A cost‐effective and fault‐tolerant brushless direct current drive with open‐stator windings for low power electric vehicles

Abstract

Summary Dual‐inverter‐driven open‐end winding brushless direct current motor (OEWBLDCM) drives are amenable for the implementation of some interesting fault‐tolerant features, which could find useful applications in low power electric vehicles (EVs). The power semiconductor switching devices in the dual‐inverter system are vulnerable to the development of open‐circuit faults (OCFs) and the short‐circuit faults (SCFs). This paper investigates the possibility of imparting complete fault‐tolerant capability to EVs, which employ OEWBLDC motors for propulsion. With the proposed dynamic post‐fault reconfiguration of the power circuit and the reconnection of the battery banks, it is possible to deliver the rated (i.e., 100%) post‐fault output power to the BLDC motor, despite the failure of a power semiconductor switching device (because of either an OCF or an SCF) in the dual‐inverter system. The feasibility evaluation of the proposed fault‐tolerant drive reveals that the aforementioned objectives are realizable at an affordable hike in the raw material cost of the propulsion system. Simulation studies and Experimental verification on a laboratory prototype validate the proposed fault‐tolerant OEWBLDCM drive.

Hall sensor fault diagnosis and compensation in Brushless DC motor drive using artificial intelligence technique

“…This depicts the need for fault‐free Hall sensors, but there is a possibility of faults in the Hall sensor because of lack of power supply, wrong connections, short circuit or open circuit of the signal line, operating environment, and so forth 2 . If a fault occurs in any position sensor, then the proper phase commutation does not happen, and in turn, it will lead to high torque ripple and rapid braking of the motor 3 . The rapid braking during high speed may result in high mechanical stress, and incurable problems may occur.…”

Multilevel Inverter fed Direct Torque and Flux Control‐Space Vector Modulation of Speed Sensorless Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor drive with Improved Steady State and Dynamic Characteristics

“…Because of permanent magnets, PMSM is able to produce torque under zero speed condition also. There are various types of speed control techniques are available such as scalar control, vector controls and model predictive controls (MPC) 3–14 . The vector control method further classified as field‐oriented control (FOC), 2,3 direct torque control (DTC), 4–6 and direct torque and flux control with space vector modulation (DTFC‐SVM) 15,16 …”

“…The multilevel inverters (MLIs) grab more attention while improving performance of AC motor drives in medium to high voltage applications by improving the system performance under steady state and dynamic conditions along with reduced ripples in torque and also total harmonic distortions (THDs) in line voltage and currents 9–14 . Different MLI configurations are discussed in previous works, 7–9 such as diode clamped, cascaded H‐bridge, and flying back capacitor.…”

“…There are various types of speed control techniques are available such as scalar control, vector controls and model predictive controls (MPC). [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] The vector control method further classified as field-oriented control (FOC), 2,3 direct torque control (DTC), [4][5][6] and direct torque and flux control with space vector modulation (DTFC-SVM). 15,16 The MPC and DTFC-SVM techniques are more commonly used in various industrial applications because of certain drawbacks and limitations associated with other speed control techniques like FOC and DTC.…”

“…The multilevel inverters (MLIs) grab more attention while improving performance of AC motor drives in medium to high voltage applications by improving the system performance under steady state and dynamic conditions along with reduced ripples in torque and also total harmonic distortions (THDs) in line voltage and currents. [9][10][11][12][13][14] Different MLI configurations are discussed in previous works, [7][8][9] such as diode clamped, cascaded H-bridge, and flying back capacitor. These MLI are more prominent because of its peculiar advantages like reduced voltage stress across the semiconductor switches, creating feasibility to incorporate fault tolerant applications such that it improves the reliability of the system and it requires lower voltage, power rating of semiconductor devices.…”