Phase current control of a two phase synchronous

reluctance machine
Samer Yammine, Maurice Fadel, Duy-Minh Nguyen, Dominique Harribey,
Laurent Albert

To cite this version:

Samer Yammine, Maurice Fadel, Duy-Minh Nguyen, Dominique Harribey, Laurent Albert. Phase
current control of a two phase synchronous reluctance machine. IECON 2015 - 41st Annual Con-
ference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, Nov 2015, Yokohama, Japan. pp.000607-000612,
�10.1109/IECON.2015.7392166�. �hal-03543995�

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 IECON20 IS-Yokohama
November 9-12, 2015

Phase Current Control of a Two Phase Synchronous

Reluctance Machine
Samer Yammine l ,2, Maurice Fadel l , Duy-Minh Nguyenl, Dominique Rarribeyl and Laurent Albert2

Abstract-This paper presents a direct phase current controller

for a two phase synchronous machine. Firstly, the machine is
modelled in three domains : the electrical domain, the elec-
tromagnetic domain and the mechanical domain. Secondly, a
linearised model is deduced for the RS controller coefficient de-
termination. The performance is enhanced with the introduction
of a model observer to compensate the system variations around
its nominal point. Afterwards, a full order RS controller with an
augmented bandwidth is tested and is proved to be an alternative
to the model observer. Finally, the three controller configurations
are implemented on a test bench and the experimental results
proved what was found in simulation.
Index Terms-Electric Motors, Synchronous Reluctance, Cur-
rent Control.
Fig. 1: A Four-Pole Two-Phase SynRM with a Transversally
I. INTRODUCTION Laminated Anisotropic Rotor
In recent years, the need to build low cost but efficient
machines with high torque performance has rapidly increased.
Therefore, a renewed interest in the reluctance machines was
present recently, and the Synchronous Reluctance Machine model in order to determine the controller coefficients and the
performances are tested. Afterwards, a model observer is syn-
(SynRM)(figure 1) has emerged as a fierce competitor of
the Induction Machine (1M) [1], [2]. This is due to several thesized and tested in order to enhanced the current controller.
reasons. Primarily, the SynRM has competitive results with Finally, in this section, a full order RS controller is tested to
respect to the 1M but with the absence of copper windings in compare its performance with the observer aided system. In
section IV, the test bench is presented and the experimental
the rotor. Therefore, the increase of the machine temperature
results are shown to validate the system controller.
is limited to the stator windings and for the same thermal
conditions,which represents an operation limit, the SynRM can
deliver more torque than its 1M counterpart [3]. II. THE MACHINE MODEL
Furthermore, when a machine is connected to an inverter, The machine can be modelled using 3 sub-domains: the
the historical necessity to use three phases disappear. There- electric domain where the link between the machine voltage
fore, multi-phase (m =f=. 3) systems can be considered [4], and current in made, the electromagnetic model where the
[5]. However, from a control point of view, a major concern torque is derived from the co-energy of the machine, and the
in such a machine is its salient poles. Therefore, Park's mechanical model where the speed and the angular position
transformation[6] is widely used to deal with this issue where of the machine are derived. The three sub-domains are briefly
the direct and quadrature components are considered as con- presented in this section. Later, the connection of the machine
stant [7], [8], [9], [10]. Nevertheless, when facing a direct with the power electronics is presented and the corresponding
phase current control to impose a definite current form, many model is shown.
problems arises like the system parameter variations. This
paper presents the modelling and the phase current control A. The Electric Model
of two phase synchronous reluctance machine.
In section II, the machine model is first introduced, and then The stator voltages can be written under their matrix form
the power electronics linked to the machine are described and in (1).
modelled as well. In section III, an RS controller synthesis is (1)
presented. A simplified model is deduced from the complete
where V s , R s , Is, \lis are the stator windings' voltages, resis-
1: Universite de Toulouse; lNPT, UPS; LAPLACE (Laboratoire Plasma tances, currents and winding flux respectively. These variables
et Conversion d'Energie) ; ENSEEIHT, 2 rue Charles Camichel, BP 7122,
F-31071 Toulouse cedex 7, France. CNRS ; LAPLACE; F-31071 Toulouse,
can be written in their matrix form for a 2-phase machine in
France. Email: firstname.sumame@laplace.univ-tlseJr equations (2) and (3).
2: Renault; 1 avo du Golf, 78084 Guyancourt, France. Email: first-
name.sumame@renault.com Vs = [VI v2f,Is = [il i2f, \lis = ['l/1I 'l/12f (2)

