IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 48, NO.

2, MARCH/APRIL 2012

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A New Method for Power Converter Fault Diagnosis in SRM Drives

Natlia S. Gameiro, Member, IEEE, and Antonio J. Marques Cardoso, Senior Member, IEEE
AbstractThis paper presents a new fault diagnostic technique applied to switched reluctance motor drives, based on the analysis of the power converter supply current. A fault is detected when the measured amplitude of the dc bus current differs from its expected amplitude, assuming normal operating conditions. The information about phase currents amplitudes and the control commands of all power switches permit to easily estimate the amplitude of the power converter supply current, since an asymmetric bridge converter is used. Simulation and experimental results are presented. Open- and short-circuit fault occurrences in the converter power switches are considered and analyzed. The proposed technique can early detect these fault occurrences and can also identify the affected motor phase. In almost all situations, the faulty element is also identied. An early fault diagnosis, with an accurate fault identication, is of a paramount importance since it permits the early adoption of fault-tolerant procedures that minimize the fault impact on the machine operation. Index TermsFault analysis, fault diagnosis, switched reluctance motor (SRM), variable speed drives.

I. I NTRODUCTION WITCHED reluctance motors (SRMs) have been recognized for their fault-tolerant capabilities. Unlike what happens with other kind of electrical machines, the magnetic interactions between motor phases are negligible in SRMs, and the electrical nonoperation of a motor phase, due to a fault occurrence, does not affect the other motor phases, if an appropriate converter is provided [1]. Switched reluctance machines present a very robust conguration, particularly due to the inexistence of windings or magnets in the rotor. These peculiar attributes permit to face SRMs as a competitive solution for aircraft and automotive applications where systems reliability is a crucial feature.
Manuscript received April 7, 2011; revised June 14, 2011 and September 27, 2011; accepted November 10, 2011. Date of publication December 21, 2011; date of current version March 21, 2012. This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under Project SFRH/BD/30477/2006, Project PTDC/EEA-ELC/105282/2008 and Project SFRH/BSAB/950/2009. Paper 2011-IDC-131.R2, presented at the 2010 International Conference on Electrical Machines, Rome, Italy, September 68, and approved for publication in the IEEE T RANSACTIONS ON I NDUSTRY A PPLICATIONS by the Industrial Drives Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society. N. S. Gameiro is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal, and also with the Instituto de Telecomunicaes, 3030-290 Coimbra, Portugal (e-mail: ngameiro@ estg.ipleiria.pt). A. J. Marques Cardoso is with the Department of Electromechanical Engineering, University of Beira Interior (UBI), 6201-001 Covilh, Portugal, and also with the Instituto de Telecomunicaes, 3030-290 Coimbra, Portugal (e-mail: ajmcardoso@ieee.org). Color versions of one or more of the gures in this paper are available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TIA.2011.2180876

The salient pole conguration is responsible for the magnetic independence between motor phases, but it is also responsible for the torque ripple, particularly at high-speed operating conditions and during phase commutation. However, a smooth operation can be achieved if an appropriate control strategy is performed. Several improved control strategies have been proposed in order to minimize the torque ripple [2][4]. Some authors propose also new design congurations to reduce it [5], [6]. Although the machine can keep running if a motor phase is disconnected, its electromagnetic and mechanical behavior are deteriorated, the rated power decreases proportionally with the number of disconnected motor phases, and the rotor is subjected to unbalanced forces. A fault-tolerant control strategy can be implemented, in these circumstances, to enhance the performance of the machine, but at some rotor positions, the motor still presents a poor electromagnetic torque capability. The nonoperation of a motor phase can be caused by electrical faults either in the motor itself or in the power converter. Faults in the control and driving circuitry can also affect the operation of a motor phase. The less reliable part of an electric motor drive is the power electronics converter [7]. In this context, openand short-circuit faults in a power switch represent an important cause of faulty operation. A fault-tolerant power converter, such as the ones presented in [8][10], can be used to almost restore the normal operation, after an open-circuit fault occurrence in a power switch. Different electrical connections are established, at the power converter, by the conduction of additional power switches, and all motor phases can be magnetized. The control strategy must also be changed. The development of fault diagnostic techniques that are able to identify the fault and pinpoint the faulty element is of extreme importance to permit the fast adjustment of the control strategy and/or the power converter topology, in order to minimize the effect of the fault occurrence. The diagnosis of an open-circuit fault in a power switch has not received much attention, in the literature, because this fault typically causes the nonoperation of the affected motor phase and the fault detection is easily established by phase current evaluation. The respective phase current amplitude is, after the fault occurrence and the subsequent motor phase demagnetization process, permanently zero, if an asymmetric bridge converter is used, for example. However, the identication of the faulty element, which can be of extreme importance if a fault-tolerant converter is used, is not so easy to achieve because an open-circuit fault in any of the two power switches, associated to the same motor phase, causes identical phase current proles. Voltage sensors can provide enough information for faulty element identication, as can be

