Self‐sensing active magnetic bearings with zero‐bias‐current control

A zero‐bias‐current self‐sensing active magnetic bearing is proposed. One degree‐of‐freedom (DOF) of the rotor is controlled by a pair of electromagnets which are alternatively energized by the proposed circuit. The rotor position of the one DOF is measured by using both electromagnets: the nonenergized electromagnet also contributes to the position sensing. The proposed method gives good linearity in the position estimation. The controller of the magnetic levitation consists of a digital signal processor, DSP, which compensates the nonlinearity of the magnetic force and achieves good damping. In the experiment, the rotor can run at 45,000 min^‐1. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 165(2): 69–76, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20616     

A transfer‐function approach to the analysis and design of zero‐power controllers for magnetic suspension systems

A transfer function approach is applied to the analysis and design of zero‐power controllers for magnetic suspension systems. The general structures of controllers achieving zero‐power control are derived for both current‐ and voltage‐controlled magnetic suspension systems. For the former type of system, there are two basic approaches: feeding back the velocity signal and introducing a minor feedback of the integral of the current. Both approaches are applicable to the latter type of system. In addition to them, the self‐sensing suspension also achieves zero‐power characteristics automatically. A direct synthesis method for zero‐power control is developed based on the analysis. Several experiments are carried out with a single‐degree‐of‐freedom model. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed synthesis method. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 141(2): 67–75, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10049     

Performance evaluation of 6000‐A‐class superconducting field windings for 600‐MW‐class superconducting generators

Superconducting generators have many advantages such as increasing generator efficiency and improving power system stability. In Japan, a national project has been conducted since 2000 which is aimed at the development of fundamental technologies required for high‐output‐density and large‐capacity superconducting generators. This paper describes the results of this project, focusing on 6000‐A‐class field winding development. Copyright © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. A superconducting generator with a high output density and a large capacity has inherent factors that decrease superconducting stability. These are: (1) increase in the magnetic field in the winding which is caused by the increase in winding current density and (2) difficulty in fabricating windings which increases as a conductor diameter becomes larger. To secure the stability, we adopted a higher‐copper‐content conductor and a design that increases winding fixing pressure, along with devising a winding method that accommodates larger conductor diameter. These improvements were applied to a partial model of a 600‐MW field winding. Test results of the model showed good stability, indicating that design and fabrication technique for a 6000‐A‐class superconducting field winding has been successfully evaluated. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 159(2): 7– 18, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20332     

A method to determine direct‐ and quadrature‐axis inductances of permanent magnet synchronous motors

The equivalent circuit constants of permanent magnet synchronous motors are needed in the calculation of operation characteristics, construction of a control system, etc. These constants can be computed from the data on structural form and materials. However, measurements are necessary to obtain highly precise values. Methods for measurement of the d‐ and q‐axis inductances can be roughly divided into rotational and standstill methods. The standstill methods have the advantage that they are easy to carry out. However, it is difficult to consider magnetic saturation and distortion of the change in the armature winding inductance. The accuracy of the standstill method can be improved if these effects can be readily taken into account. This paper describes a standstill method for measuring accurate d‐ and q‐axis synchronous inductances of permanent magnet synchronous motors. By utilizing the fact that the EMF interference terms in the motor voltage equation considering the distortion of the inductance change are equal to zero when the rotor is in a specific position, the proposed method determines the inductances considering both magnetic saturation and inductance distortion effects from simple off‐line standstill testing. In addition, this method is capable of taking cross‐magnetic saturation into account when used with the necessary testing equipment. The proposed method was implemented on a 0.4‐kW interior permanent magnet synchronous motor with concentrated stator winding. The validity of the proposed method was demonstrated by comparing the measured and calculated results of the no‐load and on‐load characteristics. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 171(3): 41–50, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20969     

Current waveform distortion of doubly‐fed generator for wind turbine application by spatial higher harmonics

This paper describes a method to analyze higher harmonic currents resulting from higher space harmonics, depending on the winding pattern of a doubly‐fed generator. A 1.5‐MW generator was used for the analysis, and the results are compared using finite element magnetic field analysis and measurements. The result revealed that the proposed analysis, which focuses on the winding pattern and takes into account higher space harmonics, allows us to calculate higher harmonic currents at high precision, understand the mechanism of changing higher harmonic currents due to the slip or the load of the generator and considerably reduce higher harmonic currents at the armature by restricting higher harmonic currents at the magnetic field. In addition, the sensitivity analysis of design parameters clarified the relationship between current distortion and basic characteristics on electric designs. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 167(2): 79–85, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20606     

