Investigation of Saliency in a Switched-Flux Permanent-Magnet Machine Using High-Frequency Signal Injection

In order to facilitate the selection of machine whether it is suitable for high-frequency (HF)-signal injection-based sensorless control or not, this paper proposes a complete experimental investigation method for the analysis and validation of machine saliency level, including primary saliency, which is essential for HF injection-based sensorless control, and the secondary saliency, which will deteriorate the rotor-position estimation. The experimental results obtained on a new type of switched-flux permanent-magnet (SFPM) machine prove that with identified primary saliency, the accurate rotor-position estimation can be achieved, and with small secondary saliency, the estimation will not be deteriorated much in the SFPM machine. The conclusion is verified by the experiments based on the HF pulsating signal injection-based sensorless control at zero and low speeds.