Field Weakening

Control of Permanent
Magnet Synchronous
Motors

Prepared By:
Kaveen Ranwatta

1
 Table of Contents

PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors) - A Brief Introduction 3

Working Principle: 3
Classification of PMSM: 3
1. Location of the Rotor and Stator 4
2. Rotor Type: Salient vs Non-Salient: 4
3. Design of Magnets: 8
4. Stator Design 9
5. The form of the back EMF 10
Control of PMSM: 10
Trapezoidal control 11
Field-oriented control 12
PMSM field oriented control by position sensor 12
Field-oriented control of PMSM without a position sensor 13
Direct Axis and Quadrature Axis- Two Reaction Theory 14
Direct Axis Synchronous Reactance 14
Quadrature Axis Synchronous Reactance 15

Clarke and Park Transform 17

Field Weakening 19
Field-Weakening Control (with MTPA) of PMSM 22
Field-Weakening Control 22
Maximum Torque Per Ampere (MTPA) 24
Target Communication 25

Motor Characteristics 25

Motor Controller Characteristics 27

Motor Controlling Configuration 29

Implementing Field Weakening in Unitek NDrive Software. 30

Motor 30
Inverter 30
Application 30
Control 31
Motor Parameters: 32
NDrive Settings Parameters: 33

2
PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors) - A Brief
Introduction

Working Principle:
The principle of operation of a synchronous motor is based on the interaction of the
rotating magnetic field of the stator and the constant magnetic field of the rotor. The
concept of the rotating magnetic field of the stator of a synchronous motor is the same
as that of a three-phase induction motor.
The magnetic field of the rotor, interacting with the synchronous alternating current of
the stator windings, according to Ampere's Law, creates torque, forcing the rotor to
rotate.
Permanent magnets located on the rotor of the PMSM create a constant magnetic field.
At a synchronous speed of rotation of the rotor with the stator field, the rotor poles
interlock with the rotating magnetic field of the stator. In this regard, the PMSM cannot
start itself when it is connected directly to the three-phase current network (current
frequency in the power grid 50Hz).

Classification of PMSM:

3
 1. Location of the Rotor and Stator
Left: Internal Rotor
Right: External Rotor

2. Rotor Type: Salient vs Non-Salient:

Basically, the rotating part of an electrical machine is the rotor. The rotor is used to house the
rotor winding and magnetic poles. The electrical power is supplied to the rotor through slip rings
and brushes. Based on the construction the rotor of an electrical machine is classified into two
types. They are,

Salient pole type or projected pole type rotor (low speed, more number of poles, Kaplan
turbines)
Non-salient type or smooth cylindrical type rotor (high speed, 2 or 4 poles, Pelton wheel)

Salient Pole Type Rotor:

The salient pole type construction of rotor is shown below is used in low and medium speed
(125 to 500 rpm) electrical machines. The poles are made of steel laminations riveted together
and are fixed to the rotor by a dovetail joint. In synchronous machines, the damper winding is
provided on the slots, provided on the pole faces (also known as squirrel cage winding).

The damper bars are short-circuited at both ends by copper rings. These dampers are used in
preventing hunting and to provide starting torque in synchronous motors. The rotor windings are
placed on the pole pieces supported by pole shoes. The ends of the winding are taken out
through slip-rings for electrical connection.

The salient pole-type structure has the following special features,

4
 ● They have a large diameter and short axial length.
● The pole shoes cover about ⅔ of the pole pitch.
● Poles are laminated to reduce eddy current losses.
● These are employed with hydraulic turbines or diesel engines.

Non-Salient Pole Type Rotor:

The construction of a non-salient type rotor also called a smooth cylindrical type. It is used in
very high-speed applications (like turbo-alternators) usually driven by steam turbines. The rotor
consists of a smooth solid forged steel cylindrical having a number of slots on its outer periphery
(parallel to the shaft) for accommodating rotor winding.

The surface of the rotor of this type is smooth due to the absence of projection of poles, thus
maintaining a uniform air gap between the stator and rotor. Such rotors are designed mostly for
2-pole or 4-pole machines. The un-slotted portions from the pole face are shown in the below
figure.

The non-salient pole type structure has the following special features,

● They are of small diameter and of very long axial length to reduce the peripheral
velocity
● This type of construction offers fewer windage losses

5
 ● High speeds are obtained i.e., 1500 to 3000 rpm.
● Better in dynamic balancing and quiter in operation.
● This type of construction is mechanically very strong compared to the salient pole
type.

