Motors with rare earth permanent magnets are the most compact and energy efficient in most applications. However, their use as traction motors for off-highway vehicles, such as mining dump trucks, is challenging not only because of the high cost of the magnets, but also because of the difficulty of providing a wide range of constant power speed control due to the unregulated permanent magnet flux. For this reason, induction motors remain the most popular type of motor for hybrid and all-electric mining dump trucks. However, the use of an induction motor results in increased power loss, increased current, and high temperature ripple of the power switches of the solid-state inverter when stopping on a slope with an electric brake. In this article, a theoretical comparison between an induction motor (IM) and a magnet-free wound rotor synchronous motor (WRSM) with a rotor DC-excitation in a mining dump truck drive is presented. Both motors have an identical stator outer diameter, and their geometry is optimized using the Nelder-Mead method. 2D finite element analysis in the time domain is used to calculate the IM characteristics. Steady-state characteristics of the motors such as efficiency, losses, torque ripple, required inverter power, dimensions, weight and cost of active materials are compared. In addition, losses and temperature ripples in the power modules of the semiconductor inverter, which affect the reliability of the drive, are compared when using the considered motors. The study demonstrates that the WRSM offers significant benefits such as reduced power loss, inverter power requirement, cost and mass of active materials, making it promising for use in mining trucks.

Despite the great potential and the high performance of energy-efficient line-start permanent magnet synchronous motors (LSPMSMs), their developers face a great deal of difficulties, one of which is the lack of reliable and accurate testing methods for such electrical machines. In this paper, we propose a new method for indirectly determining the efficiency of LSPMSM through the summation of individual loss components. The standard input-output method usually used for these machines is based on torque measurement, requires expensive measuring equipment, and, as a rule, has great uncertainty. Contrarily, the proposed method does not require direct measurement of torque and mechanical power on the shaft and is less sensitive to measurement uncertainties. The theoretical substantiation of the proposed method and its experimental verification using a commercially available four-pole LSPMSM with a rated power of 0.55 kW are presented. Satisfactory convergence of the experimental results obtained using the standard input-output method and using the proposed indirect method is shown.

The use of Line-Start Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (LSPMSM) improves the efficiency of conventional direct-on-line electric motor-driven fluid machinery such as pumps and fans. Such motors have increased efficiency compared to induction motors and do not have an excitation winding compared to classical synchronous motors with an excitation winding. However, LSPMSMs have difficulty in starting mechanisms with a high moment of inertia. This problem can be exacerbated by a reduced supply network voltage and a voltage drop on the cable. This article investigates the transients during the startup of an industrial centrifugal pump with a line-start permanent magnet synchronous motor. The simulation results showed that when the voltage on the motor terminals is reduced by 10%, the synchronization is delayed. The use of the cable also leads to a reduction in the voltage at the motor terminals in a steady state, but the time synchronization delay is more significant than that with a corresponding reduction in the supply voltage. The considered simulation example shows that the line-start permanent magnet synchronous motor has no problems with starting the pumping unit, even with a reduced supply voltage. The conclusions of this paper support a wider use of energy-efficient electric motors and can be used when selecting an electric motor to drive a centrifugal pump.

Direct-on-line synchronous motors are a good alternative to induction motors in fluid machinery drives due to their greater energy efficiency but have the significant disadvantage of limiting the maximum moment of inertia of the loading mechanism to ensure their successful and reliable start-up. This disadvantage is critical in centrifugal fans with a massive steel impeller. In this article, using a mathematical model, the dynamics of starting and synchronizing a permanent magnet synchronous motor fed directly from the mains as part of a fan drive are studied. The simulation results show the possibility of increasing the maximum moment of inertia of the load at the successful start-up of a direct-on-line synchronous motor by adjusting the hydraulic part of the fan pipeline by means of throttling. The conclusions of this paper can be used when selecting an electric motor to drive industrial fans and can contribute to wider use of energy-efficient synchronous motors with direct start-up from the mains.

Line-start permanent magnet synchronous motors (LSPMSMs) are of great interest to researchers because of their high energy efficiency, due to the growing interest of manufacturers in energy-efficient units. However, LSPMSMs face some difficulties in starting and synchronization processes. The LSPMSM lumped parameter model is applicable to estimating the successfulness of starting and further synchronization. The parameters of such a model can be determined using computer-aided identification algorithms applied to real motor transient processes’ curves. This problem demands significant computational time. A comparison between two algorithms, differential evolution and Nelder–Mead, is presented in this article. The algorithms were used for 0.55 kW, 1500 rpm LSPMSM parameter identification. Moreover, to increase computational speed, it is proposed to stop and restart the algorithms’ procedures, changing their parameters after a certain number of iterations. A significant advantage of the Nelder–Mead algorithm is shown for the solving of the considered problem.

In contemporary automotive, maritime, and commercial vehicle technology, various types of transport rely on permanent magnet synchronous motors for their space-saving advantages. However, these motors come with certain drawbacks. Permanent magnets, while efficient, can prove costly and have issues maintaining consistent flux, especially when requiring wide constant power speed ranges in the field weakening domain. Consequently, an appealing substitute for permanent magnet motor systems might involve motors that incorporate a field winding, offering potential benefits in terms of both cost and performance adaptability. The article presents a new design of a traction synchronous motor with a field winding on the rotor with a two-phase brushless harmonic exciter that increases the electromotive force on the field winding. This article also proposes a zero-sequence current injector circuit using only the lower transistor, which does not require an expensive upper driver. Its mathematical model is proposed considering PWM and the simulation results are presented. The operation of the motor with relay control of the excitation flux is considered.