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10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2942985, IEEE Access

Current Harmonic Suppression for Dual Three-

Phase Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor
Drives
ZHIHUANG RUAN1, Student Member, IEEE, WENXIANG SONG1, 2, AND YAN YAN1
1
School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China
1, 2
Shanghai Key Lab of Power Station Automation Technology, Shanghai 200072, China

Corresponding author: Wenxiang Song (wxsongshu@126.com).

This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Project 51377102.

︙ABSTRACT Due to motor asymmetry and system nonlinear factors, the dual three-phase permanent
magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives produce a large number of current harmonics during
operation. Based on the Vector Space Decoupling model, the six-phase currents of the dual three-phase
PMSM can be decomposed into the αβ, the z1z2 and the o1o2 components. Speed and torque are controlled
by controlling the α-β current components. In addition, controlling the z1-z2 current components is
essential in suppressing current harmonics. In this paper, we propose two current harmonic suppression
methods. Firstly, synchronous, anti-synchronous and bidirectional synchronous PI controllers are
proposed to suppress current harmonics caused by different types of motor asymmetry. Secondly, a
quasi-proportional resonance controller is proposed to suppress current harmonics caused by nonlinear
factors of system. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed
methods.

︙INDEX TERMS Dual three-phase permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), current harmonic
suppression, synchronous/anti-synchronous/bidirectional PI controller, quasi proportional resonance controller
(QPR).

I. INTRODUCTION components can be neglected, since the neutral points of two

Multiphase motor drives have attracted extensive research
interest from many scholars, due to their characteristics of
low voltage and high power output [1-3]. Among the various
kinds of multiphase motors, the dual three-phase motor is a
good choice, as it has two sets of three-phase stator windings
spatially shifted by 30 electrical degrees with isolated neutral
points and has the advantage of a small torque ripple [4]. In
recent years, various control strategies have been studied for
dual three-phase permanent magnet synchronous motors
(PMSM), especially for high-power applications [5-8].
However, there are few studies on harmonic suppression of
multiphase motor drives.
In the Vector Space Decoupling (VSD) model, the dual
three-phase PMSM is divided into three vertical subspaces,
the αβ subspace, the z1z2 subspace and the zero-sequence
components [9]. For a machine with sinusoidal magnetic
motive force distribution, only the αβ components contribute
usefully to electromechanical energy conversion, while the
z1z2 components and zero-sequence components only
produce losses. The influence of the zero sequence
sets of windings of the motor are isolated from each other, so
the zero-sequence components cannot flow [10].
Under ideal operation, the currents in the z1-z2 subspace
should be zero in dual three-phase PMSM systems. However,
dual three-phase PMSMs are high-order, non-linear, strong
coupling systems and their coupling relationship is more
complex than that of three-phase motors. The magnitudes of
z1-z2 currents indicate the degree of harmonic distortion of the
drive system. Therefore, it is necessary not only to control
the α-β currents to control the torque and flux, but also to
control the z1-z2 currents to suppress the harmonic magnitude
[11-12]. The control strategies should also be adapted to
different situations. It is therefore necessary to establish a
suitable control strategy for suppressing the z1-z2 currents for
the dual three-phase PMSM [13-14]. There are two causes
for the generation of z1-z2 currents: the asymmetry of the
motor and the nonlinear factors of system. Between them,
the asymmetry of the motor makes the fundamental
subspace no longer perpendicular to the z1z2 subspace,
which causes parts of the fundamental components in the

