12R, R,= 1 / G (8) X,-l/B I Rc = v2, p-I, and L = X I / 2xf Accuracy of the method is dependent on the accuracy of the instrumentation used. Here, an accurate (0.5 %) digital single phase power analyzer is used which s i m u l t a n w l y

3.2 Core Loss Profile Undef the given test coaditions and for the equivalent circuit used for the calculation of inductance, the core losses taking place in the motor axe also calculated as mentioned earlier. The core loss profile is plotted and the effect of excitation current and frequency on core loss is shown in FigS. A comparison of Fig. 5(a), 5(b), 5(c) and 5(d) demonstrates that the m e loss is very sensitive not only to the excitation frequency but also to the Current as compared to the inductance profile. However, the variation of core loss with rotor position is similar to the inductance profile. It is observed that as the rotor passes through the minimum inductance region, the core loss obse~ed minimum and are they increase with increasing inductance from unaligned position of the rotor towards aligned position.

3.3 Effect of Core Loss Component R, on Inductance The effect of considering and neglecting the core loss component R, on inductance measurement for two extreme positions of the rotor is shown in Fig. 6. With excitation z frequency varying from 10 H to 60 Hz for a nominal current of 5 A, the effect of Ron inductance for unaligned position is shown i Fig. qb)and for aligned position in Fig. 60.A n study of Fig. 6 shows that there is a marked difference in the values of the inductance cm considering o neglecting the core r

P i 1m.e

120.0

4
C

Fr o q u o n c y

40.0

10 Hz L o 55 Hz CurronL 4 A 20.0

20.01

0.0 0.00

O.@L--

U
5.m

5.00

10.00

15.66

28.86

25.00

0.00

10.00

Ro t o r

p o s 1t t o n

Rotor

15.00 20.86 Pos t t t o n

2E

r-. T

I = 5 A
HI

1-33.0

;I
0

E -

100.0

80.0

60.0

c 40.0
c-t

20.0

0.0

a. 00

<
0

."-i
c 40.0

20.0

1
4

0.0 0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00- 1 - 20.00 I, r
I

2E

Ro t o r

Pos I t t o n

Rotor

Pos I t t o n

Fig. 3 Inductance profile of SRh4 obtained by propased method

loss component R,. This difference, even though small is more dominant when the observations are carried in the umligned position of minimum inductance region.
n 150.0,
T

'
e

$?A4

n *--.-

-..-. --.-...-.-

AI

50.0
U
U

0 . 0 i r r r r - " y - T T 4 10.00 20.0~3 30.00 40.00

I-

3.4 Comparison In order to validate the experimental results of the lgned .....__..___ __..__._-.._.__ profile obtained by the proposed method, the inductance inductance value is also obtained by two dimensional (2D)

C"??on L 2,-4, 6 A

h o l toned

50.08

d.00

Fr e q u a n c y

Fig. 4 Effea o frequency on inductance profile f

Finite Element Method (FEM) and flux-linkage method. Figure 7 shows a comparison of inductance profiles obtained by FEM method, Flux-Linkage method and the propased method, A study of Fig. 7 clearly demonstrates that the estimation of inductance by this simple method is similar in nature and trend as other methods reported earlier. Difference in the values of inductance is attributed to: (i) the accuracy of measurements (ii) effect of end core, leakage and mutual flux (iii) difference in the assumed and actual nature o f

I".V
F-P

q"e" c y 10 L O 55 Hz Current 2 A

70.0 m.0

28.0 10.0 0.0

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

28.00

25.00

Ro t o r

p o s 1 t [on

90.0

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.86

26.66

z ?

38

Rotor

Pos i t ion

R o t o r P o s ~t

ion

(4
Fig. 5 Core loss profile under ten conditions at different currents

107.5,

?? 1 m . 0 E 102.5
Y

L
~ i L h R. ulLhouL

R.
0 12.5 0 10.0

97.5

U c 95.0

a
3

92.5

J 90.0 U
87.5

85.0
82.5
80.0
I
I T ,
1 1 1 1 1
. , I

2.54

0.0 10.00

20.m

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

7e

I0

Frequency

(Hz)

