Design and Simulation of Control System for Bearingless

Synchronous Reluctance Motor

Hannian Zhang, Huangqiu Zhu, Zhibao Zhang, Zhiyi Xie

School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Abstract In this paper, the principle of bearingless
synchronous reluctance motors is explained and a
mathematic model of control system is deduced. The main
problem in the control system is the coupling between the
radial force and electromagnetic torque, and between the
two radial forces in x- and y-direction. A decoupling method
based on the feed-forward compensator is designed to
decouple those variables. Proposed control system has been
simulated in Matlab/Simulink environment. Simulation
results have validated that stable suspension operation and
the decoupling can be realized successfully with this method.

I. INTRODUCTION
Recently, Super high speed electrical drives are
required for many special applications such as high speed
machine tools, flywheels, turbomolecular pumps,
compressors, etc. Advantages of no contact, no
lubrication, and no maintenance are needed in the
application areas of airplanes, bioengineering, pumps for
pure substances, and so on. Magnetic bearings can suit for
these applications, but there are some drawbacks, for
example the sophisticated structure and high cost. The
bearingless synchronous reluctance motor has combined
characteristics of synchronous reluctance motor and
magnetic bearings. Compared with the motor with
magnetic bearings, the bearingless synchronous
reluctance motors performance is obvious, the motors
shaft length can be shorter, the critical speed is increased,
and the motors structure is simplified. Because of the
absence of windings and permanent magnets on the rotor,
this type bearingless motor is advantageous in the high
speed applications [1]-[6]. Research shows that the
electromagnetic torque and the radial force are coupled by
torque component fluxes [3], as may be seen from the
mathematic model, the radial force generation is
connected with the motor windings currents. Furthermore,
the both two radial forces in x- and y-axis are coupled
together, but it is difficult to decoupling those variables
using flux orientation directly. So a decoupling control
method based on the feed-forward compensator has been
proposed and simulation results have been described in
the following text. Computer simulation results have
verified the validity of this decoupling control algorithm.
II. PRINCIPLE OF RADIAL FORCE GENERATION

III. MATHEMATIC MODEL

A. Equation of Radial Force
Real-time control of radial force is required for the
beaingless motors stable operation, so it is important to
deduce the radial force mathematic model, and the
mathematical model is the basis of the design for the
control system. Usually, AC motor has uniform air gap,
but for synchronous reluctance motor, the air gap
variation caused by the rotor saliency has to be considered,
so the equation of radial force is different from other
typesbearignless motor. In this paper, the pole arc is
assumed to be 30 , the magnetic motive force
distributions of both sets of windings are assumed to be
sinusoidal, and magnetic saturation is neglected. The
radial forces can be derived by the partial derivatives of
the stored magnetic energy. In the d-q rotating reference
frame, the stored energies in the windings may be
calculated as in (1) [3].
Fy

Na

i a y
Ny a
Na

Na

y a
a N
y
2

N ai

In bearingless motor, a combination of two sets of

windings with a difference in pole pair number of p 1 is
needed to generate both the electromagnetic torque and
radial force [5]. Fig. 1 has shown the principle of radial
force production under no load condition. The motor
Project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China
(50275067, 60174052), High technology research of Jiangsu Province
(BG2005027), and by SRF for ROCS, SEM.

combined 4-pole motor windings and 2-pole suspension

windings in the same stator slots, two-phase windings are
exampled for simplicity. The currents in the 4-pole motor
windings N generate 4-pole magnetic field a , and 2pole magnetic fluxes y are produced by the currents in
the 2-pole suspension windings N y . When the 2-pole
winding currents are applied, the fluxes density in area 1
increases but the fluxes density in area 2 decreases, so the
unbalanced revolving field results in producing the radial
force Fy in the positive y-direction. The motor has
another 2-pole suspension windings which perpendicular
to N y windings, and then the radial force in any direction
can be produced. And the motor has another 4-pole motor
windings in order to produce the torque.

