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This paper aims to propose a new Vernier reluctance machine (VRM), which integrates the advantages of a robust rotor structure, good torque density, and flexible flux control ability. The key is to establish the excitation field with both stator slot permanent magnets (PMs) and zero-sequence current. Two excitation sources have different pole pair numbers but share a parallel magnetic circuit and contribute to superimposed torque in this machine. Meanwhile, a flexible flux control can be achieved by regulating zero-sequence current, and little demagnetization risk exists for slot PMs during flux control. In this paper, the machine configuration and operation principle are introduced, along with its integrated ac and dc drive method. Electromagnetic performance of this new machine is evaluated by finite-element analysis. Leading design parameters are determined and optimized considering optimal injection ratio of zero-sequence current. A prototype is fabricated, and relevant experiment results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed solution.

In order to improve the performance of interior permanent magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM) based on space voltage vector modulation schemes, this paper presents a highly accurate online method to find the proper maximum-torque-per-ampere (MTPA) angles. This algorithm fully considers the nonlinear characteristics of the d -axis inductance, q -axis inductance, and permanent magnetic flux together. Additionally, the influences of temperature are taken into account. In this paper, the proposed method injects a small virtual angle signal into the current angle mathematically to track the stator current reference angle that is close to real MTPA points. Moreover, following a theoretical analysis method, the error of the virtual signal injection method is analyzed. Then, based on the results of error analysis, this paper proposes a compensation strategy that can significantly reduce the current angle error between the tracking point and real MTPA point. At last, various experiments on an IPMSM test bench verify the proposed control technique and overall performance.

In this paper, the modular consequent-pole (MCP) rotor is adopted in the fractional-slot interior permanent magnet (IPM) machine to utilize the strong flux-focusing effect and reduce the leakage flux. Hence, the torque density and utilization ratio of permanent magnet (PM) material can be improved. However, the unacceptable unbalanced magnetic force (UMF) may arise due to asymmetric airgap flux density produced by consequent-pole topology. Thus, a pole-shaping method based on three-sectional arcs is proposed to suppress it. Due to the relatively complex rotor structure, the multiobjective optimization combined finite-element method with genetic algorithm is performed in this paper. Furthermore, the electromagnetic performance of the IPM machine with MCP rotor (namely IPM-MCP machine), including the open-circuit airgap flux density, phase back EMF, torque, PM utilization ratio, efficiency, flux-weakening capability and UMF, are compared with the conventional surface-mounted PM (SPM), IPM, and consequent-pole IPM (IPM-CP) machines. It is demonstrated that the IPM-MCP machine obtains the largest output torque in these machines. Meanwhile, the IPM-MCP and IPM-CP machines respectively have >30% and >20% higher PM utilization ratio than the conventional SPM and IPM machines while they obtain similar torque ripple and efficiency. Moreover, the IPM-MCP machine can obtain much lower UMF than the IPM-CP machine due to the effective suppression of asymmetric airgap flux density. Finally, a 12-slot/10-pole IPM-MCP machine is fabricated to verify the analyses.

This paper presents an integrated control strategy for a starter/generator (S/G) system based on five-phase dual-stator winding induction machine (FPDWIM). The FPDWIM has a cage-type rotor and two sets of stator windings. One is a five-phase control winding (CW), and the other is a five-phase power winding (PW). In the starting mode, the FPDWIM works as a motor. The CW provides both active power and reactive power to drive the engine. In the generating mode, the CW mainly handles reactive power while the PW outputs active power. To achieve the integration of the starting and generating controls, indirect CW-flux-oriented control (ICWFOC) to operate in both starting and generating modes is proposed in this paper. In starting mode, the CW current and flux are controlled to output a constant starting torque; while in the generating mode, both CW and PW dc bus voltages are regulated. In this way, the principles and structures of the control strategies in both modes are compatible, resulting in a simpler implementation and improved performance. With the proposed control strategy, the system can complete the starting–generating operation with a smoother transition process. Simulation and experimental results are compared to validate the proposed control strategy.

Electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA) is a highly integrated local hydraulic actuation system for more electric aircraft (MEA). However, the motor heating has always been the bottleneck in actual applications. In this paper, a novel energy-recovery EHA (ER-EHA) with specific hydraulic energy recovery unit is proposed to solve the problem. ER-EHA can reduce the heating of the motor, which is beneficial to improve the reliability and mean time before failure of the system. Besides, the power resistor is eliminated in the new system, so the volume of the system is reduced, and the power-to-weight ratio of the system is improved, which satisfies the needs of MEA. Simulations can prove the effect of energy recovery unit. To show the efficiency of our proposed structure, a specific test bench called redundant degree heterogeneous drives loads test bench is designed, and experiments are carried out in this paper. The results reflect its contribution to motor heating reduction.

Series-connected-based offshore wind farms can eliminate bulky central offshore converters, transformers, and platforms. In a series-connected-based offshore wind farm, the dc voltage of the converters should be changed within a large range to control the dc-link voltage (grid side) and maximize wind power acquisition (generator side). In this paper, the full-bridge-based modular multilevel converter (FB-MMC) is proposed as grid- and generator-side converters. The dc voltage of the FB-MMC can vary in a large range because the full-bridge submodule (FBSM) is used. The control method of the FB-MMC in a series-connected-based offshore wind farm is different from those of traditional ones. The dc current control and capacitor voltage balance control are proposed in this paper, with which the FB-MMC can operate normally in the series-connected offshore wind farm. Moreover, the capacitor ripple voltage in the generator-side FB-MMC is studied. The result shows that the capacitor in the FBSM can be designed in rated power and frequency, and it will be feasible when the power and frequency decrease. Simulation and experiment results verify the feasibility of the proposed configuration and the corresponding control algorithm.

