Vector control of cage induction motors: a physical

insight

A.Hughes
J.Corda
D.A.Andrade

Indexing terms: Flux linkage, Locked-rotor model, Transient torque control

or= rotor angular speed, radls

Abstract: Understanding the ‘inside workings’ of
the cage induction motor is helpful for electrical
machines engineers in stripping away much of the
mystique surrounding vector control. Attention is
focused on how the rotor currents and flux
linkages behave, and in particular on what must
be done to the stator currents to achieve sudden
step changes in torque. These questions are
answered in a way which prompts a clear physical
understanding of both the steady-state and
transient behaviour. It turns out that the
conditions are very simple, and that they can be
quantified in terms of only two parameters, i.e.
slip frequency and rotor time constant.
List of principal symbols
F = magnetomotive force (MMF), A turns
i = current, A
I = current amplitude, A
J = moment of inertia, kg m2
k = coupling coefficient
L = self inductance, H
M = mutual inductance, H
N = number of turns
R = resistance, s2
r = suffix for rotor (secondary) quantities
s = suffix for stator (primary) quantities
t = time, s
T = torque, N m
v = voltage, V
V = voltage amplitude, V
z = rotor (secondary) time constant, s
4 = rotor (secondary) ‘power factor’ angle, rad
8 = position (angle), rad
y~ = flux linkage, Wb
Y = flux linkage amplitude, Wb
0 IEE, 1996
IEE Proceedings online no. 19960203
A. Hughes and J. b r d a are with the Department of Electronic & Electri-
cal Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
D.A. Andrade is with the University of Uberlbndia, Brazil
IEE Proc-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 143, No. 1, January 1996
os= angular frequency of stator currents, radls
os,= angular slip frequency, radls
o = angular frequency, radls
1 Introduction
The most striking feature of vector control [l-31 is that
it enables the cage induction motor to challenge the
armature-controlled DC motor in terms of rapid con-
trol of torque. The fact that torque can be increased
suddenly without the unwelcome transients tradition-
ally expected from an induction motor is particularly
impressive, but at the same time suggests that the
underlying mechanism is simpler than much of the lit-
erature might suggest.
The key to understanding how vector control works
[4-71 emerges as a result of exploring two questions.
First, how does a cage rotor react when subjected to a
stator MMF pattern which can alter its amplitude, rel-
ative velocity and relative position instantaneously; and
secondly, what has to be done to the stator MMF pat-
tern to cause the developed torque to change in a spec-
ified way? These questions are answered without
recourse to complicated mathematics, in a way which
promotes a clear physical understanding of both the
steady-state and transient behaviour.
The study begins by looking in detail at the behav-
iour of a pair of mutually coupled stationary coils, one
of which is short circuited, while the other is supplied
from a current source. Attention is focused on how the
primary current must be controlled to force the second-
ary current to jump instantaneously from one steady
state to another. It emerges that the essence of the vec-
tor control technique can be appreciated from the sta-
tionary coil analysis. This is a surprising but welcome
finding.
The coupled circuit results are then applied to the
locked rotor model of the induction motor, and the
mechanisms of transient torque control are explored.
Finally, the results are extended to deal with torque
control when the motor runs at constant speed.
2 Behaviour of coupled coils
2. I Outline of approach
The rudimentary ‘transformer’ model Fig. 1 is often
used to introduce the theory of the induction motor,
but it is usually analysed with the primary supplied
from a constant voltage and frequency source to reflect
the traditional pattern of operation. However, vector
59
control schemes always use closed-loop stator current
control, so it makes sense to treat the input current as
the independent variable from the outset. An approach
based on self and mutual inductances is followed in
preference to the traditional approach via magnetising
and leakage reactances. The last is well suited to the
analysis of tightly coupled circuits fed from a voltage
source because it avoids the requirement to specify the
coupling coefficient to a high precision [8]. In the cur-
rent-fed case, however, the coupling coefficient is not a
-
critical parameter, as shown.
IS Ir
------+e e
U
M
Fig. 1 Currentfed coupled coils
2.2 System equations
In Fig. 1, suffices s (stator) and r (rotor) are chosen for
the primary and secondary in anticipation of the later
use of the model to represent the induction motor. The
equations governing the coupled circuits are
$, = L,i,+Mi, (1)
= Mi,+ L,i,
dt
* = -Ri,
(2)
(3)
With current is treated as the independent variable, the
dependent variables in the s-domain are given by
where
2.3 Step change of primary current
An important assumption underpinning all of the dis-
cussion is that the primary current is can be stepped
instantaneously. This assumption is so important that
we must show it is justified in practice, so we focus on
the voltage required to create a step of primary current.
When the input current is a step (I$)we obtain
i, = -!!!I,,-+
LT (8)
60
The primary voltage (vs) is equal to the rate of change
of flux linkage (v,), i.e.
Eqns. 8-11 are shown in Fig. 2.
?
1s I ‘5
I t
Fig.2 Behaviour of coupled coils for step change in primary current
Considering the secondary first, note that a step in is
is accompanied by a (negative) step in i,, but there is no
sudden change in the secondary flux-linkage v,.. This
accords with the fact that a short-circuited inductive
circuit cannot have an instantaneous change of flux
linkage, so the sudden appearance of the flux linkage
(MI,) is immediately countered by a self flux linkage (-
L&). Thereafter, the secondary current and flux linkage
adjust to their steady state values at a rate determined
by the secondary time-constant (LIR).
Turning now to the primary, an impulsive voltage of
area IJs(l - k2)volt-seconds is required to cause a step
in the primary current. The term Ls(l - k2) represents
the effective or leakage inductance as seen at the pri-
mary side under transient conditions. For a step in pri-
mary current, the area of the impulse is proportional to
the leakage inductance, so if the coils are loosely cou-
pled (k is small) a large impulse is required to impose a
step in current. However, in the context of the induc-
tion motor, k is typically 0.98 [8], so the leakage
inductance is only 4% of the self inductance. This
means that the impulse for a given step in is is quite
small. In a typical current-controlled environment, such
as a variable-frequency induction motor drive, suffi-
cient voltage will normally be available to achieve a
close approximation to such an impulse, and it will be
possible to achieve an almost instantaneous change in
the primary current.
The conclusions to be drawn from this analysis are
first that sudden changes in the secondary current can
be obtained by forcing step changes in the primary cur-
rent; secondly, the natural behaviour of the secondary
circuit prevents any instantaneous change in the sec-
ondary flux linkage; and thirdly, if the coils are tightly
coupled, only a small volt-second impulse is required to
IEE Proc -Electv Power Appl, Vol 143, No 1, January 1996
achieve a step change in the primary current. Hence from eqns. 13 and 14, with constant resultant
rotor flux linkage, the normalised currents are given by
2.4 Frequency response: constant amplitude
of primary current
With the stator current given by
Ld-;
IS, Iro W
L T (17)

