The use of wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices, which enable higher switching slew rates, and the increase in DC link voltage, which provides system-wide advantages, exposes the winding system of traction machines to enhanced electrical stress. The resulting nonlinear voltage distribution along the motor winding favors partial discharges (PD), which in low voltage (LV) machines causes excessive damage to the insulation system, and premature failure can occur. A simple solution by increasing the enamel thickness of the wires leads on the one hand to a lower copper fill factor. On the other hand, this measure is not necessarily accompanied by an increase in electrical resilience in the case of pulsed voltage. It is therefore essential to understand the phenomenon of partial discharges, which is composed of a large number of processes and mechanisms, to be able to make an estimation of aging. The ultimate goal is to derive a lifetime model that links the dynamic load collectives – ideally in conjunction with the environmental stress influences – of a traction application to a usage-dependent and realistic prediction of the residual lifetime. To this end, this paper provides an overview of the current state of science and technology in this interdisciplinary topic by describing, with reference to high voltage (HV) technology/engineering, the design of the insulation system, the discharge physics, the degradation mechanisms, the statistical effects to be considered, and the partial discharge measurement methods.

For applications with high torque demand, gearboxes are commonly used to convert torque and speed in order to receive higher specific values for torque and power. This causes additional losses, cost, inaccuracies, effort, and noise. Eliminating the need of a mechanical gear and the associated disadvantages, Transverse Flux Machines with their high torque density are a very promising alternative. Despite a high torque density and a high efficiency, these types of machines are not commonly used. Due to the complex structure, challenges with mechanical design, and modeling of the machine behavior arise. Additionally, there are high requirements for the inverter due to the low power factor. This paper provides an overview of the state of the art including the potentials and advantages but also the problems and hindrances of these types of machines. Relating to linear and rotary machines from research and industry, the machine is introduced with its history, application and classification. Further, the general technical aspects, the influence of materials for flux guidance, the methods of modeling, methods for a minimization of torque ripples, as well as methods for power factor improvement are presented.

This paper presents a power unit for use in the primary side of 3 kW rated inductive charging system. The objective is the design of 3 kW rated primary sides which are compatible to 20 kW rated secondary side receiving units inside electric vehicles. The motivation arises from the consideration that 3 kW and 20 kW charging stations should be kept compatible. Compatible especially in the way that vehicles with 20 kW rated receiving units should be able to use 3 kW charging stations. The basis for the design of the 3 kW system is a series-compensated secondary receiving coil without an additional DC/DC-converter stage between a B4 rectifier and battery with a rated power of 20 kW. The absence of a DC/DC stage allows lower weight and installation space in the vehicle, but the possibility for impedance matching is missing. The system behavior is investigated analytically, so that all currents and voltages, as well as the reactive power in both compensation networks can be calculated depending on the given systems parameter, such as the inductance of the secondary coil, the coupling factor, the operation frequency and the transferred power. It is shown that the operation point with the lowest reactive power, and thus least losses in the coils and compensation capacitors, strongly depends on the design of the receiving unit. Since the receiving unit is designed for a transferred power of 20 kW, an operation with 3 kW will result in a significantly lower efficiency. Therefore a solution is presented, to shift the ideal operation point of the secondary side system from 20 kW to a much lower value. That way, the 3 kW system is able to operate very close to the shifted ideal operation point.

The demand for electric machines has been rising steadily for several years—mainly due to the move away from the combustion engine. Synchronous motors with rare earth permanent magnets are widely used due to their high power densities. These magnets are cost-intensive, cost-sensitive and often environmentally harmful. In addition to dispensing with permanent magnets, electrically excited synchronous machines offer the advantage of an adjustable excitation and, thus, a higher efficiency in the partial load range in field weakening operation. Field weakening operation is relevant for the application of vehicle traction drive. The challenge of this machine type is the need for an electrical power transfer system, usually achieved with slip rings. Slip rings wear out, generate dust and are limited in power density and maximum speed due to vibrations. This article addresses an electrically excited synchronous machine with a wireless power transfer onto the rotor. From the outset, the machine is designed with a wireless power transfer system for use in a medium-sized electric vehicle. As an example, the requirements are derived from the BMW’s i3. The wireless power transfer system is integrated into the hollow shaft of the rotor. Unused space is thus utilized. The overall system is optimized for high efficiency, especially for partial load at medium speed, with an operation point-depending optimization method. The results are compared with the reference permanent magnet excited machine. A prototype of the machine is built and measured on the test bench. The measured efficiency of the inductive electrically excited synchronous machine is up to 4% higher than that of the reference machine of the BMW i3.

This article proposes an online diagnosis scheme for transistor faults of asymmetric half-bridge converter (AHBC) in switched reluctance motor (SRM) drives. In order to extract more information from the phase current to identify faults, based on the conventional current measurement method, two novel current measurement methods are presented by reconstructing current sensors. According to the novel current measurement methods, a current prediction method is raised. The phase current at the k th sampling time is available so that the estimated current can be calculated. The fault can be detected and located by analyzing the given and actual switching states, which are deduced by comparing the measured and estimated currents. Compared with existing methods, the proposed scheme can be applied to diagnosis of multiple faults in n -phase AHBC, which can operate at various control strategies and chopping modes. With a single current sensor in each phase, the scheme will not increase the cost and complexity of the SRM drive. Furthermore, the scheme does not require complicated computation, making it easy to implement online. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed scheme.

For wireless power transfer (WPT) systems applied to electric vehicles, the dual-phase-shift (DPS) controlled full-bridge active rectifier (FBAR) is often utilized to extend the system regulation range to cover the wide coupling factor and black load range. In addition, zero-voltage switching (ZVS) is always desired to reduce switching losses and electromagnetic interference. However, the ZVS operation of DPS-controlled FBAR usually requires a non-zero input phase angle, which can result in the detuning of the secondary side with a conventional compensation network and impair the system performance. black This article proposes an impedance mapping-based T-compensation network (IMTCN) for the characteristics of FBAR. This IMTCN can minimize the reactive power demand on the secondary side while ensuring the ZVS of the FBAR. A DPS control strategy for FBAR adapted to the proposed IMTCN is also developed to optimize the system operation while achieving the rated power operation and ZVS of all power switches at all operating points. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed IMTCN can improve the system efficiency at almost all operating points by up to $3.0\%$ compared to the system with a conventional $LCC$ compensation network. Moreover, the proposed DPS control strategy can also effectively optimize the transfer performance.