Nanorobotic manipulation technique has been regarded as one of the most dominating approaches to upgrade the functions of microscope benefits from its complex and precise operation system. At the current stage, although atomic force microscopy (AFM) is capable of mapping specimens on a two-dimensional/partial three-dimensional (3-D) plane, a full orientation of 360 $^{\circ }$ characterization still remains a challenge for AFM. Taking advantage of a nanorobotic manipulation system (NMS), 360 $^{\circ }$ mapping and 3-D reconstruction of topography and nanomechanical properties are presented in this paper. Compared with recent advances of AFM mapping techniques, our proposed method is able to realize effective, large area characterization and integral results can be directly perceived through 3-D reconstruction. In this paper, a six degrees-of-freedom NMS assembled inside AFM and task specification are first proposed. Second, home positioning method for effective specimen rotation scanning is introduced. Third, 3-D reconstruction methods for the topography and nanomechanical properties of the specimen are presented. After that, 360 $^{\circ }$ characterization of three different types of specimens, human hair (anisotropic biological material), trapezoidal cantilever, and conical micropipette (isotropic inorganic material) are adopted to demonstrate the feasibility and practicability of our proposed system. Finally, the 3-D reconstruction results of selected specimens are analyzed. This paper fills the blank of current AFM topography and nanomechanical characterization methodologies, which is expected to give a long-term impact in the fundamental nanomaterial research and practical micro/nano characterization.

This paper proposes a sensorless vibration harmonic frequency estimation for a servo system driven by a permanent magnet (PM) synchronous machine. Traditional vibration harmonic estimation relies on the measurement using external sensors. An accelerometer is typically installed in the servo system to measure the vibration harmonic signal. Because the accelerometer must be attached on the visibly vibrational location inside the system, this vibration detection results in both issues about installation and reliability. To overcome this drawback, this paper proposes a disturbance observer to estimate the vibration harmonic by using current and position signal. A real-time signal process is developed to identify the vibration frequency from estimated harmonic. A servo system with a 400-W PM machine is built to verify the proposed vibration harmonic and frequency estimation. This paper includes the comparative evaluation between the accelerometer-based vibration harmonic measurement and the sensorless estimation.

This paper proposes a family of single-stage converters consisting of three different converters, each of which is able to produce a variety of waveforms through the waveform-subtraction technique. We brand this converter family as waveform-subtraction based single-stage converter (WSSC). By using only a single-stage converter, the proposed waveform generation technique is able to realize dc–dc–ac conversions and suppress input current ripple, meeting the needs of modernized power grid with renewable energy sources. At the same time, converters in this WSSC family are capable of generating a range of shapes, such as triangular, rectangular, and sawtooth waveforms, with simple structures, demonstrating its suitability of being applied in the electrochemical industry, e.g., in the electroplating process. Furthermore, the proposed family converters also realize substantially better input current ripple suppression compared to other conventional converters. In order to prove the validity and efficacy of the proposed WSSC and the theory underpinning it, in this paper, extensive simulations and analyses are conducted to verify the theoretical foundation of the proposed WSSC strategy, and the prototype of a converter from the proposed converter family is built and tested in our laboratory, which validates the functionality of the WSSC.

A novel high conversion ratio bidirectional C-dual transformers-LC (CDT-LC) resonant dc–dc converter is proposed in this paper. Based on the traditional LLC, an auxiliary transformer and an extra resonant capacitance are employed in the CDT-LC structure. It not only harvests high efficiency, but exhibits a good voltage gain feature. Especially for the case of light load, CDT-LC still harvests a high efficiency, compared with traditional converters. Also, it can achieve a fast gain reduction when the switching frequency is higher than resonant frequency. In this paper, the operating principles of the converter are analyzed in both bidirectional operation modes. In addition, its dual-transformers structure feature and voltage gain characteristics are discussed in details. Furthermore, the parameter design method is provided. Moreover, the loss breakdown for the converter is given in details. Finally, a 2.5-kW prototype is established to verify the performance of the CDT-LC converter, and its maximum efficiency reaches 97%.

This paper presents a 5-level inverter topology for open-end induction motor drives by using a single dc source. The open stator windings of the drive are supplied with a 3-level flying capacitor inverter from one end and capacitor-fed 2-level inverter from another end. The voltage ratio of the dc link to the capacitor in 2-level inverter is maintained at 4:1 ratio to generate five-level voltage output. The capacitor in 2-level inverter is balanced by the switching redundant vector combinations from both the inverters while the floating capacitors in the 3-level inverter are balanced by using redundant switching states. The proposed topology gives 5-level operation with less number of floating capacitors and power semiconductor switches compared to other existing topologies. Also, the balancing of the capacitors is independent of load power factor and modulation index. Further, the generalization of the proposed dual inverter scheme for any n -level inverter is also included in this paper. The experimental results and required analysis are also presented to validate the inverter scheme.

This paper presents a model predictive control for a six-phase permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) with a reduced-dimension cost function. Only the variables in the harmonic subspace are included into the cost function, while the energy conversion related variables are excluded. This is achieved by using the deadbeat direct torque and flux control method to obtain a reference voltage vector and then to track the torque and stator flux properly in the energy conversion related subspace. Then, according to the position of the reference vector, the appropriate prediction vectors can be determined. Subsequently, a reduced-dimension cost function including only the harmonic constraints is defined to evaluate the feasible prediction vectors. In this way, the predictive model and the cost function are simplified without redundant constraints. Meanwhile, the torque and flux can be regulated satisfactorily, and the harmonic currents are suppressed effectively. Finally, experimental results of the proposed method and the conventional model predictive torque control are presented in this paper to verify the validity of the proposed method.

Active magnetic bearing is a core technology for high-speed rotational machines. Power electronics converter as the active magnetic bearing drive is the actuation unit and its topology highly impacts the performance of the bearing system. This paper introduces the progress of topology of active magnetic bearing drive. The initial topology of an H-bridge does not sufficiently utilize the power electronics devices. The topology with half-bridge and shared phase-leg has been proposed as the fundamental topology. In this paper, two approaches of novel magnetic bearing drive topology modification have been developed on the basis of the fundamental topology. In the first approach, central phase-leg for multiaxis magnetic bearing drive can be further shared and the power electronic devices can be globally optimized in the whole system. Further, a topology with current in the reverse direction can reduce the central phase-leg current rating and power losses. In the second approach, fault-tolerant magnetic bearing drive topology has been developed on the basis of the fundamental topology, too. It can ride-through the open-circuit fault of power electronics switch-in operation and keep levitation for the magnetic bearing. The series work of novel topologies can improve the performance of an active magnetic bearing system in application.

