MRAS-based sensorless control of a vector controlled five-phase induction motor drive

Multi-phase ac motor drives are nowadays considered for various applications, due to numerous advantages that they offer when compared to their three-phase counterparts. In principle, control methods for multi-phase machines are the same as for three-phase machines. Variable speed induction motor drives without mechanical speed sensors at the motor shaft have the attractions of low cost and high reliability. To replace the sensor, information of the rotor speed is extracted from measured stator currents and voltages at motor terminals. Vector controlled drives require estimating the magnitude and spatial orientation of the fundamental magnetic flux waves in the stator or in the rotor. Open-loop estimators and closed-loop observers are used for this purpose. They differ with respect to accuracy, robustness, and sensitivity against model parameter variations. This paper analyses operation of an open-loop and model reference adaptive system (MRAS)-based sensorless control of vector controlled five-phase induction machine with current control in the stationary reference frame. The MRAS-based sensorless operation of a three-phase induction machine is well established and the same principle is extended in this paper for an IRFOC five-phase induction machine. Performance, obtainable with hysteresis current control, is illustrated for a number of operating conditions on the basis of simulation results. Full decoupling of rotor flux control and torque control is realised. Dynamics, achievable with a five-phase vector controlled induction machine, are shown to be essentially identical to those obtainable with a three-phase induction machine. Experimental verification is also provided.