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Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "F: Electrical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 32925

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Athanasios Karlis

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Guest Editor

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Democritus University of Thrace, 67100 Komotini, Greece
Interests: electrical machines and drives; diagnostics of electrical machines; renewable energies and smart grids
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Guest Editors are inviting submissions for a Special Issue of Energies on the subject area of "Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives". Electrical machines and drives are dominating our everyday life, as they have numerous applications in industry, power production, home appliances, and transportation systems, e.g., electric or hybrid electric vehicles, ships, aircrafts, etc. Their development follows the rapid advances in science, engineering, and technology. Electrical machines and drives are being extensively investigated by researchers around the world due to their reliability, efficiency, performance, and fault-tolerant structure, with a focus on the importance of the integration of these new trends in their technology for energy saving and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This Special Issue aims to provide an opportunity for researchers to present their recent work on the advances in the field of electrical machines and drives. We welcome any article dealing with: new design trends of electrical machines and drives including special machines and their applications, new materials including the insulation of electrical machines; new trends in the diagnostics and condition monitoring; power electronics, control schemes, and algorithms for electrical drives; new topologies; and innovative applications.

Prof. Dr. Athanasios Karlis
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Rotating machines
Special machines
New design trends of electrical machines and drives
New materials in electrical machines
Diagnostics and condition monitoring
Electrical drives
New control schemes for electrical drives
New power electronics for electrical drives
New topologies of electrical machines and drives
Innovative manufacturing techniques

Published Papers (12 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 8259 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Current and Stray Flux Combined Analysis for the Automatic Detection of Rotor Faults in Soft-Started Induction Motors

by Angela Navarro-Navarro, Israel Zamudio-Ramirez, Vicente Biot-Monterde, Roque A. Osornio-Rios and Jose A. Antonino-Daviu

Energies 2022, 15(7), 2511; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15072511 - 29 Mar 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1777

Abstract

Induction motors (IMs) have been extensively used for driving a wide variety of processes in several industries. Their excellent performance, capabilities and robustness explain their extensive use in several industrial applications. However, despite their robustness, IMs are susceptible to failure, with broken rotor bars (BRB) being one of the potential faults. These types of faults usually occur due to the high current amplitude flowing in the bars during the starting transient. Currently, soft-starters have been used in order to reduce the negative effects and stresses developed during the starting. However, the addition of these devices makes the fault diagnosis a complex and sometimes erratic task, since the typical fault-related patterns evolutions are usually irregular, depending on particular aspects that may change according to the technology implemented by the soft-starter. This paper proposes a novel methodology for the automatic detection of BRB in IMs under the influence of soft-starters. The proposal relies on the combined analysis of current and stray flux signals by means of suitable indicators proposed here, and their fusion through a linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Finally, the LDA output is used to train a feed-forward neural network (FFNN) to automatically detect the severity of the failure, namely: a healthy motor, one broken rotor bar, and two broken rotor bars. The proposal is validated under a testbench consisting of a kinematic chain driven by a 1.1 kW IM and using four different models of soft-starters. The obtained results demonstrate the capabilities of the proposal, obtaining a correct classification rate (94.4% for the worst case). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives)

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25 pages, 6899 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Implementation of Input AC Filters and Predictive Control for Matrix-Converter Based PMSM Drive Systems

by Tian-Hua Liu and Jia-Han Li

Energies 2022, 15(3), 748; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15030748 - 20 Jan 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1282

Abstract

Matrix converters have many advantages, including high-efficiency, single-stage AC/AC energy conversion, bidirectional power flow, a near-unity input power factor, sinusoidal three-phase input currents, and sinusoidal three-phase output currents. However, matrix converters have 360 Hz voltage pulsations at the virtual DC-bus, which produce input harmonic currents and output harmonic currents, which cause unsatisfactory responses. To solve the problem of the input harmonic currents, a systematic design of an input three-phase current modulation method and an input three-phase AC filter that uses two different design methods are proposed. In addition, to improve dynamic responses, two predictive speed controllers are investigated and compared, and a predictive current controller is studied to reduce the output harmonic currents. A digital signal processor and an FPGA are used to execute the control algorithms. Several experimental results validate the theoretical analysis and show that the proposed methods effectively improve the power quality of the PMSM drive system and its input power-source quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives)

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18 pages, 81847 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigation of Factors Affecting Partial Discharges on Epoxy Resin: Simulation, Experiments, and Reference on Electrical Machines

by Dimosthenis Verginadis, Athanasios Karlis, Michael G. Danikas and Jose A. Antonino-Daviu

Energies 2021, 14(20), 6621; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14206621 - 14 Oct 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2377

