A Non-linear Model for Switched Reluctance Motors

K V Reddy, Grad IE M V Kumar, Non-member

Phase windings of switched reluctance motors (SRM) are modelled by a non-linear inductance and resistance. The phase inductance of SRM changes with both the rotor position and the phase current. Therefore, the nonlinear model of SRM must be identified as a function of the phase current and rotor position. This paper proposes a non-linear mathematical model to switched reluctance motor in terms of Fourier series expression of phase inductance. The non-linear model for SRM is developed and simulated using hysteresis current control. Simulations were carried out on a four phase switched reluctance motor with eight stator poles and six rotor poles. The simulation results validate the applicability of the non-linear model for the SRM.
Keywords : Non-linear modelling; Inductance based model; Switched reluctance motor

INTRODUCTION The concept of the switched reluctance machine is actually very old, going back to the 19th century inventions called electromagnetic engines1, which were the forerunners of modern stepper motors. The switched reluctance motor (SRM) is basically a stepper motor and there are many applications as both rotary and linear steppers. The idea of using the SR configuration in a continuous mode (on contrast to a stepper mode) with power semi-conductor control is due primarily to Nasar2, French3, Koch4 and Lawrenson5 in the 1960s. At that time, only thyristor power semi-conductors were available for the relatively high-current, high-voltage type of control needed for SR machines. These days, power transistors, GTOs, IGBTs, and power MOSFETs have been developed in the power ranges required for SRM control. Switched reluctance motors have undergone rapid development in hybrid electric vehicles, aircraft starter/ generator systems, washing machines, and automotive applications over the last two decades. This is mainly due to the various advantages of SRMs over other electric motors, such as, simple and robust construction, and fault-tolerant performance. In most of these applications, speed and torque control are necessary. To obtain high quality control, an accurate model of the SRM is often needed. At the same time, to increase reliability and reduce cost, sensorless controllers are preferred. With the rapid progress in microprocessors (DSP), MIPS-intensive control techniques, such as, sliding mode observers and controllers6 become more and more promising. An accurate non-linear model of the SRM is essential to realize such control algorithms. The non-linear nature of SRM and high saturation of phase
K V Reddy is with the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University College of Engineering, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada, A P and M V Kumar is with the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, J N T U College of Engineering, Anantapur, A P. This paper was received on July 19, 2007. Written discussion on this paper will be entertained till May 31, 2009.

winding during operation makes the modelling of SRM a challenging work. The flux linkage and phase inductance of SRM change with both the rotor position and the phase current. Therefore, the non-linear model of SRM must be identified as a function of the phase current and rotor position. In this paper a non-linear model of the SRM is presented. The position dependency of the phase inductance is represented by a limited number of Fourier series terms and the non-linear variation of the inductance with current is expressed by means of polynomial functions. This model can describe the non-linearity of SRM inductance quite well. In this paper, the procedures to identify an 8/6 SRM parameters from standstill test data are presented after a brief introduction to the inductance model of SRM. The inductance and torque expressions are derived. Simulations were carried out using Maltab / Simulink. The current and torque waveforms are described. INDUCTANCE MODEL OF SRM The inductance model of switched reluctance motor is shown in Figure 1. Since the phase inductance changes periodically with the rotor position angle, it can be expressed as a Fourier i

L (, i)

Figure 1 Inductance model of SRM

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series with respect to rotor position angle7,8 . Hence, (1) where Nr is the number of rotor poles. To determine the coefficients in the Fourier series, the inductances at several specific positions are needed. L(i ) is used to represent the inductance at position , which is a function of phase current and can be approximated by a polynomial 8. (2) where p is the order of the polynomial and a,n are the coefficients of polynomial. In this work p = 5 is chosen after comparing with the fitting results of p = 3, 4, and 6. For an 8/6 machine, Nr = 6. When = 0 is chosen as the aligned position of phase A, then = 30 is the unaligned position of phase A. Usually, the inductance at unaligned can be treated as a constant8. L30 = constant Three Term Inductance Model If three terms are used in the Fourier series, then the three coefficients L0, L1, and L2 from L0 (aligned position), L30 (unaligned position), and L15 (a midway between the above two positions) can be computed. Since (3)

(6)

(7)