The wind energy generating system (WEGS) in this paper, aims to provide the required active peak power without high frequency fluctuations even under variable wind speed conditions. The generator speed is adjusted according to the intermittent wind speeds through two voltage source converters (VSCs) connected back to back, namely, machine-side VSC (MSVSC) and utility grid side VSC (UGVSC) across the dc-link capacitor. In this paper, the hybrid generalized integrator control is proposed for switching UGVSC and providing dc offset rejection and immunity against oscillatory errors due to subharmonics, thereby improving the power quality (PQ). Fuzzy logic controller (FLC) is implemented for the speed control of the salient pole synchronous generator (SG) driven by the wind turbine. The FLC provides the tracking of the reference speed under high overshoot transient conditions and narrow bandwidth. The switching of MSVSC is obtained by field oriented control. The dynamic performance is improved by the wind feed-forward term, which reduces the oscillation, ensuring balanced and sinusoidal grid currents. The generated power from the WEGS is fed to the grid. The weak grid conditions, namely, grid voltage unbalance, voltage sag, voltage swell, and grid voltage distortion, are considered. The performance of the system is tested on a laboratory prototype. Test results provide the effectiveness of the system with increased wind penetration and performance under weak grid conditions. Moreover, improving the PQ, the grid current total harmonic distortion meets the requirement of IEEE-519 standard, and is found to be less than 5%.

This paper analyzes different stator windings configurations for permanent-magnet synchronous machines during the presence of a stator turn fault. Due to the inverter pulsewidth modulation, the fault commonly occurs in variable-frequency permanent-magnet machine drives. In this paper, two types of windings are compared to identify key machine topologies that can achieve the reduced influence of the turn fault. When the machine is operated in real time, the windings with separated neutral points reduce the torque ripple caused by fault-reflected flux harmonics. Analytical models based on equivalent circuits are developed to predict the machine flux and torque waveform during the presence of the turn fault. All developed analytical models are verified by the finite-element analysis and experimental results on a 750-W surface permanent-magnet machine prototype.

In this paper, a new modular and active snubber cell, easily applicable, and attractive for converters, especially have many switches proposed. This snubber cell is implemented on the single phase of a grid-connected three-phase T-type three-level inverter (T-3LI). In this new converter, the main switches turn- on under zero-voltage transition and turn- off under zero-voltage switching (ZVS). Also, auxiliary switches turn- on under zero-current switching and turn- off under ZVS. All snubber diodes operate under soft switching (SS). There are no additional current and voltage stresses on the main switches. During an SS operation, the switching energies are transferred to a dc voltage source. Then, these energies are processed to input with an independent dc–dc converter. Thus, all switching energies are recycled. In this paper, the principle operation and steady-state analysis of the modular and active snubber cell for a single-phase T-3LI are presented and experimental results, rated 1 kW and 100 kHz, are provided to verify theoretical analysis.

Metallic joints are created in multivariable gas metal arc welding process by maintaining a balance between the quantum of heat generated and the feeding rate of electrode metal to the weld gap. The wire feeding control is often independently handled. The wire feeder unit should be simple, low cost, and capable of producing accurate speed. Arc welding controllers are often kept in clumsy conditions and the wire feeder unit is located close to the welder, could be much away from the controller. To reduce interconnections, separate sensing element for speed feedback should be avoided. Due to their negligible electrical and mechanical time constant, the pancake-type permanent magnet dc motor is suitable for wire feeding, where sensing of back electromotive force (EMF) for feedback is easy. When high frequency pulsewidth modulation (PWM) controller is used, the sensing of back EMF gets complicated. This paper explores the constraints on the choice of PWM frequency along with its maximum pulsewidth for different types of dc motors. It further elaborates comparatively on the choice of suitable control function for generating accurate speed control of wire feeding using back EMF as feedback. Finally, this paper also details the experimental results using the proposed control function.

Steel-reinforced concrete has been widely used in the construction of railways because of its robustness and low maintenance cost. This paper focuses on the analysis of unwanted losses in a reinforced concrete track when a high-power online wireless power transfer system is installed on it. Induced dielectric loss in the concrete, and eddy current and hysteresis losses in the reinforcing steel bar are calculated using analytic equations and finite-element analysis. Among the three sources of loss, a dominant one is identified in the first three sections of this paper. It is shown that the dielectric loss in the concrete and the hysteresis loss in the reinforcing bar do not have a critical impact on the efficiency. However, it is found that the eddy current loss of the reinforcing bar is dominant over the other two losses. Furthermore, the eddy current loss of the reinforcing bar overwhelmed the ohmic loss of a transmitter coil if the transmitter coil is not located in a proper position on the concrete track. The theoretical results are evaluated experimentally using a 7-m-long test bed. When the transmitter coil is located 0.14 m above the reinforcing bar, the measured eddy current loss of the steel bar is 3 kW while the Ohmic loss of the transmitter coil is 1.5 kW. As the distance between the transmitter coil and the steel bar increases, the eddy current loss of the bar decreases rapidly. From the simulation and the experimental evaluation of the loss, guidelines for installing a transmitter coil on a reinforcing bar for an in-motion wireless power transfer system are suggested in this paper.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in hand movements in various application fields. However, the human hand is too dexterous and only has limited space. Developing a proper method to monitor and capture hand motion is meaningful. Conventionally, an optical measurement method is widely used to capture hand gestures. Nevertheless, this method is costly and has the problem of line-of-sight shielding. In this paper, a sensor fusion algorithm is proposed to calculate a more accurate result by calculating acceleration, magnetic field strength, and angular speed from the inertial measurement unit (IMU). The core concept of this algorithm is based on the idea of feedback control. To validate the performance, the active rotary platform is set up to compare the measured results to the references directly. Most of the error results are less than 3°, and the standard deviations are less than 1°. The measurement results ensure the feasibility of the inertial measurement method with the sensor fusion algorithm proposed in this paper.