i s = I, sinwt, or in phasor presentation
substitution into eqns. 4 and 5, under steady-state con-
ditions (s =Jw), yields
where
The polar plot for secondary flux linkages is shown in
Fig. 3. The first component (MI,, the secondary open-
circuit flux linkage) represents the flux linkage pro-
duced at the secondary by the primary current. The
second (LJ, the secondary self flux linkage) is the flux
linkage in the secondary due to its own current. And
finally, Y, is the resultant flux linkage in the secondary.
The locus of Y, against frequency is semicircular: at
low frequencies it is almost in phase with Is,whereas at
very high frequencies it becomes very small and in
quadrature with I,.
= ISLO (12) The most important point to note is that with Y, con-
stant the secondary current is directly proportional to
frequency.
2.6 Sudden transition in secondary current
Now examine how to control the primary current to
make the secondary current change instantaneously
from a steady state at one amplitude and frequency to
a steady state at another amplitude and frequency,
while the amplitude of the resultant secondary flux
linkage is maintained constant. We see later that this is
an essential requirement for instantaneous torque con-
trol. Suppose that for t < 0, the secondary current is
i,l = Irl sin(w1t + a) (18)
Under steady-state conditions the corresponding pri-
mary current and resultant secondary flux linkage are
given from eqns. 2 and 3 as
(19)
=
RITi cos(w1t + a )
~

w1

It is assumed that the amplitude and frequency of the

secondary current are to be changed at t = 0 so that for
t > 0 the secondary current is
Zr2 = I72 sin(w2t P) + (22)
The steady-state solutions for the primary current and
resultant secondary flux linkage are
w=llt
Fig. 3 Polar plot for secondary flux linkages

