Using Torque-Ripple-Induced

Vibration to Determine the Initial

Rotor Position of a Permanent
Magnet Synchronous Machine
Phil Beccue, Steve Pekarek
Purdue University

November 6, 2006
 Outline

• Background information
– Source of torque ripple in a surface mounted
Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine
(PMSM)
– Method for measuring torque ripple
– Algorithm used to mitigate torque ripple

• Utilizing Torque Ripple to Determine Rotor

Position

2
 PM Sychronous Machine

Back-EMF equations
Torque equation 
eas  r mag  m
mM
em cos  m r 

Te 
P
2r
ias eas  ibs ebs  ics ecs   Tecog ebs  r mag
  m
mM
em 
cos m  r  120  

ecs  r mag  m em cos  m  r  120  


mM

The harmonic content of the Current equations

currents and back-EMF can be ias    iqn cos  n r    idn sin  n r  
expanded as a Fourier series nN

  
ibs    iqn cos n  r  120    idn sin n  r  120  
nN
  
ics    iqn cos  n   120    

sin  n   120   


nN
 r idn r


M  1,5,7,11,13,... N  1,5,7,11,13,... 3
 Torque Produced by PMSM
Torque is modeled as sum of the average torque and the
torque ripple harmonics
Te  Te   Teqy cos  y r   Tedy sin  y r  
Torque yY

3Pmag

Average Torque Te 
4

nN
 iqn
en


3Pmag
Harmonics Teqy 
4
 
nN
e y n 
  e y  n  iqn  Tcqy


3Pmag
Tedy 
4
 
nN
e y n 
  e y  n  idn  Tcdy

Y  6,12,18, 24,... N  1,5,7,11,13,...

4
 Sensing Torque Ripple
A polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)
Cs
film produces voltage in response
to deformation Vs

A
Cs  
h

Vs  g3n * Stressn * h
• The PVDF film is metallized on both sides
• The film acts as a dialectic – forms a capacitance
• Modeled by a voltage source with a series capacitor
5
 Sensor Placement
Permanent Magnet
Synchronous Machine

PVDF
Washer

6
 Torque Ripple Sensor
Isolating Torque Ripple Harmonics

• Values for harmonics of torque are acquired by multiplying the

sensor voltage by cos(yθr) and sin(yθr)
• The result of the multiplication is then passed through a lowpass
filter

Teqy
*
  vsensor cos  y r    Teqy
*
 dt cos  y r 
1
Teqy
*

s 
Tedy
*
  vsensor sin  y r    Tedy
*
 dt
r Vs

vsensor  k sensor Te  Te  1

sin  y r  Tedy
*

s 

7
 Closed-Loop Controller

Cost function is defined to be a function of measured

quantities (in steady state)

G  TeqT QTeq  Ted T QTed

Expression for measured torque ripple is expanded

Teq  ( iq1K e1  K e 2 i qh )  Tcq

Ted  (K e 3i d  Tcd )

8
 Closed-Loop Controller
The desired current harmonics are then chosen as a function
of the measured torque ripple

d d
i qh   iqh G i qh   2K e 2T Qx q
dt dt

d d
i dh   idh G i d   2K e 3T Qx d
dt dt

9
 Closed-Loop Controller
Te
Gain
 iq1
Measured Currents
d
i qh
dt 1 i qh Hysteresis PMSM
 2
s Current Controller Machine
Hall-Effect
r Sensors
Position Observer
xedy
*

1
 T eqy
s  s yY

sin  y r   ydelay 
* ksensor

cos  y r   ydelay
*

K Te2Q
xeqy
*
1 vsensor
s 

Diagram of torque ripple mitigation control-loop

10
 Initial Position Estimator

Only two stator phases are energized

ias  I s cos et 
ibs   I s cos et 
ics  0

Produces a torque harmonic, but zero average component

P  asm  r  bsm  r  
Te  I s    cos et   Tecog  r 
2   r  r 
P  asm  r  bsm  r  
vsensor  Is    ks cos et  s 
2   r  r 
11
 Initial Position Estimator