This paper presents a unified second-stage LC filter applied in the three-state switching cell buck–boost converter, which provides current and voltage with low ripple and low noise. The unified second-stage filter promotes a reduction in the number of devices while maintaining the filtering performance of the converter, with second-stage LC filters at the input and at the output. Moreover, the unified filter, when associated with a three-state switching cell buck–boost converter, allows a size reduction of filter devices, especially for designs with duty cycle range around 1/2. Furthermore, the unified filter arrangement provides nondissipative clamping of switching devices and reduce the system order when compared to the converter with second-stage LC filters. In this paper, the static and dynamic characteristics of the proposed converter in continuous conduction mode (CCM) are reported. Experimental data were obtained from a laboratory prototype with an input range of 32 $\sim$ 72 V, constant output of 48 V, a load of 150 W, and switching frequency of 45 kHz. The measured efficiency for the rated load was 97% for maximum input voltage. A comparison of the size and performance of the proposed filter with the topology that uses second-stage LC filters at the input and at the output is also presented.

A high-efficiency, high-power-density Sigma converter for a 48 V rack architecture in data centers is proposed in this paper. The Sigma converter is a quasi-parallel converter that uses a high-efficiency unregulated converter to deliver the bulk power to the load. A small buck converter is responsible for regulating the output voltage with prescribed dynamic responses. A design guideline for Sigma converter with integrated magnetics is provided in this paper. The unregulated converter is an LLC converter designed with a printed circuit board (PCB) winding matrix transformer, a structure which integrates four elemental transformers into one core. The buck converter is designed with discrete gallium nitride (GaN) devices and a PCB winding inductor. The proposed Sigma converter operates at 48 V input and 1 V-80 A output and can achieve a power density of 420 W/in3 as well as a peak efficiency of 94%.

A space vector modulation (SVM) technique of a dual-inverter system for an open-end winding motor drive is described in this paper, where one inverter has a battery power source and the other has an only capacitor across the dc bus. The SVM must be achieved to operate the motor with field-oriented control and simultaneously to control the capacitor voltage at a constant value by using redundant switching states of the dual-inverter system. The control of the capacitor voltage is carried out by selecting a charging or a discharging mode in each redundant switching state, taking the instantaneous motor power factor into account. In addition, it is also required to reduce the error voltage pulses, which are generated in output multilevel voltage waveforms during the dead time. The compensation method of the existing dead-time scheme and the improved SVM sequence to reduce the error voltage vectors are proposed in this paper. The proposed methods are examined through several experimental tests and are confirmed to generate superior output voltage waveforms from the viewpoint of the measured total harmonic distortion and dv / dt .

Turbomolecular pumps with ultrahigh vacuum performances are a desired technology among modern vacuum systems, which requires the pump to synchronously possess the wide pumping speed and high vacuum. This paper describes a systematic design methodology for a magnetically levitated turbomolecular pump with consideration of multiphysics constraints, such as the mechanical strength, rotor dynamics, electromagnetic losses, and thermal characteristic. These variables will directly decide the acquisition of high vacuum performances. The design process for such high-performance pumps requires multidisciplinary and highly iterative due to the complex interaction of the many design variables involved. The structure of the bladed rotor is determined in terms of the material selection and mechanical verification. In this paper, an effective modeling method is presented to achieve accurate bending modes of the bladed rotor. An assessment on the loss level and the thermal limit is performed to ensure the temperature rise of the pump within the acceptable range. The measured results show that the pump can achieve the high vacuum performance with the pumping speed of 4370 l/s and the lowest working pressure of 10–8 magnitude. The proposed design process described in this paper provides the general guidelines for the multidisciplinary design of high-performance turbomolecular pumps.

In order to overcome the shortcomings of the measurement methods for gas cumulative flow, especially in the long-term continuous measurement, a novel memristor-based gas cumulative flow sensor is proposed in this paper. The sensor is mainly composed of a hot-wire resistor, the memristor module, a feedback compensation network and some basic circuit components. According to the thermal balance equation and the memory characteristics of memristor, the sensor can measure the gas cumulative flow by combining the memristor resistance with the cross-sectional area of the pipe. In order to verify the design of memristor-based gas accumulation flow sensor, experiments are carried out under a constant gas flow velocity, a gradually increasing flow velocity, and a randomly varying flow velocity. The active region thickness D of the selected TiO2/TiO2-n memristor is 40 nm. The hot-wire used is a tungsten wire having a radius of 10 μ m and a length of 2 mm. The gas measured is air at a temperature of 300 K in the paper. The experimental results show that the sensor achieves the measurement of gas cumulative flow. When gas flow velocity at the center of the pipe is 5 m/s, the measuring range is approximately 0–20 m3 and the sensitivity within the effective range is approximately 28.44 Ω/m3. When the gas flow velocity, the memristor pairs increase and the gain of the amplifier changes, the measuring range, and the sensitivity of the sensor will changes accordingly.

Manual assembly is still an essential part in modern manufacturing. Understanding the actual state of the assembly process can not only improve quality control of products, but also collect comprehensive data for production planning and proficiency assessments. Addressing the rising complexity led by the uncertainty in manual assembly, this paper presents an efficient approach to automatically capture and analyze hand operations in the assembly process. In this paper, a detection-based tracking method is introduced to capture trajectories of hand movement from the camera installed in each workstation. Then, the actions in hand trajectories are identified with a novel temporal action localization model. The experimental results have proved that our method reached the application level with high accuracy and a low computational cost. The proposed system is lightweight enough to be quickly set up on an embedded computing device for real-time online inference and on a cloud server for offline analysis as well.