Two important observations picked up later are:

- the resultant rotor flux linkage Y,' is always in quad-
rature with the rotor current I, where
- the area of the flux linkage triangle is a maximum at
the frequency w = UT,i.e. when @ = 7d4.
z , =~ Je42 ; = tan-'
w2Lr
-
R (25)
From eqns. 20 and 24 note that for YJ, to remain con-
2.5 Frequency response: constant resultant stant the secondary currents must be proportional to
secondary flux linkage the frequency, i.e.:
The coupled circuit model is used later to derive 4 2 - w2
torque, so we need to recognise that in practice it will (26)
be desirable to operate the motor so that its magnetic Ir1 WI
circuit is fully utilised. In the coupled-circuit model this Since there must be no discontinuity in the flux linkage
corresponds to keeping the resultant secondary (rotor) at t = 0, it follows from eqns. 20 and 24 that p = a.
flux linkage at rated value at all frequencies. Hence, the necessary conditions for obtaining an
It is convenient to normalise the currents by defining abrupt transition of the amplitude of the rotor current
two current references. For the primary, I,, is the cur- from I,, to I,, are:
rent to produce rated resultant secondary flux linkage (a) The supply frequency must be abruptly changed in
under DC conditions, i.e. with the secondary open the ratio of the secondary currents, as indicated by
circuited. Similarly, I,, is the current in the secondary eqn. 26
to produce rated secondary flux linkage if the primary (b) The amplitudes of the primary current must be
was open circuited. The reference currents are thus related by the equation

IEE Proc-Elect,. Power Appl., Vol. 143, No. I , January 1996 61

(e) The phase of the primary current must change
abruptly by an angle (A@) given by
2.7 Experimental verification
These findings have been verified on a three-phase slip-
ring motor with the rotor locked in the position of
alignment between stator and rotor phases. The rotor
current waveforms shown in Figs. 6 6 relate to a sud-
den change in the stator frequency from 0.8 to 4Hz. In
Fig. 4, there is no change in the amplitude or phase of
the stator current, and consequently the rotor current
displays its characteristically long transient. In Fig. 5,
the amplitude of the stator current is changed as indi-
cated by eqn. 27, but there is no change in phase, so
again the rotor current displays a long transient. But in
Fig. 6, the phase is also abruptly changed (as given by
eqn. 28) and the rotor current jumps immediately into
its new steady state (with five times its previous ampli-
tude and frequency) with no evidence of any transient.
Fig.4 Rotor current response: Frequency control only
I 1 f 1 I 14 A)div]
Fig.5 Rotor current response: Frequency and umplitude control
Fig. 6 Rotor current response: Frequency, amplitude and phase control
62
2.9 Summary
It has been shown that if the primary current is
abruptly changed with the correct amplitude, frequency
and phase, the secondary current jumps immediately to
its new steady state while the resultant secondary flux
linkage remains unchanged. The ability to suddenly
change the secondary current from one steady state to
another is the key to vector control of torque, as will
now be shown.
I
1 sb
%- A
Fig.7 Two-phase model for cage induction motor
3 Locked-rotor analysis under balanced stator
current-fed operation
3.7 Motor model
The simplified model (Fig. 7) draws on two well-estab-
lished methods for easing the treatment of the three-
phase motor with a cage rotor. First, the three stator
windings are replaced by a two-phase equivalent, con-
sisting of two identical sinusoidally distributed wind-
ings in electrical space quadrature. And secondly, the
cage rotor is replaced by a two-phase wound rotor,
comprising two identical sinusoidally distributed wind-
ings in space quadrature. It is well known that this
model correctly represents the real motor, except in
relation to second-order effects such as space harmon-
ics which are not of interest here. The rotor has no sali-
ency, so all four self inductances are constant and may
be written as
Ls, = Lsb Ls; LT,= LTb = L, (29)
The mutual inductances between the two stator wind-
ings and the two rotor windings are zero because both
sets are in space quadrature. The mutual inductances
between stator and rotor windings vary sinusoidally
with rotor position, and with the conventions indicated
in Fig. 7, they are
Msa,a = +M cos e,
Msb ,,= +M cos
The voltage equations for the rotor windings are
IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 143, No. I , January 1996