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 This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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subspace react in the z1z2 subspace. In this case, the relationship between the control variable and the motor
fundamental components of the αβ subspace will lead to the variable of dual three-phase PMSMs with isolated neutral
introduction of certain fundamental frequency current points can be expressed as:
components into the z1z2 subspace, which affect the efficient  fα f β f z1 f z2 
T
operation of the motor drives. The harmonic currents  (1)
introduced by the nonlinear factors of the system can be  Tαβ  f a fb fc fu fv fw 
decomposed into a series of odd harmonics through Fourier where f represents an arbitrary motor variable. The
decomposition. For the dual three-phase PMSM with neutral transformation matrix Tαβ can be expressed as:
point isolation, only the fifth and seventh harmonics  
1 1 3 3
introduced by the nonlinear factors need to be considered, as 1    0
the third harmonic cannot flow and higher harmonics can be  2 2 2 2 
 3 3 1 1 
neglected [16]. Therefore, it is necessary to design additional 0  1
1  2 2 2 2 
controllers to eliminate the harmonic currents generated by Tαβ  (2)
the nonlinearity of the motor in the z1z2 subspace. In [15], the 3 1 1 3 3 
1    0
PI controller parallel with resonant controller is employed to  2 2 2 2 
suppress the specific 5th and 7th harmonic components, but  3 3 1 1 
0    1
this method is too complicated. A synchronous PI controller  2 2 2 2 
for six-phase asynchronous motor is proposed in [16]. According to the above transformation, the voltage and
However, the effectiveness of this method in the control of flux equations of the αβ subspace in the d-q reference frame
dual three-phase PMSM is unknown. can be written as:
In this paper, a harmonic suppression method for dual ud   R1 0  id   d    q 
three-phase PMSMs is proposed and validated. A    i      e     (3)
 q  
u 0 R1   q   q   d fd 
mathematical model based on the VSD of dual three-phase
motor drive systems is established in Section II. In Section  d   LD 0  id   fd 
       (4)
III, two important reasons causing z1-z2 currents are  q   0 LQ  iq   0 
analyzed: the asymmetry of the motor and the nonlinear LD  3Laad  Laa1
factors of system. Then, two corresponding methods are (5)
LQ  3Laaq  Laa1
proposed to solve these problems. Simulations and
experimental results are presented in Section IV. The results Where (all these variables are in αβ subspace)
demonstrate the effectiveness for suppressing harmonics in R1 stator resistance
the dual three-phase PMSM system. Finally, the conclusion Ψfd permanent magnet flux
is summarized in Section V. ꞷe electrical angular speed
ud, uq d-axis and q-axis stator voltage
II. MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF DUAL THREE-PHASE id, iq d-axis and q-axis stator current
PMSM ψd, ψq d-axis and q-axis stator flux
In the double-dq model, the dual three-phase PMSM is LD, LQ d-axis and q-axis stator inductance
equivalent to two three-phase motors. However, the Laad, Laaq d-axis and q-axis self-inductances
inductance coefficient matrix of the double-dq model is not a Laa1 stator leakage self-inductance
diagonal matrix, so there is still certain coupling between the Similarly, the voltage and flux linkage equations in the z1z2
d-axis and q-axis flux linkage of the two three-phase subspace can be written as follows:
windings [16-17]. In this section, the VSD method is adopted u z1   R1 0  iz1   z1 
to establish the mathematical model of the system.  0 
R1  iz2   z2 
(6)
u z2  
According to the VSD model, the PMSM can be
represented using three orthogonal subspaces (the αβ  z1   Laa1 0  iz1 
  
Laa1  iz 2 
(7)
subspace, the z1z2 subspace and the zero-sequence subspace),  z2   0
which are perpendicular to each other. In this model, where, uz1 and uz2, iz1 and iz2, ψz1 and ψz2 are the stator
harmonics of different orders are mapped into different voltages, stator currents and flux in the z1z2 subspace,
subspaces. Moreover, unlike the double-dq model, the VSD respectively. The torque in the dq frame is given by:
model is suitable for multi-phase motors of any phase
number. Actually, the performance of the double-dq model is

Te  n p  fd iq + LD  LQ  id iq (8) 
very similar to that of the VSD model, but the former where np is the number of pole pairs. The inductance matrix
requires solving more complex voltage decoupling problems. of the dual three-phase PMSM is a diagonal matrix after the
Due to the clear harmonic analysis of the VSD model, most VSD transformation, which realizes the decoupling of the
of the works related to multiphase motors in recent years are motor and simplifies control complexity. Physically, only the
based on this control method. Based on the VSD model, the αβ subspace pertains to the conversion between mechanical
and electrical energy. However, the z1z2 subspace is
2

