Simulate Variable Speed Motor Control

Variable speed control of AC electrical machines makes use of forced-commutated electronic switches
such as IGBTs, MOSFETs, and GTOs. Asynchronous machines fed by pulse width modulation (PWM)
voltage sourced converters (VSC) are nowadays gradually replacing the DC motors and thyristor bridges.
With PWM, combined with modern control techniques such as field-oriented control or direct torque
control, you can obtain the same flexibility in speed and torque control as with DC machines. This tutorial
shows how to build a simple open loop AC drive controlling an asynchronous machine. Simscape™
Electrical™ Specialized Power Systems contains a library of prebuilt models that enable you to simulate
electric drives systems without the need to build those complex systems yourself. For more information
about this library, see Electric Drives Library.
The Machines library contains four of the most commonly used three-phase machines: simplified and
complete synchronous machines, asynchronous machine, and permanent magnet synchronous machine.
Each machine can be used either in generator or motor mode. Combined with linear and nonlinear
elements such as transformers, lines, loads, breakers, etc., they can be used to simulate
electromechanical transients in an electrical network. They can also be combined with power electronic
devices to simulate drives.
The Power Electronics library contains blocks allowing you to simulate diodes, thyristors, GTO thyristors,
MOSFETs, and IGBT devices. You could interconnect several blocks together to build a three-phase
bridge. For example, an IGBT inverter bridge would require six IGBTs and six antiparallel diodes.
To facilitate implementation of bridges, the Universal Bridge block automatically performs these
interconnections for you.

Building and Simulating the PWM Motor Drive

Follow these steps to build a PWM-controlled motor.
Assembling and Configuring the Model
1. Type power_new at the command line to open a new model. Save it as power_PWMmotor.
2. Open the Power Electronics library and copy the Universal Bridge block into your model.
3. Open the Universal Bridge dialog box and set its parameters as follows:
Power electronic device IGBT/Diodes
Snubber
  Rs 1e5 Ω
  Cs inf
  Ron 1e-3 Ω
Forward voltages
Device Vf 0V
Diode Vfd 0 V
4. Open the Machines library. Copy the Asynchronous Machine SI Units block into your model.
5. Open the Asynchronous Machine dialog box and set its parameters as follows:
Nominal power, voltage (line-line), and frequency [ 3*746, 220, 60 ]
Stator resistance and inductance [ 1.115 0.005974 ]
Rotor resistance and inductance [ 1.083 0.005974 ]
 Mutual inductance 0.2037
Inertia, friction factor, and pole pairs [ 0.02 0.005752 2 ]
Initial conditions [1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]
6. Setting the nominal power to 3*746 VA and the nominal line-to-line voltage Vn to 220 Vrms
implements a 3 HP, 60 Hz machine with two pairs of poles. Its nominal speed is therefore slightly
lower than the synchronous speed of 1800 rpm, or ws= 188.5 rad/s.
7. Set the Rotor type parameter to Squirrel cage, and note that the three rotor terminals a, b,
and c are not accessible, because during normal motor operation these terminals should be short-
circuited together.
8. Connect a Bus Selector block at the measurement output of the machine. When this block is
connected to a machine measurement output, it allows you to access specific internal signals of the
machine. Select the following signals: Stator measurements.Stator current is_a (A), Mechanical.Rotor
speed (wm), and Mechanical.Electromagnetic torque Te (N*m).
Loading and Driving the Motor
You now implement the torque-speed characteristic of the motor load. Assume a quadratic torque-speed
characteristic (fan or pump type load). The torque T is then proportional to the square of the speed ω.
The nominal torque of the motor is
Therefore, the constant k should be
1. Open the User-Defined Functions library of Simulink® and copy the Fcn block into your model.
Open the block menu and enter the expression of torque as a function of speed: 3.34e-4*u^2.
2. Connect the output of the Fcn block to the torque input of the motor, labeled Tm.
3. Open the Electrical Sources library and copy the DC Voltage Source block into your model. Open
the block menu and set the voltage to 400 V.
4. Open the Measurements library and copy a Voltage Measurement block into your model. Change
the block name to VAB.
5. Using a Ground block from the Elements library, complete the power elements and voltage
sensor interconnections as shown in the diagram of the power_PWMmotor model.
Controlling the Inverter Bridge with a Pulse Generator
To control your inverter bridge, you need a pulse generator. Such a generator is available in the Control
and Measurements/Measurements library:
1. Open the Control and Measurements/Pulse & Signal Generators blocks library and copy the
PWM Generator (2-Level) block into your model. The converter operates in an open loop, and the
three PWM modulating signals are generated internally. Connect the P output to the pulses input of
the Universal Bridge block
2. Open the PWM Generator (2-Level) block dialog box and set the parameters as follows.
Generator type Three-phase bridge (6 pulses)
Mode of operation Unsynchronized
Frequency 18*60Hz (1080 Hz)
Initial Phase 0 degrees
Minimum and maximum values [-1,1]
Sampling technique Natural
Internal generation of reference signal selected
Modulation index 0.9
 Reference signal frequency 60 Hz
Reference signal phase 0 degrees
Sample time 10e-6 s
3. The block has been discretized so that the pulses change at multiples of the specified time step.
A time step of 10 µs corresponds to +/- 0.54% of the switching period at 1080 Hz.
One common method of generating the PWM pulses uses comparison of the output voltage to
synthesize (60 Hz in this case) with a triangular wave at the switching frequency (1080 Hz in this
case). The line-to-line RMS output voltage is a function of the DC input voltage and of the modulation
index m as given by the following equation:
Therefore, a DC voltage of 400 V and a modulation factor of 0.90 yield the 220 Vrms output line-to-
line voltage, which is the nominal voltage of the asynchronous motor.
Displaying Signals and Measuring Fundamental Voltage and Current
1. You now add blocks measuring the fundamental component (60 Hz) embedded in the chopped
Vab voltage and in the phase A current. Open the Control and Measurements library of the
simscapepowersystems_ST library and copy the Fourier block into your model.
Open the Fourier block dialog box and check that the parameters are set as follows:
Fundamental frequency 60 Hz
Harmonic n 1
Initial input [0 0]
Sample time 10e-6 s
Connect this block to the output of the Vab voltage sensor.
2. Duplicate the Fourier block. To measure the phase A current, you connect this block to the Stator
current is_a output of the Bus selector block.
3. Stream these signals to the Simulation Data Inspector: the Te, ias, and w signals of the
measurement output of the Asynchronous Machine block, and the VAB voltage.
Simulating the PWM Motor Drive with Continuous Integration Algorithm
Set the stop time to 1 s and start the simulation. Open the Simulation Data Inspector and look at the
signals.
The motor starts and reaches its steady-state speed of 181 rad/s (1728 rpm) after 0.5 s. At starting, the
magnitude of the 60 Hz current reaches 90 A peak (64 A RMS) whereas its steady-state value is 10.5 A
(7.4 A RMS). As expected, the magnitude of the 60 Hz voltage contained in the chopped wave stays at
Also notice strong oscillations of the electromagnetic torque at starting. If you zoom in on the torque in
steady state, you should observe a noisy signal with a mean value of 11.9 N.m, corresponding to the load
torque at nominal speed.
If you zoom in on the three motor currents, you can see that all the harmonics (multiples of the 1080 Hz
switching frequency) are filtered by the stator inductance, so that the 60 Hz component is dominant.
PWM Motor Drive; Simulation Results for Motor Starting at Full Voltage
Using the Multimeter Block
The Universal Bridge block is not a conventional subsystem where all the six individual switches are
accessible. If you want to measure the switch voltages and currents, you must use the Multimeter block,
which gives access to the bridge internal signals:
1. Open the Universal Bridge dialog box and set the Measurement parameter to Device
currents.
2. Copy the Multimeter block from the Measurements library into your circuit. Double-click the
Multimeter block. A window showing the six switch currents appears.
3. Select the two currents of the bridge arm connected to phase A. They are identified as
iSw1 Universal Bridge
 iSw2 Universal Bridge
4. Click Close. The number of signals (2) is displayed in the Multimeter icon.
5. Send the signal from the Multimeter block to the Simulation Data Inspector.
6. Restart the simulation. The waveforms obtained for the first 20 ms are shown in this plot.
Currents in IGBT/Diode Switches 1 and 2