A sensorless drive system for brushless DC motors using a digital phase‐locked loop

This paper proposes a sensorless drive system for Brushless DC (BLDC) motors using a Digital Phase‐Locked Loop (DPLL). The Back Electromotive Force (BEMF) voltage is measured from the motor winding to determine the permanent magnet rotor position using the DPLL, and Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) limits the motor current to control the speed of BLDC motors. The proposed method can drive BLDC motors using an open‐loop control without stepping out. Also, the proposed method is compared experimentally with a control method that uses Hall sensors. Experimental results for the BLDC motor show the effectiveness of the proposed method. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 142(1): 57–66, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10074     

Walsh function‐based position sensorless control for interior permanent magnet motor drives using ripple‐current of high‐frequency triangular‐wave‐carrier PWM inverter

This paper proposes the Walsh function‐based position sensorless drive method of a PM motor by using high‐frequency 20‐kHz triangular‐wave‐carrier PWM inverter ripple current. The proposed method uses the Walsh harmonic of PWM inverter ripple current to estimate the motor rotor position. By using the high‐frequency switching ripple current, the period of the rotor position estimation has been decreased and improves the step response of PM motor. The Walsh function makes it possible to use a definite integrator as the Walsh harmonic detector that can separate the small ripple‐current signal from the motor drive‐current signal. The Walsh harmonic detector circuit consists of less parts than the Fourier harmonic detector circuit. The validity of the proposed method was clarified by several experimental results. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 145(3): 80–88, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10205     

New Dynamic Self‐Consistent Mathematical Model and Torque Characteristics of Permanent‐Magnet Synchronous Motors with Magnetic Cross‐Coupling

This paper proposes a new dynamic mathematical model of permanent‐magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) with magnetic cross‐coupling and presents a new analysis of the torque characteristics of the motors. Generally speaking, dynamic mathematical models used for the design and analysis of PMSM control systems must consist of three basic equations that describe the main motor characteristics as an electrical circuit, torque generator, and electromechanical energy converter. In order to obtain reasonably compact models, some characteristics have to be approximated. However, in the case where the approximations used in the three basic equations are different from each other, the dynamic mathematical model often loses self‐consistency and becomes self‐contradictory. The proposed model, which takes the magnetic cross‐coupling into account, is self‐consistent and compact, and its effectiveness is validated by experimental data. Using the self‐consistency and compactness, this study presents a new analysis of the torque characteristics of PMSMs, focusing on efficient torque generation. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 184(1): 42–55, 2013; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.22382     

A study of rotor configuration for IPMSM with concentrated winding considering the iron loss

This paper reports an IPMSM rotor configuration with a concentrated‐winding stator. The inductance of the concentrated winding is greater than that of the distributed winding and the flux density of the concentrated winding contains higher harmonic components. The result is higher winding losses than in the IPMSM with a distributed‐winding stator. We discuss three types of interior magnetic rotor with different saliency ratios. In the lower speed range, the highest‐saliency rotor is effective in decreasing the load current and copper losses. On the other hand, in the higher speed range, the higher‐saliency rotors result in greater iron losses and lower motor efficiency; in this range, the lower‐saliency rotor is effective in decreasing iron losses and increasing motor efficiency. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 139(4): 71–78, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10005     

Transient characteristics of a tapped‐winding capacitor motor

Tapped‐winding capacitor motors are widely used for fans in air conditioners as speed adjusting motors. In tapped‐winding capacitor motors, the burnout accidents of phase‐shifting capacitors have been seen on occasion. The cause of such accidents is considered to be the transient capacitor current. In this paper, equations for calculating transient characteristics are derived for three types of tapped‐winding capacitor motors. Based on these equations, transient characteristics are clarified in high‐ and low‐speed winding connections. Further, from the design viewpoint, the effects of the turn ratio and capacitance of the capacitor on the transient characteristics are examined and a procedure for choosing the winding ratio and capacitance of the capacitor is suggested. Using this method, the transient current is shown to decrease by about 40%. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 141(4): 69–77, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10063     