impressing in the stator a balanced set of sinusoidal
currents given by
is, =I, cos(w,t); or in phasor form E=I, LO
i,b = I , sin(w,t); or in phasor form z=
I,
Solution of eqn. 31 yields the corresponding steady-
state rotor currents as
3.2 Steady-state torque/frequency
relationship
The torque is given by
Applying this to the model in Fig. 7 and using the
mutual inductance eqn. 30 gives the torque as
T = -M(Z,,i,, + i s b i r b ) sin@, + M(is&, - is=&)
In practice, the steady-state locked-rotor torque is inde-
pendent of the rotor position, and this finding can be
verified by substituting the expressions for stator and
rotor currents given by eqns. 32 and 33 in eqn. 36. We
therefore choose to study the behaviour when 0, = 0,
i.e. with the rotor and stator windings directly aligned,
without loss of generality. The torque expression then
simplifies to
T = M(isbira -isairb) (37)
The solution for the currents also becomes much easier
with the stator and rotor windings aligned, because the
pairs of statodrotor windings are then decoupled from
each other, and all the results obtained in Section 2 can
be applied directly.
With balanced two-phase currents given by
is, = I , cos(w,t); zsb = Is sin(w,t)
the torque becomes
sin(w,t - 4)
ws MIS
+I, cos(w,t) 7cos(w,t - d ) ]
It was shown in Section 2 that it is necessary to main-
tain constant resultant rotor flux linkage if the rotor
IEE Proc-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 143. No. I , January 1996
current is to make a sudden jump from one steady state
to another. The variation of I, and I, to ensure con-
stant rotor flux linkage is given by eqn. 17, and under
these conditions the torque expression (eqn. 39)
becomes
T = q,Ir (40)
As the resultant rotor flux linkage (YJ is kept con-
stant, the torque expression can be written in normal-
L --
2
7r (32) ised form as
T 9 2
- = w,r; where To = 2 = ( M I s o ) I T o (41)
T O Lr
The normalised torque To represents the product of the
resultant rotor open-circuit flux linkage (rated value)
and the rotor current which would produce the same
flux linkage if the stator was open circuited.
Eqn. 41 shows that the variation of torque with nor-
malised frequency ( 0 , ~at) constant resultant rotor flux
linkage is a simple linear function of frequency. Note
that this is an exact expression which is valid for all
frequencies, and should not be confused with the
approximately linear torque/frequency relationship for
voltage-fed operation, which is only valid for small val-
ues of slip frequency.
The similarity between eqn. 40 and that for torque in
a DC machine makes clear why, when the induction
motor is operated so that the resultant rotor flux link-
age is kept constant it has the same steady-state torque
characteristics as a DC machine with armature current
control. (It is not obvious at this point that the
(35) dynamic torque can be controlled in the same way as
for an armature-controlled DC machine, but this is
shown subsequently.)
cos@, 4 Space phasors under locked rotor conditions
(36)
To strengthen our physical insight we now move from
a circuit viewpoint and develop an alternative picture
of behaviour under locked-rotor conditions by utilising
the well established concept of space phasors. Space
phasors can provide an accurate picture of the instan-
taneous spatial relationships between distributed quan-
tities which vary sinusoidally in space inside the
machine, such as the ampere conductor distribution of
a sinusoidally distributed winding, or a sinusoidal flux
density wave. With care they can also be used to repre-
sent integrated quantities such as flux linkage, but if
the winding in question and the associated flux density
are not sinusoidally distributed in space we resort to
the notion of an equivalent sine-distributed winding
with the same flux linkage as the actual winding.
4. I Ampere-conductor distribution and
(38) MMF space phasors
When balanced sinusoidally distributed windings are
fed with balanced sinusoidal currents the resultant
amperexonductor distributions (and MMFs) of stator
and rotor consists of waves of constant amplitude
which rotate at synchronous speed with respect to the
stator. The steady-state relationship between the associ-
ated rotor and stator MMF space phasors will now be
explored.
At an angular position 0, in the air gap with respect
to the axis of the stator winding sa (Fig. 7), the result-
ant stator MMF is
F, = Nsi,,cos6,+Nsis~ sin@,= N,I, cos(w,t-0,) (42)
63
or in space-phasor notation 4.3 Torque from rotor flux-linkage space
- phasors
Fs -- N s I s & l ( w a t - @ s ) (43) The rotor flux-linkage space-phasor diagram (Fig. 8) is
where N, is the effective number of turns per stator identical to the time-phasor diagram for each phase
winding. The corresponding resultant rotor MMF, at which is represented by Fig. 3. The area of the triangle
an angular position a, (a, = 0,-8,) in the air gap with is 1/2Y&J,., and referring to eqn. 40 we make the
respect to the rotor phase winding ra (Fig. 7), is important observation that the torque is proportional
F, = Nrzracos a, + N r i r b sin a , to the area of the flux-linkage triangle. In addition, we
make some illuminating observations about the mecha-
= N r I r cos w,t
( - 8, - 4 - -)
7r
2
(44)
nism of steady-state torque production by reflecting on
or in space-phasor notation the physical significance of the space phasors.
-
F,=NI &3 (w,t-&
(45)
-$- 5)
where Nr is the effective number of turns per rotor
winding. It is evident from eqns. 43 and 45 that the
spatial angle between the space phasors of stator and
rotor MMFs is $+7c/2, and it is defined only by the fre-
quency and rotor time constant. Notice that the rotor
MMF, and consequently the rotor ampere-conductor
distribution, do not depend on the rotor position.