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seen in [9]. However, at least one voltage sensor for each motor phase is needed which increases considerably the number of sensors, increasing costs and space requirements for the motor drive. The short circuit in a power switch has mostly been interpreted as a failure that causes an excessive electric current amplitude which conducts to the disconnection of the motor phase due to the action of overcurrent protection devices or due to the effect of excessive electric current in other power converter elements. In these circumstances, the fault occurrence is not identied as well as the faulty element. At particular operating conditions, such as partial load and/or at low speeds, the faulty phase current does not exhibit excessive amplitude. This is demonstrated in [11]. However, the short-circuit fault introduces an obvious disturb on the machine operation. The early diagnosis of a short-circuit fault in a power switch can promote appropriate actions that minimize or even eliminate the phase current pulse and keep the phase winding safe. The faulty motor phase will obviously present severe operating limitations. Appropriate control adjustments must be adopted. However, the use of the faulty phase can be particularly important during the startup of the machine or even when the load level is close to the rated torque [11]. The aim of this paper is to present a fault diagnostic technique that permits an accurate fault detection of open- or short-circuit occurrences in a power switch, identifying also, in almost situations, the faulty element. The fault diagnostic algorithm is quite simple, and it is very easy to implement. Only one extra current sensor, intended to measure the power converter supply current, is needed. Commonly, all phase currents are already measured, in order to permit an appropriate control of phase currents, particularly at low-speed operation. The proposed technique permits the diagnosis of a shortcircuit fault in a power switch when the respective phase current still presents a normal amplitude, unlike what happens with other fault diagnostic techniques. In addition, the proposed method works independently of the SRM electromagnetic characteristics. It allows to identify not only the open-circuit fault occurrence in a power switch, but it is also possible to identify the faulty element. No extra voltage sensors are used. II. N ORMAL AND FAULTY M OTORING O PERATION Due to its double salient pole conguration, the switched reluctance machine presents inductance proles dependent on the rotor position. Fig. 1 shows the idealized inductance, which neglects the saturation effects. The magnetic saturation is responsible for the decrease of the inductance amplitude as the phase current increases. This is more pronounced when a rotor pole approaches a stator pole. The saturation effect is maximum at the aligned position, where the stator and rotor poles are perfectly aligned. At the unaligned position, where the two rotor poles are at the same distance from a stator pole, there is no magnetic saturation. When a phase is being energized, an electromagnetic torque is produced to force the alignment of poles. If this happens while a rotor pole is approaching a stator pole, the produced torque, due to the respective phase, is consistent with the

Fig. 1. Phase currents at high- and low-speed operating conditions, in relation to the idealized inductance prole, considering the motoring mode.

direction of the rotor rotation, which means a motoring action. A braking torque is produced if the phase is energized while stator and rotor poles are moving away. The control is, therefore, clearly dependent on the rotor position. For the motoring mode, each phase is conducting, mainly, between the respective unaligned and aligned positions in order to avoid undesirable negative torque contributions. The electromagnetic behavior of each motor phase is commonly analyzed independently, since the magnetic interactions between phases are very small. Mutual inductances are often neglected. The voltage equation of each phase can be described by v = Ri + L dL di +i dt dt (1)

where v is the voltage applied across the phase winding, R is the phase winding resistance, i is the phase current, and L is the self inductance. Dynamic operation of each motor phase can be independent if the respective control is also independent. The use of an asymmetric bridge converter (Fig. 2) permits to apply, independently, three voltage levels across each phase winding. Due to this feature, the asymmetric bridge converter is commonly used in SRM drives. There are two power switches and two diodes connected to each motor phase. When both power switches are turned on, the voltage applied to the winding is equal to the source voltage (+Vs ). The phase is energized by the source, and the current provided is equal to the phase current. When the phase is conducting and only one of the two power switches is turned on, the phase current ows though a freewheel diode, and the energy stored in the magnetic eld is converted into mechanical energy, if the machine is operating in motoring mode. In this circumstance, there is no electric current owing between the source and the phase. If the phase is conducting and both power switches are turned off, the energy stored in the magnetic eld is partially returned to the source and partially converted to mechanical energy. The current provided by the power source to the phase is negative which means that the motor phase seems to be generating. Table I summarizes the electric current that ows between the source and a generic phase n, as a function of the conduction

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TABLE I E LECTRIC C URRENT P ROVIDED BY THE P OWER S UPPLY TO A M OTOR P HASE

Fig. 2.