x
Fig. 1. Principle of radial force generation

554

Wm =

1
id
2

iq

ix

Ld
L
qd
i y
Lxd

Lyd

Ldq

Ldx

Lq

Lqx

Lxq

Lx

Lyq

Lyx

Ldy id
Lqy iq
Lxy ix

Ly iy

(1)

where id , iq , ix and iy are the current components of the

motor windings and suspension windings in the rotor
coordinates, respectively. Ld and Lq are the d- and q-axis
inductance of the motor windings, respectively. Lx and
Ly are the self-inductance of the suspension windings in
the 2-phase coordinates, Ldx , Ldy , Lqx and Lqy are the
mutual inductance between the motor windings and the
suspension windings, respectively.
Because of the symmetrical winding, Lx = Ly ,
Ldq = Lqd = 0 , Lxy = Lyx = 0 . Equation (1) can be simplified as

1
Wm = id iq ix i y
2
K m1 x
0
Ld
0
Lq
Km2 y

K m1 x K m 2 y
L2

0
K m1 y K m 2 x

K m1 y id

K m 2 x iq

0 ix

L2 i y

0 lrN 2 N 4
2 + 3 3
48 0 2
lrN N
= 0 22 4 2 3 3
48 0

Km2

(
(

)
)

Fx
K m1id
F = C0 K i
y
m2 q

K m 2 iq ix
K m1id i y

(3)

If the rotor is displaced, the magnetic tensile force

acting on the rotor produces and the expression is given as
(9)

ii

(10)

ii

Fy + Fsy + Fzy = m y

where m is the mass of the rotor, based on (5), (9) and

(10), the block diagram of the radial forces control system
inside the motor is shown in Fig. 2
B. Equation of Rotation

The mathematic model of the motor is totally

constructed with voltage, flux linkage and torque
equations. In the rotor oriented coordinate system, the
equations of the motors stator voltage, stator flux
linkages and electromagnetic torque are given as in (11),
(12) and (13).

(4)

Km1 id

ix

(5)

iy

Km2 iq
Km2 iq
Km1 id

sin
cos

(8)

Fx + Fsx + Fzx = m x

Supposed that

cos
C0 =
sin

sin 2 i 2

cos 2 i 2

where k is the coefficient related to the motors structure,

x and y are displacements, B is the flux density in the air
gap at centered rotor, the other parameters meaning can
be seen in (3).
Fzx and Fzy are assumed to the external interference
forces applied on the rotor in x- and y- direction, and the
gravity is included, so the motion equations of the rotor
are described as

Equation (4) can be written in matrix form as shown

in (5).

Fx K m1id
F = K i
y m2 q

K m 2 iq cos 2
K m1id sin 2

Fx K m1id
F = K i
y m2 q

(2)

is the self-inductance of the suspension windings, 0 is

4 107 H/m, l is stack length, r is rotor radius, N 2 and
N 4 are the per-phase effective turns in series of the motor
windings and suspension windings, respectively. 0 is air
gap length with centered rotor.
The radial forces acting on the rotor can be derived
from the differential of the magnetic energy and can be
obtained as
Wm
= K m1id ix + K m 2 iq iy
x
Wm
Fy =
= K m 2 iq ix K m1id iy
y

(7)

where i 2 and i 2 are the currents of the N x and N y

suspension windings in the stationary coordinate system,
equation (7) can be simplified as

L2

Fx =

K m 2 iq 1 i 2
C0
K m1id
i 2

Fsx
x
rlB 2 x
k
=
= Ks
F

0 0 y
y
sy

where
K m1 =

where is mechanical rotor angle, the above equations

are transformed into the stationary coordinate system and
can be written as

+
+
+

Fx

Fy

+ Fsx

Ks
ii

1/ m x

+ Fzx
+ Fzy
+ Fsy

ii

1/ m

Ks

Fig. 2. The diagram of the radial forces control system

inside the motor

(6)

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d
d q
dt
d
U q = Rs iq + q + d
dt
U d = Rs id +

d = Ld id
q = Lq iq

(11)

forces acting on the rotor are equal to the given reference

values, and the radial forces are not affected by the
electromagnetic torque.
Fx0 Fy0 are the new references of radial forces
defined as

(12)

3
n p ( Ld Lq ) id iq
2
J d
Te TL =
n p dt
Te =

(13)

U d and U q are the d- and q-axis stator voltage components,

respectively. d and q are the d- and q- axis flux linkage
components of the stator, respectively. Rs is per-phase
resistance of the stator, is synchronous angular speed,
n p is pole pairs, J is the moment of inertia, Te is the
motors electromagnetic torque, and TL is the load torque.

