Advanced Research Projects

Integrated Machines and Drives

Brett Nee with adviser Patrick L. Chapman

Figure 44 Input power factor from a single-phase bridge rectifier with varying inductance and capacitance.

Increasingly, power electronics drives are providing control over machines’ torque/ speed. Integration of the drive and the machine can lead to improvements in cost and performance. Research is being conducted in system integration, utilizing each subsystem’s important characteristics to aid in the design of the other subsystems, for example, a machine controller which mitigates a dc bus capacitor’s current ripple by injecting a small torque ripple to the load. As a result the dc bus capacitor could be reduced, in turn decreasing the system volume. Another option is integrating passive magnetic components in the machine or system package, which provides the ability for active or passive powerfactor correction.

2005-2006 Projects

• Magnetic Equivalent Circuits Applied to Induction Machine Design
• Mathematical Field Computation as an Analytical Tool for Electric Machines
• An Extended Field Reconstruction Technique for Optimization of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine Drive Systems
• A Framework for the Analysis and Design of Vector Controllers for Induction Machines
• Hand-Cranked Electric Generator to Poper Remote Off-Grid Villages