Power converter for a four-phase SRM drive.

phase current regulation is possible. The reference current is not constant in these cases, but dependent on the rotor position and electromagnetic torque needs. An open-circuit fault in a power switch inhibits the respective phase magnetization and leads to the disabling of the associated motor phase. A short-circuit fault in a power switch avoids the fast demagnetization of the motor phase and leads to higher amplitudes of the affected phase current, than it is desired. Table I establishes the current ow between the power supply and a generic phase n, supposing that the power switches are conducting as it is expected (normal operation) and also supposing an open- or a short-circuit fault in one of the power switches. All scenarios are analyzed. It is clear that at some switching command state combinations, a fault occurrence do not produce a change on the current ow because the faulted power switch is operating like it is expected. In these circumstances, it is not possible to diagnose the fault occurrence. When the fault causes an inappropriate current ow, the fault occurrence can be detected. The proposed fault diagnostic technique is based on the change of the current ow due to a fault occurrence when compared to the normal situation. An unexpected current ow exists if a power switch is not conducting accordingly to its gate signal. III. P ROPOSED FAULT D IAGNOSTIC T ECHNIQUE Fig. 3 presents the block diagram that describes the proposed fault diagnostic algorithm. The rst step is the estimation of the dc bus current. The estimated dc bus current (idce ) is easily calculated using, for this purpose, the information about the command state of the various power switches, dictated by the drive controller, and the information about phase current amplitudes (in ), used also for the drive control. In this way, idce corresponds to the sum of the various electric currents, provided by the power supply to the several phases of the machine, according to the normal current owing expressed in Table I. idce is then compared with the measured dc bus current (idc ). Any signicant differences between these two quantities denote a fault occurrence. The diagnostic variable sgn denotes any difference between the measured and the estimated amplitudes of the dc bus current. Its value is formulated according to the expression 1, if idc idce < k (2) sgn = 0, if k idc idce k 1, if idc idce > k. In the experimental tests, idc and idce present some differences, even during normal operation, due to the measurement process, signal noises registered by the current sensors and transient phenomena due to power switches commutations. To minimize such undesirable effects, it must be assured that the several current sensors are not affected by external electromagnetic disturbances and the measurements are performed when the power switches are near their steady-state regime. To avoid a wrong fault diagnosis, a parameter k is considered. In any circumstances parameter, k must be clearly higher than the maximum absolute value of idc idce . However, its

state of the respective power switches. SU n is the upper power switch, which corresponds to SU a in the case of phase A, (Fig. 2) and SLn is the lower power switch, which corresponds to SLa in the case of phase A. For normal operating conditions, all power switches are conducting according to the respective switching commands. The back electromotive force plays, in a switched reluctance machine, a signicant role in the phase current behavior because inductances are dependent on the rotor position. The relevance of the back EMF increases, particularly if the rotor mechanical speed increases. The increase of phase current amplitude increases also the back EMF. Therefore, the control method cannot be the same at low- and high-speed operating conditions. At low-speed operating conditions and analyzing the motoring mode, the phase current increases when the voltage applied to the winding is the power supply voltage, i.e., when both associated power switches are turned on. At high-speed operating conditions, this only occurs until the back EMF is higher than Vs which, typically, happens near to the rotor position where rotor and stator poles start to overlap (Fig. 1). At this operating condition, the control parameters are the ignition angle (onH ), where the phase starts to be magnetized due to the conduction of both power switches, and the commutation angle (cH ), where both power switches are turned off. At low-speed operating conditions, the phase current is appropriately tuned on between the ignition angle (onL ) and the commutation angle (cL ). When a soft chopping control is adopted, one power switch is permanently turned on, during this time interval, while the other one is successively turned on and off, regulating the phase current amplitude. Several control strategies have been proposed, in the literature, to enhance SRM performance, particularly for torque ripple minimization. Some examples are presented in [2][4]. These control methods are mainly focused on low-speed operating conditions, where the

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Fig. 3. Block diagram of the proposed fault diagnostic method.