This paper proposes and experimentally evaluates a method, which is able to measure the refrigeration capacity of compressors in extremely short times. Traditionally, the measurement of this parameter is done using specialized and expensive test rigs and can take up to 4.5 h for the measurement of a single compressor. To overcome this long measurement time, it is proposed to use a simpler measuring system, in which, instead of measuring the refrigeration capacity directly, the rate of pressure rise imposed by the compressor to a cylinder with fixed volume is measured. This paper shows that both variables have a high correlation factor when the test and compressor conditions are taken into account. As the correlation among the variables is nonlinear, it is not possible to use simple mathematical correlation functions, so neural networks are used for that purpose. By using the proposed method, the refrigeration capacity of a compressor can be determined in less than 7 s, which is approximately 0.05% of the time required by traditional methods. To guarantee the metrological reliability of the results presented by the proposed neural model, this paper proposes a novel approach based on the Monte Carlo and the bootstrap methods.

Linear induction motors (LIMs) have been extensively adopted in urban railway transportation given their nonadhesion thrust and simple stator structure. However, these LIMs undergo unfavorable power factor and efficiency considering their copper and eddy losses. Recently, linear flux-switching permanent-magnet motors (LFSPMs) have attracted the attention of researchers due to their high power density, simple structure, easy heat dissipation, high efficiency, and high power factor. However, so far, no quantitative comparison exists between LFSPMs and LIMs of the size 1:1 to prove the feasibility of LFSPMs to be used in railway transit systems. Therefore, a comparative analysis between the two motors is conducted in this paper. First, this paper investigates the LIMs for railway transit using the finite element method (FEM). Second, the LFSPMs for railway transit is designed and optimized. Third, the electromagnetic performance of the two motors is compared and analyzed through the FEM. Finally, a small-sized prototype of the LFSPMs is constructed to validate the FEM results. It is concluded that LFSPMs offer a favorable thrust force, have high efficiency, and high power factor but have large normal force and force ripple. Therefore, applying LFSPM requires a reliable supporting device and a shock absorber.

This paper presents a new design of round-shaped transformers applied in diode and controllable rectifiers. Despite conventional three-phase transformers, in round-shaped transformers, voltage is induced on the secondary winding by rotating magnetic field. As a result, in the secondary of this transformer, there can be more than three phases with desired shifts. On the other hand, some rectifier systems may use more bridges supplying from the secondary to improve output dc voltage. However, the rectifier systems produce undesirable current harmonics, especially in controllable systems. This paper discusses how the new design of round-shaped transformers can significantly reduce the harmonic contents of the input current by sinusoidal skewing of the secondary core. The new design is investigated in this paper and its analysis confirms that the harmonics of the input currents can be effectively reduced. Experimental results are also provided to validate the analysis carried out in this paper.

In this paper, a new family of impedance source inverters is presented. It employs high-frequency electrical isolation between the inverter bridge switches and the load along with voltage clamping across the dc-link voltage. Conventional Z-source inverters (ZSIs) employs an impedance network that consists of inductors and capacitors. It has unique features that realize both step-up/step-down functions and eliminates the need of dead/overlap times. This paper extends this novel concept by using electrical isolation in impedance source inverters. High-frequency isolation has many advantages in terms of immunity and reliability; when applied with impedance source inverters this makes ZSIs a preferable choice for industrial applications. In photo-voltaic systems, the addition of the high-frequency transformer provides safety by avoiding the injection of dc circulating current into the grid, without the need of an external bulky line frequency transformer. The gain of the proposed inverter design can be accurately selected by choosing the turns ratio of the high frequency transformer (HFT) or by adjusting the shoot-through duty cycle (STDC) to the inverter. This allows for greater freedom especially when utilizing a higher modulation index, with the STDC allowing dynamic gain adjusts to be done speedily during operation of the inverter. Additionally, a dc-rail voltage clamping technique for the proposed class of isolated ZSIs is also discussed. This technique provides benefits not only in improving the output voltage quality, but also in reducing voltage stress of the active and passive components by minimizing the voltage spikes across the switching devices. In this paper, several high-frequency isolated ZSIs are presented, and an example isolated improved ?ZSI design is shown and discussed in detail. Simulations are provided for the proposed class of isolated inverters to verify their working. Further experimental investigation has been done for which results for the isolated improved ?ZSI are reported. These empirical results have largely confirmed the expected benefits that were determined through simulation and accurate model-based testing. - 2018 IEEE. Manuscript received May 16, 2018; revised August 13, 2018 and November 9, 2018; accepted December 2, 2018. Date of publication January 3, 2019; date of current version June 28, 2019. This work was supported in part by the NPRP under Grant X-033-2-007 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). (Corresponding author: Atif Iqbal.) Z. Aleem is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar, and University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7700, South Africa (e-mail:,zeeshan.aleem18@gmail.com). Scopus

In this paper, a novel decoupling modular permanent magnet flux-switching linear motor (PMFSLM) is proposed. The primary iron core of the motor is a nonsegmented structure without magnetic coupling among different modules. In contrast to a normal PMFSLM driven by a sinusoidal current, the proposed PMFSLM adopts square-wave current driving. On the basis of structure and working characteristics, a piecewise linear permeance model of a single-module PMFSLM is presented, and a specific design method of the novel modular three-phase PMFSLM is proposed. The proposed design method aims at reducing the cogging force and force ripple of a three-phase PMFSLM. Through further electromagnetic analysis, a set of structural parameters is proposed, based on which finite-element analysis (FEA) is conducted. FEA results show that the design aim is realized even with the influence of armature winding commutation. Prototype experiments of a single-module PMFSLM are performed, and experimental results agree well with FEA results. The findings of this paper verify the effectiveness and practicability of the novel modular PMFSLM and the proposed design method.

Fault diagnosis in induction motors has been a topic that has drawn an increasing attention among the electrical engineering community, including both industry and academia. Diverse techniques have been developed in order to detect the presence of possible faults in their early stages so that forced outages of the motor and consequent economic consequences can be avoided. However, little attention has been paid to the implications of the presence of these faults in terms of motor efficiency reduction. The efficiency drops caused by the existence of faults or anomalies in the motor, which can be present during long time intervals, can lead to economic losses that can be even greater than those caused by eventual motor outages. In spite of this fact, many industrial users are not aware of the efficiency repercussions of the operation under unhealthy conditions. As a consequence, it becomes necessary to accurately study and quantify the efficiency decrements caused by the presence of possible failures, so that the users can have this information available to adopt proper maintenance decisions. This paper analyses how different noncatastrophic failures influence the value of motor efficiency; different types of rotor faults as well as bearing failures are considered. In this paper, it is shown that the presence of these failures indeed strongly affects the motor efficiency and may have serious implications on the motor performance and operational cost.

