Fault-Tolerant Operation of a Novel Dual-Channel Switched Reluctance Motor Using Two 3-Phase Standard Inverters

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel dual-channel switched reluctance motor (DCSRM) driven by two 3-phase standard inverters. The key of the proposed DCSRM is its two operational models. For the first operational model (Model I), it works like a 3-phase traditional SRM supplied by an H-bridge inverter, which is driven by square-wave currents. For the second operational model (Model II), it can be considered as two mutually coupled SRMs that are supplied by sine-wave currents. These operational models are used to overcome different faults, and the corresponding remedial current strategies are proposed to realize fault-tolerant operation. Then, Model I is adopted for power switch fault. Meanwhile, Model II is employed for open-circuit fault. Moreover, the performances of proposed DCSRM are calculated by a finite element, method and the fault-tolerant performances under different fault conditions are verified by cosimulation. Results show that the proposed DCSRM can be used for safety-critical applications by combining the advantages of traditional SRM and mutually coupled SRM.