value must also be signicantly smaller than the reference phase current. Experimental results have shown that the maximum amplitude of idc idce increases as the reference phase current increases. The negative values registered, during normal operation, can be neglected. The SRM drive tested presents, at full load, high phase current amplitudes. The maximum amplitude allowed has been set, for safety precaution, at 100 A. The large range of the phase current conducts to a signicant variation of the pick value of idc idce , registered at different load levels. Therefore, parameter k is not constant, in the present work, but it is dened as a function of the reference phase current (Iref ) k = 1.5 + 0.05Iref . (3)

The denition of k is based on experimental tests. The tests performed intent to understand how much the pick value of idc idce increases as the reference phase current increases. For that purpose, the no-load operation is tested rst, and then the load is progressively increased until the maximum phase current is achieved. The denition of parameter k is not a rigorous process, and just a few tests are necessary. The coefcients adopted in (3) permit to satisfy the aforementioned conditions but many others would also satisfy the required conditions and would conduct to a similar impact on the fault diagnostic process. The waveforms of idc idce registered at low-speed operation and at high-speed operation present some differences. This is due to different control strategies adopted in each operating mode. The maximum magnitude of idc idce tends to be a little bit higher at high-speed operating conditions, considering a particular reference phase current. The commutations between conduction modes tend to be, at those operating conditions, more severe. At the commutation angle, both power switches change their conduction state, and the current provided by the power supply to the phase changes from +in to in . The same does not always happen at low-speed operation, when a soft chopping control is adopted. Therefore, it is recommended to perform the experimental tests at highspeed operating conditions. Parameter k would present smaller values if the adopted SRM has a smaller phase currents range. However, in any cir-

cumstances, the current sensor must be appropriately selected and must present a good accuracy. When sgn is equal to 1, it means that the power supply is providing, to the machine, less energy than it is expected, and when it is equal to 1, it means that there is more energy provided to the machine than it is necessary. The rst scenario occurs if the open-circuit fault in a power switch takes place during the magnetization of the respective motor phase. The second scenario always occurs when there is a short-circuit fault in a power switch. Both situations correspond to a fault occurrence, but none of them can, by itself, identify the fault. For that purpose, additional diagnostic variables are considered. The electric current provided by the source to the healthy motor phases is in agreement with the column of Table I associated to the normal operation. Only the faulty motor phase will register a different electric current ow, when a single fault is considered. The measured dc bus current reects this behavior, but the estimated current supposes a normal operation in all motor phases. This conducts to a difference between those two dc bus currents. It can be concluded, by analyzing Table I, that the difference between normal and faulty operations, when registered, always presents the same modulus. This absolute value corresponds to the electric current amplitude of the faulty motor phase. The diagnostic variable hn , described as hn = |idc idce | in (4)

establishes the correspondence between the phase current and the difference registered between idc and idce . The diagnostic variable En , is a Boolean variable, set as En = 0 if |hn | k 1 if |hn | < k. (5)

When En is true (equal to 1), the respective motor phase is denoted as the faulty phase. This is only considered if the signal sgn is, at the same time, not zero, which corresponds to a fault diagnosis. The diagnostic is conclusive if there is only one of the En variables equal to 1. At some particular circumstances, more than one En variable presents a value equal to 1. However, the variation of the faulty phase current amplitude, due to the occurrence of the fault, forces a single unitary variable.

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TABLE II D IAGNOSTIC S IGNATURES FOR THE FAULTY S WITCHES I DENTIFICATION