Three commanded stator currents

ias  ibs  I s cos et  , ics  0

ibs  ics  I s cos et  , ias  0
ics  ias  I s cos et  , ibs  0

Produces three torque ripple amplitudes at the

commanded electrical frequency

12
 Initial Position Estimator

The ratio of two vibration waveforms provides position

information
 asm  r  bsm  r  
2 PI s ks    cos et  s 
vsensorab   r  r 

vsensorbc  bsm  r  csm  r  
2 PI s ks    cos et  s 
  r  r 

Substituting in fundamental component of influence of

flux on the stator winding from the permanent magnet

vsensorab cos  r   cos  r  120 


vsensorbc cos  r  120   cos  r  120 
13
 Initial Position Estimator
Using trig identities to simplify
vsensorab 3 1
 cot  r  
vsensorbc 2 2
Closed form expression for the tangent of the position
observer 1
 vsensorab 
tan  r   3  2  1
 vsensorbc 
1
 vsensorbc 
tan  r  60   3  2  1
 vsensorca 
1
 vsensorac 
tan  r  60   3  2  1
 vsensorab 
14
 Experimental Verification

The control was tested in hardware using the following setup

• Test motor is a 2.5 kW, 16 Amp 8-pole surface mount

PMSM with non-sinusoidal back-emf
• A 4096 counts per revolution encoder used to obtain an
accurate rotor position
• Commanded stator current had a frequency of 1000 Hz
and a peak amplitude of 1 A (6.25% of rated)
• The response time was less than 50 ms

15
 Initial Position Estimator
Calculated Rotor Position vs. Actual Rotor Position

Rotor Position ( r )
300 Actual
Calculated - no-loaded
Calculated rotor 200
Calculated - loaded

position
100

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Rotor Position (r )

Estimation Error vs. Rotor Position

Position Error ( r )

Rotor position 0
error
-2

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Rotor Position (r )

16
 Measured Start-up Performance
Start-up performance comparison of position observer to an
optical encoder Rotor Velocity - Measured

1000
Initial
RPM

Position
500 Observer
Position Observer
Optical Encoder
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Time (s)
Phase-a Stator Current Using Position Observer - Measured Phase-a Stator Current Using Optical Encoder - Measured

20 20
10 10
Amps

Amps

0 0
-10 Initial -10
Position
-20 Observer -20
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Time (s) Time (s)
17
 Torque Ripple Mitigation Implementation
Simulated steady-state results before and after torque ripple
mitigation algorithm
Phase-a Stator Current Before Mitigation - Simulated Torque Before Mitigation - Simulated
20 6

10
4
Amps

N*m
0
2
-10

-20 0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0 0.005 0.01 0.015
Time (s) Time (s)
Phase-a Stator Current After Mitigation - Simulated Torque After Mitigation - Simulated
20 6

10
4
Amps

N*m

0
2
-10

-20 0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0 0.005 0.01 0.015
Time (s) Time (s)
18
 Torque Ripple Mitigation Implementation
Measured steady-state results before and after torque ripple
mitigation algorithm
Phase-a Stator Current Before Mitigation - Measured Torque Ripple Before Mitigation - Measured
20 4

10 2
Amps

Volts
0 0

-10 -2

-20 -4
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0 0.005 0.01 0.015
Time (s) Time (s)
Phase-a Stator Current After Mitigation - Measured Torque Ripple After Mitigation - Measured
20 4

10 2
Amps

Volts

0 0

-10 -2

-20 -4
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0 0.005 0.01 0.015
Time (s) Time (s)
19
 Torque Ripple Mitigation Implementation
Steady-State FFT of Electromagnetic Torque
Torque Harmonic Amplitude - Simulated Torque Ripple Amplitude - Measured
0.5 1.5
Before Mitigation Before Mitigation
0.45 After Mitigation After Mitigation
th
0.4 6 harmonic

0.35
1
th
0.3 6 harmonic

Volts
N*m

0.25

0.2
0.5
0.15
th
0.1 12 harmonic
th
12 harmonic
0.05

0 0
0 500 1000 1500 0 500 1000 1500
Frequency (Hz) Frequency (Hz)

20
 Measured Transient Response

Measured torque ripple and current during step change in

commanded torque from 1.25 Nm to 5.0 Nm

Phase-a Stator Current Transition Response - Measured Torque Ripple Transition Response - Measured
20 4

10 2
Amps

Volts
0 0

-10 -2

-20 -4
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
time(s) time(s)

21
 Conclusions
• Initial position observer is developed that utilizes
torque ripple measurement to determine position
– Requires no knowledge of machine parameters
– Applicable to surfarce or buried-magnet machines
– Relatively straightforward to implement
• Initial position observer can potentially enable
sensorless operation over the full speed range of
the motor
• Torque ripple mitigation can be achieved without
in-line position encoder
22