Inclusion of magnetic saturation in dynamic models of synchronous reluctance motors

This paper deals with the modeling of the magnetic saturation in synchronous reluctance motors (SyRMs). The saturation is modeled by means of analytical expressions, which can be easily embedded in dynamic equivalent-circuit models. A modified power function - proposed in this paper - can take into account the cross saturation between the orthogonal windings, it is physically consistent, and the number of its parameters is small. The function can be used in real-time control applications and in computer simulations. The model fits well to the experimentally measured inductances of a 6.7-kW SyRM. As an application example, the proposed saturation model was implemented in a full-order observer of a motion-sensorless drive, and experimental results are shown.