described above, it is not possible to determine if the failure occurs in the power converter or in the motor winding. IV. S IMULATION R ESULTS The SRM model adopted in this paper is based on laboratory test results [12]. Two look-up-tables were used to characterize the SRM electromagnetic and electromechanical behaviors: the ux () look-up-table ((, i)) and the instantaneous torque (T ) look-up-table (T (, i)). The SRM drive used was a four phase commercially available drive with eight stator poles and six rotor poles, 1.1 kW, 3500 rpm with a 24 dc voltage supply. The modeling and simulation of the drive system as well as the implementation of the diagnostic method were carried out using the Matlab/Simulink environment, in association with the Power System Blockset software toolbox. Open- and shortcircuit faults in the converter power switches were performed by appropriately controlling the respective gate signals. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed fault diagnostic technique, several SRM dynamic simulations and experimental tests were conducted. The results presented intend to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed fault diagnostic method at any motor speed and/or load level operating conditions. For that purpose, the most disadvantageous scenario is considered, which corresponds to the no-load operation. In this case, the phase currents are relatively small, and k value can be inconvenient for the correct fault diagnostics. The simulation results correspond to a very small load (0.15 Nm) and a 1600-rpm reference speed for high-speed operation, and a 800-rpm reference speed for low-speed operation. The adopted control at low-speed operation is a hysteresis control of phase currents considering a constant reference current. It is assumed that all motor phases have an identical electromagnetic characteristic which conduct to similar switching angles, between motor phases, under steady-state operation. The adopted control is discrete, and a sampling time of 50 s is used. A. Open-Circuit Fault in a Converter Power Switch Fig. 4 presents the simulation results for high-speed operating conditions. At 50 ms, an open-circuit fault in the lower power switch associated to phase A was simulated. After the fault occurrence, phase A magnetization is not possible anymore, unless a power converter reconguration takes place, and phase A current becomes permanently zero. The fault occurs when both power switches associated to phase A are conducting which immediately causes an abnormal current ow. It is then registered a negative difference between the measured dc bus current and the estimated current [Fig. 4(b)] and sgn is 1, denoting a possible open-circuit fault occurrence. Simultaneously, the diagnostic variables, hn , present sudden changes. The open-circuit fault in one of the power switches associated to phase A is quickly detected because ha is zero, and it is the only diagnostic variable with this amplitude. The identication of the faulty element is not immediately established because both power switches should be conducting, and an open-circuit fault in any of them would cause the same effect. For that purpose, the fault diagnosis

TABLE III D IAGNOSTIC S IGNATURES D URING THE T EST C ONDUCTED A FTER THE I DENTIFICATION OF THE FAULT T YPE AND THE FAULTY P HASE

The analysis of the variables sgn and En allows the detection of an open- or a short-circuit fault in a power switch and the identication of the faulty motor phase. In some cases, the faulty switch is also identied, as it is described in Table II. For the cases where both power switches, associated to the faulty phase, present the same command state, it is not possible to immediately identify the faulty switch. For that purpose, the diagnostic process imposes the command state of both power switches, associated to the faulty phase, during a small time interval. Throughout this test, the upper power switch (SU n ) is turned on, and the lower power switch (SLn ) is turned off. Table III presents the diagnostic signatures that permit the identication of the faulty element in those conditions. If a short-circuit fault in a power switch has been identied (sgn equal to 1 and just one variable En equal to 1) and if the difference between idc and idce persists, during the test, it means that the current ow continues to be abnormal. This can only happen due to a short-circuit fault in SLn , which would be deactivated. A short-circuit fault in the other power switch would be in agreement with its conduction command state, and no difference between idc and idce would be registered, during the test. The opposite is achieved when an open-circuit fault in a power switch is introduced. If an open-circuit fault in a power switch occurs while both power switches of the respective faulty phase are turned off, any unexpected electric current owing will be registered. No subsequent magnetization, of the faulty phase, is possible, and the respective phase current would be permanently vanished. To detect the fault, the proposed fault diagnostic technique (Fig. 3) is continuously calculating the average value of the several phase currents. If any average value is smaller than k, when the machine is operating, an open-circuit fault is identied in the respective phase. However, unlike what happens in the cases

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later, the fault would be detected due to an insignicant average value of ia . In this simulation, the k value adopted is about 2.1 A. B. Short-Circuit Fault in a Converter Power Switch Fig. 5 presents the simulation results for low-speed operating conditions. A short-circuit fault in the upper power switch associated to phase A was simulated at 50 ms. Phase currents are appropriately tuned on, between the ignition and the commutation angles. During this time interval, the upper power switch is always turned on, while the lower power switch is successively turned on and off in order to appropriately regulate the phase current amplitude. After the short-circuit occurrence, the upper power switch associated to phase A is permanently conducting. The fault is only detected when the commutation angle is reached, since the faulty power switch is acting, until this position, as it is expected. At this moment, both power switches are turned off and the difference, idc idce , is positive [Fig. 5(b)]. The diagnostic parameter sgn is then 1, denoting a short-circuit occurrence. For precaution, during both simulation and experimental tests, an order to stop the machine was imposed when the diagnostic parameter sgn presents a value equal to 1. All switching commands are turned off. The short-circuit fault in one power switch associated to phase A is identied, since the diagnostic variable, ha , is the only one that presents a zero amplitude [Fig. 5(c)]. The faulty element is not identied because the fault is detected when both power switches should be deactivated and the aforementioned test is not performed. This procedure can prevent an increase of the faulty phase current which would increase the effect of the short-circuit fault. However, a different test is considered when all phase currents are vanished. During this test, the upper power switch associated to phase A is turned on, while the other power switches remain turned off. The phase current does not register an increase, which allows the conclusion that SU a is the faulty power switch. The value of k is not so important in the diagnosis of a shortcircuit fault. In any case, this parameter must be signicantly smaller than the reference phase current. When the fault is diagnosed, the difference between idc and idce is near to that value and tends to increase. A short-circuit fault in a power switch does not allow to restore the energy stored in the magnetic eld to the power source. This effect forces an inappropriate behavior of the affected phase current, as it can be seen in Fig. 5(a). After the fault detection, phase A current presents a decreasing amplitude until the respective aligned position is reached. After that rotor position, the phase current increases, due to the existence of a high back EMF, reaching a higher amplitude. The mechanical energy is partially converted into electric energy. The maximum magnitude of phase current occurs when the respective stator poles start to be no longer overlapping with a rotor pole. After this instant, the phase current decreases. The maximum amplitude of the phase current tends to increase with the increase of machine speed and/or phase current amplitude, because the back EMF also increases. At high speed and/or load level, a short-circuit fault in a power switch causes a very