Difference Between Salient Pole and Non-salient Pole Type Rotor :

6
An electric motor with a non-salient pole rotor has an equally direct and quadrature inductances
L d = Lq, whereas for an electric motor with a salient pole rotor the quadrature inductance is not
equal to the direct Lq ≠ Ld.

7
 3. Design of Magnets:

● Surface permanent magnet synchronous motor;

● Interior permanent magnet synchronous motor.

Rotor of a surface permanent magnet synchronous motor Rotor of an interior permanent magnet synchronous motor

8
 4. Stator Design
The stator consists of an outer frame and a core with windings. The most common design with
two- and three-phase winding.

● Depending on the stator design, a permanent magnet synchronous motor can be:with
distributed winding;
● with concentrated winding.

Distributed call such a winding, in which the number of slots per pole and phase Q = 2, 3, ....,
k.

Concentrated called such a winding, in which the number of slots per pole and phase Q = 1. In
this case, the slots are evenly spaced around the circumference of the stator. The two coils
forming the winding can be connected both in series and in parallel. The main disadvantage of
such windings is the impossibility of influencing on the form of the EMF curve.

Electric motor stator with distributed winding Electric motor stator with concentrated winding

Three-phase distributed winding circuit Three-phase concentrated winding circuit

9
 5. The form of the back EMF
● Trapezoidal;
● Sinusoidal.

The form of the EMF curve in the conductor is determined by the distribution curve of the
magnetic induction in the gap around the stator circumference.

It is known that the magnetic induction in the gap under the salient pole of the rotor has a
trapezoidal shape. The EMF induced in the conductor has the same form. If it is necessary to
create a sinusoidal EMF, then the pole tips are given such a shape that the induction distribution
curve would be close to the sinusoidal. This is facilitated by the bevels of the pole tips of the
rotor.

Control of PMSM:
A permanent magnet synchronous motor requires a control system, for example, a variable
frequency drive or a servo drive. There are a large number of control techniques implemented in
control systems. The choice of the optimal control method mainly depends on the task that is
put in front of the electric drive. The main methods for controlling a permanent magnet
synchronous motor are shown in the table below.
To solve simple tasks is usually used trapezoidal control with Hall sensors (for example,
computer fans). To solve problems that require maximum performance from the electric drive,
field-oriented control is usually selected.

10
Trapezoidal control
One of the simplest methods of control of a permanent magnet synchronous motor is -
trapezoidal control. Trapezoidal control is used to control the PMSM with trapezoidal back EMF.
At the same time, this method also allows you to control the PMSM with a sinusoidal back EMF,
but then the average torque of the electric drive will be lower by 5%, and the torque ripples will
be 14% of the maximum value. There is a trapezoidal control without feedback and with
feedback by the rotor position.

The open loop control (without feedback) is not optimal and may lead to the release of the
PMSM out of synchronism, i.e. to loss of controllability.

11
 ● The closed-loop control can be divided into: trapezoidal control by a position sensor
(usually by Hall sensors);
● trapezoidal control without sensor (sensorless trapezoidal control).

As a rotor position sensor for three-phase trapezoidal control, three Hall sensors built into an
electric motor are commonly used, which allow determining the angle with an accuracy of ± 30
degrees. With this control, the stator current vector takes only six positions for one electric
period, as a result of which there is ripple torque at the output.

Field-oriented control
Field-oriented control (FOC) allows you to smoothly, accurately, and independently control the
speed and torque of a brushless motor. For the operation of the field-oriented control algorithm,
it is necessary to know the position of the rotor of the brushless motor.

● There are two ways to determine the rotor position: by the position sensor;
● sensorless - by calculating the angle by the real-time control system based on the
information available.

PMSM field oriented control by position sensor

● The following types of sensors are used as angle sensors:

○ inductive: resolver, induction, etc.
○ Optical.
○ magnetic: magnetoresistive sensors.

12
Field-oriented control of PMSM without a position sensor
Since the 1970s sensorless vector control methods for brushless AC motors began to be
developed, thanks to the rapid development of microprocessors. The first sensorless methods
for estimating the angle were based on the property of the electric motor to generate back EMF
during rotation. The motor back EMF contains information about the position of the rotor,
therefore, by calculating the value of the back EMF in the stationary coordinate system, you can
calculate the position of the rotor. But when the rotor is not rotating, the back EMF is absent,
and at low speed the back EMF has a small amplitude, which is difficult to distinguish from
noise, therefore this method is not suitable for determining the position of the motor rotor at low
speed.