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composed of stator leakage reactance and stator resistance, fundamental magneto-motive forces will form a circular
which means even a small impedance will cause large trajectory generated by the two sets of three-phase winding.
harmonic currents. Therefore, it is vital to eliminate the The α1-β1 currents and α2-β2 currents form circular
currents of the z1-z2 subspace to suppress the harmonic trajectories with the same radius, rotating at the same
current and improve the efficiency of dual three-phase angular frequency +ωs, which can be expressed by the space
PMSMs. vector positive sequence component Iαβ+. However, if the
motor is asymmetrical, the unbalanced current will also
III. IMPROVED CURRENT HARMONIC SUPPRESSION contain the negative sequence component Iαβ-. The currents in
METHODS the α1-β1 and α2-β2 coordinates can be expressed as the sum
Through the analysis in this section based on the VSD model of positive and negative sequence components, which are
established in Section II, it can be seen that there are two written as follows.
reasons for the generation of current harmonic of dual three- I αβ1=k1I αβ+  k2 I αβ-
phase PMSMs. One is the asymmetry of motor, which will (16)
produce positive or negative sequence components. The =k1 I αβ e jst  k2 I αβ e  jst
other is the nonlinear factors of system, which will lead to I αβ2=k3I αβ+  k4 I αβ-
fifth and seventh current harmonics. In this section, (17)
corresponding mitigation strategies for the two different =k3 I αβ e jst  k4 I αβ e jst
current harmonic causes are presented. In (16) and (17), the direction of positive rotation of the
motor is prescribed counter-clockwise, and ki (i = 1, 2, 3, 4)
A. CURRENT HARMONIC SUPPRESSION FOR MOTOR represents the type of asymmetry. According to the double-
ASYMMETRY dq and VSD models, this can be deduced as follows:
A synchronous PI controller for six-phase asynchronous I z1  0.5( I α1  I α 2 )
motor is proposed in [16], this paper applied this method in (18)
I z2  0.5( I β1  I β 2 )
the dual three-phase PMSM.
In order to analyze the positive and negative sequence Thus, the z1-z2 subspace current caused by the asymmetry
components caused by asymmetry, the double-dq model [18] of the motor can be expressed as:
and the VSD model [19] can be written as follows: I z1z2=(k1  k3 ) I αβ e  jst  (k2  k4 ) I αβ e  jst
 1 1  (19)
1     fa  =I z1z2-  I z1z2+
 fα1  2  2 2  
f    fb (9)
3 
In (19), the current frequency in the z1-z2 subspace caused
  β1 3  3
0    fc  by the asymmetry is the fundamental frequency. Based on
 2 2 
 3 
the above analysis, the three types of asymmetry and z1-z2
3
 f α2  2  2  2 0   fu  subspace current distribution are shown in Table I. It is worth
f     fv  (10)
 β2  3  1 1   noting that the positive sequence component in the αβ
 1  f w  subspace should be a negative sequence component in the
 2 2 
  z1z2 subspace, while the negative sequence component in the
1 1 3 3
1    0 f
  αβ subspace should be a positive sequence component in the
 2 2 2 2  a 
 fα     fb  z1z2 subspace.
3 3 1 1
f  0  1  
 β 1  2 2 2 2   f c  (11) TABLE 1. Asymmetric Types Corresponding to the current Component
f  3 1 1 3 3   fu  Distribution of z1z2 Subspace.
 z1  1    0   Asymmetry Current
 z2 
f  2 2 2 2   fv  type
Description
Component
  f 
0 
3 3 1 1  w
  1 Three-phase currents in both A negative
 2 2 2 2  Case A windings are balanced, but with sequence current
different magnitudes. k1≠k3, Iz1z2- is present
From equations (9), (10) and (11), the asymmetry is k2=k4=0.
deduced as follows. A positive
Currents in both windings have the
fα  0.5( fα1  fα2 ) (12) Case B
same imbalance, k1=k3, k2≠k4.
sequence current
Iz1z2+ is present
f β  0.5( f β1  f β2 ) (13) Currents in winding 2 are
f z1  0.5( fα1  fα2 ) (14) Case C balanced, but currents in winding 1 Iz1z2- and Iz1z2+ are
are unbalanced. k1≠k3, k2≠0, present
f z2  0.5( f β1  f β2 ) (15) k4=0.
It can be seen from the above equation that the
fundamental frequency current of the z1-z2 subspace reflects For the different types of asymmetric current components,
the degree of asymmetry between two three-phase windings. three current harmonic control schemes are proposed.
For ideal dual three-phase PMSMs without asymmetry,
3

