Thermal analysis of fault-tolerant electrical machines for aerospace actuators

Madonna, Vincenzo; Giangrande, Paolo; Galea, Michael; Gerada, Chris

Abstract

For safety critical applications, electrical machines need to satisfy several constraints, in order to be considered fault-tolerant. In fact, if specific design choices and appropriate control strategies are embraced, fault-tolerant machines can operate safely even in faulty conditions. However, particular care should be taken for avoiding uncontrolled thermal overload, which can either cause severe failures or simply shorten the machine lifetime. This paper describes the thermal modelling of two permanent magnet synchronous machines for aerospace applications. In terms of the winding’s layout, both machines employ concentrated windings at alternated teeth, with the purpose of accomplishing fault tolerance features. The first machine (i.e. Machine A) adopts a three-phase winding configuration, while a double three-phase configuration is used by the second one (i.e. Machine B). For both machines, the winding temperatures are evaluated via simplified thermal models, which were experimentally validated. Copper and iron losses, necessary for the thermal simulations, are calculated analytically and through electromagnetic finite element analysis respectively. Finally, two aerospace study cases are presented, and the machines’ thermal behaviour is analysed during both healthy and faulty conditions. Single-phase open-circuit and three-phase short-circuit are accounted for Machine A and B respectively.

Citation

Madonna, V., Giangrande, P., Galea, M., & Gerada, C. (2019). Thermal analysis of fault-tolerant electrical machines for aerospace actuators. IET Electric Power Applications, 13(7), 843 – 852. https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-epa.2018.5153

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 12, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Sep 14, 2018
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Sep 21, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 21, 2018
• Journal: IET Electric Power Applications
• Print ISSN: 1751-8660
• Electronic ISSN: 1751-8679
• Publisher: Institution of Engineering and Technology
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 843 – 852
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-epa.2018.5153
• Keywords: Electrical and electronic engineering
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1095929
• Publisher URL: http://digital-library.theiet.org/content/journals/10.1049/iet-epa.2018.5153
• Additional Information: © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2018. This paper is a postprint of a paper submitted to and accepted for publication in IET Electric Power Applications and is subject to Institution of Engineering and Technology Copyright. The copy of record is; available at the IET Digital Library