● There are two common techniques for sensorless start PMSM:start by the scalar method
- start on a predetermined characteristic of voltage dependence to frequency. But scalar
control severely limits the capabilities of the control system and the parameters of the
electric drive as a whole;
● high frequency signal injection method – works only with the salient pole PMSM.

At present, sensorless field-oriented control of PMSM in the full speed range is possible only for
motors with salient pole rotor.

13
Direct Axis and Quadrature Axis- Two Reaction Theory

The Two Reaction Theory was proposed by Andre Blondel. The theory proposes to
resolve the given armature MMFs into two mutually perpendicular components, with one
located along the axis of the rotor of the salient pole. It is known as the direct axis or
d-axis component. The other component is located perpendicular to the axis of the rotor
salient pole. It is known as the quadrature axis or q-axis component.

The d-axis component of the armature MMF, Fa is denoted by Fd and the q-axis
component by Fq. The component Fd is either magnetizing or demagnetizing.
The component Fq results in a cross-magnetizing effect. If Ψ is the angle
between the armature current Ia and the excitation voltage Ef and Fa is the
amplitude of the armature MMF, then

Direct Axis Synchronous Reactance

A direct axis quantity is one whose magnetic effect is along the field pole axis. The field
pole axis is also known as the direct axis. Based on this fact, a direct axis synchronous
reactance is defined as the reactance offered to the armature flux when the peak of
armature mmf is directed along the direct axis. Let us understand this more clearly.In the
figure below, it can easily be seen that the peak of armature mmf is directed along the
field pole axis or direct axis.

14
Quadrature Axis Synchronous Reactance

A quadrature axis is one whose magnetic effect is along the perpendicular to the field
pole axis. When the peak of armature mmf coincides with the quadrature axis, the
reactance offered to the armature mmf is called Quadrature Axis Reactance.

15
In the above figure, the peak of armature mmf is perpendicular to the field pole
axis or direct axis. Under this condition, the reactance offered by the two large air
gaps is maximum. For a given armature current, the armature mmf is constant
and hence under this case, the armature flux (Flux = mmf / Reluctance) is
minimum. The flux linkage per armature ampere is called quadrature axis or
q-axis synchronous inductance Lq and is given as

Lq = (Armature Flux* Nph) / Armature Phase Current

where Nph is the number of turns per phase of armature winding.

Thus q-axis synchronous reactance Xq = ωLq = 2πfLq

In the case of salient pole synchronous machine, the air gap is non-uniform.
Therefore, Xd > Xq. But due to the uniform air gap in the cylindrical pole
synchronous machine, both direct and quadrature axis synchronous reactance
are equal i.e. Xd = Xq. In fact, due to the presence of rotor slots along the q-axis,
the Xq is slightly less than Xd for the cylindrical pole synchronous machine.

16
Clarke and Park Transform

Clarke and Park transforms are commonly used in field-oriented control of three-phase AC
machines. The Clarke transform converts the time domain components of a three-phase system
(in abc-frame) to two components in an orthogonal stationary frame (αβ). The Park transform
converts the two components in the αβ frame to an orthogonal rotating reference frame (dq).
Implementing these two transforms in a consecutive manner simplifies computations by
converting AC current and voltage waveform into DC signals.

The time domain components of a three-phase system (in abc frame).

17
Resulting signals for the Clarke transform (αβ).

Resulting in signals for the Park transform (dq).

An efficient process for developing and implementing field-oriented control involves

designing and testing control algorithms in a simulation environment and generating C or
HDL code for real-time testing and implementation.

Motor control engineers can use Simulink® to

● Model and simulate inverter power electronics and various types of motors,
including synchronous and asynchronous three-phase machines.
● Design and simulate motor control algorithms, including computationally efficient
implementations of Clarke and Park transforms.
● Run closed-loop simulations of the motor, inverter, and controller to test system
performance under normal and abnormal operating scenarios.
● Automatically generate ANSI, ISO, or processor-optimized C code and HDL for rapid
prototyping, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and production implementation.

18
Field Weakening

Field-weakening or flux-weakening is a technique for increasing the speed of an electric motor

above its rating at the expense of reduced torque. Field-weakening is used for motor control in
automation applications and traction motor control for electric vehicles and locomotives to
achieve higher motor speed when lower torque is acceptable.

The permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) is popular in these applications because of
its high power density, high speed, and fast dynamic response. However, PMSM speed is
limited when the stator terminal voltage reaches the inverter output limit. Therefore, a PMSM
requires field-weakening to increase its shaft speed above its design rating. One approach to
achieve higher motor speed is to regulate the inverter power electronics to manipulate the stator
d- and q-axis currents to counter the magnetic airgap flux generated by the rotor magnets.

Field-weakening control involves reducing the resulting d-axis flux, λd , by lowering the effect of
the resulting air-gap flux linkage associated with the permanent magnets, λpm . This is done by
driving the component of the magnetizing d-axis stator current negative in the PMSM as shown
in Figure 1 below.

19
The torque speed characteristic curve in Figure 2 shows that the motor’s back EMF (stator
voltage) rises in proportion to the motor speed. This behavior occurs in the constant torque
region of the PMSM, where field-oriented control (FOC) is an accepted way to regulate the
motor. However, when the speed continues to rise, the applied voltage reaches maximum and
the back EMF voltage exceeds the applied voltage, preventing the motor speed from increasing.
To increase the motor speed above its base speed, field-weakening mode is used while
maintaining a constant output power, which is the product of torque and motor speed. During
field weakening, the motor can rotate faster at the maximum available voltage, at the expense of
reduced maximum torque.

Figure 3 illustrates the field-weakening control operation as the intersection of the voltage limit
ellipse and the current limit circle on the left-hand side of the stator currents (id, iq) plane.

20
To understand field-weakening, the current vector trajectories can be evaluated using
trajectories that bound the field-weakening region OABC. Trajectory I along OA is the maximum
torque per ampere (MTPA) curve, where MTPA can be achieved by manipulating the current
vector trajectory to match the OA curve. Trajectory II follows the current limit circle from A to B.
The current limit is defined by the constraints of the DC bus and power electronics. Trajectory III
represents deep field-weakening along BC, the maximum torque per volt (MTPV) curve. During
MTPV operation, the motor generates the maximum speed and torque allowed within the
voltage constraint ellipse, which is bounded by the DC bus. Regardless of the torque transient
response, the optimized field-weakening trajectories or operating points are always located
within the grey area.

Figure 4 shows the system-level block diagram for field-weakening control of a PMSM in
Simulink®. The outer speed control loop generates a torque command as an input for the MTPA
field-weakening control block. The inner current loop is composed of Clarke and Park
transformations and a space vector generator.

21
Motor Control Blockset™ provides reference examples showing field-weakening control, and
code generation deployment to help you implement field-weakening control using Simulink.

Field-Weakening Control (with MTPA) of PMSM

This example implements the field-oriented control (FOC) technique to control the torque and
speed of a three-phase permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). The FOC algorithm
requires rotor position feedback, which is obtained by a quadrature encoder sensor. For details
about FOC, see Field-Oriented Control (FOC).

Field-Weakening Control
When you use the FOC algorithm to run a motor with rated flux, the maximum speed is limited by the
stator voltages, rated current, and back emf. This speed is called the base speed. Beyond this speed, the
operation of the machine is complex because the back emf is more than the supply voltage. However, if
you set the d-axis stator current (Id) to a negative value, the rotor flux linkage reduces, which allows the
motor to run above the base speed. This operation is known as field-weakening control of the motor.

22
Depending upon the connected load and rated current of the machine, the reference d-axis
current (${I_d}$) in the field-weakening control also limits the reference q-axis current (${I_q}$),
and therefore, limits the torque output. Therefore, the motor operates in the constant torque
region until the base speed. It operates in the constant power region with a limited torque above
the base speed, as illustrated in the preceding figure.

The computations for the reference current ${I_d}$ depend on the motor and inverter
parameters.

Note:

● For some surface PMSMs, (depending upon the parameters) it may not be possible to
achieve higher speeds at the rated current. To achieve higher speeds, you need to
overload the motor with maximum currents that are higher than the rated current (if the
thermal conditions of the machine are within the permissible limits).

● When you operate the motor above the base speed, we recommend that you monitor
the temperature of the motor. During motor operation, if the motor temperature rises
beyond the temperature recommended by the manufacturer, turn-off the motor for safety
reasons.

● When you operate the motor above the base speed, we recommend that you increment
the speed reference in small steps, to avoid the dynamics of field weakening that can
make some systems unstable.

23
Maximum Torque Per Ampere (MTPA)
𝐿𝑞
For the interior PMSMs, the saliency in the magnetic circuit of rotor results in higher 𝐿𝑑
ratio

(greater than 1). This produces reluctance torque in the rotor (in addition to the existing
electromagnetic torque). For more information, see MTPA Control Reference.