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iz1 u*z1 AC variables without static error [21-22].

e-jωst PI e+jωst
– In the dual-three-phase PMSM systems, the fifth and
*
iz1=0 seventh harmonics of the stator currents rotate at angular
iz2 u*z2 frequencies of +5ꞷs and -7ꞷs in the z1z2 subspace
e-jωst PI e+jωst
– respectively. In order to suppress the harmonics caused by
iz2* =0 the nonlinear factors of the drive system, a proportional
resonant controller is used in the anti-synchronous reference
(a) frame. These current harmonics are positive sixth harmonics
iz1 u*z1 and negative sixth harmonics in the anti-synchronous
e+jωst – PI e-jωst reference frame. By setting the resonant frequency of the
* proportional resonance (PR) controller to 6ꞷs, the fifth and
iz1=0
iz2 u*z2 seventh current harmonics can be suppressed.
e+jωst – PI e-jωst The PR controller is composed of the proportional part and
* a generalized integral, and its transfer function is:
iz2=0
s
GPR ( s )  K p  K R (20)
(b) s  02
2

Where, Kp is the proportional constant, KR is the integral

e-jωst – PI e+jωst
+ u*z1 time constant, and ꞷ0 is the resonant frequency. The PR
iz1 * controller has an infinite gain when the cut-off frequency is
iz1=0
–
+ ꞷ0, so it can track the AC variables without error in steady
e+jωst PI e-jωst state. The block diagram of the PR controller is shown in Fig.
2.
e-jωst – PI e+jωst iz1 u*z1
+ u*z2 e+jωst – Kp e-jωst
iz2 * +
iz2=0 + +
+ *

e+jωst – PI e-jωst
iz1=0
+
KR
-
ω02
(c) iz2 u*z2
e+jωst – Kp e-jωst
+
FIGURE 1. PI controller of z1-z2 currents, implemented in different + +
reference frames: (a) Synchronous reference frame. (b) Anti-synchronous *
iz2=0 KR
reference frame. (c) Bidirectional synchronous reference frame. +
-
* ω02
Table 1 summarizes the positive and negative fundamental iz2=0 PR controller
frequency components caused by different types of
FIGURE 2. Proportional resonance control block diagram.
asymmetry. As shown in Fig. 1 (a), the positive fundamental
frequency in the z1-z2 subspace is transformed to DC
The bandwidth of the PR controller is insufficient, as it can
variables first through coordinate transformation, and then
only reach large enough gain when the frequency is close to
adjusted by the PI controller. Then, the DC variables are
the resonance frequency, which makes the system too
finally anti-coordinate transformed to the fundamental
sensitive to the frequency of the input signal [23]. Therefore,
frequency components. Similarly, the control scheme of
the PR controller can only achieve error-free steady-state
negative fundamental frequency components is shown in Fig.
tracking in a short frequency range. However, motors are
1(b). Fig.1(c) is used in the case of positive and negative
usually required to work in a wide speed range at different
fundamental frequencies. Therefore, different types of
operating conditions in engineering applications. Obviously,
positive and negative fundamental frequency components
the proportional resonance controller cannot meet this
can be suppressed.
requirement.
B. CURRENT HARMONIC SUPPRESSION FOR
In order to suppress the fifth and seventh harmonics of
NONLINEAR FACTORS current in a wide frequency range, a quasi-proportional
The non-linear factors of motor drive systems mainly resonance (QPR) controller is adopted in this paper. Its
produce fifth and seventh harmonics of currents [20]. Since transfer function is as follows.
c s
the impedance of the z1z2 subspace of dual three-phase GQPR ( s)  K p  K R (21)
PMSM is very low, greater fifth and seventh current s 2  2c s  02
harmonics will be introduced by non-linear factors. The where ꞷc is the cut-off frequency. The QPR controller
traditional PI controller can be used to suppress z1-z2 currents, extends the system bandwidth and ensures that the system
but its bandwidth is limited, which makes it difficult to track works in steady state without static error. Similarly, by
4