4.2 Space phasors for flux linkages

Using the space-phasor notation, the resultant rotor
flux linkage is given by
-
xPT = L,r+MMI, (46)
In this equation the term MZs represents the space
phasor of the rotor open-circuit flux linkage when the
stator windings carry balanced sinusoidal currents. The
magnitude and spatial position of this phasor depend
only on the stator currents, and it rotates at a speed
determined by the supply frequency, i.e. it is in phase
with the stator MMF space phasor (Fs) and is given by
-
Fs
MC where I - -
= MIse3(Wst--83);
- N,
The space phasor LrZrrepresents the self flux linkage
produced in the rotor windings owing to their induced
currents I, as given by eqn. 34. This phasor is co-linear
with the rotor MMF space phasor (Fr)and is
Fig.9 Resultant rotor flux-linkage and ampere-conductor distributions
Under steady-state conditions at any frequency the
rotor ampere-conductor distribution is seen to remain
in space phase with the resultant rotor flux linkage Y r
(Fig. 9). But Y r is notionally attributable to the result-
ant radial flux density wave at the rotor windings, and
- it follows that since torque can be expressed in terms of
(47) the integration of the rotor '3IZ' product over the
periphery, the torque is simply proportional to the
product of Y, and I,. Hence when the machine is oper-
ated so that the rotor flux linkage is kept constant, the
rotor current wave is in the optimum position as far as
torque production is concerned, and torque is directly
-

Lr Tr =L I T T
$(W"t-es-+-%); where z=N ,
Fr (48)
proportional to rotor current (and slip), just as in a DC
machine. This confirms eqn. 40 derived previously.
The space phasor Y , is the resultant rotor flux linkage This picture contrasts sharply with that which arises
and is obtained from eqn. 46 as from the conventional voltage-fed analysis, where
- torque is pictured in terms of the interaction between
Q/ r -- q r e 3 ( W g t - - 8 . - # 9
(49) an air-gap flux density wave and an induced rotor
where ampere-conductor wave, which, even at low slips, are
never quite in space-phase.

