A simple understanding of Field-Orientation for AC motor control E.S.

Tez

IEE Colloquium on
Vector Control and Direct Torque Control of Induction Motors

A SIMPLE UNDERSTANDING OF FIELD-ORIENTATION FOR AC MOTOR CONTROL

Dr. E.S.Tez
Dept. of Electronic and Electrical Eng.
Loughborough University of Technology
Loughborough LE11 OQE

the motor, with the 'magnetic' and 'mechanical'

INTRODUCTION
In the AC motor control field, "vector" has now
become a grossly abused term causing confusion
e.g. as to whether it signifies an alternative to
pulse-width-modulation (i.e. DC-to-AC power
conversion) or a technique for AC motor torque
control. To emphasise the latter meaning, the term
"flux-vector control" is now widely accepted, but
the confusion still continues with phrases like
'sensorless flux-vector control'. Hence, the term
"field-orientation" will be used here.
In its original meaning as proposed in early 70s,
field-orientation refers to a 'technique' for achiev-
ing rapid control of an induction motor's torque.
Particularly in the form of 'Indirect' flux-vector
control, this technique became practicable after the
advent of fast micro-processors and DSP devices.
During the past 20 years, considerable amounts of
research effort have been spent in this area. Some
researchers achieved but only an 'incremental'
progress along the directions set by certain 'trend-
setter' institutions. A school of thought has now
been established, and field-orientationhector-
control has found its way into undergraduate
textbooks. However, this technique seems to have
carried with itself, in an implicit manner, certain
assumptions, hypotheses etc., some of which are
taken granted though not well understood.
aspects thrown in just to complete the picture.
Transformations between various reference-frame
co-ordinates are necessary in the model. The
complexity of these calculations requires the use of
fast and expensive digital processors. Invariably,
the model depends on certain motor parameters,
e.g. the rotor resistance and inductance, which are
difficult to measure in practice. Besides, such
parameters vary with operational conditions, e.g.
temperature, and from one motor to the next. This
'parameter dependency' poses a serious problem
for successful implementation of field-orientation.
Hence, on-line identification of motor parameters
has become an area receiving considerable atten-
tion.
It therefore appears that the attempts to solve a
problem lead to creation further problems that
need to be tackled. Consequently, when the end-
result is implemented as a commercial product, it
becomes a confounding drive system, which is
difficult to set up, commission or use. The internal
complexities of a flux-vector drive are unavoidably
reflected in its man-machine interface, and the
product necessitates extensive user-training before
it can be used or applied properly. Although the
intention in developing such a drive is to achieve
the performance capabilities of a DC drive, the
present Vector drives cannot compete with the
simplicity and low-cost of DC drives.

All these undesirable features should be regarded

PRESENT IMPLEMENTATIONS
Various implementations proposed so far are all
based on an approach that uses a mathematical
model of the motor. In principle, this model is
based on an 'electrical circuit' representation of
as the deficiencies of a particular implementation
rather than unavoidable consequences of the field-
orientation technique. Owing to the high level of
abstraction introduced by the mathematical model,
a particular 'implementation' of this technique
may be, and in fact are being, confused to be the
'technique' itself. Most of the complexities, and

