A simple fault detection of the open-switch damage in BLDC motor drive systems

This paper proposes a novel fault detection algorithm for a brushless DC (BLDC) motor drive system. This proposed method is configured without the additional sensor for fault detection and identification. The fault detection and identification are achieved by a simple algorithm using the operating characteristic of the BLDC motor. The drive system after the fault identification is reconfigured by four-switch topology connecting a faulty leg to the middle point of DC-link using bidirectional switches. This proposed method can also be embedded into existing BLDC motor drive systems as a subroutine without excessive computational effort. The feasibility of a novel fault detection algorithm is validated in simulation.