978-1-4799-1762-4/15/$31.00 ©20 15 IEEE 000607

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Fig. 2: The Electric Model Bloc Diagram
R = [rs 0]
s ° rs
where r s is the resistance of each coil as we assume that
the coils are identical.
The flux of the winding, \ITs, can be expressed as a function
of the stator currents by using the inductance matrix as in (4)
and (5).
Since, by definition, the machine is a salient pole machine,
the phase inductances vary with the angular position of the
rotor (Om). Moreover, the electric model bloc diagram is
represented in figure 2.
B. The Co-Energy and the Electromagnetic Torque
The electromagnetic torque can be derived from the ma-
chine's co-energy Wco as in equation (6).
T em _IOWeol
- (6)
oOm [sconstant
If the system is considered as magnetically linear, the coenergy
can be written as in equation (7) since there does not exist any
excitation in the rotor.
Hence, by replacing (7) in (6), we obtain:
T _!ItoLssI
em - 2 s oOm s
If we consider the angle 0e which represents the rotor dis-
placement in electrical radians, equation (9) can be written.
where p is the number of pole pairs. Hence,
(10)
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2
Fig. 3: The Machine Model Bloc Diagram
C. The Mechanical Model
(3) The mechanical model of the machine can be represented
using Newton's second law for rotation objects:
(11)
J is the system angular inertia. The mechanical losses in
the system will be neglected as well as the static friction.
(4) Therefore, the mechanical model of the machine can be written
as the following:
(5)
(12)
where Iv and Tzoad represent the mechanical viscous friction
and the load torque introduced to the machine respectively.
Now that the three sub domains are modelled, the system
bloc diagram can be represented as in figure 3. Consequently,
the power electronics that feed the machine have to be intro-
duced to the model to fully simulate the controlled machine
performance. The next section will detail the power electronics
model.
D. The Power Electronics
The power electronics module converts the input DC voltage
into an AC voltage in order to feed the machine. As said
earlier, the machine has two phases. In that regard, the power
electronics - machine connection is shown in figure 4. Two H-
Bridge converters are connected to the machine, each feeding
one phase. Moreover, the controller imposes complementary
(7)
states on the two legs of one H-bridge. In other terms, when
the upper switch of the first leg is in the ON state the upper
switch of the second leg is in the OFF state. For the complete
model, the lag time on the switching of the power electronics
(8)
is neglected. Consequently, the voltage equations in function
of the switch states is written as the following:
VI = (2UI - l),VDc
(13)
(9) V2 = (2U 2 -l),VDc
where VDc is the DC input voltage and UI and U2 are
°
the state of the first switch of the first leg of each H-bridge.
Furhthermore, {UI,U2} E {0,1}2 where represents the
OFF state and 1 represents the ON state.
 Fig. 5: The Bloc Diagram of the Current Controlled Machine

Simplified Model Neglected Terms

~,
Fig. 4: The Interconnection between the Power Electronics
A ,

dh dh dL ll
and the Machine VI = rJl + LOdi + (Lll - LO)di + We dee h
Neglected Terms
A

, d12 dL 12 '
III. CONTROLLER SYNTHESIS + L12di + We dee 12 (17)

Now that the model is established, in this section, we Taking into account the mean value of the PWM only, the
will proceed by synthesising the controller on the developed overall simplified system is considered as:
model. The bloc diagram of the complete model as well as
the controller is shown in figure 5. The controller used in this dh
paper is a discrete RS controller with one integral action in
ml V DC =< VI >= rsh + LOdi (18)
the denominator and is written as follows: where ml E [-1,1], is the controller output and can be
represented as the following:
ro + rlz- 1 + r2z-2
(14)
(1 + SlZ-l )(1 - Z-l) ml =< 2ul-l > (19)