This paper proposes a novel on-line technique for estimation of the inductances of an interior permanent magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM) based on the measurement of dc-bus voltage of the inverter and the stator current derivatives at certain voltage vectors during each pulsewidth modulation (PWM) cycle. This technique removes the requirement for the bulky and expensive shaft-locking mechanisms and test signal injection for obtaining the machine dq inductance parameters off line. It also overcomes the problems associated with other recursive on-line techniques which take a number of PWM cycles to update the parameters. The proposed method estimates the d and q axes inductances of IPMSMs within each PWM cycle without requiring knowledge of stator resistance, rotor flux linkage, and rotor speed. It also tracks the variations of the inductances (especially the q -axis inductance), which vary significantly due to q -axis magnetic saturation and cross saturation effect of the IPMSM, with sufficient accuracy. This paper presents full analysis, system simulation, and extensive experimental studies in order to verify the accuracy, quick tracking ability, and robustness of the proposed method.

Different from the continuous-switching behavior of series power electronic devices in converters, the single-switching attribute of dc circuit breakers (DCBs) provides opportunities to integrate metal oxide varistors (MOVs), balancing circuits, and series power devices. This paper proposes a modular design methodology based on discrete MOVs of a DCB with series power electronic devices. The modular dc circuit breaker (MDCB) topology and voltage balance issues, the steep front effect and solution, and the design method are proposed and analyzed in this paper. Compared with the traditional DCB, the MDCB has a self-balancing ability, thereby removing the voltage-balancing circuit and reducing the number of series modules. The standard designed cell can be operated as an independent DCB or compose a high-voltage DCB in series flexibly, which decreases the difficulty of design and commission. Finally, a series experimental platform based on an insulated-gate commutated thyristor, an insulated-gate bipolar transistor, and an injection-enhanced gate transistor is built to verify the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed design methodology.

This paper describes a bipolar pulsed power supply for strategic mineral exploration. Depending on the operating conditions, the bipolar pulsed power supply is capable of delivering the required high voltage and low current or low voltage and high current when operated, respectively, in either the grounded dipole mode or the loop mode. Based on a 500-V 12.5-A unit module, series and parallel connections of four modules are configured to satisfy both the grounded dipole mode (2000 V) and the loop mode (50 A), respectively. A unit module comprising an LCC resonant converter and a full-bridge-based bipolar pulse-switching unit is designed. In order to achieve high power density, the leakage inductance of the transformer is used as a resonant inductor in place of an external inductor. Accordingly, the resonant tank parameters are designed to give the resonant current a trapezoidal shape to reduce conduction loss and provide high efficiency. In addition, a simple gate-driving algorithm that uses the repetitive short pulse to cover the frequency range from dc to 8 kHz is proposed to allow the compact design of a minimized gate transformer. In this paper, the detailed design of the resonant circuit and the transformer of a unit module is described, and the operation is verified through simulation and experimental results. Finally, the developed LCC resonant converter achieves the maximum efficiency of 95%, the maximum power factor of 0.96, and a high power density of 806.5 W/L.

A high-speed squirrel-cage induction machine requires a totally different design compared to the traditional squirrel-cage industrial motor because of the mechanical limitations caused by the high speed. This results in a more complicated rotor construction and expensive material selection, and sets higher standards for the manufacturing precision. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the design aspects, material selection, and manufacturing of a squirrel-cage rotor for high-speed applications. In this paper, the rotor dimensioning approach based on equations and data analysis is presented. Rotor material selection and construction topology influence on the electrical machine design are discussed. The results are illustrated with the design of a 6-kW, 120 000-r/min induction machine for a turbo circulator. The influence of rotor parameters on the electromagnetic performance of the designed machine is demonstrated. Mechanical stresses for different topologies are studied with finite-element method analysis. Several manufacturing methods for producing a high-precision rotor are described and compared. The presented rotor design approach, which enables high electromagnetic performance and robust construction, is verified by the testing of a prototype.

In this paper, a series-capacitor-based interleaving buck power factor correction (PFC) converter is proposed, the intermediate energy storage capacitance of which is operated at discontinuous capacitor voltage mode (DCVM), and automatic power factor (PF) correction for this converter is obtained. Moreover, the voltage across the series capacitor of the proposed PFC converter is clamped at the input voltage, and thus peak voltage stress existed in the traditional DCVM buck PFC could be relieved. By effectively regulating the charge/discharge time for the series capacitor, ultrahigh step-down conversion ratio of the proposed converter is achieved, the conversion ratio of which is independent of the duty cycle and only related to the switching frequency and circuit parameters. Therefore, high PF can be obtained due to very narrow deadtime of the input current. Meanwhile, the proposed PFC converter can realize the soft turn- on of part power switch and soft turn- off of part power diodes. In addition, comparing with the traditional discontinuous inductor current mode PFC, the input current of the proposed PFC converter is continuous so that the peak value and root-mean-square value of input current can be reduced. The operational principle, performance analysis, and parameter design principle are given in this paper. The analysis results show that the PF and total harmonic distortion are also independent of the duty cycle. Finally, a 220-Vac input, 60 W/15 V output experimental prototype is built to verify the validity of the theoretical analysis.