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transforming the currents of the z1z2 subspace into anti- speed in the αβ subspace. A proportional integral (PI)
synchronous coordinates and controlling the resonant controller is used for the two closed loops in the αβ subspace.
frequency point at 6ꞷs, the transfer function of the QPR
controller can be changed to:
c s
GQPR ( s )  K p  K R (22)
s  2c s  (6s ) 2
2

The block diagram of the QPR controller is shown in Fig. 3.

iz1 u*z1
e+jωst - Kp e-jωst
+
+ +
*
iz1=0 KR
+ -
ω02

ωc
iz2 u*z2
e +jωst
- Kp e-jωst
+
+ +
*
iz2=0 + KR
-
ω02
FIGURE 5. Dual Three-Phase PMSM control block diagram.
ωc
QPR controller
FIGURE 3. QPR control block diagram. It is very important to choose appropriate control schemes
to suppress current harmonics depending on the cause of
40
harmonic generation. For different situations, the control
QPR controller
methods for the harmonic (z1z2) subspace currents component
Gain Au/dB

30
20 PR controller are shown in Table 2.
10
TABLE 2. Control Methods of z1z2 Subspace.
0
80 The method of current
Reason Type
Phase φ/(°)

40 controller
0 Synchronous PI
-40 QPR controller Case A
PR controller controller
-80 Asymmetry Anti-synchronous PI
0 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 factor Case B controller
Angular frequency ω/(rad/s) Bidirectional
Case C synchronous PI
FIGURE 4. Bode diagram of PR and QPR controllers. controller
Nonlinear fifth and Anti-synchronous quasi
Nonlinear
seventh harmonic proportional resonance
Fig. 4 is the Bode diagram of the PR and QPR controllers. factor
components controller
As shown in the figure, the response bandwidth of the QPR
controller is obviously higher than that of the PR controller.
Because of its high bandwidth characteristics, the IV. SIMULATION RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
suppression effect for the fifth and seventh harmonic currents A simulation of the dual three-phase PMSM driving system
of the QPR controller is greatly improved, and the was set up in MATLAB / Simulink has been set up to verify
sufficiently large gain in a wide frequency range easily the effectiveness of the proposed methods. The parameters of
achieves error-free steady-state operation. the PMSM are as follows: pole pairs p = 3, magnetic flux ψf
= 0.3wb, and power P = 5.5kW.
C. CONTROL SCHEME DESCRIPTION
Based on the above analysis, the control block diagram of A. SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS OF CURRENT
the dual three-phase PMSM drive system is shown in Fig. 5. HARMONIC SUPPRESSION FOR MOTOR ASYMMETRY
Using the VSD model, the six-phase currents are In order to verify the approach presented in part A of Section
decomposed into the fundamental (αβ), harmonic (z1z2), and III, the asymmetry was simulated by adding external resistors
zero-sequence (o1o2) subspaces. There is no need to consider in series with the stator windings.
the zero order subspace component since the neutral points of
the two windings are not connected. A double closed-loop
structure consisting of an external speed control loop and an
internal current control loop is used to adjust the torque and

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5 i a iu i b iv ic i w 0.4
2.5 0.2 iz1 iz2

iz1,z2(A)
is(A)

0 0
-2.5 -0.2
-5 -0.4
0.10 0.104 0.108 0.112 0.116 0.12 0.10 0.104 0.108 0.112 0.116 0.20
t/s t/s
(a)The α-β currents(Without control) (a)The z1-z2 currents (Without control)
5 ia iu ib iv ic iw 0.4
2.5 0.2 iz1 iz2

iz1,z2(A)
is(A)

0 0
-2.5 -0.2
-5 -0.4
0.10 0.104 0.108 0.112 0.116 0.12 0.10 0.104 0.108 0.112 0.116 0.20
t/s t/s
(c)The α-β currents(Synchronous PI) (d)The z1-z2 currents (Synchronous PI)
5 ia iu ib iv i c iw 0.4
0.2 iz1 iz2
2.5
iz1,z2(A)
is(A)

