A Sensorless Starting Method

for Self-Controlled Synchronous Motors

without Damper Windings
Using a DC Chopper in the Exciter Circuit
Manabu Okubo 1*, Shoji Nishikata 1
1
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Tokyo Denki University, Tokyo, Japan
E-mail: west@cck.dendai.ac.jp

thristor
Abstract — A sensorless starting method for self-controlled thristor inverter synchronous motor
iu
synchronous motors without damper windings is proposed. The converter id UP VP WP
U
proposed method is based on the fact that electromotive forces Xdc
eu
induced in the armature windings due to the change in field
current depend on the rotor position of the motor, and a DC iv
chopper circuit is used in the exciter field circuit to detect the 3φAC vd ed
ew
rotor position. The usefulness of the proposed position detecting
method without any sensor is demonstrated by experimental ev
W V
investigations.
d-axis
UN VN WN i
v
θ if
I. INTRODUCTION
θ :electrical angle
A self-controlled synchronous motor, which consists of a vf
current-source thyristor inverter, a position sensor, and a idd
leading angle PS
wound-field synchronous motor, as in Fig. 1, is being used as idq
rotor position sensor
a variable speed motor in various industries. Because the
q-axis
motor has high reliability and large ratings are obtained with
ease, this motor, for example, is often used as a propulsion
motor in the electric propulsion system for ships [1]. This type Fig. 1. self-controlled synchronous motor circuit
with damper windings.
of motor needs the information of rotor position to achieve a
stable operation of the motor. There are two types of position
sensors, which have been used practically; directly position
II. PRINCIPLE OF ROTOR POSITION DETECTION
sensing type, which senses the rotor position directly by a
position sensor, and induced voltage sensing type, by which Let us first explain the principle of sensorless rotor position
the position of the air-gap flux is sensed by means of the detecting method based on the change in the field current.
electromotive forces induced in the armature windings [2], [3]. Fig. 2 shows an equivalent circuit of the brushless
Nowadays motor systems without using any position sensor synchronous motor with rotating diode rectifier equipped on
the rotor side, and it should be noted that no damper windings
are desired to increase reliability with reducing costs.
are provided in the rotor.
Although there is a work which deals with a sensorless
In this machine, when DC voltage vfex is supplied from a dc
detecting rotor position method for the self-controlled chopper to the field winding of the exciter, a set of AC
synchronous motor[4], it is intended entirely for the motor with electromotive forces (emfs) is induced in the exciter armature
damper windings. However the motor without damper windings even when the motor is at standstill. These induced
windings is more preferable to increase reliability, and studies emfs are rectified with the rotating rectifier, and then the
on the sensorless drive for this type of motor are essential. rectified voltage is supplied to the main field winding. DC
Although a position detecting method using induced voltages exciter field current ifex for these cases can be given as follows:
in the main armature windings due to the pulsation in the main
field current excited by AC voltage has been proposed in [5], a i fex = I fex + I fex1 sin(ωt + ϕ fex1 )
drawback of small induced voltages is involved in the method.
In this paper a sensorless starting method using DC chopper + I fex 2 sin(2ωt + ϕ fex 2 ) + ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
circuit in the exciter circuit for self-controlled synchronous = I fex + i fexh1 + i fexh 2 + ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
motors without damper windings is proposed, and
experimental investigations are given to support the usefulness = I fex + i fexh (1)
of the system.

