An Integrated Starter-Alternator Based on a Sensorless Synchronous Reluctance Machine Drive

This paper deals with an integrated starteralternator based on a synchronous reluctance (REL) machine controlled by a sensorless drive. Advantages of the REL machine are high torque overload capability at low speed, extended flux-weakening capability, and inherent faulttolerance. The sensorless control of the synchronous REL machine is based on a combination of a high frequency injection technique (at low speed) and a flux model algorithm (at high speed). At first, the paper summarizes the design of the electric machine and gives some results of the finiteelement computations. Then the sensorless technique is deeply described. Drive performance is validated by experimental results by a hybrid laboratory test bench.