0 0
-2.5 -0.2
-5 -0.4
0.10 0.104 0.108 0.112 0.116 0.12 0.10 0.104 0.108 0.112 0.116 0.20
t/s t/s
(e)The α-β currents(Anti-synchronous PI) (f)The z1-z2 currents(Anti-synchronous PI)
5 ia i u ib iv ic i w 0.4
2.5 0.2 iz1 iz2
iz1,z2(A)
is(A)

0 0
-2.5 -0.2
-5 -0.4
0.10 0.104 0.108 0.112 0.116 0.12 0.10 0.104 0.108 0.112 0.116 0.20
t/s t/s
(g)The α-β currents(Bidirectional synchronous PI) (h)The z1-z2 currents(Bidirectional synchronous PI)
FIGURE 6. Simulation results showing the effect of current harmonic suppression for motor asymmetry.

The stator resistance of phase-A was then increased to 4.2Ω.
In this case, the z1-z2 currents contain both positive and
negative sequence fundamental frequency components.
The simulation results are shown in Fig. 6. The results
without control (reference voltage set to zero) are shown in
Fig. 6(a) and Fig. 6(b). Due to asymmetry of the motor, the
z1-z2 currents have a definite amplitude, which is also
reflected in the of the six-phase currents. Fig. 6(c) and Fig. 6
(d) show the stator currents is and the z1-z2 currents iz1, iz2
obtained using the synchronous PI controller. Compared with
Fig. 6(a) and Fig. 6(b), it can be seen that the amplitudes of
the z1-z2 currents decrease when using the synchronous PI
controller. The simulation results obtained using the anti-
synchronous PI controller are shown in Fig. 6(e) and Fig. 6(f).
Similarly, the amplitude of the z1-z2 currents are also reduced
compared to those obtained without the current controllers.
Fig. 6(g) and Fig. 6(h) are the simulation results of the
bidirectional synchronous PI controller. In this case, the
amplitudes of the z1-z2 currents decrease by nearly 50%. In
fact, as analyzed in part A of Section III, only one of the
positive or negative sequence components can be eliminated
by using synchronous controllers or anti-synchronous
controllers, but the use of the bidirectional synchronous PI
controller can suppress both the positive and negative
sequence current components effectively.
B. SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS OF CURRENT
HARMONIC SUPPRESSION FOR NONLINEAR FACTORS
OF DRIVE SYSTEM
To verify the results of part B of Section III, the simulation
results of QPR current controller in anti-synchronous
coordinates are shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 7(a) and Fig. 7(b) are
the comparison results when switching from no-z1z2 current
controller to the QPR controller.

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ia ib ic iw iv iu 0.4
4
0.2 iz1 iz2
2

iz1,z2(A)
is(A)
0 0
-2
-0.2
-4 Without control QPR control Without control QPR control
-0.4
0.10 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.10 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.14
t/s t/s
(a)The α-β currents (b)The z1-z2 currents
( Switch to QPR control at 0.12 s) ( Switch to QPR control at 0.12 s)
ia iu ib iv ic i w 0.4
4
0.2
2

iz1,z2(A)
iz1 iz2
is(A)

0 0
-2
-0.2
-4
-0.4
0.10 0.104 0.108 0.112 0.116 0.12 0.10 0.104 0.108 0.112 0.116 0.12
t/s t/s
(c)The α-β currents(QPR control) (d)The z1-z2 currents(QPR control)
FIGURE 7. Simulation results showing current harmonic suppression effect for nonlinear factors.

Fundamental (100Hz)=3.506A Fundamental (100Hz)=3.506A

Mag(% of Fundamental)

Mag(% of Fundamental)

THD=18.71% THD=0.54%
16 0.025
14 0.02
12
10 0.015
8 0.01
6
4 0.005
2
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Harmonic order Harmonic order
(a)Without control (b)QPR control
FIGURE 8. FFT analysis of A-phase current.