Therefore, you can operate the machine at an optimum combination of 𝐼𝑑and 𝐼𝑞, and obtain a
2 2
higher torque for the same stator current, 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝐼𝑑 + 𝐼𝑞

This increases the efficiency of the machine, because the stator current losses are minimized.
The algorithm that you use to generate the reference 𝐼𝑑 and 𝐼𝑞 currents for producing maximum
torque in the machine, is called Maximum Torque Per Ampere (MTPA).

For an Interior PMSM (IPMSM), this example computes the reference 𝐼𝑑 and 𝐼𝑞 currents using
the MTPA method until the base speed. For a Surface PMSM (SPMSM), the example achieves
MTPA operation by using a zero d-axis reference current, until the base speed.

To operate the motor above the base speed, this example computes the reference 𝐼𝑑 and 𝐼𝑞 for
MTPA and field-weakening control, depending upon the motor type. For a Surface PMSM, the

24
Constant Voltage Constant Power (CVCP) control method is used. For an Interior PMSM,
Voltage and Current Limited Maximum Torque (VCLMT) control method is used.

For information related to the MTPA Control Reference block, see MTPA Control Reference.

Target Communication
For hardware implementation, this example uses a host and a target model. The host model,
running on the host computer, communicates with the target model deployed to the hardware
connected to the motor. The host model uses serial communication to command the target
model and run the motor in a closed-loop control.

Both field-weakening control and MTPA require the generation of reference currents that follow
the limitations related to:

● Current limited circle

●
● Voltage limited ellipse
●
● Motor temperature

To determine the operating point that follows these limits, see the plot generated by the function
Obtain Motor Characteristics.

In the field-weakening region, some PMSMs may need a stator current that is higher than the
rated current of the motor. For details, see the plot generated by the function Obtain Motor
Characteristics

Motor Characteristics

Motor: Emrax 228

Motor Data:

25
Accumulator:
Maximum Voltage: 302V
Maximum Current: 160A

26
Motor Controller Characteristics
Model: BAMOCAR-PG-D3-700/400

Technical Data:

27
28
Motor Controlling Configuration

29
Implementing Field Weakening in Unitek NDrive
Software.

Motor
Motors with surface-mounted magnets only allow very little increase of speed above the
voltage limit (about 10% to 20%, or a factor of 1.1 to 1.2). Motors with embedded magnets allow
factors of up to 4. Such motors typically differ greatly from stator impedances in direct and
quadrature axes. Motor manufacturers, sometimes publish these data in their data sheets, but it
is not standard.

Inverter
Without any additional protection against over voltages due to back EMF of the motor in
trip condition, the maximum operating limits of the inverter have to be considered.
A simple example: the maximum DC voltage of an inverter is e.g. 400 VDC. The battery voltage
is 200 VDC. Keeping the maximum voltage in mind, you can only achieve a factor of 2 for the
speed increase, even lower when the maximum inverter voltage and battery voltage are closer
together. With the main supply of 400 VAC (560 VDC), and the limit voltage of 800 VDC, the
allowed factor would only be 1.42. Also, the uncontrolled current flow into the DC-link or battery
via free-running diodes, when the back EMF is larger than the DC-link, will cause substantial
problems. In particular, the high inertia in traction applications is causing high energy levels,
which are difficult to handle.

Application
Traction applications always have a base load. It is not possible to accelerate without
load, as in typical spindle applications. The operation in the field-weakening range with
additional Idcurrent causes additional heat losses in the motor and drains additional current
from the battery. For short operation times and little factors of speed increase, it can make
sense to apply such control strategies, but you still cannot solve any mismatch between the
motor voltage and the supply voltage in this way. Typical applications which do not have to care
about the above restrictions are racing teams in the contest covering one mile in minimum time,
or military vehicles escaping from the battlefield with maximum speed. An application with
reduced supply voltage from a battery backup instead of the mains supply is a really useful area
of operation, for reaching nearly the same speed using a lower supply for a short time.

30
Control
Implementation of field-weakening is done by a so-called voltage controller. See page “Speed”
in NDrive PC-program, bottom right corner, and page “Auto”. The output of PI controller is used
as the reference value of the Id-control. When the actual output voltage V-out < V-red, the
output of the PI-controller is 0, when V-out > V-red, the output is working between Id-nom and
Id-min. Parameters required are;

V-out: actual output voltage representing modulation index, not normalized to Volts,
2 2
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑉𝑞 + 𝑉𝑑
, number of 4096 is maximum.