IEE Colloquium: Vector Confro/ and Direct Torque Control of Induction Motors
A simple understanding of Field-Orientation for AC motor control
the misconceptions arising from them, can be
traced back to the ’electric circuit’ representation
of the motor model. In such a model, the thee-
dimensional physical construction of the motor and
its magnetic circuits become lost. Instead, attention
is paid to lumped circuit parameters such as
resistances, mutual inductances etc.
A SIMPLE VIEW OF FIELD-ORIEMTATION
From an understanding of the electromagnetic
principles of torque generation in AC motors, the
author generalises the concept of field-orientation
from being just a ’technique’ to being a basic
’principle’ that governs the operation of most
motors. DC motors, synchronous motors, brush-
less AC or DC servo motors, vector-controlled
induction motors all operate on the same principle
of field-orientation.
In the Colloquium, the author will present his
generalised approach to field-orientation, starting
from the basic assumptions thht:
1) the overall system is linear, i.e. the super-
position theorem applies;
2) the magnetic medium is isozopic, L e . when
represented as vectors, the 3 and H vectors
coincide in space;
3) the motor structure has a uniform air-par>, i.e.
the reluctance torque is ignored.
The field-orientation principle can be described
mathematically by
4 4 -
P = k+,A F,
where F, and F, are, respectively, the stator and
the rotor magnetic field vectors, and k is a cons-
tant that depends on the motor’s magnetic struc-
ture. Equation ( states
l ) that, for any motor, the
torque vector T is proportional. to the vector
productzf the s t o r and the rotor magnetic field
vectors, F, and F,.
Equation (1) shows that there exists three variables
through which control can be exercised. Further-
more, the magnetic field vector (of the stator or
IEE Colloquium: Vector Control and Direct Torque Control of Induction Motors
E.S.Tez
the rotor) can be representsd by one of the two
choices: the MMF vector (Uor the Flux vector
(Q), which coincide in space. In other words,
equation (1) can be written in four different ways
as 4 a-..
T = kl* F,h 9, ... (2)
... (3)
... (4)
all of which are valid mathematically.
In general, from Ampere’s Law,
F= N I
where N is the number of turns of a conductor
with each turn carrying I amperes of current.
Hence, for example, the stator MMF can be repre-
sented as a space vector in the form of
-P 4
F, = N I, ... (6)
where N is the effective stator number of turns and
-c
I, is the stator current vector. The latter should
not be confused with the stator current (i.e. the
electric current flowing in a stator winding). The
stator current vector is a magnetic quantity and
is a space-vector, whereas the stator current is an
electrical quantity and can be represented as a
phasor but only if it is a pure sinusoidal function
of time.
Consider for example equation (2). With ’the
substitution of equation ( 6 ) , it can be written as
... (7)
where K,= k, N is a new constantt. The mag-
nitude of the motor torque is then given by the
scalar equation
a 4
where 8 is the space angle between the I, and 9,
vectors. When the above equation is written as
* - - c
IT1 = K,. l9,l. ( 11,I sin 8 9 ... (9)
 ..
A simple understanding of Field-Orientation for AC motor control
rc
the term within the parentheses, 11,) sin 8, is
referred to as the 'torque-producing' component
of the stator current vector. This corresponds to
resolving the stator current vector into two com-
ponents, as shown in Figure 1 a. The gmponent
in line with the rotor flux vector, i.e. 1$1 cos 8 ,
is then referred to as the 'flux-producing' com-
ponent of the stator current vector.
However, equation (8) can also be written as
4 can be considered as a non-ideal supply. In fact, in
when the term within the parentheses, ICP, I sin 8 ,
can be referred to as the 'torque-producing' com-
ponent of the rotor flux vector. This corresponds
to resolving the rotor flux vector into two com-
ponents, as shown in Figure 1 b.
Resolving one magnetic field vector on to another,
or vice versa, is a process performed (by a human
being) only for expediency. The choice between
equations (9) and (lo), i.e. between the resolving
methods of Figure l a and lb, depends on acces-
sability and controllability of the stator and rotor
magnetic fields.
Various possibilities for exercising torque control
will be discussed on the basis of the magnetic
structure of a particular machine. Some of the
illustrations that will be used in the Colloquium
are shown on the next page. It will be emphasised
that, as a process, field-orientation takes place
inside the motor, not inside the power converter
(i.e. microprocessor-controlled 3-phase inverter)
driving the motor. If I were a digitally controlled
inverter, what would I need to do in order to
achieve and maintain field-Orientation inside the
motor? This question will be answered for DC
motors, brushless permanent-magnet synchronous
motors and vector-controlled induction motors. To
provide a simple understanding, analogies will be
used to describe the 'torque-angle control' within
the field-orientation process.
POWER CONVERSION IN VECTOR DRNES
Most flux-vector induction motor drives employ a
'current-impressed'voltage-sourceinverter, where
the inverter output current is shaped by a technique
3/3
IEE Colloquium: Vector Control and Direct Torque Control of Induction Motors
E.S.Tez
like hysteresis (bang-bang) current control. It will
be emphasised that this technique is not an essen-
tial part of the field-orientation process. For DC-
to-AC power conversion, the inverter may use any
technique such as pulse-width-modulation, space-
vector modulation or hysteresis current control.
For the purposes of field-orientation,the 'voltage-
impressed' control of inverters can be used equally
well as the current-impressed control. As an AC
power supply, a voltage-source inverter together
with its PWM control (regardless of whether is
current-impressed or voltage-impressed control)
a correct time scale for instantaneous torque
control of the motor, the voltage-impressedand the
current-impressed control of inverters can be con-
sidered respectively as the 'Thevenin' and the
'Norton' equivalents of the same supply.
A NOVEL IMPLEMENTATION
The principles outlined above have been imple-
mented in a novel closed-loop vector-controlled
induction motor drive named INVECTER. This
drive employs the indirect vector-control technique
with a voltage-impressed PWM inverter.
With the support of the DTI and Loughborough
University, EST Research Ltd has developed an
ASIC digital processor chip-set to perform all the
transformations and calculations involved in the
field-orientation process. In addition, the chip-set
performs the P W M and other motor control funct-
ions like PID speed regulation etc. Since these
low-level tasks are delegated to a fast hardware
processor in the chip-set, a front-end processor
(part of the chip-set) is able to furnish the drive
system with a high level of intelligence for man-
machine interface and full serial communications.
One of the distinguishing features of this novel
implementation is as follows. Apart from the
motor's name-plate data, the INVECTER requires
no difficult-to-measure parameter values such as
motor magnetising current, rotor resistance etc.
______
A simple understanding of Field-Orientation for AC motor control E.S.Tez

I \ -+= I

I
Figure 2 b: Rotor kept stationary; Stator turnec
Flux manually

Figure 1 b: Resolving Rotor Flux on to Stator Figure 3 a: Traditional understanding of torque

MMF generation in 'Induction Motor

Figure 2 a: Stator kept stationary; Rotor turned Figure 3 b: Understanding of Field-Orientationin

manually Induction Motor
0 1995 The Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Printed and published by the IEE, Savoy Place, London WCPR OBL,
3 f4

IEE Colloquium: Vector Control and Direct Torque Control of Induction Motors