An adaptive control strategy for wound rotor synchronous machines

This paper addresses the problem of controlling wound rotor synchronous motors in association with their power conversion components, i.e. AC/DC rectifiers and DC/AC inverters. Considering the whole association, ‘converter‐motor’ makes it possible to account, in addition to motor speed regulation, four other important control objectives such as power factor correction with respect to the supply net and DC link voltage regulation. To achieve these objectives, an adaptive control strategy is developed, based on a nonlinear model of the whole ‘converter‐motor’ association. Adaptation is motivated by the uncertain nature of some motor characteristics, especially the mechanical parameters. The closed‐loop system stability and performances are formally described using averaging theory. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.