Abstract

In Power Systems, Synchronous Generators (SGs) are mostly used for generating electricity. Their insulation system, of which epoxy resin is a core component, plays a significant role in reliable operation. Epoxy resin has high mechanical strength, a characteristic that makes it a very good material for reliable SG insulation. Partial Discharges (PDs) are a constant threat to this insulation since they cause deterioration and consequential degradation of the aforementioned material. Therefore, it is very important to detect PDs, as they are both a symptom of insulation deterioration and a means to identify possible faults. Offline and Online PDs Tests are described, and a MATLAB/Simulink model, which simulates the capacitive model of PDs, is presented in this paper. Moreover, experiments are carried out in order to examine how the flashover voltage of epoxy resin samples is affected by different humidity levels. The main purpose of this manuscript is to investigate factors, such as the applied voltage, number, and volume of water droplets and water conductivity, which affect the condition of epoxy resin, and how these are related to PDs and flashover voltages, which may appear also in electrical machines’ insulation. The aforementioned factors may affect the epoxy resin, resulting in an increase in PDs, which in turn increases the overall Electrical Rotating Machines (EMs) risk factor. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives)

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19 pages, 5272 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Modular Stator PMSM Manufactured Using Oriented Steel

by Anmol Aggarwal, Matthew Meier, Elias Strangas and John Agapiou

Energies 2021, 14(20), 6583; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14206583 - 13 Oct 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1673

Abstract

Oriented steel has higher permeability and lower losses in the direction of orientation (the rolling direction) than non-oriented steel. However, in the transverse direction, oriented steel typically has lower permeability and higher losses. The strategic use of oriented steel in a modular Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine (PMSM) stator can improve machine performance, particularly when compared to a machine designed with non-oriented steel, by increasing both torque and efficiency. Typically, steel manufacturers provide magnetic properties only in the rolling and transverse directions. Furthermore, in modern Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software, the magnetic properties between the rolling and transverse directions are interpolated using an intrinsic mathematical model. However, this interpolation method has proven to be inaccurate; to resolve this issue, an improved model was proposed in the literature. This model requires the magnetic properties of the oriented steel in between the rolling and transverse directions. Therefore, a procedure for extracting the magnetic properties of oriented steel is required. The objective of this work is to propose a method of determining the magnetic properties of oriented steel beyond just the oriented and transverse directions. In this method, flux-injecting probes, also known as sensors, are used to inject and control the flux density in an oriented steel segmented stator in order to extract the properties of the oriented steel. These extracted properties are then used to model an oriented steel modular stator PMSM. The machine’s average torque and core losses are compared with conventional, non-modular, non-oriented steel stator PMSM, and modular, non-oriented steel stator PMSM. It is shown that both the average torque and the core loss of the oriented steel modular stator PMSM have better performance at the selected number of segments than either of the two non-oriented steel stators. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives)

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22 pages, 1796 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analytical Design of Sculpted Rotor Interior Permanent Magnet Machines

by Steven Hayslett and Elias Strangas

Energies 2021, 14(16), 5109; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14165109 - 19 Aug 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2573

Abstract

A computationally efficient design of interior permanent magnet (IPM) motor rotor features is investigated utilizing analytical methods. Over the broad operating range of IPM machines, interactions of MMF sources, permeances, and currents result in torque harmonics. The placement of traditional rotor features along with sculpt features are utilized to minimize torque ripple and maximize average torque. We extend the winding function theory to include the IPM rotor’s primary and secondary reluctance paths and the non-homogeneous airgap of the rotor sculpt features. A new analytical winding function model of the single-V IPM machine is introduced, which considers the sculpted rotor and how this model can be used in the design approach of machines. Results are validated with finite elements. Rotor feature trends are established and utilized to increase design intuition and reduce dependency upon the lengthy design of experiment optimization processes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives)

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10 pages, 4792 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Parasitic Effects of PWM-VSI Control Leading to Torque Harmonics in AC Drives

by Juriy Plotkin, Nurgul Almuratova, Assel Yerzhan and Victor Petrushin

Energies 2021, 14(6), 1713; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14061713 - 19 Mar 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1612

Abstract

Precise torque control without pulsations is one of the major quality issues in pulse-width modulated voltage-source inverter (PWM-VSI) drives. Theoretically, it could be postulated that at frequencies of some kHz, the machine’s inertia absorbs switching frequency torque harmonics, and the resulting torque becomes smooth; though, in reality, parasitic effects in voltage source inverters may cause additional torque harmonics of low order. In particular, first, second and sixth torque harmonics are observed. Such torque harmonics are especially dangerous for normal drive operation, since they may be amplified by drive train resonances at corresponding rotational velocities. New parasitic effects in PWM-VSI control, leading to torque harmonic of low order, are described in the paper, and recommendations for their compensation are given. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives)

