Analysis of Inter-Turn Short Circuit Faults in Dual Three-Phase PMSM for Electromechanical Actuator

Dual three-phase permanent magnet synchronous machine (DTPM) is an attractive choice for an electromechanical actuator (EMA) owing to its advantages of double redundancy, high power density, and high reliability. However, the winding insulation is susceptible to high thermal and mechanical stress, which will lead to inter-turn short circuit faults (ITSCFs) and poses threat to the safety of the machine system. Moreover, the ITSCF of DTPM is not only limited to single-phase, but also occurs between adjacent phases. Therefore, in this article, the characteristics of single-phase and phase-to-phase ITSCFs are investigated and compared while the short-circuit contact resistance is considered. First, a general mathematical model for single-phase and phase-to-phase ITSCFs are established, and the expressions of short circuit current (SCC) and output torque are derived. Then, the characteristics of flux density, back EMF, SCC, fault phase current, and output torque of the different fault models are compared by finite element analysis (FEA). It is demonstrated that when the contact resistance is not zero (
$R_{f}~\ne ~0$
), the amplitude of SCC and the third harmonic content of fault phase current are inversely proportional to the contact resistance and proportional to the number of short-circuit turns. In addition, the amplitude of SCC, torque ripple, and braking torque caused by a phase-to-phase ITSCF will be larger than those of the single-phase ITSCF under the same fault conditions, especially when the contact resistance is small. Finally, an experimental prototype is made and tested to validate these analyses.