Fig. 4. Simulation results at high-speed operation, considering a very small load, under the occurrence of an open-circuit fault in the phase A lower power switch at 50 ms. (a) Phase currents. (b) Difference between the measured and the estimated power converter supply currents. (c) Diagnostic variables.

proceeds with the additional test, which intends to turn off SLa and keep SU a turned on. During the test, the equality between idc and idce is reestablished. This means that SU a is effectively conducting, and the fault has occurred in the power switch SLa . After the test, the switching commands are once again dictated by the drive controller and sgn returns to be 1. The test conducted by the fault diagnostic procedure takes place during a small time interval, which corresponds to two sampling times and allows the identication of the faulty element. For precaution the fault is only assumed if the difference between idc idce occurs at least during two successive sampling times. This means that the open-circuit fault in a power switch of phase A is diagnosed two sampling times after the fault occurrence and the identication of the faulty element is achieved two sampling times later. Parameter k is particularly important in this situation. If the fault occurs when the phase current amplitude is smaller than k, the fault would not be immediately detected. Only one cycle

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Fig. 6. Experimental setup.

the rotor mechanical position. The asymmetric bridge converter consists of two SEMiX IGBT modules per phase. A 24-V battery provides the dc power to the inverter. The power switch faults are controlled by the user using the dSPACE ControlDesk software. The mechanical load applied to the SRM is regulated by a hysteresis dynamometer. Fig. 6 shows the experimental setup. A. Open-Circuit Fault in a Converter Power Switch Fig. 7 presents the experimental results, regarding the timedomain waveforms of the motor phase currents together with the diagnostic variables, under the occurrence of an open-circuit fault in the lower power switch of phase A, at 50 ms. It is considered a no-load operation. The experimental results are in a good agreement with the ones obtained by simulation, considering similar operating conditions. However, the time interval necessary for the fault diagnosis is considerably higher. Indeed, for this particular experimental test, at the time of the fault occurrence, phases A and B present similar amplitudes which do not permit to immediately identify the faulty phase. Both variables ha and hb , during this time interval, present an amplitude smaller than parameter k, which is about 2.3. It can be observed that phase B current exhibits a more pronounced decrease when compared with phase A current. Once hb is greater than k, phase A is identied as the motor phase with one of its respective power switches in open-circuit. After that, the additional test is conducted, and the faulty element is identied. As it is expected, the difference idc idce is not zero during normal operation. However, this is not a limitation since the fault occurrence is clearly detected. B. Short-Circuit Fault in a Converter Power Switch V. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS The performance of the proposed fault diagnostic method was experimentally veried using the four phases SRM, described in the previous sections. The control algorithm, as well as the fault diagnostic procedure, was implemented in a digital signal processor (dSPACE unit). The machine has two optical sensors, which status allows to estimate the rotor speed and The results regarding the experimental time-domain waveforms of the motor phase currents together with the diagnostic variables, for a short-circuit fault in the upper power switch of phase A, at 50 ms, are presented in Fig. 8. The operating conditions are similar to the ones simulated for the same fault occurrence. The experimental results are, once more, in a good agreement with the simulation results.