PARAMETER IDENTIFICATION FROM STANDSTILL TEST DATA The basic idea of standstill test is to apply a short voltage pulse to the phase winding with the rotor blocked, record the current generated in the winding, and then use maximum likelihood estimation to estimate the resistances and inductances of the winding9. By performing this test at a different current level, the relationship between inductance and current can be curve-fitted with polynomials. Before testing, the motor is rotated to a specific position (with one of the phase windings aligned, unaligned, or at other positions) and blocked. The voltage and current at the winding is sampled and recorded. Later on, the test data are used to identify the winding parameters. The motor used in this test is an 8/6 SRM. Tests are performed at several specific positions for current between 0 A 30 A. The inductance estimation and curve-fitting results at aligned, midway, and unaligned position are shown in Figure 2 Figure 4 (results are obtained using Matlab/ Simulink). From Figure 2 the inductance variation with current at aligned position is given by

(4)

L0(i ) = a0 + a1i + a2i 2 + a3i 3 + a4i 4 +a5i 5 where,

(8)

therefore,

a0 = 5.1604e -3
(H) 6 10 3 Inductance against current at = 0 Test data Curve fitting

(5)
5
Inductance

Four Term Inductance Model If four terms are used in the Fourier series, then the four coefficients L0, L1, L2, and L3 can be computed from L0 (aligned position), L10, L20, and L30 (unaligned position). Since

4 3 2 1 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Current, A Figure 2 Standstill test results for inductance at aligned position

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a1 = 1.045e - 4 a2 = - 8.5995e - 5 a3 = 7.2598e - 6 a4 = -2.4239e-7 a5 = 2.8947e - 9 From Figure 3, the inductance variation with current at midway position is given by L15(i ) =b0+b1i + b2i 2 + b3i 3 +b4i 4 +b5i 5 where b0 = 2.6148e - 3 b1 = -2.8977e - 5 b2 = -6.3393e - 6 b3 = 3.3332e -7 b4 = -6.5723e - 9 b5 = 4.8467e -11 The inductance at unaligned position is constant and is given by L30= 0.0004936 From equations (5), (8), (9) and (10) L0(i ) =c0+c1i +c2i +c3i +c4i +c5i where c0 = 2.72159e - 3 c1 = 1.16365e - 5 c2 = -2.46659e - 5 c3=1.98161e - 6
10 3 (H)3.0 Inductance against current at = 15 Test data Curve fitting
2 3 4 5

(H) 7 6 5
Inductance

10 4

Inductance against current at = 30 Test data Curve fitting

4 3 2 1 0

(9)

15 20 25 30 Current, A Figure 4 Standstill test results for inductance at unaligned position

10

c4= - 6.388365e - 8 c5= 7.479085e -10 L1(i ) =d0 +d1i + d2i 2 +d3i 3 +d4i 4+d5i 5 where d0 = 2.33202e -3 d1 = 5.225e - 5 (11) d2 = - 4.29975e -5 d3= 3.6299e - 6 d4 = -1.21195e -7 d5 = 1.44735e -9 L2(i ) =e0+e1i + e2i 2 +e3i 3 + e4i 4 +e5i 5 where e0 = 1.0679e - 4 e1 = 4.06135e - 5 e2= -1.83266e - 5 (13) (12)

(10)

2.5
Inductance

2.0

e3= 1.64829e - 6 e4 = - 5.731135e - 8 e5= 6.994415e -10 From (1), (9) - (11) the inductance, a function of rotor position and current, is given by

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0 15 20 25 30 Current, A Figure 3 Standstill test results for inductance at midway position 0 5 10

(14)

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The phase voltage equation can be expressed as

6 5
Inductance, H

10 3

4 3 2

(15)
1 0 30 20 Current, A 10 0 0 20 40

60

where

Figure 5 Non-linear phase Inductance

A three-dimensional (3-D) plot of inductance shown in Figure 5 depicts the profile of inductance against rotor position and phase current. At 0o and 60o, phase A is at its aligned positions and has the highest value of inductance. It decreases when the phase current increases. At 30o, phase A is at its unaligned position and has lowest value of inductance. The inductance at unaligned position does not change much with the phase current and can be treated as a constant. The inductance at midway and aligned position decrease when current increases due to saturation. In Figure 6, the flux linkage against rotor position and phase current based on the estimated inductance model is shown. The saturation of phase winding at high currents is clearly represented. At aligned position, the winding is highly saturated at high currents. VOLTAGE EQUATION AND TORQUE COMPUTATION Based on the inductance model described before, the phase voltage equations can be formed and the electromagnetic torque can be computed from the partial derivative of magnetic co-energy with respect to rotor angle10.