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where, Ifex is the mean value of ifex, Ifex1, Ifex2, ⋅⋅⋅ are the thyristor thyristor brushless synchronous motor
rectifieri R dc L dc inverter without damper windings
amplitudes of higher harmonics in the exciter field current, d

φfex1, φfex2, ⋅⋅⋅ are phase angles for individual harmonics, ω is U

the fundamental angular frequency of the pulsation included in T hdc
the exciter field current, and ifexh is the sum total of pulsation
current in the exciter field current. vd
From Fig. 2 and eq. (1), emfs induced in the exciter
armature windings eu_ex, ev_ex, and ew_ex can be written as 3φAC W V

⎡ eu _ ex ⎤ ⎡ Lafex cos( pexθ m _ ex ) ⋅ i fex ⎤ to gates eVW

θ
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ (2)
⎢ ev _ ex ⎥ = P ⎢ Lafex cos( pexθ m _ ex − 2π / 3) ⋅ i fex ⎥ computer eUV

if
eWU
⎢ew _ ex ⎥ ⎢ Lafex cos( pexθ m _ ex + 2π / 3) ⋅ i fex ⎥ rotor position θ is

vf
⎣ ⎦ ⎣ ⎦ calculated from equation (4)
main winding
where, Lafex is maximum value of mutual inductance between θ=pθm_ex
E UV_fh1 E VW_fh1
the exciter armature winding (one phase) and the exciter field E WU_fh1 eUV_fh1
winding, pex is number of pair of exciter field winding poles,
θm_ex is mechanical angle of rotation, and P is differential voltage envelope band pass
detecting circuit filters
operator (d/dt).
Here, the voltage waveforms of emfs in the exciter armature eVW_fh1
eWU_fh1
windings and that of main field winding are examined for the
cases when the motor is at standstill and in rotation. Since DC
voltage with similar pulsation is applied to the main field exciter armature
windings if
winding for the cases when the motor is both at standstill and u
in rotation, the current in the main field winding includes O vf
pulsation with almost the same frequency for a wide speed
range including standstill. Therefore field current if including w v
current pulsation is expressed as main field circuit
θ
+
sw i fex
i f = I f + I f 1 sin(ωt + ϕ1 ) + I f 2 sin(2ωt + ϕ 2 ) + ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
= I f + i fh1 + i fh 2 + ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ v fex
chopper circuit exciter field winding
= I f + i fh (3)

where, If is the mean value of if, If1, If2, ⋅⋅⋅ are the amplitudes of Fig. 2. sensorless rotor position detecting system.
higher harmonics in the main field current, φ1, φ2, ⋅⋅⋅ are phase
angles for individual harmonics, ω is the fundamental angular
frequency of the pulsation included in the main field current, TABLE 1
and ifh is the sum total of pulsation current in the main field RATIONGS OF THE TESTED BRUSHLESS SYNCRONOUS MOTOR
current.
output 5kVA frequency 60Hz
The rotor position can be estimated by using the induced
voltages in the main armature windings due to the no. of main field
fundamental component of harmonics in the field current ifh1. voltage 220V winding poles 4
This approach for detecting rotor position was introduced in no. of exciter field
[7]. current 13.1A winding poles 18
Now, let us explain the rotor position detecting method in
brief. The electromotive forces induced in the main armature
windings in Fig. 2 depend on the pulsation in the main field
current and the rotor position, and so we can obtain the rotor
these voltages, the rotor position θ (=pθm_ex, p is number of
position information by using these emfs as explained in [7].
pair of main field winding poles) can be calculated as follows
Since the frequency of the fundamental component in the main
( refer to [7] for detail ):
field current pulsation is determined by the frequency of the ac
exciter field current, we can extract the emfs due to the
pulsation of the main field current eUV_fh1, eVW_fh1, and eWU_fh1
from line-to-line induced voltages in the main armature ⎡ EVW _ fh1 + (1 / 2) ⋅ ( EUV _ fh1 + EWU _ fh1 ) ⎤
windings when the motor is at standstill or in low speed
θ = tan −1 ⎢ ⎥ (4)
⎢⎣ ( 3 / 2) ⋅ (− EUV _ fh1 + EWU _ fh1 ) ⎥⎦
operation. As in [4] we can obtain the voltage envelopes for
these extracted emfs EUV_fh1, EVW_fh1 and EWU_fh1, and based on

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 exciter field voltage[V]
III. SENSORLESS ROTOR POSITION DETECTING METHOD 90