At 0.12s, the QPR controller is added to the motor driver

system. In Figs. 7(a) and 7(b), the stator current is becomes
nearly symmetrical, and the z1-z2 currents iz1 and iz2 tend to
zero rapidly after adding the QPR controller. The steady
state results obtained using the QPR controller are shown in
Fig. 7(c) and Fig. 7(d). The six-phase currents are
DC Motor The sensor Dual Three-PMSM
approximately sinusoidal and the z1-z2 currents fluctuate
slightly near zero.
Fig. 8 shows the FFT analysis results of the steady current
of phase-A. The THD of the current is reduced from 18.71% Six phase inverter
to 0.54% through the use of the QPR controller. The fifth and
seventh harmonic contents specifically are greatly reduced.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the QPR controller
Driver board
suppresses the fifth and seventh harmonic currents
introduced by the nonlinear factors of the drive system
effectively.
Control board
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 9.
FIGURE 9. The experiment platform.

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iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div) iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div)

ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div) ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div)

t/(20ms/div) t/(20ms/div)

(a)The α-β currents and z1-z2 currents (b) The α-β currents and z1-z2 currents
(Without control) (Synchronous PI control)
FIGURE 10. Experiment results without control and with synchronous PI control.

iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div) iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div)

ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div) ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div)

t/(20ms/div) t/(20ms/div)

(a)The α-β currents and z1-z2 currents (b) The α-β currents and z1-z2 currents
(Without control) (Anti-synchronous PI control)
FIGURE 11. The experiment results between without control and anti-synchronous PI control.

iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div) iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div)

ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div) ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div)

t/(20ms/div) t/(20ms/div)

(a)The α-β currents and z1-z2 currents (b) The α-β currents and z1-z2 currents
(Without control) (Bidirectional synchronous PI control)
FIGURE 12. The experiment results between without control and bidirectional synchronous PI control.

Experimental tests were conducted on a dual three-phase
PMSM configured with two isolated neutral points. A 5.5-
kW, 380-V, 50-Hz motor was used, with a rated stator
current, rated flux linkage, the pole pairs and rated speed of
15A, 0.875mH, 3 and 1000r/min, respectively. The motor
was supplied using two single two-level voltage source
converters (VSCs). The platform consisted of a control board,
in which the control algorithm was implemented in a
TMS320F2812 DSP that can generate 12 PWMs and drive
two inverters simultaneously, and a diode rectifier system,
and negative sequence fundamental components of the z1z2
subspace by increasing the stator resistance. For case A, The
which is used to provide the DC-link voltage of 540V
supplied to the VSCs. The dual three-phase PMSM drove a
DC generator, which was connected to an adjustable power
resistor used as load.
A. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND ANALYSIS OF
CURRENT HARMONIC SUPPRESSION FOR MOTOR
ASYMMETRY
To verify the harmonic suppression effect of the approach
presented in part A of Section III, we simulated the positive
stator resistances of phase-A and phase-U were increased to
4.2Ω. As can be seen from Fig. 10 (a), the phase of iz2 leads

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 This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div) iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div)

ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div) ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div)

t/(20ms/div) t/(20ms/div)

(a)300r/min (b)400r/min

iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div) iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div)

ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div) ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div)

t/(20ms/div) t/(20ms/div)

(c)500r/min (d)600r/min
FIGURE 13. QPR controller experiments at different motor speeds.

iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div) iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div)

ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div) ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div)

Without control QPR control Without control QPR control

t/(20ms/div) t/(20ms/div)
(a)300r/min (b)400r/min

iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div) iz1/(200mA/div) iz2/(200mA/div)

ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div) ia/(5A/div) iu/(5A/div)

Without control QPR control Without control QPR control

t/(20ms/div) t/(20ms/div)
(c)500r/min (d)600r/min
FIGURE 14. Dynamic experiments switching from without control to QPR control at different motor speeds.

the phase of iz1, indicating that the positive sequence
fundamental components of the z1-z2 currents are present,
while currents iz1 and iz2 almost coincide and fluctuate around
zero, as shown in Fig. 10(b). It can be concluded that the
positive sequence fundamental components are practically
eliminated through the use of the synchronous PI controller.
For case B, the stator resistances of phase-A, phase-B and
phase-C were increased to 4.2Ω. It can be seen from Fig. 11
(a) that the phase of iz2 lags the phase of iz1, indicating that
the negative sequence fundamental components of the z1-z2
currents are present. As shown in Fig. 11(b) and similarly to
Fig. 10, the negative sequence fundamental components are
practically eliminated through the use of the anti-
synchronous PI controller.