The general torque expression is given by10 (16) where Wco is the co-energy. The co-energy is the area below the magnetization curve and is given by the definite integral

(17)
0.030 0.025
Flux linkage, wb-turn

So, the torque equation becomes

0.020 0.015 0.010 0.005 0.0 20 15 10 Current, A 5 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

(18)

Figure 6 Flux linkage at different currents and different rotor positions

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14 2.0 1.5 1.0

Torque, N-m Current, A

12 10 8 6 4 2 20 Current, A 10 0 0 20 40 60 0 0.005 0.010 0.015 0.020 0.025 0.030 0.035 0.040 0.045 Time, s Figure 8 Current in phase A

0.5 0.0 -0.5 -1.0 -1.5 -2.0 30

Figure 7 Torque at different currents and different rotor positions

Figure 7 shows the torque variation with the rotor angular position at different values of phase current. Since the inductance gradient is negative from 0 to 30 the torque is negative and the inductance gradient is positive from 30 to 60 the torque is positive. The torque-speed equation can be expressed as
Torque, Nm

0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2

(19)

where J is the moment of inertia of rotor, T e , the electromagnetic torque, and Tl is the load torque. Te can be computed as, (20) where, Te,j is the electromagnetic torque of the j th phase and n is the number of phases. SIMULATION RESULTS Simulations were carried out using Matlab/Simulink on a four phase switched reluctance motor with eight stator poles and six rotor poles. The results, shown in Figure 8 to Figure 10, have been achieved using hysteresis current control for turn-on angle on= 30, turn-off angle off= 54.5, constant speed n = 500 rpm and a current reference of Iref = 12 A, with the motor functioning without load. Figure 8 shows the influence of the hysteresis current control on the shape of the phase current. Figure 9 shows the torques produced by single phase and Figure 10 shows the total torque produced by the motor. The simulation results really report the work status of SRM and validate the applicability of the non-linear model for the SRM. The simulation results help to out predicting to the dynamic performance of the SRM.
Torque, Nm

0.1 0 0.005 0.010 0.015 0.020 0.025 0.030 0.035 0.040 0.045 Time, s Figure 9 Torque produced by phase A 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045 0.05 Time, s Figure 10 Total torque produced by SRM

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CONCLUSION This paper proposes a non-linear mathematical model to a four phase 8/6 switched reluctance motor in terms of Fourier series expression of phase inductance. The procedure to estimate the non-linear inductance from standstill test data is also explained. The variation of inductance, flux and torque with current and rotor position are described using threedimensional plots. This model describes the non-linearity of the SRM quite well. The developed non-linear model is simulated in Matlab / Simulink environment using hysteresis current controller. The simulation results validate the applicability of the non-linear model for the SRM. REFERENCES
1. J V Byrne, et al. A High Performance Variable Reluctance Drive : A New Brushless Servo. Proceedings of Motor Control, October 1985, p 147. 2. S A Nasar. dc Switched Reluctance Motor. Proceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, vol 166, no 6, June 1969, p 1048. 3. P French and A H Williams. A New Electric Propulsion Motor. Proceedings of AIAA Third Propulsion Joint Specialist Conference,

Washington D C, July 1967. 4. L E Unnewehr and H W Koch. An Axial Air-gap Reluctance Motor for Variable Speed Application. IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, vol PAS-93, no 1, January 1974, p 367. 5. P J Lawrenson. Switched Reluctance Motor Drives. Electronics and Power, 1983, p 144. 6. V Utkin, J Guldner and J Shi. Sliding Mode Control in Electromechanical Systems. Taylor and Francis, New York, 1999. 7. Wenzhe Lu, Ali Keyhani, Harald Klode, Abbas Fardoun and Amuliu Bogdan Proca. Modeling and Parameter Identification of Switched Reluctance Motor from Operating Data using Neural Networks. IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, 2003. 8. B Fahimi, G Suresh T Madhavi and M Ehsani. A New Approach to Model Switched Reluctance Motor Drive Application to Dynamic Performance Prediction, Control and Design. Power Electron Specialists Conference, vol 2, 1998. 9. Wenzhe Lu, Ali Keyhani and Abbas Fardoun. Neural Network based Modelling and Parameter Identification of Switched Reluctance Motors. IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, vol 18, no 2, June 2003. 10. T J E Miller. Switched Reluctance Motors and their Control. Magna Physics and Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1993.

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