In Fig.2 the system configuration for detecting the rotor 60

pulsation in
position is given based on the method introduced here.
30
As in the figure, when DC voltage vfex supplied from the DC
chopper circuit is applied to the exciter field winding and 0
0 5 10 15 t[ms] 20
exciter field current ifex having pulsation flows in the winding. (a)
Since the rotor position information is included in the induced
0.4
armature terminal voltages eUV, eVW, and eWU due to the

field current[A]
fundamental component of the pulsation of the main field 0.3

exciter
current, we can extract harmonic components eUV_fh1, eVW_fh1, 0.2
and eWU_fh1 from line-to-line armature terminal voltages by 0.1
means of the band pass filters as shown in Fig. 2. The voltage 0
0 5 10 15 t[ms] 20
envelopes of these extracted voltages are obtained through the (b)
voltage envelope detecting circuit, and finally we have the
3
rotor position θ with (4).

line-to-line induced
eUV=1.85V eUV

voltage[V](θ=0°)
2
In Fig. 3 an example of experimental results for the rotor 1 eVW=0.00V eVW
position detection for the tested system when the machine was 0
eWU
at a standstill. The rating of the motor is given in Table 1, and -1
-2 eWU=-1.75V
the chopping frequency for the DC chopper was 100 Hz. Fig. -3
0 5 10 15 t[ms] 20
3 (a) shows pulsation in the exciter field voltage, (b) the (c)
exciter field current, (c) the line-to-line armature induce
induced voltages when rotor position θ =0°, (d) those when θ 3
eUV=1.63V eUV
line-to-line induced
voltage[V](θ=30°)
2
=30°, and (e) relationships between the estimated rotor 1
eVW

positions and actual positions. It is seen from these results that eVW=0.90V
0
eWU
the rotor position can be detected successfully with the -1
-2 eWU=-2.50V
proposed detecting rotor position method, confirming the -3
usefulness of the proposed system. 0 5 10
(d)
15 t[ms] 20
Fig. 4 shows an example of the rotor position estimation
while the tested motor was in rotation. (a) shows output 360
voltage of the band pass filter eUV_fh1, eVW_fh1, and eWU_fh1 (b)
the envelopes of these voltages EUV_fh1, EVW_fh1, and EWU_fh1,
and (c) the estimated rotor positions including the actual
270
positions. It is seen from these results that the rotor position actual rotor position
can be detected successfully with the proposed detecting rotor
estimated rotor position θ[°]

position method even when the rotor is in rotation, showing

the validity of the proposed method. 180

IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS FOR STARTING

90
The armature induced voltages of the self-controlled
estimated rotor position
synchronous motor become very small or zero when the
motor is at a standstill or runs at a low speed, and hence in
such cases it is hard to commutate the inverter thyristors by 0
0 90 180 270 360
means of the armature induced voltages. An effective actual rotor position θ[°]
(e)
solution to this starting problem is the method that DC link
current is chopped by gate control of the thyristor rectifier in
Fig. 2 [6]. In this method the proper armature windings experimental conditions
corresponding to the rotor position are first excited to obtain Ifex=0.3A, vfex=30V, chopping frequency=100Hz,
the starting torque, and the DC link current id becomes to zero chopping duty ratio=50%
rapidly when firing the thyristor Thdc antiparalled to the DC
Fig.3. example of rotor position estimation
reactor at the instant when DC input voltage vd is chopped. when the machine was at a standstill.
The armature windings are excited one after another and the
motor is accelerated successfully [4], [7].
An example of experimental results for starting the tested It is shown that the motor was accelerated up to 200 rpm by
motor is shown in Fig. 5. In this figure, the stating means of DC current chopping, and then the drive system was
performances of the rotor speed Nm, DC link current id, and switched to ordinal load commutated operation. These facts
rotor positions θ when the initial rotor position θ0=70° are verify the usefulness of the sensorless starting method for
given. The conditions except for θ0 and Nm are the same as the motor without damper windings using a DC chopper in the
those in Fig. 4. exciter circuit introduced here.