Fx0
1
= 2 2
F
K
i
K m2 2 iq2
+
m1 d
y 0

(17)
Substituting (17) into (15), the relationships between
the new references of radial forces and the currents in the
suspension windings can be obtained as
Fx0
i 2
1
i = C1
2
Fy 0

cos 2
C11 =
sin 2

The whole control system of the bearingless

synchronous reluctance motor includes the motor control
and the radial position control. The control system
configuration is shown in Fig. 4, the motor control
method is common, as can be seen that when the d-axis
current I d is fixed, the torque is proportional to the torque

Fx

K m1 Id

Fy

(14)

Fx 1 0 F
F =

y 0 1 F

+
+

K m2 Iq

Fy0
1
K2m1 Id2 + K2m2 Iq2

K m1 Id

Fig.3. Block diagram of the compensator

(15)

constant

Substituting above equations into (8), the result can be

expressed as

Fx0
1
K2m1 Id2 + K2m2 Iq2

Km2 Iq

and Fy are the references of radial forces in x- and

y- axis, so (15) can be obtained from (8) as
K m 2 iq Fx

K m1id Fx

(19)

V. DESIGN OF CONTROL SYSTEM

Fx

i 2
K m1id
1
1

i = C1 2 2
2 2
km1id + km 2 iq K m 2 iq
2

sin 2
cos 2

Based on (17), the feed-forward compensator can be

designed and the configuration is shown in Fig. 3

The bearingless synchronous reluctance motor is

strongly coupled system. Under load condition, the motor
could become unstable due to the coupling between the
radial forces and electromagnetic torque, and between the
two orthogonal radial forces. In order to keep the stable
operation, the decoupling control of the motor is
necessary. The bearingless synchronous reluctance motor
is different from other types bearingless motor, it is
difficult to realize the decoupling control based on the
motor flux oriented directly. But research has shown that
feed-forward compensation decoupling control is a very
simple but effective method to decouple those variables.
Based on the feed-forward compensator, the control
system become simple and can be realized easily.
Matrix C1 is defined as

sin 2
cos 2

(18)

Where

IV. DESIGN OF FEED-FORWARD COMPENSATOR

cos 2
C1 =
sin 2

K m 2 iq Fx

K m1id Fy

K m1id
K i
m2 q

(16)

+
x

Id
I

PI

Park

PID
PID

F
Decoupling

y0

Fy Compensator F

i A1
iB1 CRPWM i B1
iC1 Inverter i C1

x0

i1

iA1

i 1

2 dt

iA2

i 2
1

Park i 2

2
3

iB2
iC2

i A2
CRPWM i B2
Inverter i
C2

Fig. 4. Control system diagram of bearingless synchronous

reluctance motor

The above16shows that the two orthogonal radial

forces are decoupled completely, furthermore, the radial

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Fig. 5. Control system diagram in Matlab

component currents I q , so the motor control system can

be simplified with this method. In the position control
system, the displacements in x- and y-direction of the
rotor are detected by the sensors and then compared with
reference values, then the error signals are regulated by
PID controllers to generated the radial forces references
Fx and Fy , the new reference values Fx0 and Fy0 can be
got after using the decoupling controller, then three phase
reference currents iA 2 , iB 2 and iC 2 are generated after
coordination transformation of new reference values Fx0
and Fy0 , then currents iA2 , iB 2 and iC 2 are controlled by
the inverter to follow their current references, and then the
radial forces acting on the rotor Fx and Fy are generated.

direction are supposed that x=0.05 mm and y = 0.20

mm, respectively, and the load torque is applied in 0.025 s.
The figures show that the percent overshoot is small and
the rotor can realize the stable suspension. Although the
load torque is applied in 0.025 s, no displace is to be seen
in x- and y-direction, thus the torque and the radial forces
are decoupled.
Fig. 8 and Fig. 9 show the x- and y-axis step response
of the rotor displacements. In Fig. 8, the initial value of x
is x=0 mm, after 0.01 s the new set point value is
x = 0.1 mm, after the quick dynamic regulation, the
rotor suspended steadily in the given reference position, it
shows the good regulation characteristic of the position