Carrier‐envelope phase‐stabilized chirped‐pulse amplification system

We demonstrated a carrier‐envelope phase (CEP) stabilized chirped‐pulse amplifier system. This amplifier system is composed of grating based pulse‐stretcher and compressor, a regenerative amplifier and a multi‐pass amplifier. We employed a new pulse‐pick‐up method to select CEP stabilized seed pulses. This pulse selection method is different from established practice which is based on pulse train timing, but is based on CEP of seed pulse. We measured amplitude‐to‐phase noise conversion coefficient of microstructure fiber and evaluated the additional out‐of‐loop error of carrier‐envelope offset (CEO) control. We also investigated the effect of beam pointing of the measured fringe shift in self‐referencing spectral interference method. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 157(3): 35–42, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20334 Copyright © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Principle and basic characteristics of linear synchronous motor with half‐wave rectified self excitation

This paper presents the principle and basic characteristics of a novel linear synchronous motor based on “half‐wave rectified self excitation principle.” The field winding is short circuited through a diode and the armature winding consists of conventional three‐phase windings. If the amplitude of the balance three‐phase currents is modulated by an alternating wave with bias frequency, the produced magnetomotive force pulsates at the bias frequency and moves at the synchronous velocity. This pulsating magnetomotive force induces the electromotive force with a bias frequency in the field winding. The field excitation is obtained by rectifying the electromotive force with the diode in the field winding. In this paper, the authors design and build an experimental machine and confirm its basic characteristics. They also deduce the performance equations and investigate the thrust ripple reduction. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 165(1): 82–90, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www. interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20684     

Development of new conductors of the cable‐in‐conduit type for HTS coils with high performance

A new type of cable‐in‐conduit conductor composed of HTS tapes was proposed as a winding for high‐performance HTS coils with high current capacities and low AC losses. In the fabrication of the conductor, the twist of stacked tapes around their axes was made before inserting them inside conduits. The twist angle should be changed continuously along the axis to reduce face‐on oriented magnetic fields applied to the tape in the winding conductor during coil operation. In order to confirm the high current capacity of this type conductor, two single‐layered solenoidal coils wound with sample conductors composed of five stacked Bi‐2223 tapes with bias angles of 20 and 0° were fabricated and tested in liquid nitrogen. A copper magnet system was used in this experiment to generate the spread magnetic field with a spread angle of 20° from the coil axis to the radial direction, which simulates the profile of magnetic fields near the edge windings of practical coils. A large improvement on critical‐current degradation affected by spread magnetic fields was successfully observed for the test coil wound with the 20° bias conductor. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 153(4): 12–19, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20218     

A new method of power system fault recording based on compressed sensing

Wavelet transform is usually used to deal with the numerous data in fault recording of power systems, but it still needs to sample the signal with a high frequency first and then compress the data obtained. In order to solve the problem, this paper proposes a new fault recording method based on compressed sensing theory. The method can break the limit of Nyquist sampling theorem and acquire the fault signal with a much lower sampling frequency. It presents the theoretical framework of compressed sensing, analyzes the characteristics of the faulty waveform, and proposes a new sparsity adaptive and compressive sampling matching pursuit algorithm to reconstruct the fault signal. Finally, simulation results in MATLAB show that the proposed method performs well at different compression ratios in terms of the norm mean‐square error, signal‐to‐noise ratio, and waveform similarity. © 2017 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Reduction of Vibration in Concentrated Winding Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor by Means of Skew Effects of Rotor

Global warming and the problem of successfully incorporating environmental safeguards are promoting the need for a more power‐efficient motor. Therefore, as a driving source, permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) with concentrated winding are widely used in a variety of fields. However, a PMSM with a concentrated winding generates more vibration than one with a distributed winding because of the radial electromagnetic force. This paper describes the effect of a new skewed rotor on the characteristics of a concentrated winding PMSM. We investigated this effect by three‐dimensional finite element method (3D FEM) analysis and measurement. We also demonstrate that the proposed rotor is effective in reducing the radial electromagnetic force without decreasing motor efficiency. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 187(2): 33–43, 2014; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.22400     

Mover design and simulation of linear synchronous motor with half‐wave‐rectified self‐excitation