V-red: enter point of field-weakening as a percentage of Vout, Typical in the range of 80 to 90,
the value of 0 or 100 disables voltage controller,

V-kp: proportional kp-factor of voltage controller, typical in the range of 100 to 500.

Kp value: Input for the proportional gain in the speed controller Note: Input value of 33
(Num) ≙ 1.0 (Physical manipulated variable from current)
● Kp too small: correction error, poor dynamics, low-frequency oscillations
● Kp too large: Strong engine noise, high-frequency vibrations
● Recommended: 5..50 Num

V-Ti: integral Time of controller, larger value is a slower reaction, typical in the range 100 to
1000.
Ti Value: Integration time in the speed controller
Note: Ti depending on the proportional gain
● Kp Ti too large: Low-frequency vibrations, large speed overshoots, very weak
● Ti too small: High-frequency vibrations, strong tendency to oscillate
● Recommended: 6..400 ms

Id-nom: nominal Id-reference, in percent of nominal motor current. 0 for PMSM, 20 to 50 for
ACIM.

Id-min: minimum Id-reference, in the range of -20 to – 95 for PMSM, Idnom to 0.1 Idnom for
ACIM. Independent from any current limitations < Idnom , the rest of the 5 % current limit is
always reserved for Iq- reference to keep the motor under control.

Lsd, Lsq: With increasing speed (omega), the decoupling network between Id- and Iq-controller
output (Vd and Vq), becomes more important. So you should know the values of Lsd and Lsq.
Value in uH on page “Auto” in NDrive.

In general, the regulation has a tendency towards instability above the nominal operating point.
Even the accuracy of offset-angle becomes more important.In practical applications with motors

31
with embedded magnets, we have covered factors of 1.2 to 1.8 with respect to the
above-mentioned problems.

Motor Parameters:

−3
Internal phase resistance: 𝑅 = 7 * 10 Ω
−6
Induction in d axis: 𝐿𝑑 = 76 * 10 𝐻
−6
Induction in q axis: 𝐿𝑞 = 76 * 10 𝐻
Back EMF Constant: 𝐶𝑜_𝐵𝐸𝑀𝐹 = 0. 03938
Number of Pole Pairs: 𝑁𝑜_𝑜𝑓_𝑃𝑃 = 10
Rated Current: 𝐼_𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 = 340𝐴
Axial Magnetic Flux Linkage: 𝐹𝑙𝑢𝑥_𝐿𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑎𝑔𝑒 = 0. 05;
Power Factor: 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟_𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 0. 975

32
NDrive Settings Parameters:

Parameter overview for the field weakening control on the Speed page.

Note: Many of these parameters can also be found on the Oscilloscope page.

Without field weakening:

● The speed (n_actual) does not reach the speed specification (n_cmd) at the maximum
possible output voltage (Vout).
● As is usual with PMSM, the Id current (Id_actual) is constantly regulated to 0 A.
● The lq-current (Iq_actual) first provides a corresponding moment for the acceleration and
then drops to the maximum possible value.

33
With field weakening:

● The speed (n_actual) reaches the speed specification (n_cmd) below the maximum
possible output voltage (Vout).
● The ld current (Id_actual) is regulated for the field weakening to the value of Id_ref
specified by the field weakening controller.
● In the case of motors with surface magnets, a high ld current for a small increase in
speed.
● Here, too, the lq-current (Iq_actual) first provides a corresponding torque for the
acceleration and then drops to the required or still available value.

34
Caution!
● Field weakening is not a recommended approach of solving a poorly designed system.
● Although the speed can be increased, the torque drops to a very low value due to the
physical properties of a PMSM. This means that the motor has significantly less power in
field weakening mode despite high power consumption.
● The additional reactive current (Id_actual) ensures on the one hand that the motor heats
up very strongly and on the other hand, although the active current (Iq ≙ moment) is very
low, the consumption from the supply is very high due to the additional current
component.
● This means that in a system with an HV battery (e.g. vehicle), this is at the expense of
the battery capacity (and thus the range).
● In case of field weakening failure (mains disconnection, fault disconnection, etc.) at
maximum speeds, high-induced regenerative voltages can be generated by the motor.
● For servo units powered using the AC mains, the limit voltage is 400 V or 800 V.
● For battery-operated units, the Back EMF voltage must always be lower than the battery
voltage.
● Without external protective circuits, the servo units or batteries can be destroyed in the
event of motor overvoltages.

35