It is important to notice from eqns. 48 and 49 that, as

shown in Fig. 8, the resultant rotor flux-linkage space
phasor is in space quadrature with the space phasor of
rotor MMF.
Mi,

Fig. 10 'Torque' and 'jZux' components of rotor flux-linkage due to stator

current

.._
.._ __..
--- .._.._._~~~~~~.___...
..-...
,_I_

4.4 Flux and torque components of stator

Fig. 8 Rotor flux-linkage space-phasor diagram current
By resolving the stator flux-linkage phasor MIs into its
64 IEE Proc -Electr Power Appl, Val 143, No 1, January 1996
components perpendicular and parallel to the resultant
rotor flux-linkage phasor Y r (Fig. lo), the significance
of the terms ‘flux component’ and ‘torque component’
of stator current (which are used widely in the litera-
ture of vector control) can be seen clearly.
The torque component MI,, (which is directly pro-
portional to the rotor current) can be regarded as being
responsible for nullifying the demagnetising effect of
the rotor (torque producing) current, leaving the flux
component MIsy to set up the resultant rotor flux link-
age.
5 Dynamic (vector) torque control
5.1 Locked rotor
We have already shown how the secondary (rotor) cur-
rent in one pair of coupled coils can be caused to jump
from one steady-state condition to another by appro-
priate control of the stator currents. We have also
shown in Section 3.2 that the locked-rotor torque is
directly proportional to the rotor current if the result-
ant rotor flux linkage is kept constant. Hence, to cause
a step change in the locked-rotor torque, one simply
has to change the amplitude, frequency and phase of
stator currents simultaneously in the manner indicated
in Section 2.6 so as to cause the required jump in the
rotor current.
For example, let the motor be in the steady state at
the frequency mSl and producing torque Tl and let the
corresponding rotor flux-linkage phasor diagram be
represented by triangle OABl in Fig. 11. Suppose we
now want the torque to suddenly increase to a new
value T2 which is twice the old torque. To double the
torque (while keeping the resultant rotor-flux linkage
constant), we need to double the rotor current
(eqn. 40), so from Section 2.6 we see that we must
simultaneously make the following abrupt changes:
(U) double the stator frequency, i.e. increase it in the
ratio of rotor currents (Ir2/Irl)
(b) increase the amplitude of the stator currents in the
ratio of rotor impedances (Zr2/Zrl)corresponding to
new (oS2) and old (ql) stator frequency, and
(e) increase the phase of the stator currents from
corresponding to frequency (mSI) to @2 corresponding
to the new frequency (as2).
...............................................
Lr 1 * ..................................................
...................
Fig. 11 Rotor flux-linkage iriungles representing step change in torque
With these changes, the new rotor flux-linkage phasor
diagram jumps to that shown by the triangle OAB, in
Fig. 11, the area of the flux-linkage triangle suddenly
doubles, and the torque therefore doubles in an ideal
stepwise fashion. In terms of the stator MMF, the dou-
bling of torque shown in Fig. 11 is achieved by a sud-
IEE Proc -Electr Power Appl, Vol 143, No. I , January 1996
den increase in the amplitude and speed of the stator
MMF wave, together with an instantaneous forward
jump in its position.
5.2 Constant speed
In this Section we apply essentially the same ideas as
for locked rotor to the running condition. We again
regard the stator space phasor (MIs)as the independent
variable and the remaining two space phasors (&Ir and
Y r )are again derived from it. But whereas with the
rotor stationary all three variables are at supply fre-
quency (as) and all three space phasors rotate at syn-
chronous speed (us),when the rotor is rotating at a
constant angular speed (or)the relative velocity of the
stator space phasor as seen by the rotor is cos,,,= os-
or, i.e. the slip velocity.
As far as the rotor is concerned, all three flux link-
ages vary at the slip frequency. Hence all the relation-
ships governing rotor behaviour developed so far (in
particular the torque) can be obtained simply by
replacing the supply frequency by the slip frequency.
(This contrasts sharply with the voltage-fed machine
analysis, where it is not possible to follow such a sim-
ple line of reasoning because the stator MMF is not
independent of the rotor speed.)
Establishing the conditions for step change of torque
under running conditions now becomes easy. For
example, if the motor is running with a slip frequency
of msr at torque T, and a step change to a new torque T
= y T i s required, we apply the results from Section 2.6
to deduce that the following simultaneous changes
must be made in the stator currents:
(a) The frequency must be changed so that the slip fre-
quency changes to yoSr, i.e.
I
iJ,,=y (51)
us,
(b) The amplitude must be changed in the ratio of rotor
impedances corresponding to frequencies yo, and a,,,
i.e.
(e) The phase must be changed by an amount equal to
the difference between the rotor power factor angles
L I ......................... corresponding to frequencies yo,, and os,,i.e.
r rl
Of course, these changes will only yield a step increase
of torque from one steady state to another if the rotor
speed remains constant. If the rotor accelerates, it will
clearly be necessary to alter the stator frequency and
amplitude to maintain the torque constant, as the slip
frequency will be changing.
The currents and torque for an induction motor in
which the stator currents are changed, are obtained by
using a conventional d-q-axis machine model, are
shown in Figs. 12-14. These results relate to a three-
phase four-pole cage induction motor with L, = L, =
61.lmH, M = 59mH and R, = 0 . 4 Q rotating at speed
of 300rev/min. The perfect step increase in torque con-
firms the validity of the space-phasor approach fol-
lowed in this work.
65
 frequency as in Figs. 12-14, but without the change in