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19 pages, 3799 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A General and Accurate Measurement Procedure for the Detection of Power Losses Variations in Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Drives

by Massimo Caruso, Antonino Oscar Di Tommaso, Giuseppe Lisciandrello, Rosa Anna Mastromauro, Rosario Miceli, Claudio Nevoloso, Ciro Spataro and Marco Trapanese

Energies 2020, 13(21), 5770; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en13215770 - 04 Nov 2020

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2469

Abstract

The research of innovative solutions to improve the efficiency of electric drives is of considerable interest to challenges related to energy savings and sustainable development. In order to successfully validate the adoption of new and innovative software or hardware solutions in the field of electric drives, accurate measurement procedures for either efficiency or power losses are needed. Moreover, high accuracy and expensive measurement equipment are required to satisfy international standard prescriptions. In this scenario, this paper describes an accurate measurement procedure, which is independent of the accuracy of the adopted instrumentation, for the power losses variations involved in electrical drives, namely ΔΔP, useful to detect the efficiency enhancement (or power losses reduction) due to the real-time modification of the related control algorithm. The goal is to define a valuable measurement procedure capable of comparing the impact of different control algorithms on electric drive performance. This procedure is carried out by experimentally verifying the action of different control algorithms by the use of a Field Oriented Control (FOC) with different values of the direct-axis current component (i.e., I_d = 0 A and I_d = −1 A) applied for fixed working conditions in terms of speed and load torque. Two different measurement systems of power losses, each one characterized by different accuracy and cost, are taken into account for the validation of the proposed method. An investigation is, then, carried out, based on the comparison between the measurements acquired by both instrumentations, for different working conditions in terms of load and speed, highlighting that the uncertainty generated by systematic errors does not affect the ΔΔP measurements. The results reported in this work demonstrate how the ΔΔP parameter can be used as a valuable index for the characterization of the power drive system, which can also be evaluated even with low-accuracy instrumentation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives)

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17 pages, 8915 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study of a Combined Demagnetization and Eccentricity Fault in an AFPM Synchronous Generator

by Alexandra C. Barmpatza and Joya C. Kappatou

Energies 2020, 13(21), 5609; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en13215609 - 27 Oct 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 1832

Abstract

This article investigates the combined partial demagnetization and static eccentricity fault in an Axial Flux Permanent Magnet (AFPM) Synchronous Generator. The machine is simulated using 3D FEM, while the EMF spectrum is analyzed in order to export the fault related harmonics using the FFT analysis. Firstly, the partial demagnetization fault, without the coexistence of eccentricity, and both the static angular and axis eccentricity faults, without the coexistence of partial demagnetization, are studied. In the case of eccentricity fault, the phase EMF sum spectrum has also been used as a diagnostic mean, because, when only eccentricity fault exists in the generator (either angular or axis) new harmonics do not appear in the EMF spectrum. Secondly the combination of partial demagnetization fault with static axis and static angular eccentricity is investigated and different comparisons are made when the demagnetization and the eccentricity level changes. The investigation revealed that the combination of eccentricity and demagnetization creates new harmonics in the EMF spectrum. The novelty of the article is that these combined faults are studied for the first time in the international literature, and the phase EMF sum spectrum has not been previously used for eccentricity diagnosis in this machine type. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives)

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10 pages, 1100 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Parameter Estimation of Inter-Laminar Fault-Region in Laminated Sheets Through Inverse Approach

by Osaruyi Osemwinyen, Ahmed Hemeida, Floran Martin, Anouar Belahcen and Antero Arkkio

Energies 2020, 13(12), 3251; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en13123251 - 23 Jun 2020

Viewed by 1456

Abstract

Estimating the additional power losses caused by an inter-laminar short circuit in electromagnetic devices using thermal measurements depends on many parameters such as thermal conductivity, heat capacity, convective heat coefficient, and size of the fault points. This paper presents a method for estimating these parameters using experimental measurement and a numerical model. The surface temperature rise due to inter-laminar short circuit fault was obtained using an infrared camera. Based on the initial temperature rise method, the least square non-linear approximation technique was used to determine the best fitting parameters of the fault region from the numerical model. To validate the results obtained, the fault region temperature rise and the total loss of the experimental sample were compared with the numerical model using the obtained parameters for different current supply conditions. The study shows that surface temperature distribution can be used to estimate the inter-laminar short circuit fault parameters and localized losses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives)