As expected, the currents in switches 1 and 2 are complementary. A positive current indicates a current
flowing in the IGBT, whereas a negative current indicates a current in the antiparallel diode.

Note
Multimeter block use is not limited to the Universal Bridge block. Many blocks of the Electrical Sources
and Elements libraries have a Measurement parameter where you can select voltages, currents, or
saturable transformer fluxes. A judicious use of the Multimeter block reduces the number of current and
voltage sensors in your circuit, making it easier to follow.

Discretizing the PWM Motor Drive

You might have noticed that the simulation using a variable-step integration algorithm is relatively long.
Depending on your computer, it might take tens of seconds to simulate one second. To shorten the
simulation time, you can discretize your circuit and simulate at fixed simulation time steps.
In the Simulation > Configuration Parameters > Solver dialog box, select the Fixed-
step and Discrete (no continuous states) options. Open the powergui block and set Simulation
type to Discrete. Set the Sample time to 10e-6 s. The power system, including the asynchronous
machine, is now discretized at a 10 µs sample time.
Start the simulation. Observe that the simulation is now faster than with the continuous system. Results
compare well with the continuous system.

Performing Harmonic Analysis Using the FFT Tool

The two Fourier blocks allow computation of the fundamental component of voltage and current while
simulation is running. If you would like to observe harmonic components also you would need a Fourier
block for each harmonic. This approach is not convenient.
Add a Scope block to your model and connect it at the output of the VAB Voltage Measurement block. In
the configuration properties of the Scope block, go to Log data to workspace > Save format and
select Structure With Time. Start the simulation. Now use the FFT tool of powergui to display the
frequency spectrum of voltage and current waveforms.
When the simulation is complete, open the powergui and select FFT Analysis. A new window opens. Set
the parameters specifying the analyzed signal, the time window, and the frequency range as follows:

Name ScopeData
Input input 1
Signal number 1
Start time 0.7 s
Number of cycles 2
Display FFT window
Fundamental frequency 60 Hz
Max frequency 5000 Hz
Frequency axis Harmonic order
Display style Bar (relative to Fund or DC)
The analyzed signal is displayed in the upper window. Click Display. The frequency spectrum is
displayed in the bottom window, as shown in the next figure.
FFT Analysis of the Motor Line-to-Line Voltage
The fundamental component and total harmonic distortion (THD) of the Vab voltage are displayed above
the spectrum window. The magnitude of the fundamental of the inverter voltage (312 V) compares well
with the theoretical value (311 V for m=0.9).
Harmonics are displayed in percent of the fundamental component. As expected, harmonics occur around
multiples of carrier frequency (n*18 +- k). Highest harmonics (30%) appear at 16th harmonic (18 - 2) and
20th harmonic (18 + 2).