Open-End Winding Induction Machine Drives Under Unbalanced Phase Impedances

Abstract

Manufacturing tolerances and winding-layout variations can introduce phase-to-phase mismatches in stator resistance and leakage inductance. Under such unbalanced phase impedances, conventional field-oriented control (FOC), typically designed under balanced-parameter assumptions, may produce unequal phase currents, distorted airgap MMF, reduced efficiency, increased torque ripple, and undesired vibro-acoustic behavior. This paper investigates an open-end winding (OEW) induction machine (IM) drive, in which each phase is independently driven by an H-bridge inverter fed by the same DC source. To mitigate phase–current imbalance without parameter estimation, an RMS-based phase–current-balancing controller is proposed. The controller continuously calculates the RMS value of each phase current and adaptively scales the corresponding reference-phase voltage in a low-bandwidth outer loop, while preserving the classical FOC structure. The balancing law is derived directly from the phase-impedance imbalance model; convergence of the three coupled per-phase loops is proven via a Lyapunov argument, and stability of the cascaded structure is established through an analytical bandwidth-separation analysis shown to be robust to ±30% machine-parameter variation and across the 500–1500 rev/min speed range. Simulation and experimental results across multiple operating points demonstrate effective phase–current equalization.