Reduced switch active phase converters (APC) are cost-effective solutions for running three-phase loads from single-phase grids. This paper proposes a novel auxiliary-capacitor-based APC (AC-APC) for this application. The combination of the topological location of the auxiliary capacitor and the control of the AC-APC reduces current stress on the semiconductor devices. In this paper, a selection criterion for the optimal auxiliary capacitor value is formulated to reduce the device currents in such a way that the overall efficiency is enhanced. This paper presents a comparative analysis of converter volt-ampere (VA) rating and device power loss for conventional H-bridge active front-end and inverter-based topology, APC, and AC-APC. To evaluate the efficacy of the proposed AC-APC, an experimental study is conducted on the APC and the AC-APC feeding a 3-hp three-phase induction motor. At a full load of $\text{2.5}\,\text{kW}$ and $\text{0.8 } \text{power factor}$ , the measured maximum efficiency of the AC-APC is $2\%$ higher than that of the APC. Analytical evaluation of converter currents and device power loss are in close agreement with experimental observations.

This paper proposes an “isolated soft switching current fed LCC-T resonant dc–dc converter for PV/fuel cell applications.” This converter is able to achieve zero voltage switching for front-end inverter switches and zero-current switching for voltage doubler diodes. The majority of dc–dc converters have compact capacitive (C) filter in output, but high harmonic currents through transformer makes them bulky. The proposed converter attempts to improve harmonic content through a transformer under wide load and input variations as well as it can significantly reduce required turns ratio of transformer to achieve required output voltage. For the above reasons, the proposed converter can offer better footprints and therefore it can be a potential candidate for PV/fuel cell applications. This paper presents basic operating principal, detailed analysis, control, and design of the proposed converter with the help of an example. This converter operates in two modes, i.e., constant duty cycle mode and constant frequency mode, depending on load demand, and is explained through operating curves. Finally, experimental results are included for justifying the proposed theory.

In this paper, a single-inductor dual-output (SIDO) dc–dc converter is proposed. The significant feature of the proposed converter is feeding a constant power load in low-voltage side (LVS) port, where even feeding a variable load at LVS does not have any cross regulation to high-voltage side port with the desired approximation. Magnificently, both merits are obtained in open-loop manner, which is an outstanding characteristic in comparison with that of the existed converters. In this paper, soft commutation and soft switching of switches and diodes are investigated along with the aforementioned main novelty. Moreover, detailed theoretical analyses of the proposed SIDO dc–dc converter in continuous conduction mode are presented besides the comparisons with some other structures. Finally, theoretical analyses are verified through a 1500 W experimental prototype results.

Hydraulic reciprocating seals are dynamic sealing elements used in hydraulic actuators that play a very important role in preventing leakage. In this paper, a multisensor monitoring scheme including Fiber Bragg Grating sensors, fluid pressure sensors, and reciprocating displacement sensor was designed to analyze the leakage of hydraulic cylinder in a complete reciprocating work cycle. A complete hydraulic cylinder reciprocating cycle includes the extending process of piston rod, the full extension of piston rod, the retracting process of piston rod, and the full retraction of piston rod. Through an especially designed test bench, multisensor monitoring data were obtained under different wear degree of the piston seals. The analysis results show that there will be a “pull-back effect” in the return stroke of the piston seal. Therefore, leakage-based monitoring methods used in existing studies may not accurately reflect the wear of piston seals. If it is desired to detect wear of the piston seal during its actual operation, the contact pressure of the piston seal must be monitored. The paper also discusses the wear feature extraction method and how to deal with multiple features extracted from multisensor monitoring signals.

One promising solution for future large wind turbine power conversion is to use medium-voltage power conversion systems for high efficiency and high power-density, e.g., by using a cascaded structure presented in this paper. However, a medium-frequency (MF) oscillation issue was observed while testing the experimental prototype of the above system. Given the complex multivariable coupling models of the multiwinding transformer and multiple inverters, conventional single-variable theories are not suitable. Therefore, this paper presents a new decoupling analysis method. Using a proposed linear transformation matrix, the output currents of multiple inverters can be transformed to a summation (grid) current and difference currents, where the former is the summation of inverter currents and the latter are the differences between currents of any two inverters. This transformation has enabled the use of single-variable theories, e.g., Bode diagram to analyze the summation current and difference current separately. It was found that the MF oscillation issue is caused by the equivalent impedance of the summation current being much larger than that of the difference current. Specifically, using small controller parameters cannot ensure the grid current quality and using large parameters may cause oscillation in the difference current. The proposed method can provide guidelines to design the parameters of current regulators and filters in multiple-inverter systems. Experimental results of a downscaled wind energy conversion system are presented to verify the proposed method.

This paper presents data-driven approaches to improving active power output of wind turbines based on estimating their health condition. The main procedure includes estimations of fault degree and health condition level, and optimal power dispatch control. The proposed method can adjust active power output of individual turbines according to their health condition and can thus optimize the total energy output of wind farm. In the paper, extreme learning machine (ELM) algorithm and bonferroni interval are applied to estimate fault degree while analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to estimate the health condition level. A scheme for power dispatch control is formulated based on the estimated health condition. Models have been identified from supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) data acquired from an operational wind farm, which contains temperature data of gearbox bearing and generator winding. The results show that the proposed method can maximize the operation efficiency of the wind farm while significantly reduce the fatigue loading on the faulty wind turbines.

This paper introduces modeling and control of a cascaded flying capacitor bridge (CFCB) multilevel converter for a solid-state transformer. The finite control set-model predictive control (FCS-MPC) is easy and simple to implement for many applications. However, the computational complexity increases with the increase in the number of switches. Furthermore, as the number of control variables increases, the weighting factors also increase. Thus, it is difficult to apply to a system with a large number of switches and variables to be controlled similar to a CFCB multilevel converter. In this paper, the proposed method divides variables such as current, dc-link voltage, and flying capacitor voltage into layers. The proposed method reduces the number of states to be considered in the control, which shortens the computational time and simplifies expansion of the flying capacitor bridge. In addition, since weighting factors are not used, there is no tradeoff between current quality and voltage quality, and there is no difficulty in selecting weighting factors. Algorithms that include a method for compensating for the distortion caused by the delay of the digital control system are also described. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified via experiments using a two-cell CFCB multilevel converter.

