With the increasing environmental concerns, a paradigm shift towards electric and hybrid electric vehicles is expected. Switched Reluctance Motors (SRMs) have emerged as a viable competitor to other established electrical machines. SRMs are known for their simple construction, robustness, inherent fault tolerant structure and low production and maintenance costs. Moreover, the machine has gained interest due to the absence of permanent magnets or windings in the rotor structure, which significantly reduces production costs when compared to other electric motors. The SRM, however, present some known drawbacks, such as increased torque ripple and acoustic noise production, as well as a highly nonlinear behaviour. Through the use of adequate control strategies, however, the main challenges of the machine can be overcome. Thus, this paper presents a state-of-the-art review of the advanced control of SRMs, encompassing current regulation strategies, torque control strategies and vibration suppression techniques. First, two-categories of current controllers are reviewed: model-independent and model-based. Next, indirect and direct torque control methods are explored. Then, three approaches to vibration suppression are discussed, namely active cancellation, current profiling and direct instantaneous force control. Lastly, a summary of each topic is presented and suggestions of future research topics are listed.
With the ever growing environmental concerns, renewable energy sources emerge as a promise of clean and abundant energy, enabling long-term sustainable development. In this context, wind power gained significant interest due to its relative low cost and availability. Switched reluctance generators (SRGs) are suitable candidates for wind energy conversion systems, as they present a simple structure, robustness, a wide range of speed and are capable of operating in harsh environments. The machine, however, poses challenges such as high torque ripple, acoustic noise production and highly nonlinear behavior. Nonetheless, with the use of adequate control strategies, high dynamic performance SRG-based wind energy conversion systems can be achieved. As a result, this article presents a state of the art review of SRGs in wind power applications. First, the fundamentals of the SRG are presented. Next, two categories of firing angle control are reviewed: optimization and closed-loop control. Then, voltage and power control strategies are discussed, being divided in model-independent and model-based approaches. After that, a review on grid-tied SRG-based wind energy conversion systems is carried out. The most common filter topologies as well as the employed control strategies are detailed. Lastly, an outline of the discussed topics is presented and future trends as well as suggestions for future investigation are listed.
28 September 2021 in IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics
This article from a discrete-time model and stability analysis is developed using a Lyapunov approach, taking into account the one sample implementation delay present in digital control applications. Experimental results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, where a conventional hysteresis controller is used as a benchmark. Results show that the proposal is able to deliver adequate reference tracking while using significantly lower sampling frequencies. Moreover, when compared to the hysteresis controller, superior tracking is observed at low speeds, while maintaining a similar level of computational complexity.
A unified unsaturated-reluctance-based wide speed range sensorless control method for switched reluctance machines (SRMs) is proposed in this article. First, the sensitivity analysis of the estimated position to the possible reluctance calculation error is analyzed. This analysis reveals the feasible regions with low sensitivity and low risk of entering saturation. Then, the unsaturated reluctance in these feasible regions is obtained and modeled. A simple second-order rational expression is proposed to fit the highly nonlinear unsaturated reluctance curve. With this simple model, the rotor position can be analytically calculated only by solving a simple quadratic problem. Based on the abovepresented analysis, a wide-speed range sensorless control is developed. The rotor position is universally estimated from the real-time reluctance value and the proposed analytical model. The high-frequency voltage injection and normal conduction phase are combined to calculate the phase reluctance over the wide-speed range. The concerns of calculating reluctance at the low-speed range are also discussed. A 5.1 kW four-phase 8/6 SRM is used to verify the proposed method. Various steady state and transient state experimental results prove the effectiveness of the proposed sensorless control method.
1 June 2021 in IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion