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Core Loss Estimation Method for PWM Inverter Fed Induction Motors

A. Boglietti, Senior Member IEEE, R. Bojoi, Senior Member IEEE, A. Cavagnino, Senior Member IEEE, M. Lazzari Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy aldo.boglietti@polito.it, radu.bojoi@polito.it, andrea.cavagnino@polito.it, mario.lazzari@polito.it
Abstract Due to the harmonic content of the distorted supply voltage, the iron losses of PWM inverter fed induction motors are greater than the iron losses measured with sinusoidal supply. The prediction of this loss increase has been the subject of many studies, but it can be still considered as an open research field, in particular when fast and reliable estimation methods are requested. In the paper a previously developed method to predict the iron losses with PWM supply in magnetic laminations (using toroidal samples or the Epstein frame) and special induction prototypes (with a plastic squirrel cage) has been now used to predict the iron losses of five industrial induction motors with aluminum die cast rotor cages. The measured iron loss values have been collected by means of the conventional no-load test, both under sinusoidal and PWM supply conditions. The reported analyses and comments allow a critical discussion of the proposed estimation method and of the no-load test under PWM supply.

Keywords: Induction motors, PWM inverter supply, iron losses, no-load test. I. INTRODUCTION

As well known, under PWM voltage supply the iron losses (or core losses) in induction motors increase with respect to sinusoidal supply conditions. This is due to the harmonic content superimposed to the fundamental component of the PWM voltage waveform. Since the rms value of the PWM voltage is greater than the fundamental rms voltage one, the core loss increment is generally appreciable. In the technical literature several approaches have been proposed to estimate the iron losses increase due to distorted magnetic fluxes in electrical machine laminations [1]-[3]. The typical one is based on electromagnetic Finite Element Analysis (FEA) using complex models of the involved physical phenomena (magnetic hysteresis, rotational hysteresis, eddy current and excess losses) [4]-[6]. Thanks to FEAs good results are generally obtainable, but long computational time are requested, in particular when different machines or PWM voltage conditions have to be analyzed. From an engineering point of view, when fast but still reliable estimations are needed, more friendly methods to predict the iron losses under PWM supply are requested and welcome by the designers and application engineers. In previous research activities, the authors developed and validated a simple method able to predict with good accuracy the iron losses under PWM supply in magnetic laminations (using toroidal lamination samples or the Epstein frame) [7] and in special induction prototypes equipped with a plastic squirrel cage rotor [1]. As explained in Section III, the method requires the knowledge of the iron losses with

sinusoidal supply and two ratio indexes characterizing the PWM voltage waveform. In this paper, the same method has been applied to predict the iron losses of five PWM inverter fed industrial induction motors, allowing a critical discussion about its validity in actual cases too. The five considered machines are TEFC, 4 poles, 50 Hz induction motors with rated power in the range from 7.5 to 30 kW. It is important to remark that, in order to judge the goodness of the proposed method, the core losses under PWM supply have to be experimentally measured for each induction motor and compared with the computed ones [8]. Both with sinusoidal and PWM supply, conventional noload tests have been performed to measure the core losses and the no-load mechanical losses (sum of the friction and windage losses), following the procedure imposed by the European international standard [9]. Since this standard refers to sinusoidal supply only, the no-load test elaboration under inverter supply has to be carefully carried out, as discussed in Sections II and IV. Finally, the discussion reported in Sections IV-VI highlights the difficulties linked to accurate predictions of the iron losses in PWM inverter fed induction motors, starting from measured data got with sinusoidal supply. In particular, considering that during PWM no-load tests supplementary iron losses in the rotor magnetic core are active, it is an authors opinion that the proposed method allows the estimation of the stator iron losses only. The measurement campaign results confirm this feeling. II. INDUCTION MOTORS AND NO-LOAD TEST DESCRIPTION

Five three-phase, TEFC, 4 poles, 50 Hz industrial induction motors have been tested in no-load condition as specified in [9], both with sinusoidal and PWM supply. The rated data of the considered machines are listed in Table I. The stator phase windings of the machines are star connected.
TABLE I NAMEPLATE DATA OF THE MOTOR UNDER TESTS A 7.5 1440 0.8 380 17 B 11 1440 0.83 400 21.5 Motor C 15 1440 0.8 380 32.5 D 18.5 1460 0.81 690 21.5 E 30 1470 0.83 380 380

Power [kW] Speed [rpm] Power factor Voltage [V] Current [A]

450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 0

Pjs,0
PWM line-to-line voltage [V]

I0
rms values

Rs Iir

Xls

IR 0 Im

P0

Pmech,0

Pir V0
mean rectified values

Es0

Rir

Em0

Xm

Fundamental line-to-line voltage [V] 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Fig.2: Per-phase no-load equivalent circuit of induction motors.

Fig.1: Rms and mean rectified values of the PWM line-to-line voltage versus its fundamental component, measured during the PWM no-load tests.

The no-load tests with sinusoidal supply have been performed using a 40 kVA three-phase, static sinusoidal power converter (with a voltage total harmonic distortion lower than 0.1 %), while the tests under PWM supply have been carried out using a laboratory PWM inverter with a fundamental frequency equal to 50 Hz and a switching frequency of 2 kHz. The tests have been performed with variable modulation index m (fixed DC bus voltage) and a sinusoidal modulation waveform (linear sine-triangle PWM). As shown in Fig.1, when m decreases (when m 0, the fundamental PWM voltage is almost zero, but not its ripple), the adopted voltage regulation strategy leads to high rms voltage values, while the mean rectified values converge to zero. As a consequence, particular trends of the iron losses versus supply voltage characteristics are obtained (see Fig.6Fig.9). Different trends can be observed if a different voltage regulation and modulation strategies are chosen to perform the no-load test (e.g. a constant modulation index with a variable DC bus voltage bus), as shown in [1]. The maximum output value of the fundamental line-to-line voltage (obtained with a modulation index m = 1) was about of 310 V, because the PWM inverter was supplied with the 400 V line-to-line three-phase main available in the laboratory. This means that in order to tests the motors in rated voltage conditions the machine stator windings should be delta connected (excluding Motor D, Table I). Anyway, during preliminary tests, it was observed that in some machines a homopolar current flowed in the delta connected windings. In order to avoid any possible unexpected effect of this homopolar current on the iron loss measurements, it was decided to carry out the no-load tests using a star connection of the stator windings and a maximum voltage lower than the rated one. Both with sinusoidal and PWM supply, the measurements have been performed using a three-phase digital powermeter (Infratek 305A) with a bandwidth of 800 kHz for the voltage and current inputs. This powermeter is able to perform a real-time harmonic analysis of the measured electric quantities and, thanks to its mathematical capabilities, it is easy measure the voltage values requested by the proposed iron loss estimation method under PWM supply (see Section III).

As well known, the no-load tests shall be carried out as quickly as possible with the readings taken in descending order of the supply voltage (from the maximum voltage to the minimum value for the auto-sustenance of the rotation). For each voltage value the following quantities have to measured e recorded: U0 rms value of the line-to-line supply voltage, [V]; I0 rms value of the line current, [A]; P0 no-load adsorbed electrical power, [W] In order to compensate the stator resistance variations with the temperature, the DC stator resistance value has been measured at the start and at the end of each no-load test. In the PWM no-load test, in addition to the previous quantities, the rms fundamental component of the PWM voltages has to be measured. This is mandatory to compare the results with sinusoidal and PWM supply. A. No-load test elaboration: comments and results For the no-load test elaboration, the per-phase equivalent circuit shown in Fig. 2 has been considered [10]. This circuit allows elaborating the no-load tests, without performing the locked rotor test. In addition, the circuit takes correctly into account that the iron losses depend on the leakage fluxes in the machine too. In the same figure the no-load power balance (1) is sketched. It is important to remark that (1) is the no-load power balance considered in the standard [9].
2 Pir = Pno load 3 Rs I 0 Pmech0

(1)

From the measured data is very easy to compute the back stator e.m.f. (ES). In the following sections, the iron losses trends will be drawn as function of the line-to-line fundamental stator e.m.f. voltage. Even if more complex no-load power balances can be used (e.g. considering the no-load additional losses in the rotor cage joule losses due to the currents induced by the airgap m.m.f. spatial harmonics), on the basis of previously obtained results [8], it is an author opinion that power balance (1) is enough accurate to get solid conclusions in this study. As stated in [9], the mechanical losses Pmech0 have been estimated as the interception with the zero voltage axis of the linear regression line of the P0 3RsI02 power (using all the measured points that show no significant saturation effect) versus the squared stator back e.m.f. voltage characteristic.

300 P0 - 3RSI2S 250


y = -3E-18x4 + 9E-13x3 - 9E-08x2 + 0.0053x + 58.6 R2 = 0.9993

7.0
[W] PWM supply

35 I0 PWM I0 Sinusoidal PJS0 PWM PJS0 Sinusoidal 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 Fundamental line-to-line voltage [V] Stator joule losses [W]

6.0 No-load current [A] 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0

200 150

Sinusoidal supply
y = 0.0018x + 58.4 R2 = 0.9952

100

50 Squared fundamental e.m.f. voltage [V ] 0 0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000
2

0.0

Fig.3: P0 3RsI02 power versus the squared fundamental e.m.f. voltage for the Motor B. TABLE II NO-LOAD MECHANICAL LOSSES Pmech0 [W] A 19.7 19.8 B 58.4 58.6 Motor C 88.3 87.2 D 103 106 E 338 341

Fig.4: No-load current and no-load stator joule losses with sinusoidal and PWM supply for the Motor B.

III.

PROPOSED ESTIMATION METHOD OVERVIEW

Sinusoidal supply PWM supply

For all the motors under tests, this procedure applied to the sinusoidal and PWM no-load tests leads two different values of Pmech0. Since no evident and physical reasons can be provided to motivate the mechanical loss change with respect to the supply type, a different data fitting has been used for the P0 3RsI02 quantity measured under PWM supply. It has been observed that a fourth order polynomial data fitting, always limited to the measured points without significant saturation effect (low voltage values), allows to estimate mechanical loss values comparable with the measured one in sinusoidal supply, as shown in Fig. 3 for the Motor B. In table II the estimated mechanical loss Pmech0 by means of the sinusoidal and PWM no-load test are reported. The measured no-load rms current with PWM supply is slightly greater than no-load current measured with sinusoidal supply (see Fig.4, Motor B), due to the low ripple introduced by the PWM switching (switching frequency/fundamental frequency = 40). In Fig. 4 it is possible to observe that the increase of the stator joule losses due to the current ripple is small too. In other words, passing from sinusoidal to PWM supply, the switching effects on the stator joule losses are not so important. This fact has been observed for all the five machines. Taking in to account the induction motor equivalent circuit, it is presumable that this happens for the rotor cage joule losses too. Obviously, under PWM no-load conditions, non negligible iron losses in the rotor core are expected. Finally, the iron losses of the five motors have been calculated through (1), both with sinusoidal and PWM supply. These losses are reported in detail in Sections IV and V, where they are compared with the predicted values obtained by means of the method hereafter described.

The method have been previously presented and deeply discussed in [1], [7]. Anyway, in order to articulate the discussion, a short summary of the method is included. Without minor loops in the hysteresis cycle (as happens in the theoretical case of ideal three-level PWM inverter), the iron losses in magnetic laminations excited with PWM voltage can be computed using the following equation,
Pir = x Ph,sin + 2 Pec,sin

(2)

where =Vav Vav , fund and = Vrms Vrms , fund and: Ph,sin Pec,sin Vav Vrms Vav,fund Vrms, fund x is the hysteresis losses with sinusoidal supply; is the global eddy current losses with sinusoidal supply (including the excess losses); is the mean rectified value of the PWM voltage; is the rms value of the PWM voltage; is the mean rectified value of the fundamental voltage; is the rms value of the fundamental voltage; is the Steinmetz coefficient (equal to 1.904 for the magnetic laminations used in the machines).

The method (2) requires to split the iron losses measured with sinusoidal supply in their hysteresis and global eddy current components. In induction motors, this separation can be done using the simplifying hypothesis of a constant Ph,sin/Pec,sin ratio [1]. This ratio, when not available from lamination datasheets, can be measured testing the magnetic material used for the motor realization by means of the Epstein frame, at the considered working frequency (50 Hz) and for flux densities in the range 0.3-1.7 T [1]. For the motor under tests, the average Ph,sin/Pec,sin ratio is equal to 4.75. As previously explained, the and coefficients are directly computed by the wattmeter readings. In Fig. 5, these coefficients measured during the motor PWM no-load tests are shown. Since the coefficient is close to the unity, while the coefficient is grater than one, the iron losses increase under PWM supply is mainly due to eddy current phenomena and not to hysteresis ones. It is important to remark that, with the actual three level PWM inverter used for the tests and

considering the voltage drop on the stator resistance, the presence of minor hysteresis loops cannot be excluded at priori. This consideration has to be kept in mind in order to judge the accuracy of the results obtained through (2).
7.0 6.0 coefficient [p.u.] 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0

sinusoidal supply. Since the Piron switching quantity is representative of the stator and rotor PWM switching effects, it is expected that the results should be very close to the iron losses measured during the PWM no-load test.
500 Iron losses [W] 400 Measured PWM Predicted PWM Measured sinusoidal 300

200

100
1.0 0.0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 coefficient [p.u.] Fundamental line-to-line voltage [V]

Fundamental back e.m.f. voltage [V] 0 0 50 100 150 200 250

Fig.5: and coefficients measured during the PWM no-load tests of the five machines.

Fig.6: Predicted and measured iron losses with PWM supply for the motor B with the plastic cage rotor prototype (50 Hz locked rotor test, delta connection, switching frequency = 2 kHz, error bars = +5%).
250 Iron losses [W] 200 Measured PWM Measured sinusoidal Computed PWM 150

In [1] the proposed method was experimentally validated by means of the locked rotor test of a machine prototype realized assembling the stator of the 11kW machine (Motor B) and a twin rotor where the aluminum cage was substituted with a plastic cage. Obviously, in this locked rotor test rotor iron losses were active, both with sinusoidal and PWM supply. Considering the stator and rotor iron losses active in the machine as a whole, the method (2) led to the good results shown in Fig.6. On the basis of the results shown in Fig.6, the following considerations can be carried out: The motor prototype with plastic cage rotor can be considered as a tests rig to evaluate the goodness of the proposed estimation method (2). In locked rotor condition, the prototype works as a complex electromagnetic device useful to measure the iron losses, such as the Epstein frame. In locked rotor conditions, stator and rotor iron losses are active, both with sinusoidal and PWM supply. Since there arent rotor cage joule losses, mechanical or windage losses, the difference between the measured iron losses with PWM supply (Piron locked rotor PWM) and the measured iron losses under sinusoidal supply (Piron locked rotor SIN) are the iron losses increment due to the PWM switching only, both in the stator and in the rotor core, as defined in (3). Piron switching = Piron locked rotor PWM - Piron locked rotor SIN IV. MOTOR B NO-LOAD TEST RESULTS (3)

100

50 Fundamental line-to-line e.m.f. voltage [V] 0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Fig.7: Computed iron losses for the motor B in the PWM no-load test, starting from the data shown in Fig.6 (error bars = +5%).

The no-load test results for the Motor B are separately presented because for this machine the data obtained with the plastic rotor are initially used to articulate the discussion. As first step, the loss difference Piron switching measured with the machine assembled with the plastic cage rotor has been added to the iron losses measured in the no-load test with

This feeling is confirmed by the trends reported in Fig.7. In this figure, the small difference between the measured and computed iron losses are probably due to the fact that in the no-load test the magnetic rotor conditions are not the same like in standstill ones (e.g. losses due to high frequency teeth flux variation linked to the rotation). This preliminary result is very important because it should be observed that in no-load test with sinusoidal supply the rotor iron losses are negligible, such as the rotor iron losses due to the fundamental component in the PWM no-load test. In other words, by means of the no-load tests with sinusoidal supply the stator iron losses are measured only, but under PWM supply supplementary rotor iron losses are active too. When (2) is applied to the no-load test data with sinusoidal supply, only the stator iron loss under PWM supply are correctly predicted. As a consequence, it is expected that model (2) underestimates the iron losses of the PWM no-load tests. This doesnt mean that the method (2) loses its validity, but that the conventional induction motor no-load test is not the best way to judge its accuracy for actual induction motors.

250 Iron losses [W] 200 Measured PWM Measured sinusoidal Predicted by (2) 150
120 160 200 Iron losses [W]

Motor A (7.5 kW)


Measured PWM Measured sinusoidal Predicted by (2)

100
80

50 Fundamental line-to-line e.m.f. voltage [V] 0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 40 Fundamental line-to-line e.m.f. voltage [V]

Fig.8: Predicted iron losses for the motor B in the PWM no-load test, by means of the method (2) (error bars = +5%).

Motor C (15 kW)


350 Iron losses [W] 300 250 200 150 100 50 Fundamental line-to-line e.m.f. voltage [V] 0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 Measured PWM Measured sinusoidal Predicted by (2)

Anyway, in order to prove the previous assertions, (2) has been directly applied to the sinusoidal no-load test data to predict the iron losses under PWM supply. The obtained results are reported in Fig.8, where +/- 5 % error bars have been used in order to help the reader in the comparison with Fig.7. In the whole voltage range, the actual percentage difference between the measured and predicted PWM iron losses is in the range 15-20%. On the basis of the previous considerations, this difference seems to be reasonable, assuming that it could be attributed to the rotor iron losses under PWM supply. V. NO-LOAD TEST RESULTS FOT THE OTHER MOTORS

Motor D (18.5 kW)


160 Iron losses [W] 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 Measured PWM Measured sinusoidal Predicted by (2)

In this section, the proposed method has been applied to the other four induction motors under tests. The predicted iron losses under PWM supply are reported in Fig.9. All the estimation errors are still in the range 15-25%, depending on the considered machine, confirming that the predicted iron losses have to be considered as the stator ones only. For the Motor D it was not possible to use supply voltages lower than 200 V (minimum value for the auto-sustenance of the rotation) because under this value the no-load adsorbed current increased. Please note that this machine is wound for a rated voltage of 690 V. As final comment, the predicted losses for low supply voltage values seem more accurate with respect to the measured ones. Anyway, these estimations could be prone to large errors due to lower powermeter accuracy in low voltage test conditions. In fact, when low values of the modulation index m are used, the powermeter has to be measure low fundamental voltage values using a high voltage range scale because the DC bus voltage is fixed to its maximum value. As a consequence, the measurement errors on the parameter could be high. For this reason, it an authors opinion that the actual percentage difference between the estimated and measured values at low voltage is still reasonably in the range 15-25%. VI. FINAL REMARKS The reported activities represent the final step for the proposed method validation.

Fundamental line-to-line e.m.f. voltage [V]

Motor E (30 kW)


600 Iron losses [W] 500 Measured PWM Measured sinusoidal Predicted by (2) 400

300 200 100 Fundamental line-to-line e.m.f. voltage [V] 0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Fig.9: Predicted iron losses for the motor A, C, D and E in the PWM no-load test, by means of the method (2).

TABLE III PERCENTAGE IRON LOSS INCREMENTS PASSING FROM SINUSOIDAL TO PWM SUPPLY Fundamental line-to-line supply voltage 200 V 310 V Average in the range 200-310 V Average (total) A 72 36 50 B 65 29 44 Motor C D 63 56 27 35 45 50 43 E 87 54 68

VII.

CONCLUSIONS

In fact, the method (2) was initially validated for magnetic laminations, using the Epstein frame and toroidal samples [7], [11]. Then, it was applied with success on a special induction motor prototype with a plastic cage rotor [1], [8] and now it has been used to predict the iron losses in five industrial induction motors. Conventional no-load tests performed with sinusoidal supply have been used to collect the data for the computations, while the same tests performed with PWM supply have been used to identify the measured iron losses to be compared with the computed ones. It is important to remark that the no-load test is a well-established procedure to measure the induction motor iron losses [9]. Thanks to the obtained results and an in-depth analysis of the no-load tests, an inherent limitation of the proposed method has been put in evidence. In fact, since with sinusoidal supply the rotor iron losses are negligible, the proposed method allows estimating the PWM stator iron losses only. The reported results show that in no-load condition the additional rotor iron losses due to the PWM supply can be quantified around 15-25% of the total measured iron losses. It is an authors opinion that this percentage seems to be reasonable, even if some FEAs and further experimental activities are ongoing, in order to verify in a rigorous way this assertion. Finally, as practical information, with the considered inverter and voltage regulation strategy (variable modulation index), the total stator and rotor iron loss increase passing from sinusoidal to PWM supply can be roughly assumed equal to 50%, for fundamental line-to-line voltages in the range 200-310 V. Otherwise, it is possible to increase of 1525% the losses calculated through (2). In table III, the detailed percentage iron loss increments for each motor are shown.

In the paper a simple method to predict the iron losses in PWM fed induction motors is reported and discussed. In particular, an intrinsic method limitation is discussed when it is used to compute the iron losses under PWM supply starting from the same data measured with sinusoidal supply by means of the conventional no-load tests. In the paper has been shown that the proposed method allows estimating with sufficient accuracy the stator iron losses only, but it doesnt predict the rotor iron losses due to PWM supply. In order to take into account this aspect, the authors suggest increasing the proposed method results of about 15-25%. REFERENCES
[1] A. Boglietti, A. Cavagnino, M. Lazzari, Fast Method for the Iron Losses Prediction in Inverter Fed Induction Motors, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 46, No. 2, March-April 2010, pp. 806811. [2] H. Domeki, Y. Ishihara, C. Kaido, Y. Kawase, S. Kitamura, T. Shimomura, N. Takahashi, T. Yamada, and K. Yamazaki, Investigation of benchmark model for estimating iron loss in rotating machine, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 794797, Mar. 2004. [3] D.M.Ionel, M.Popescu, M.McGilp, T.J. Miller, S.Dellinger, R.J. Heideman, Computation of Core Losses in Electrical Machines Using Improved Models for Laminated Steel, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 43, No. 6, Nov./Dec 2007,pp. 1554-1564. [4] Z. Gmyrek, A. Boglietti, A. Cavagnino, Estimation of Iron Losses in Induction Motors: Calculation Method, Results, and Analysis, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Vol. 57, No. 1, January 2010, pp. 161-171. [5] M.Popescu; D.G.Dorrell, D.M.Ionel, A Study of the Engineering Calculations for Iron Losses in 3-phase AC Motor Models, Conf. Rec. 33rd IECON 2007, 5-8 Nov. 2007, pp. 169 174. [6] A.Boglietti, A. Cavagnino, A.M. Knight, Isolating the impact of PWM modulation on iron losses, Con. Rec. IEEE-IAS08 Annual Meeting, 2008, Edmonton, Canada, on Cd-Rom. [7] A.Boglietti, A. Cavagnino, M. Lazzari, M. Pastorelli, Predicting iron losses in soft magnetic materials with arbitrary voltage supply: an engineering approach, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 39, March 2003, pp. 981-989. [8] A. Boglietti, R. Bojoi, A. Cavagnino, L. Ferraris, No-Load Operations of Induction Motors under PWM Supply, Conf. Rec. IEEE-ISIE2010, Bari, Italy, 4-7 July 2010. [9] Rotating electrical machines: Standard Methods for Determining Losses and Efficiency from tests, Std. IEC 60034-2-1, 2007. [10] M. Aoulkadi, A. Binder, When load stray Evaluation of different measurement methods to determine stray load losses in induction machines, IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine, March 2008, Vol.2, No.1, pp. 21-30. [11] A. Boglietti, A. Cavagnino, Z. Gmyrek, Iron Losses Prediction with PWM Supply Using Low and High Frequency Measurements: Analysis and Results Comparison, IEEE Transaction on Industrial Electronics, Vol.55, No. 4, April 2008, pp.1722-1728.

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