VI. SIMULATION OF CONTROL SYSTEM

In order to verify the validity of proposed control
system in this paper, simulation is implemented based on
the Matlab/Simulink. The configuration of the control
system in Matlab environment is shown in Fig. 5. The
motor parameters are given as follows;
The motor windings pole pairs p1 =2, Ld =0.035 H,
Lq =0.007 H, stator resistance Rs1 =0.20 , id =3 A. The
suspension windings pole pairs p2 =1, Lx = Ly = 0.02 H,
stator resistance Rs 2 =0.15 . The given reference values
of speed nN = 1500 r/min, rated power PN =1 kW, the
rotor mass m=1 kg, the rotors moment of inertia J=0.002
kg m 2 , air-gap length 0 =0.3 mm, the touch down
bearing clearance =0.2 mm.
The radial interference forces acting on the rotor in xand y-direction are given by Fzx =20 N and Fzy =20 N,
respectively. The load torque ( TL =3 N m ) is exerted in
0.025 s. Fig. 6 - Fig. 11 show the simulation results of
the control system.

Fig. 6. x-axis displacement waveform

A. Simulation of Radial Position Control System

Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 show that the transient response
during the process from starting-up to the stable
suspension of the rotor, the initial values in x- and yFig. 7. y-axis displacement waveform

557

Fig. 8. x-axis step response

Fig. 10. Torque response waveform

Fig. 11. Step response of the speed

Fig. 9. y-axis step response

control system. In Fig. 9, the initial value of y is y = 0.1

mm, the set point change is y=0.1 mm. after 0.015 s, the
rotor can also suspended steadily in the given position,
but in x-axis no deflection of the displacements can be
seen, it shows that the coupling between x- and y-axis was
canceled.
B. Simulation of Motor Control System
Fig. 10 shows the dynamic response of the torque. The
motor starts with no load, after 0.025 s the load torque
with 3 Nm is applied, the figure shows the good
characteristic with the proposed torque control method.
The step response characteristic of the speed for the
bearingless synchronous reluctance motor is shown in Fig.
11, the figure shows that the percent overshoot is less than
5%, the response time is less than 0.015 s, and the steadystate error is zero, good performance can be also obtained.
VII. CONCLUSIONS
Based on the analyzing about the fundamental
principle of bearingless synchronous reluctance motor,
the motors mathematical model is given. Because of
strongly coupled nonlinear system, a decoupling control method

558

for the motor is proposed, which is based on feed-forward

compensator, to cancel the coupling between the torque
and the radial forces, and the radial forces in both radial
axis. Numerical simulation is implemented to shows that
the decoupling control of those variables is realized using
this control strategy, and good performance of torque
control and speed adjusting is also shown.
REFERENCES
[1] A. Chiba, K. Chida, and T. Fukao, Principles and characterstics of
a reluctance motor with windings of magnetic bearing, in Proc. of
IPEC, Tokyo, 1990, pp. 919-926.
[2] A. Chiba, T. Deido, T. Fukao, M. A. Rahman, An analysis of
bearingless AC motors, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, vol. 9,
no. 1, pp. 61-68, Mar. 1994.
[3] C. Michioka, T. Sakamoto, O. Ichikawa, A. Chiba, T. Kao, A
decoupling control method of reluctance-type bearingless motors
considering magnetic saturation, IEEE Trans. on Industry
Applications, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 1204-1210, Sep. 1996.
[4] L. Hertel, W. Hofmann, Hochtouriger lagerloser reluktanzantrieb,
Kassel, 1999. Available: http://www.infotech.tu-chemnitz.de
[5] L. Hertel, W. Hofmann, Theory and test results of a high speed
bearingless reluctance motor, in PCIM, Nuremberg, 1999, pp. 143147.
[6] Huangqiu Zhu, Zhiquan Deng, Yangguang Yan, Principles of
beaingless motors and research status, Micromotors Servo
Technique, vol. 33, no. 6, 2000, pp. 29-31.