Model Validation of Synchronous Motors With a New Standstill Measurement Technique

Permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM), synchronous reluctance machines (SynRM), and electrically excited synchronous machines (EESM) are widely used in the industry and transportation sectors. Their rotors are often equipped with conducting parts like permanent magnets, thick rotor laminations, damper windings, or a conducting sleeve, or they even have a solid rotor core. Such conducting elements do not allow applying standard AC supply techniques for inductance measurements because of the alternating flux induced by eddy currents. We propose a new technique for inductance measurement at a standstill with a quasi-static voltage supply, which mitigates the eddy current phenomenon. The inductance is measured at several rotor positions over a complete electrical cycle, which allows to proceed with a harmonic spectrum analysis of the inductance variation. With this information, it is possible to estimate motor performance characteristics, such as optimum torque, voltage control, power factor, and torque ripple. The new technique is experimentally validated on a 12 kW axially laminated anisotropic solid-rotor high-speed SynRM. In principle, the method also suits PMSMs, EESMs, and other synchronous machines (not verified in this paper). Experimental validation with a solid-rotor SynRM shows a good correspondence with the simulation. Furthermore, the torque computed using the measured inductance is very similar to the experimental one confirming the effectiveness of the method.