Integrated Motor Drive Redundancy for Ripple Voltage Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
High voltage electric motor/generators in vehicles, especially aircraft, face issues with significant ripple voltage and insulation requirements due to high voltage overshoot, and low reliability, where a fault in one portion of the circuitry can lead to complete motor/generator failure, necessitating redundant systems for continued operation.
Innovation Solution
An integrated motor drive system with multiple converters coupled in series and parallel to form independent electrical excitation waveforms, which can compensate for a malfunctioning converter, reducing ripple voltage and total harmonic distortion, and providing redundancy to prevent complete system failure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If high voltage PWM waveforms are used to drive the motor, then power delivery is improved, but ripple voltage and electromagnetic interference increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the single PWM waveform generation into multiple independent converters, each producing a segmented PWM waveform. These segmented waveforms are then combined through transformers to create a composite waveform that maintains the power delivery benefits while reducing ripple voltage through phase distribution.
2Power
If high voltage PWM waveforms are used to drive the motor, then power delivery is improved, but insulation requirements increase due to voltage overshoot
Solution Approach 1:
The voltage waveform is segmented across multiple converters operating in parallel. Each converter handles a portion of the total voltage stress, and the combined output distributes the voltage peaks in time through phase shifting, thereby reducing the peak voltage stress on any single insulation point.
3Device complexity
If a single converter is used to drive the motor, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability decreases because a fault causes complete system failure
Solution Approach 1:
The single converter is segmented into multiple independent converter modules. Each converter can operate autonomously, and the system includes redundancy so that if one converter fails, the others can continue to drive the motor, thereby improving reliability without excessive complexity increase.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is designed with built-in redundancy before failure occurs. Multiple converters are configured so that the failure of one converter does not result in complete system failure, providing a cushion against reliability issues through pre-planned fault tolerance.
4Reliability
If multiple converters are used in parallel to reduce ripple voltage, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple converters are merged into a single integrated motor drive system with common control and output coupling. This merging approach allows the system to achieve the reliability benefits of multiple converters while managing complexity through integration and standardized interfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
A system may be provided that may include an integrated motor drive configured to couple to a motor. The integrated motor drive may include a first converter that may be configured to electrically couple with a winding assembly of the motor. The first converter may include at least first conversion circuitry configured to form a first electrical excitation waveform and second conversion circuitry coupled in parallel to the second conversion circuitry and configured to form a second electrical excitation waveform. The first converter may also include a first transformer configured to form a first summation electrical excitation waveform from the first electrical excitation waveform and the second electrical excitation waveform that drives the motor.