Fig. 5. Simulation results at low-speed operation, considering a very small load, under the occurrence of a short-circuit fault in the phase A upper power switch at 50 ms. (a) Phase currents. (b) Difference between the measured and the estimated power converter supply currents. (c) Diagnostics variables.

high amplitude of the affected phase current, which can cause damage to the respective motor winding or to other power converter elements, associated with the same motor phase. Nevertheless, it is not possible to control the phase current after the fault occurrence if an appropriate fault procedure is not implemented. In this context, the proposed fault diagnostic method proves to be of extreme importance, since it allows a quick fault diagnosis, essential to initialize a fault-tolerant procedure.

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Fig. 7. Experimental results at high-speed and no-load operation, under the occurrence of an open-circuit fault in the lower power switch of phase A, at 50 ms. (a) Phase currents. (b) Difference between the measured and the estimated power converter supply currents. (c) Diagnostic variables.

Fig. 8. Experimental results at low-speed and no-load operation, under the occurrence of a short-circuit fault in the upper power switch of phase A, at 50 ms. (a) Phase currents. (b) Difference between the measured and the estimated power converter supply currents. (c) Diagnostic variables.

C. Transient States The robustness of the proposed fault diagnostic techniques was tested experimentally exposing the SRM drive at some transient states like the variation of speed and load. Fig. 9 presents the experimental results, regarding the time-domain waveforms of phase A current together with the diagnostic variable, idc idce , and the calculated motor speed, considering a sudden change of the reference speed from 500 rpm to 2000 rpm. A no-load operation is considered. The difference between idc idce does not present abnormal amplitudes. At the highest phase, current amplitude parameter k is about 3.5, and at the smallest amplitude it is about 2. During the transient state, the adopted control strategy changes from the control at low-speed operation to the control at high-speed operation. This occurs near t = 1.6 s. It can be noted that negative amplitudes of idc idce are more evident for the hysteresis control. It is clear that the difference, idc idce , increases as the phase

current magnitude increases. This is mainly due to the commutation of the power switches. At some sampling times, when the phase currents are measured, the electric currents that pass though the power switches still present a transient behavior. Therefore, the current ow is not perfectly equal to the idealized one. If the sampling time is decreased, idc idce presents higher amplitudes. The increase of the sampling time does not decrease signicantly the difference registered between idc idce . On the other hand, the increase of the sampling time increases the time for fault detection and can cause a poor control of the phase current. The experimental results, presented in Fig. 10, consider a sudden change of the mechanical load. The SRM drive changes from a no-load operation to a 6-Nm load operation. The timedomain waveforms of the phase A current together with the diagnostic variable, idc idce , and the calculated motor speed are presented. When the mechanical load increases, the motor speed decreases which conduct to an increase of the reference

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Fig. 9. Experimental results at normal and no-load operation considering the change of the reference speed from 500 rpm to 2000 rpm. (a) Phase A current. (b) Difference between the measured and the estimated power converter supply currents. (c) Motor speed.

Fig. 10. Experimental results at normal operation considering the change of the mechanical load from 0 Nm to 6 Nm. (a) Phase A current. (b) Difference between the measured and the estimated power converter supply currents. (c) Motor speed.

phase current. The amplitude of phase A current increases as well as the magnitude of idc idce . The experimental test does not present an unexpected behavior since |idc idce | is always smaller than parameter k. The highest value of k is about 4.2, and the smallest value is about 2. VI. C ONCLUSION A new fault diagnostic technique for open- and short-circuits faults in a power switch of an asymmetric bridge converter, applied to SRM drives has been proposed. The method is intrinsically connected to the drive controller since it uses the information about the switching commands. The other inputs of the method are the motor phase currents, which are already available for the main control system, and the power converter supply current. Comparing with a typical motor drive, only one extra current sensor is needed. This additional effort is easily justied by the fault diagnosis capability of the

proposed method. Moreover, monitoring the power converter supply current can be very interesting when the machine is operating in the generating mode and a battery system is used as the dc power supply, for example. Several simulation and experimental tests were conducted validating the effectiveness of the proposed method. The presented results are focused on the more disadvantageous scenario, which corresponds to the no-load operation where it becomes more difcult to detect the faults. Simulation and experimental results of an openand a short-circuit fault in a power switch, at low and highspeed operating conditions, are presented. The proposed fault diagnostic method can be used either in motoring or generating operations, and it is independent of the rotor mechanical speed or even the mechanical load. Short-circuit faults are diagnosed when the affected phase current presents an amplitude which can be considered normal, unlike what happens with other fault diagnostic techniques proposed in the literature. The diagnosis occurs when the faulty element contributes to an inappropriate electric current ow

