D-Q current signature based single winding open fault detection for SM-PMAC machine drives

Surface Mount Permanent Magnet AC (SM-PMAC) machines are widely utilized in various applications due to their unique advantages. Transportation industry (automotive and aviation ) is one of the major industries gaining interest in applications with PMAC machines due to increasing demand in fuel economy. Fault detection capability provides an additional level of reliability in all applications involving electric machines and, more specifically applications involving safety of consumers, operators or passengers. Open phase fault is one type of fault that could occur in a PMAC machine drive. A novel method of open single phase detection is proposed to overcome drawbacks in existing open single phase detection algorithms. The proposed method is based on the quadrature and direct axis current (l_qs^r & I_ds^r) behavior during the fault. Further, a simpler open phase/open winding fault simulation technique is presented for a SM-PMSM machine. Performance of fault detection scheme was verified through actual implementation on motor generator setup with Hardware-In-Loop (HIL) test capability.