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 V. CONCLUSIONS 4 eVW_fh1 eUV_fh1 eWU_fh1

induced voltages
2
A sensorless starting method for the self-controlled

due to ifh1[V]
0
synchronous motors without damper windings using a DC
chopper in the exciter field circuit has been discussed. The -2
rotor position detecting method without any sensors for the -4
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 t[s] 0.4
case of the brushless synchronous machine with rotating (a)
rectifier has first been investigated. This method is based on
4 EVW_fh1 EWU_fh1
the fact that the electromotive forces induced in the main EUV_fh1

induced voltages
2
armature windings due to the main field current pulsation are

due to ifh1[V]
affected by the rotor position. It has been shown that the rotor 0

position can be estimated by extracting the emfs induced by -2

the fundamental component of the pulsation in the main field -4
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 t[s] 0.4
current from the terminal voltages of the motor. (b)
Finally, a sensorless starting method for the motor with no
360
position sensor has been introduced. The starting method is

rotor position θ[°]

300 actual rotor position
based on the DC current chopping with rotor position 240
information estimated by the proposed method. It has been 180
120
shown that the motor was started successfully, showing the 60 estimated rotor position
usefulness of the proposed method. 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 t[s] 0.4
The applicability of this starting method is to be (c)
investigated in more detail. These are left for future study. experimental conditions
Ifex=0.3A, vfex=30V, chopping frequency=100Hz,
chopping duty ratio=50%, Nm=150rpm
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Fig.4. example of rotor position estimation
We would like to thank Professor Fujio Tatsuta at Tokyo when the machine was in rotation.
Denki University for his cooperation of this work.

REFERENCES stating with current chopping driving with load comutated operation
[1] T. J. McCoy : “Trends in Ship Electric Propulsion.”, Power Engineering 400
rotor speed Nm[rpm]

Nm=332rpm
Society Summer Meeting, 2002, IEEE, Vol.1, pp.343-346 (2002). 300
[2] T. Kataoka and S. Nishikata : “Transient Performance Analysis of Self- Nm=200rpm
Controlled Synchronous Motors.”, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., Vol.IA-17, 200
No.2, pp.152-159 (1981) 100
[3] S. Nishikata, S. Muto and T. Kataoka : “Dynamic Performance Analysis 0
of Self-Controlled Synchronous Motor Speed Control Systems.”, IEEE 0 5 t[s] 10
Trans. Ind. Appl., Vol.IA-18, No.3, pp.205-212 (1982) (a)
[4] C. Hasegawa and S. Nishikata, “A Sensorless Starting Method for Self-
Controlled Synchronous Motors,” IEEJ Trans. IA, Vol.128, No.12, 2008 10
DC link current id[A]

(in Japanese).
[5] Y. Kato, and S. Nishikata, “Studies on a Sensorless Starting Method for
5
Self-Controlled Synchronous Motors without Damper Windings” 12th
International Confence on Electrical Machines and Systems
(ICEMS2009), Tokyo, (Japan), Nov. 2009, CD-ROM 0
[6] N. Sato and V.V. Semenov, “Adjustable Speed Drive with a Brushless 0 5 t[s] 10
(b)
DC Motor,” IEEE Trans. Industry and general Appl., Vol.IGA-7, No.4,
pp.539-543, 1971.
360
[7] C. Hasegawa, and S. Nishikata, “A Sensorless Rotor Position Detecting
rotor position θ[°]

300
Method for Self-Controlled Synchronous Motors” 11th International 240
Confence on Electrical Machines and Systems (ICEMS2008), Wuhan, 180 sensor of induced voltage
(China), Oct. 2008, CD-ROM 120 sensing type
60
0
0 5 t[s] 10
(c)

experimental conditions
Ifex=0.3A, vfex=30V, chopping frequency=100Hz,
chopping duty ratio=50%, Nm=0-332rpm

Fig.5. an example of experimental results for stating the tested motor.

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