Furthermore, the reference currents in the two phases can The simplified model with a time delay of the numerical
be written as follows: system can be also represented in the discrete domain as in
equation 20 with the polynomial representation. A delay is
introduced in the model since when the controller calculation
href = 1maxcos(wet + 1» is done, the results is sent in the next sampling period.
(15)
12re f = 1maxcos(wet + 1> - 7f /2)

where We = pOm and 1> is the phase current angle.

al = -e
-~
LO
(20)
A. Simplified Model for the Controller Coefficient Definition VDC
= --(1- e-----ro)
Tars
b1
This part will deal with phase 1. However, the same equa- rs
tions are applicable to phase 2. The equation that describes the where Ts is the sampling period for the controller.
electrical voltage in phase 1 can be derived from equations (1 The base operation point of the machine is for Orpm
- 5) and can be written as the following: 1500rpm. This value corresponds to Ie = pOrpm/60
50H z. The overall system parameters are defined in table I.
The closed loop system is chosen to be of second order with
a bandwidth (Fbw ) of 500Hz, 10 times the frequency of the
(16) base operation speed.
To impose a system dynamic, the procedure followed is to
solve the following equation:
As can be seen from equation 16, the system we are dealing
with is a non-linear system. In addition, the coefficients of
A(Z-l )S(Z-l) + B(Z-l )R(Z-l) = p(Z-l) (21)
the controller in equation 14 are non-adaptive and therefore where p(Z-l) is the dynamics equation ofthe system and can
constant. In that regard, the model has to be linearised around be written as follows since we are imposing a second order
an operation point and some values have to be neglected. The system:
impact of these simplifications will be later studied in the
section. The system will be linearised around an inductance
Lo, and is written as follows:

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 4

Resolving equations 21 and 22, the expression of the con-

troller coefficients are obtained as in the following equations:

Sl = 2P1 - a1 +1
ro = PI+S1(1- a1)+a1
--=-_ _-'------:c_-----'__
b1 (23)
SIal
r1= - -
b1
Fig. 6: The Control Loop for Phase 1 with the Observer

Parameter Symbol Value Unit

-
role is to estimate the neglected terms NT. Figure 6 shows
Pole Pairs Number p 2
the structure of the observer. Since we do not have access to
Operation Mechanical Speed Orpm 1500 rpm V1 , the output of the controller will be taken as the input of
Electric Angular Frequency We lOOK rd/8
the observer. Equation 25, derived from equation 19, allows
Model Inductance Lo 10 mH us to do so.
Phase Resistance rs 0.49 0
Phase Current 10 A
(25)
Imax
Phase Current Angle 1> 50 0
The observer will have a RS structure as well (equation
Closed Loop Bandwidth Freq F Bw 500 Hz 26) where the coefficients are chosen to have an observer
Sampling Time Ts 0.0001 8 bandwidth Fobs of 4000Hz. This bandwidth should be chosen
Controller Coefficient 1 ro 0.3029 as big as possible in order to have a dynamic observer with
Controller Coefficient 2 r1 -0.2665 important noise rejection capabilities. This allows to have
Controller Coefficient 3 r2 0 an observation error (fobs) as low as possible at all time.
Controller Coefficient 4 81 0.5343 However, this bandwidth is limited by the PWM frequency
since the observer should not be influenced by the PWM or
TABLE I: The Control System Parameters else the system would become unstable. A filter is added at
the output of the observer to be able to control the estimation
injection in the model by filtering high frequency information.
B. Controller Evaluation for Several Operation Points roo + rloz- 1 + r20z-2
(26)
The calculated controller will be tested for four operation (1 + Sloz-l )(1 - Z-1)
points: The simulation results are shown in figure 9(b). The control
• full speed - full load (Om = 1500rpm - Imax = 10A ), gives better results as a smaller regulation error and a smaller
• full speed - low load (Om = 1500rpm - Imax = 3A ), THD are observed.
• low speed - full load (Om = 500rpm - Imax = 10A ), The model observer represents an extra structure in the
• low speed - low load (Om = 500rpm - Imax = 3A ). control loop, which elevates the system complexity, even if it
The results of the regulation are shown in figure 9(a). A delivers better results. In the next paragraph, another solution
good overall performance is perceived for the four cases. is examined that spares us the use of this extra structure. A full
However, when the system operates at full speed, the control order RS controller is tested with an enhanced bandwidth to
functions less properly. This is due to the fact that the speed show that it can replace the observer and can give competitive
intervenes in all the neglected terms in equation 17. Hence, results.
when the speed increases, the model, on which the controller
definition relies, becomes less reliable and the control becomes D. Evaluation of a Full Order Robust RS Controller
less satisfactory. This is partially seen in the total harmonic A full order RS controller is used in this section without the
distortion (THD) ratio shown in figure 9-(a) as well. The introduction of an observer. In other terms, the controller coef-
THD is calculated as shown in equation 24. In the next ficient are calculated to obtain a 4th order system in the closed
paragraph, an observer is added to estimate the neglected terms loop. The bandwidth is increased as well to FBw = 1500Hz.
in the aim to enhance the controller overall performance. The advantages of such structure with respect to the previously
calculated 2 nd order RS controller are the following:
T H D = viE I~armonics (24) • The full order definition will not lead to the simplification
I fundamental of terms in the controller which depends on the system
parameters. These parameters are variable in the system
C. Model Observer for Enhanced Controller Peiformance as seen before.
Since the controller shows a performance deterioration • The increase in bandwidth will lead to a more robust
for the full operation speed, this paragraph will present an noise rejection due to the system parameter variation and
observer to enhance the control performance. The observer's the model simplification.

