Limitations of The Conventional Phase Advance Method For Constan
Limitations of The Conventional Phase Advance Method For Constan
Limitations of The Conventional Phase Advance Method For Constan
ABSTRACT motor, has some failure modes that may not be acceptable in
electric vehicle applications. If a short circuit occurs in the dc
The brushless dc motor (BDCM) has high-power density supply, then the motor will supply current to the fault so long
and efficiency relative to other motor types. These properties as the permanent magnet rotor continues to rotate. Fuses or
make the BDCM well suited for applications in electric other protection would need to be included to guard against
vehicles provided a method can be developed for driving the such faults. In addition, when transistor-firing signals are lost,
motor over the 4 to 6:1 constant power speed range (CPSR) because of a controller board failure for example, the motor
required by such applications. The present state of the art for can enter deep regenerative braking when operating at high
constant power operation of the BDCM is conventional phase speed. Not only would this be confusing to the vehicle
advance (CPA) [I]. In this paper, we identify key limitations operator but it could also create a traffic hazard. Unless the
of CPA. It is shown that the CPA has effective control over controller board failure automatically activates the brake
the developed power but that the current magnitude is lights, trailing traffic would not he alerted to the rapid
relatively insensitive to power output and is inversely deceleration of the vehicle. To preclude the undesired
proportional to motor inductance. If the motor inductance is regeneration, one might open the dc bus. If this were the case,
low, then the rms current at rated power and high speed may the inverter transistors would experience voltage levels
be several times larger than the current rating. The inductance determined by the back emf of the motor. A high speed, the
required to maintain rms current within rating is derived back emf might have a magnitude several times larger than the
analytically and is found to be large relative to that of BDCM dc supply voltage and therefore the transistors would need to
designs using high-strength rare earth magnets. Thus, the be rated accordingly.
CPA requires a BDCM with a large equivalent inductance. In Section 2, we present the inverter topology and transistor-
firing scheme for high-speed operation of the BDCM by CPA.
1. INTRODUCTION The parameters of an example motor used throughout the
paper are also given. Section 3 provides simulation results for
The size, weight, and efficiency properties of the BDCM are the example motor operating at rated power at three and six
highly desirable in electric vehicle applications. However, times base speed. The example motor i s a ‘‘low’’ inductance
such applications also require a broad CPSR such as 4 to 6 1 . motor, and the current at high speed is twice the rated value.
The present state of the art for driving a BDCM beyond base It is shown that the motor operation in each phase is a mixhue
speed is CPA [I]. In this paper, several important limitations of motoring and regenerative braking. The brakiig action is
of the CPA method are identified. caused by the conduction of the bypass diodes. For low-
Specifically, CPA requires that the equivalent motor inductance motors, the mixture of motoring and regeneration
inductance per phase be sufficiently large. If the motor is extreme. A large motoring component is substantially
inductance is too low, the motor current will exceed its rated cancelled by. a braking component of nearly the same
value when operating at rated power and high speed. magnitude, leaving a modest net motoring component.
Additional cooling would be required for the motor and Section 4 presents a simple fundamental frequency model that
inverter, and the semiconductor ratings would have to be accurately predicts the rms motor current and average motor
increased accordingly. This is unfortunate since high-power- power developed under high-speed conditions. This model is
density BDCMs built with rare earth magnets generally have used to derive a formula for the minimum inductance required
low inductance. A fundamental frequency model of the by CPA to keep the motor within the rms rating over the
BDCM driven by CPA is used to quantify the minimum desired CPSR. Finally, Section 5 contains our conclusions.
required inductance. Detailed inverterhotor simulation
confirms the validity of the simplified fundamental frequency 2. INVERTER TOPOLOGY AND FIRING SCHEME
model. It is also shown that the motor current under coasting
conditions is not significantly smaller than the motor current at The CPA method uses the common three-phase, voltage-fed
rated power. Consequently, the copper losses in the motor are inverter (VFI) topology shown in Fig. 1. Figure 1 also shows
almost independent of the developed power. the motor model used for simulation.
In addition, the CPA uses the conventional voltage fed The bypass diodes of the common VFI make this
inverter, which when combined with a permanent magnet configuration inherently capable of regeneration. This
wi---J
Ii ~
0 1 " W " m
a. Total paw
rms current and average motor power.
~ .._.__ If the winding resistance is neglected (R = 0), the rms
€
Lm7 : .?Yf
' .... . . '2?'!. current of the simplified model is given by
.......................
O , .
M. .
? .M
. .3. .M. .n . .
m.M
. . 8. .m
b. mas A P D W ~ ~
0 l M m x m " m
E. phnse A porrer flowing lhmylh Vadsmm Observe that for a fixed advance angle,8,, the m current
. . . . . . . . . . ' . . . ,.:. . . . . . I. . . . . . :.., varies with the relative speed, n. Equation (3) provides some
insight into what is required for CPA to provide an infinite
CPSR Note that as the speed becomes infinite
Fig. 5. Instantaneous power waveforms. For the example motor this limiting value is 530.3 A, which
is significantly larger than the 203.3 A rating of the motor.
In the next section, a fundamental frequency model is Consequently, for the example motor, which has an
presented that accurately predicts the motor current and power inductance of 73.6 P H, the CPSR will befin ite. In fact,
as a function of advance angle when operating at high speed simulation shows that the highest speed at which rated power
using CPA. can be produced without exceeding rated current is n = 1.87.
If the inductance in eqn. (4) were sufficiently large to cause
the limiting current value to be 203.3 A, then the CPA would
1. Cambier et al.. Bmhlesr DC Molar Udng Phase Timing Ahoncemen:, John W. MeKeever
U.S. Patent Number 5,677,605, October 14, 1997. Oak Ridge National Laboratory
2. I. M. Bailey et SI., D u d Mode Inverier Conlml T a l Verifiolion, National Transportation Research Center
OR"-2000/172, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2001. 2360 Cherahala Boulevard
3. I. S. Lawler, J. M. Bailey, I. W. McKeever, and J. Pinto, "Extending the Knoxville, Tennessee 37932
Constant Power Speed Range ofthe Blushless DC Motor through Dual
Mode Inverter Conml - Part II: Laboratory Pmof-of-Principle." e-mail: [email protected]
submined to the IEEE Transactions on Power Elecuonics.
4. 1. S. Lawler, J. M. Bailey, and J. W. McKeever, fitended Conrlanl John W. McKeover received the Bachelor's in Physics in 1960 €" Case
Power Speed Ronge ofthe Bmhless DC M o m lhmugh Duo1 Mode Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio, a Master's in Physics from the
Inverler ConlmLO RNLTTM-2000/130, Osk Ridge National Laboratory. University ofTennessee, Knoxville in 1968, and a Ph.D. in Physics f"the
2001. Uniwnity ofTennessee in 1973. He has 41 yea" work exprience serving
5. J. S. Lawler. J. M. Bailcv. I. W. MeKeever. and J. Pinto. "Extmdine the in technical and umieCt manamnent cauasities at the ~oovemmmtowned
Constant Poker Speed R&ge of the Brushless DC Motor through bul conhctcn operaaah ficilities in b a k Rid& Tennessee and'bas 40 publications
Mode lnverter Conuol - Pan I: Theory and Simulation:' submitted N and 3 patents. From 1960 to 1970 he worked on barrin developmeot for the
the IEEE T m a c t i o n s on Power Electronics. gaseous diffusion process. Between 1970 and 1982 he designed and tested