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 This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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n/(400r·min-1/div)
ia/(5A/div)
t/(1s/div)
(a) Speed and current dynamic response
FIGURE 15. The dynamic experiments from without control switch to QPR controller.
For case C, the stator resistance of phase-A was increased to
4.2Ω. As shown in Fig. 12(a), in this case there is no
obvious lead or lag relation between iz1 and iz2, indicating that
the z1-z2 currents contain both positive and negative
fundamental components. It can be seen from Fig. 12(b) that
the positive and negative sequence fundamental frequency
components of the motor are practically eliminated through
the application of the bidirectional synchronous PI controller.
Based on these results, it can be concluded that each current
controller can suppress the corresponding fundamental
components of the z1z2 subspace for the different cases.
However, single synchronous PI controllers or anti-
synchronous PI controllers cannot eliminate positive and
negative current component at the same time, so bidirectional
synchronous PI controllers are the appropriate choice in
cases where the asymmetry type of motor is unknown.
In addition, the results show that PI controllers in
synchronous or anti-synchronous reference frames can also
achieve good performance compared with using the
bidirectional synchronous PI controllers if the type of motor
asymmetry is fixed and known.
B. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND ANALYSIS OF
CURRENT HARMONIC SUPPRESSION FOR
NONLINEAR FACTORS OF DRIVE SYSTEM
This section shows the experimental results obtained using
the QPR controllers discussed in part B of Section III.
Fig. 13 shows the steady experimental results of the QPR
controller when the motor is running at 300r/min, 400r/min,
500r/min and 600r/min. As shown in Fig. 13, the QPR
controllers can reduce the fifth and seventh harmonics of the
output currents at different speeds effectively. The α-β
currents are close to sinusoidal and the z1-z2 currents are
reduced to nearly zero. It should be noted that the QPR
controller can only suppress the fifth and seventh current
harmonics, so the z1-z2 currents still have a small magnitude.
Fig. 14 shows a comparison of experimental results
obtained when switching between no z1-z2 current control to
QPR control. In Fig. 14, it can be seen that the dynamic
switching process is smooth at different rotational speeds,
which proves that the QPR controller has good robustness.
Compared with no z1-z2 current control, the magnitude of the
10
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Te/(15N·m/div)
ia/(5A/div)
t/(1s/div)
(b) Torque and current dynamic response
z1-z2 currents is reduced to nearly zero with QPR control and
the α-β current harmonics are significantly reduced.
Fig. 15 shows the results of the dynamic response with a
load step change. When the motor is running at 600r/min, the
load is suddenly changed from 0 to 15 Nm. It can be seen
from Fig. 15(a), the transition is smooth and the tracking
time is short. The electromagnetic torque follows the
dynamic variation of load torque quickly, and the speed and
current quickly respond to the change of torque.
V. CONCLUSION
The current harmonics of the dual three-phase PMSM drive
system are divided into two categories. One is the positive
and negative components of the z1-z2 currents caused by the
asymmetry of the motor, and the other is the fifth and
seventh harmonic currents caused by the nonlinear factors of
the drive system. Through the analysis of the established
VSD model, we conclude that controlling the z1-z2 current
components can suppress current harmonics effectively.
The effectiveness of the proposed methods is demonstrated
through simulations and experimental evaluation. For
harmonic suppression caused by motor asymmetry,
synchronous or anti-synchronous PI controllers can eliminate
positive or negative current components, but bidirectional
synchronous PI controllers can suppress positive and
negative current components simultaneously and effectively.
Bidirectional synchronous PI controllers are the appropriate
choice in cases where the asymmetry type of the motor is
unknown. As for the fifth and seventh current harmonics
caused by the nonlinear factors of the drive system, the QPR
controller proposed in this paper has sufficient bandwidth in
a wide frequency range. The fifth and seventh current
harmonics can be suppressed effectively, but the QPR
controller acting on the anti-synchronous coordinate cannot
simultaneously suppress positive sequence components. This
will be the focus of future research work.
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11

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