Real-Time Fault Detection and Reconfiguration of a Three-Phase Electric Motor Drive

Abstract

Variable-frequency drives (VFDs) are widely used for control of electrical machines such as induction motors (IMs) or permanent-magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs). Similar to other electrical devices, these drives are subject to failure. Several types of faults are associated with VFDs. For instance, faults such as open-switch faults, and short-circuit switch faults are the two common faults in VFDs. These faults can yield catastrophic consequences if proper remedial action is not taken. A unique remedial topology for the post-fault period and a new pulse width modulation (PWM) strategy are proposed so that not only the motor drive can continue the operation, but also this new method reduces the common-mode voltage of the three-phase inverter. In this work, switch failures are investigated, and a new solution to detect openswitch faults are proposed using an algorithm based on current analyses. Extensive simulations are done to simulate a real system response during the post-fault phase on different operating points and at various torque loads. These simulation results were used to develop a detection algorithm. These results were also verified using an experimental setup. The proposed method offers an efficient solution for fault detection in VFDs. First, a fast response detection of a failure in an inverter is possible. Second, it provides an alternative back-up method for fault detection in electric drive systems. v