This paper proposes a modular on-road wireless power transfer system with interoperable power adjustment mechanism. The paper is anticipated to enhance the capability of on-road charging during the movement of automated guided vehicles (AGV), by which the traveling mileage is increased, while the battery volume is decreased. The system design includes an interoperable power adjustment technique based on the detected impedance, and the moving position of AGV can be, hence, comprehended so as to facilitate the adjustment of the output power from each transmission module in a more flexible way. Through the investigation of on-road charging efficiency, all of coil magnetic analysis, misalignment charging evaluation, system stress simulation, and resonant characteristics investigation are performed. Experimental results gained from software simulation and hardware realization are beneficial for AGV charging applications.

DC microgrid has attracted more and more attention due to its unique characteristics, but the development of a dc microgrid is also facing some challenges, such as interruption and isolation of short-circuit fault currents. Therefore, the dc circuit breaker plays an important role in ensuring the normal work of a dc microgrid. In this paper, a novel bidirectional dc solid-state circuit breaker is proposed to realize the bidirectional flow of energy, which ensures the higher operating efficiency of the dc microgrid. Compared with other solid-state circuit breakers, the proposed novel topology has simpler structure, common ground, and fewer components. First, this paper makes a detailed analysis of the different working stages of the circuit when the fault occurs in combination with simulation results of the circuit topology. Then, the standard of selecting the components through the calculation and analysis of the circuit is given in this paper. Finally, the performance of the novel bidirectional solid-state circuit breaker is verified by experiments.

This paper proposes a visible light communication (VLC) system consisting of a single-stage buck–boost power factor correction converter operating in the discontinuous conduction mode with dimming capability. Additionally, this paper proposes the on – off M-frequency shift keying modulation for the VLC system. This modulation allows for the transmission of more than a single bit for each switching period without affecting the dimming characteristics of the light-emitting diode luminaire. The design of the whole system is discussed in detail, including both transmitter and receiver modules. A 20-W laboratory prototype was built in order to verify the proposed modulation scheme. The experimental evaluation showed a good performance of the transmitter, which was able to perform simultaneously the desired functions, namely power factor correction, dimming, and data transmission. The receiver also achieved the desired performance with a low bit error rate (BER). The results showed that the proposed system was able to transfer data between emitter and receiver with a bit rate of 1.11 Mb/s at a frequency of up to 375 kHz over a distance of 10 m, and with a BER lower than $10^{-3}$ under the influence of external lighting sources with illuminance levels up to 500 lx.

This paper proposes a capacitor voltage regulation method for the dual converter with a floating bridge for aerospace applications. This topology has previously been reported, but with a constrained voltage utilization factor due to the need for capacitor voltage regulations. In this paper, the effect of switching states on the voltage variation of capacitor is quantitatively modeled and an enhanced space vector modulation scheme with current feedback is proposed to achieve an active control of the floating capacitor voltages. This proposed method also allows further exploitation and utilization of converter voltage. The relationship between the allowed modulation index of dual converter and load power factor is obtained and expressed using a fitted polynomial equation. The advantages of the proposed method include boosted voltage utilization and superior performance in term of capacitor voltage balance. These advantages have been proven through simulation and experimental results on RL loads as well as with an open-end winding induction motor. The proposed modulation scheme can boost the converter voltage utilization by at least 10% while achieving full four-level operation. More importantly, the higher available voltage allows extending the constant torque region of the motor, the further beginning of field weakening operation could be postponed.

© 1982-2012 IEEE. This paper proposes an integrated method of three-phase ac excitation and high-frequency voltage signal injection (HFVSI) for sensorless controlled starting of brushless synchronous machines (BSM) used as starter/generator in variable frequency ac power systems of civil aircraft. Fixed 400 Hz of the three-phase ac power is adopted both for the ac excitation and HFVSI in the initial starting process to eliminate the bulky rotor position sensor for BSM. The resulting 6th sequence harmonic voltage determined by the rotating rectifier is utilized as the HFVSI into the field-winding of main generator without any extra high-frequency signal injection. The rotor position is estimated by the high-frequency response signals extracted from the armature windings of main generator. Due to the nonlinear rotating rectifier linked in the HFSI chain, a novel frequency-insensitive asynchronous demodulation strategy is proposed in this paper for rotor position estimation. Furthermore, the initial rotor position detection is calibrated by polarity decision of the induced currents of the armature windings within the establishment procedure of field current of the main generator at standstill. The effectiveness of the ac excitation and feasibility of rotor position estimation for sensorless starting control of BSM are validated by the simulation and experimental results.

A trinary multilevel converter uses a few heterogeneous H-bridge submodules (SMs) to synthesize an output voltage with multiple levels. Two major limitations of this converter are that it needs multiple dc sources and it cannot operate under pulsewidth modulation (PWM). This paper addresses these limitations by adding a low-voltage H-bridge SM to this converter and proposing a new switching algorithm. The resulting PWM-based asymmetric cascaded H-bridge converter uses only one dc source and synthesizes a high-quality output voltage. This improved converter can be a potential choice for real and reactive power support in power system applications. This paper also proposes methods for stability analysis and design of this converter. Experimental case studies evaluate the performance of the proposed converter for both standalone and grid-connected modes of operation.

A novel parallel-hybrid dual permanent magnet (PM) machine topology with both enhanced torque density and improved flux weakening capability is proposed for electric vehicle propulsion in this paper. The key is to artificially construct the harmonics diversity with a single-layer concentrated armature winding in the stator and thus simultaneously couple the armature field with the excitation field produced by slot PM, rotor PM, and stator dc source, respectively. Enhanced torque density is obtained in this new topology due to the symmetrical flux-modulation effect between dual PM sources. Moreover, benefiting from a parallel excitation characteristic of hybrid magnetic circuit, the demagnetization risk is significantly mitigated for slot PM source and thus an extended flux weakening range is obtained. In this paper, the proposed new topology and its design mechanism are investigated, along with its electromagnetic performance evaluated based on finite-element analysis. Further, some leading design parameters are analyzed and determined to provide a design guideline for the proposed new topology. Finally, a prototype is built and fully tested. Relevant experimental results agree well with the finite-element predication.