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between the power supply and the motor phase. The faulty element is, in these cases, always identied. The early detection of short-circuit faults can be of an extreme importance because it can promote fault-tolerant procedures, thus avoiding severe electrical and mechanical problems. A very high phase current can cause overheating and damages in the windings. On the other hand, the electromagnetic torque that is produced when a short-circuit fault in a power switch occurs will present an unexpected behavior since the phase current cannot be controlled. The proposed fault diagnostic technique can also detect an open-circuit fault occurrence in a phase winding. The robustness of the proposed method was also tested by exposing the SRM drive at some transient states like the variation of speed and mechanical load. No false diagnoses have been registered. R EFERENCES
[1] C. M. Stephens, Fault detection and management systems for faulttolerant switched reluctance motor drive, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 10981102, Nov./Dec. 1991. [2] R. B. Inderka and R. W. De Donker, DITCDirect Instantaneous Torque Control of switched reluctance drives, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 10461051, Jul./Aug. 2003. [3] H. J. Brauer, M. D. Hennen, and R. W. De Doncker, Multiphase torquesharing concepts of predictive PWM-DITC for SRM, in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Power Electron. Drive Syst., Nov. 2730, 2007, pp. 511516. [4] X. D. Xue, K. W. E. Cheng, and S. L. Ho, Optimization and evaluation of torque-sharing functions for torque ripple minimization in switched reluctance motor drives, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 24, no. 9, pp. 20762090, Sep. 2009. [5] F. Sahin, H. B Ertan, and K. Leblebicioglu, Optimum geometry for torque ripple minimization of switched reluctance motors, IEEE Trans. Energy Convers., vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 3039, Mar. 2000. [6] J. Choi, T. H. Kim, K. Jang, and J. Lee, Geometric and electrical optimization design of SR motor based on progressive quadratic response surface method, IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 32413243, Sep. 2003. [7] C. Gerada, K. J. Bradley, M. Sumner, P. Wheeler, S. Pickering, J. Clare, C. Whitley, and G. Towers, The results do mesh, IEEE Ind. Appl. Mag., vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 6272, Mar./Apr. 2007. [8] N. S. Gameiro and A. J. M. Cardoso, Fault tolerant power converter for switched reluctance drives, in Proc. Int. Conf. Elect. Mach., Sep. 69, 2008, pp. 16, [CD-ROM].

[9] K. Lee, N. Park, K. Kim, and D. Hyun, Simple fault detection and tolerant scheme in VSI-fed switched reluctance motor, in Proc. IEEE Power Electron. Spec. Conf., Jun. 1822, 2006, pp. 16, [CD-ROM]. [10] A. C Oliveira, A. M. N. Lima, C. B. Jacobina, and F. Salvadori, Startup and fault tolerance of the SRM drive with three-phase bridge inverter, in Proc. IEEE Power Electron. Spec. Conf., Jun. 2005, pp. 714719. [11] S. Gopalakrishnan, A. M. Omekanda, and B. Lequesne, Classication and remediation of electrical faults in the switched reluctance drive, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 479486, Mar./Apr. 2006. [12] N. S. Gameiro and A. J. M. Cardoso, Analysis of SRM drives behaviour under the occurrence of power converter faults, in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Ind. Electron., Jun. 911, 2003, vol. 2, pp. 821825.

Natlia S. Gameiro (S02M11) received the Electrical Engineering Diploma and the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, in 1997 and 2004, respectively, where she is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree. Since 1997, she has been with the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal, where she is currently an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Her teaching interests cover electrical machines, control systems, and basic electric network analysis, and her research interests include electrical machines and drives, control of variable electric drives, fault diagnosis, and fault-tolerant control. Currently, she is mainly focused on the analysis and development of fault-tolerant solutions, based on inverter and/or control recongurations applied to switched reluctance motor drives.

Antonio J. Marques Cardoso (S89A95SM99) was born in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1962. He received the Electrical Engineering Diploma, the Dr.Eng. degree, and the Habilitation degree from the University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, in 1985, 1995, and 2008, respectively. From 1985 until 2011, he was with the University of Coimbra, where he was Director of the Electrical Machines Laboratory. Since 2011, he has been with the University of Beira Interior, Covilh, Portugal, where he is a Full Professor in the Department of Electromechanical Engineering. His teaching interests cover electrical rotating machines, transformers, and maintenance of electromechatronic systems, and his research interests are focused on condition monitoring and diagnostics of electrical machines and drives. He is the author of the book Fault Diagnosis in Three-Phase Induction Motors (Coimbra Editora, 1991) (in Portuguese) and about 300 papers published in technical journals and conference proceedings.