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 5

This controller shows comparable results in simulation (fig-

ure 9(c» with respect to the case of the observer. Furthermore,
the structure is simpler than the case with the observer.
IV. EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION
In this section, the test bench is briefly introduced, and the
experimental results are shown for the three cases controllers
presented in the previous section.

A. Test Bench Description

The different components of the test bench are presented Fig. 8: The Machine Prototype and the Hysteresis Brake
in figures 7 and 8. As shown, the controller is implemented
on a DSPACE module. The DS2004 is used to acquire the
data, and the DS5101 is used to generate the PWM to change V. CONCLUSION
the power electronics state. In order to fix the system speed, This paper deals with the direct phase control of a two
a speed controlled MAGTROL hysteresis brake (Model HD- phase synchronous reluctance machine. The overall system
710) is used. The machine used is a lab prototype, and its was first modelled, and then the model was simplified in order
performance at nominal speed is shown in table II. to define the RS controller coefficients. A model observer
was later introduced, and better results were shown using this
Parameter Symbol Value Unit observer. Nevertheless, this observer results in an additional
Nominal Phase Current Amplitude Is 10 A system implementation complexity. Therefore, a full order RS
Nominal Current Angle () 50 controller was tested with an enhanced bandwidth. This RS
Nominal Direct Inductance Ld 37.6 mH controller gave competitive results with respect to the 2nd
Nominal Quadrature Inductance Lq 13.8 mH order controller with the observer. Finally, the test bench is
Saliency Ratio (Ld/Lq) ~ 2.72 presented as well as the experimental results. These results
Ld -Lq 23.7 mH lead to the same conclusion as in the simulations and show
Nominal Torque Tavg 2.3 Nm that the THD has been reduced by upto 5 times its initial value.
Nominal Mechanical Speed n 1500 rpm
REFERENCES

TABLE II: The Performance of the SynRM Prototype Used
in this Study
Fig. 7: The Components of the Developed Test Bench
B. The Experimental Results
The experimental results are shown in figure 10 for the
three discussed cases previously. As seen in the simulation, the
addition of the observer to the controller helps decrease the
THD of the current and a better control is seen. Furthermore,
the case with a full order RS controller and a F Bw = 1500Hz
shows comparable results with respect to the case with the
observer.
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 6

Fig. 9: The Simulation Results: (a) 2nd Order RS Controller, Fig. 10: The Experimental Results: (a) 2nd Order RS Con-
(b) 2nd Order RS Controller Including an Observer, (c) Full troller, (b) 2nd Order RS Controller Including an Observer, (c)
Order RS Controller. Full Order RS Controller.

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