Effects of Magnetizing Inductance on Start-Up and Synchronization of Line-Start Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Motors

The capabilities of proper start-up and synchronization are important issues in the design of line-start permanent magnet synchronous motors. Failing in early start-up or in synchronization under certain conditions prevents the widespread use of these motors. In order to draw useful guidelines for the design of line-start permanent magnet synchronous motors, the contradictory effects of a large value of magnetizing inductance in improving early start-up and deteriorating synchronization of line-start permanent magnet synchronous motors are analyzed in this paper. The analysis is done through three different methods. First, the effect of magnetizing inductance on average and pulsating torques of the motors during asynchronous operation is investigated and the role of these torques in start-up and synchronization performances of the motors is discussed. A critical load is then determined in terms of motors parameters as a torque limit above which the motors cannot start. The effect of magnetizing inductance, magnet flux, and saliency on the critical load is also investigated. A dynamic d-q model of the motors is then implemented to support the discussions by analyzing two line start motors with different magnetizing inductances. Finite-element-based analyses are then carried out for both motors to consider motors parameters variation, skin effect, saturation, rotor asymmetry, and cross magnetization. A good agreement between the finite-element method and dynamic simulation results is evident. Finally, some design guidelines are proposed for the proper selection of the magnetizing inductance in motor designs for different applications.