Fault detection in brushless DC motors using Discrete Square Root Filtering and fuzzy logic

Brushless DC (BLDC) motors are used extensively in the industry for a wide variety of applications. In the Aerospace industry, they are mainly used in the control actuation system in launch vehicles. Different types of faults can develop in a BLDC motor. It is essential to detect these faults in the early stage itself before they develop into system failures. In this paper, fault detection in BLDC motors using parameter estimation technique is presented. Detailed fault diagnosis is subsequently carried out by a fuzzy inference system. Discrete Square Root Filtering in Covariance form (DSFC) algorithm is used initially for estimating the physical parameters of the BLDC motor. These parameters are then passed on to the fuzzy inference system which carries out the detailed diagnosis. Simulation studies carried out indicates that the developed fault detection and isolation scheme is capable of isolating different types of faults like open circuit, short circuit faults, performance degradation of magnets etc. in BLDC motors.