20'01
10.0
I
phase. Comparison of the torque responses in Figs. 14
and 17 clearly indicates the superiority of vector over
scalar control.

4 0 *O'Ol
10.0

-1 0.0
4 0

-20.0
-0.5 0.5 - 10.0
time, s
Fig.12 Time variations of stator currents when all conditions for step
change of torque are fulfilled -20.0
-0.2 0.8
time, s
10.0
Fig. 15 Time variations of stator currents when step changes in amplitude
and frequency (but not phase) of stator currents are imposed

100

a o

4 0

-1 0.0
-0 5 0.5
time, s
Fig.13 Time variations of rotor currents when all conditions for step
change of torque are fulfilled -100
-0.2 0.8
time, s

6.01 Fig.16 Time variations of rotor currents when step changes in amplitude

5
1
0-
I and frequency (but not phase) of stator currents are imposed

7 0-

4.0-
6.0-

3 0- 5.0-
E
z
L.0-
2.0 I

3.0-

5.3 Scalar torque control
It has been stressed in the discussion that three condi-
tions (magnitude, frequency and phase) must be satis-
fied by the stator currents to achieve ideal step changes
in torque. This is equivalent to controlling the magni-
tude, speed and instantaneous position of the stator
MMF wave. It is the inclusion of instantaneous posi-
tion in the trio of conditions which gives rise to the
term 'vector' control, and which differentiates it from
scalar control.
For the sake of interest Figs. 15-17 show the effect
of making the same sudden changes in amplitude and
66
-0 2 0.8
time, s
Fig. 17 Time variations of torque when step changes in amplitude and fre-
quency (but not phase) of stator currents are imposed
6 Experimental verification
Three separate PWM current controllers were built to
provide independent control over the stator currents of
a standard three-phase, 3.0kW, 240/415V, 11.216.5A,
1420revlmin cage induction motor. Digitally stored sin-
ewaves were used so that it was possible to make
IEE Proc.-Electr Power A p p l , Vol 143, No I , January 1996
almost instantaneous changes to the magnitude, fre-
quency and phase of the three current reference signals,
and the power output stage was provided with a 500V
DC link so that the loop-gain of each current control-
ler was high and very rapid changes could be obtained
in the stator currents. This is verified by Figs. 20 and
21, which show that the risetimes of the step changes in
the stator currents are negligible.
6. I Steady state
The rotor time constant was obtained from a locked-
rotor, variable-frequency test with a constant stator
current of 3A (RMS) per phase, the torque being meas-
ured with a torque transducer. The peak torque occurs
when the normalised frequency is unity (0.71Hz), so
the rotor time constant is 225ms. A series of steady-
state tests with constant resultant rotor flux linkage
were carried out under locked rotor and running condi-
tions. The aim was to show that torque depends only
on slip and rotor time constant, and hence to verify
that under current-fed conditions the absolute speed of
the rotor is unimportant. To avoid complications due
to saturation, the resultant rotor flux linkage was lim-
ited to 75% of rated value, tests being conducted at
speeds of 750 and 1500rev/min and with the rotor
locked. The speed was held constant with a synchro-
nous machine coupled to the motor shaft, and the sta-
tor current at each frequency was adjusted according to
eqn. 17 to keep the resultant rotor flux-linkage con-
stant.
The results of these experiments are shown in
Fig. 18, from which it is clear that, as predicted, the
torque depends only on the slip, and not on the abso-
lute speed of the rotor. (The minor variations which
occur are probably due to the change of rotor resist-
ance with temperature.)
31
- 0.5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Wsr 'c
Fig. 18 Normalised stator current and torque against slip frequency under
constant resultant rotor flux-linkage conditions
0 Rotor speed Orevimin (locked)
0 Rotor speed 750rev/min
x Rotor speed 1500revimin
6.2 Open-loop torque control
The ultimate test of the theoretical findings is to show
that the motor produces sudden step changes from one
steady-state torque to another. Measurement of torque
under dynamic conditions is difficult, mainly because
o f the relatively low bandwidth of most torque trans-
ducers, but here we were able to take advantage of the
fact that torque has already been shown to be inde-