This paper presents a design method for a linear synchronous motor with half‐wave‐rectified self‐excitation; this method enables the construction of a motor with small thrust ripple. The mover of the motor is designed to be asymmetrical in order to reduce the thrust ripple. First, we design the configuration of the asymmetrical mover and the field winding of the mover by using the finite element method and a characteristic equation. The asymmetrical mover is built, and the thrust ripple reduction is verified by experiments. Next, the linear synchronous motor is modeled using a circuit simulator in order to confirm its high‐speed performance. The operation characteristics are clarified by simulation. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 175(1): 43–52, 2011; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21051     

Characteristics of a two‐dimensional integrated magnetic sensor for position sensing and motor control

Two‐dimensional integrated magnetic sensors for position sensing were designed and fabricated with the standard 0.35‐µm CMOS process on silicon. One such type is the n‐type Hall sensor that uses an inversion layer under the gate oxide of the MOSFET. The Hall sensors were arrayed (64 × 64), and the control digital circuits and output amplifier were also integrated into the same chip. ‘One pixel’ was 50 × 50 µm, and the entire chip was 4.9 × 4.9 mm. The sensitivity of one of these sensors was 2.7 mV/(mA·kG). The two‐dimensional magnetic flux distribution was measured from the 5‐mm diameter Nd–Fe–B rare‐earth permanent magnet. About 42 s was required to measure one frame. The position of the magnet could be detected with the fabricated sensors. Magnetic sensors using an inversion layer in MOSFETs are useful for position sensing systems, but their noise characteristics, such as poor sensitivity, should be improved. © 2006 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Determination of direct and quadrature axis inductances of synchronous reluctance motors with allowance for cross saturation

The d‐axis inductance of reluctance motor is affected by not only the d‐axis current but also the q‐axis current, because of cross magnetic saturation between the direct and quadrature axes. This situation is similar for the q‐axis inductance. The authors propose a method to determine the d‐axis inductance related to the d‐ and q‐axis currents and the q‐axis inductance related to the d‐ and q‐axis currents from a standstill test. This method involves the following four steps. First a rectangular‐wave voltage, alternated between plus and minus, is applied to the two armature winding terminals after breaking the rotor in the d‐axis position. Secondly, the voltage and current between the terminals are measured. Thirdly, the d‐axis inductance related with d‐axis current is calculated from the voltage and current. Finally, the process above is repeated when a DC current flows from the remaining armature terminal to neutral point terminal and the d‐inductance related to the d‐ and q‐axis currents is derived. A similar treatment applies when determining the q‐axis inductance related to the d‐ and q‐axis currents in the q‐axis rotor position. The method is implemented on a 1.1 kW–178 V–6.3 A‐4P–2200 min^?1 flux barrier type reluctance motor. Results of load performance on a vector controlled reluctance motor measured by on‐load tests and calculated from the d‐ and q‐axis inductances obtained by the proposed method clearly demonstrate the validity of the proposed method. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 149(4): 52–59, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10377     

High‐efficiency and low‐acoustic‐noise drive system using an open‐winding AC motor and two space vector modulated inverters

The combining of the outputs of two inverters using interphase reactors is a widely used method for supplying large AC drives rated at more than several thousand kilowatts. Certain drawbacks are associated with this method, such as high acoustic noise and high losses due to the interphase reactors. To overcome this problem, in this paper a new low‐acoustic‐noise and high‐efficiency drive system using an open‐winding AC motor and two space vector modulated inverters is proposed. This configuration consists of a three‐level inverter with switching once per cycle and a two‐level inverter of about 1 kHz switching frequency, connected to the opposite terminals of the open‐winding motor. With the proposed configuration, good current waveforms and high efficiency can be obtained. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 144(3): 46–57, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10157     

Parameter identification of simplified common‐mode equivalent circuit for inverter‐fed motor drive systems by applying computer‐aided optimization software

This paper deals with common‐mode (CM) electromagnetic interference (EMI) in an inverter‐fed motor drive system. A simplified CM equivalent circuit including π‐type equivalent circuit for the motor winding is proposed by using the waveform of the common‐mode current flowing in the ground conductor. Moreover, a parameter identification method applying the computer‐aided software modeFRONTIER is proposed to decide objectively the circuit parameters of the proposed simplified equivalent circuit. Validity and effectiveness of the proposed equivalent circuit are confirmed by comparing the measured impedance characteristics with the calculated ones. Finally, the possibility of a nonlinear phenomenon is discussed in this system. It is shown that the accuracy of simulation result can be improved by introducing the nonlinear element. © 2015 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.