Fig. 6 Effect of core I component on inductance profile m

110.07-

-'i
10.0

fig. 7 Comparison of indudan= W e d by FEM, flux-linkage and the proposed method

magnetization characteristics of material used in the two dimensional (2D)FEM method and (iv) large number of data handling and quantization effects in recording of voltage and current transients in the fluxlinkage method of inductance estimation. 4. Conclusions The results of a simple methodology to estimate the inductance profie of switched reluctance motor are presented in this paper. The observations from the tests conducted show that die trend of inductance profile by this simple method is similar to the results reported earlier. The effect of variation of excitation frequency on inductance profile and core loss show their respective rotor psitior: sensitivity. The effect of neglecting core loss on inductance profile is presented. The effect of saturation is observed by estimating the inductance at different values of operating flux. The critical evaluation of the validity of the proposed method is made by comparing the results with inductance obtained by finite element and fluxlinkage method. It is observed that the inductance calculated by the proposed method is well within the limits of experimental error as compared to other methods. Hence, this method Ls well suited for estimating inductance profile of switched rcluctance motor. I t is liopcd that the results presented in this paper would facilitate the researchers of SRM to choose suitable method atid Incorporate appropriatc?tolerances for errors according to Fig. 7. 4. Acknowledgement The authors wish to thank Dr. S. Roy of Electrical Engineering Department, I.I.T. Delhi for his help in estimating inductance by Finite Element Method.
5. References
[I]

S.K.Panda, G.A.J.Amartunga, "Analysis of

the Waveform Detection Technique for Indirect Rotor-Position Sensing of Switched Reluctance Motors", IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, Vol. 6,

No. 3, Sept. 1991,pp.476-483. Michael G.Egan, Michael B. Harrington and J.M.D. Mutphy, "PWM based Position Sensorless Control of Variable Reluctance Motor Drives", Proceedings of the Conference EPE, FIRENZE, 1991, pp. 4-024, 4-029. Iqbal Hussain and Mehardad &ani, "Rotor Position Sensing in Switched Reluctance Motor Drives by Measuring Mutually Induced Voltages", IEEE Trans. on Industry Applications, Vol. 30,No. 3, May/June 1994, pp. 665-671. P. Laurent, M. Gabsi, B. Multon, "Sensorless Rotor Position Analyxis using Resonant Method for Switched Reluctance Motor", 1993 IEEE IAS Annual M e i g etn, pp. 687-694. M. Ehsani, K. R. Ramani, "Direct Control Strategies based on Sensing Inductance in Switched Reluctance Motors", IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, Vol.11, No. 1, Jan.1996,pp. 74-82. M. Ehsani, Iqbal Hussain, S . Mahajan, and K. R. Ramani, "New Modulation Encoding Techniques for Indirect Rotor Pasition Sensing in Switched Reluctance Motors", IEEE T a s on Industry rn. Applications, Vol. 30No. 1, Jan./Feb. 1994, pp. 85-91. M. Ehsani, Iqbal Hussain, and A. B. Kulkami, "Elimination of Discrete Position Sensor and Current Sensor in Switched Reluctance Maor Drives", IEEE T a s on Industry Applicadons, Vol. 28, No. 1, rn. Jan./Feb. 1992, pp. 128-135. J. C. Prescot and A. K. El-Kharashi, "A New Method for Measuring Self-Inductance Applicable to Large Electrical Machines", IEE Proc. Pt. B, Vol. 127, No. 4, April, 1959, pp. 169-173. R. Krishnan and P. Materu, 'Measurement and Instrumentation of a Switched Reluctance Motor", Conf. Record, IEEE IAS Annual Meeting, 1989, pp. 116-121. Alessandro Ferrero, Angelo Raciti, "A Digital Method for the Determination of the Magnetic Characteristic of Variable Reluctance Motors", IEEE T a s on rn. Instrumentation and Measurement, Vol. 39, No.4, Aug. 1990, pp. 604-608. Alessandro Ferrero, Angelo Raciti and Carmelo Urzi, "An Indirect Test Method for the Characterization of Variable Reluctance Motors", IEEE Trans. on Instrumentation and Measurement, Vol. 42, No.6, Dec. 1993, pp. 1020-1025. W. F. Ray and F. Erfan, "A New Method of Nux o r Inductance Measurement for Switched Reluctance Motors", IEE Conf. Record of Power Electronics and Variable Speed Drives, 26-28 Oct. 1994,No. 399, pp. 137140. S.P.Rao, "Application of MagnedD Software to Electromagnetic Analysis and Design with special reference to Switched Reluctance Motor", M.Tech. thesis, Electrical Engineering, I.I.T., Delhi, Nov., 1996.

Appendix I

Curren

t.

A)

Flux-linkage cbaracteristics o SRM u e to o h i n induaance profile by f sd flux-linkage method

Appendix II

Stator core

Annulus of zero magnetic vector potential

,
Stator winding At Aligned position
At Unaligned position

Rux plot obtained by finite element method