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Review

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26 pages, 726 KiB

Open AccessReview

Advances in Power Quality Analysis Techniques for Electrical Machines and Drives: A Review

by Artvin-Darien Gonzalez-Abreu, Roque-Alfredo Osornio-Rios, Arturo-Yosimar Jaen-Cuellar, Miguel Delgado-Prieto, Jose-Alfonso Antonino-Daviu and Athanasios Karlis

Energies 2022, 15(5), 1909; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en15051909 - 05 Mar 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2427

Abstract

The electric machines are the elements most used at an industry level, and they represent the major power consumption of the productive processes. Particularly speaking, among all electric machines, the motors and their drives play a key role since they literally allow the motion interchange in the industrial processes; it could be said that they are the medullar column for moving the rest of the mechanical parts. Hence, their proper operation must be guaranteed in order to raise, as much as possible, their efficiency, and, as consequence, bring out the economic benefits. This review presents a general overview of the reported works that address the efficiency topic in motors and drives and in the power quality of the electric grid. This study speaks about the relationship existing between the motors and drives that induces electric disturbances into the grid, affecting its power quality, and also how these power disturbances present in the electrical network adversely affect, in turn, the motors and drives. In addition, the reported techniques that tackle the detection, classification, and mitigations of power quality disturbances are discussed. Additionally, several works are reviewed in order to present the panorama that show the evolution and advances in the techniques and tendencies in both senses: motors and drives affecting the power source quality and the power quality disturbances affecting the efficiency of motors and drives. A discussion of trends in techniques and future work about power quality analysis from the motors and drives efficiency viewpoint is provided. Finally, some prompts are made about alternative methods that could help in overcome the gaps until now detected in the reported approaches referring to the detection, classification and mitigation of power disturbances with views toward the improvement of the efficiency of motors and drives. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives)

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26 pages, 2945 KiB

Open AccessReview

Digital Twin in Electrical Machine Control and Predictive Maintenance: State-of-the-Art and Future Prospects

by Georgios Falekas and Athanasios Karlis

Energies 2021, 14(18), 5933; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14185933 - 18 Sep 2021

Cited by 32 | Viewed by 5144

Abstract

State-of-the-art Predictive Maintenance (PM) of Electrical Machines (EMs) focuses on employing Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods with well-established measurement and processing techniques while exploring new combinations, to further establish itself a profitable venture in industry. The latest trend in industrial manufacturing and monitoring is the Digital Twin (DT) which is just now being defined and explored, showing promising results in facilitating the realization of the Industry 4.0 concept. While PM efforts closely resemble suggested DT methodologies and would greatly benefit from improved data handling and availability, a lack of combination regarding the two concepts is detected in literature. In addition, the next-generation-Digital-Twin (nexDT) definition is yet ambiguous. Existing DT reviews discuss broader definitions and include citations often irrelevant to PM. This work aims to redefine the nexDT concept by reviewing latest descriptions in broader literature while establishing a specialized denotation for EM manufacturing, PM, and control, encapsulating most of the relevant work in the process, and providing a new definition specifically catered to PM, serving as a foundation for future endeavors. A brief review of both DT research and PM state-of-the-art spanning the last five years is presented, followed by the conjunction of core concepts into a definitive description. Finally, surmised benefits and future work prospects are reported, especially focused on enabling PM state-of-the-art in AI techniques. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives)

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24 pages, 11438 KiB

Open AccessReview

Additive Manufacturing and Topology Optimization of Magnetic Materials for Electrical Machines—A Review

by Thang Pham, Patrick Kwon and Shanelle Foster

Energies 2021, 14(2), 283; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14020283 - 06 Jan 2021

Cited by 62 | Viewed by 7064

Abstract

Additive manufacturing has many advantages over traditional manufacturing methods and has been increasingly used in medical, aerospace, and automotive applications. The flexibility of additive manufacturing technologies to fabricate complex geometries from copper, polymer, and ferrous materials presents unique opportunities for new design concepts and improved machine power density without significantly increasing production and prototyping cost. Topology optimization investigates the optimal distribution of single or multiple materials within a defined design space, and can lead to unique geometries not realizable with conventional optimization techniques. As an enabling technology, additive manufacturing provides an opportunity for machine designers to overcome the current manufacturing limitation that inhibit adoption of topology optimization. Successful integration of additive manufacturing and topology optimization for fabricating magnetic components for electrical machines can enable new tools for electrical machine designers. This article presents a comprehensive review of the latest achievements in the application of additive manufacturing, topology optimization, and their integration for electrical machines and their magnetic components. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives)

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