Modular stator flux and torque control of multiphase induction motor drives

Thanks to the advancements in power electronics, the multiphase solutions are gaining a growing attention from the industry. Due to the higher number of phases, the multiphase machines offer more degrees of freedom with respect to the three-phase counterparts. As example, it is possible to configure the drive topology in a modular way in terms of both electrical machine winding and power converter structure. This special feature has led to the development of the “multiple three-phase solutions” in which the multiphase drive is configured as multiple three-phase units operating in parallel. Nevertheless, the literature does not report control solutions able to exploit properly the drive modularity of multiple three-phase drives. Therefore, an innovative control scheme, implementing a modular torque regulation of multiple three-phase induction motor drives, is proposed in this paper. To show the feasibility of the developed control solution, experimental results are provided for a multi-modular power converter feeding a quadruple three-phase induction machine prototype.