pendent of speed and therefore we can investigate
dynamic torque control with the motor stationary.
IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 143, No. 1. January 1996
Accordingly, all the tests were carried out with the
rotor at rest (but not locked), and with torque applied
by means of weights as shown in Fig. 19. One weight
is attached to the motor shaft via a stiff rope, and
Fig. 19 Experimental arrangement for step change in torque
applies a constant load torque. (It was important to
minimise system inertia, so a large weight near to the
axis was desirable.) The other weight is suspended by
an electromagnet from the end of a horizontal arm
fixed to the motor shaft. The current in the magnet is
set so that this weight is only just suspended, so that
when the current in the magnet is switched off, the
weight immediately falls away and there is a sudden
step reduction in the total load torque. The test proce-
dure involves adjusting the motor current so that the
motor torque is exactly equal to the total load torque,
and then simultaneously de-energising the electromag-
net and switching the amplitude, frequency and phase
of the stator currents to the values calculated to bal-
ance the new (lower) torque.
Ideally, the result of this experiment should be no
movement of the rotor, because the torques before and
after switching should exactly balance the load torques.
To detect any acceleration (which will be proportional
to net torque), an accelerometer [9] was fitted to the
I
shaft.
Typical results which correspond to sudden reduction
in the load torque from 7.4" to 2" are shown in
Figs. 20 and 21. These plots show the stator current in
one phase, and the resultant torque (Tr) as derived
from the accelerometer signal.
3
Fig.20 Time variations of resultant rotor torque (acceleration) and sta-
tor current when only amplitude and frequency of stator current are sud-
denly changed
i: 2A/div.; T: 2.4Nddiv.
In Fig. 20 the amplitude and frequency of the stator
currents are switched to the correct new values (to bal-
ance the new lower load torque after switching), but
there is no sudden change in the phase. This is an
example of scalar control and the motor torque there-
fore oscillates before settling down to its new steady-
state value because there is no instantaneous change in
the position of the stator MMF space phasor.
61
 In contrast, in Fig. 21 the amplitude, frequency and
phase of the stator current are all changed instantane-
ously to their new steady-state values, so that a tran-
sient-free step of the motor torque occurs at the instant
that the load torque suddenly changes. This is con-
firmed by the fact that the rotor stays at rest, i.e. the
acceleration signal remains at zero. This ideal (vector
control) condition involves an instantaneous jump in
the position of the stator MMF space phasor.
Fig.21 Time variations of resultant rotor torque (acceleration) and sta-
to? current when amplitude, frequency and phase are all suddenly changed
z 2AId1v1 T 2 4“idlv
The way in which a cage induction motor can be made
to produce sudden step changes in steady-state torque
has been explored in ways which are intended to appeal
to machines engineers who find the complexities of vec-
tor control schemes daunting. By considering the prob-
lem of open-loop torque control, the conditions for
68
obtaining step changes in torque have been quantified
in terms of two parameters. In essence, the stator
MMF wave must be made to change its magnitude,
slip and position instantaneously whenever a sudden
change of torque is called for, thereby causing the rotor
current to jump to a new steady-state value. Simple
analytic formulas have been obtained for the changes
which must be made to the stator currents to produce
given step changes in torque. These results are not in
themselves new, but have been presented in a way
which should make understanding of the underlying
mechanisms clear to those who find complex mathe-
matics difficult.
References
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ENSLIN, N.C., and VAN DER MERVE, F.S.: ‘Improving the
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HUGHES, A., CDRDA, J., and ANDRADE, D.A.: ‘An inside
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IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 143, No 1, January 1996