Electric Power Systems Research 89 (2012) 116–128

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Electric Power Systems Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/epsr

Vector controlled multiphase induction machine: Harmonic injection

using optimized constant gains
A.S. Abdel-Khalik a , M.I. Masoud a,b,∗,1 , B.W. Williams c
a
Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
b
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
c
EEE Department, Strathclyde University, Scotland, Glasgow UK

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Torque enhancement by stator current harmonic injection is one possible use of the additional degrees
Received 26 May 2011 of freedom offered by multiphase machines yielding a near rectangular air-gap flux. The number of
Received in revised form 11 February 2012 injected harmonics depends on the phase order and the corresponding sequence planes. As the number
Accepted 2 March 2012
of machine phases increases, the injected harmonic order can be increased where each plane requires two
Available online 1 April 2012
PI controllers, to control its current components, resulting in a complicated tuning process. Moreover,
the deployment of conventional indirect vector control with multiple PI controller fails to maintain a
Keywords:
near rectangular air-gap flux with different loading conditions due to synchronization problem between
Multiphase induction machine
Indirect vector control
different planes. In this paper, the conventional indirect vector control based on multiple PI-controllers is
Rectangular air-gap flux distribution replaced by only two PI-controllers to develop the fundamental dq voltage components from which the dq
Harmonic injection voltage components for other planes are determined using offline optimized constant gains. The proposed
Eleven-phase controller makes the tuning process is easier and achieve near rectangular air-gap flux during loading
Genetic algorithm conditions. The proposed controller tested using a prototype eleven-phase induction machine where
injection up to the ninth harmonic can be engaged. A comparison between the conventional controller,
using multiple PI controllers, and the proposed controller is made for third harmonic injection. Practical
results are introduced as a conformance to simulation results.
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction torque harmonics decrease [1]. Another advantage of a multiphase

There is a substantial increase in the interest in multiphase
drives which are a serious candidate for applications such as elec-
tric ship propulsion, aircraft drives, and locomotive traction. For
high power industrial applications, high power ratings for both the
motor and its converter are required. However, converter ratings
cannot necessarily be increased due to power rating limitations
of semiconductor devices [1]. A multiphase machine fed from a
multiphase inverter drive which has lower current per phase or
designed with a lower voltage for the same total power, could be
used for this task [2,3]. Multiphase machines have been surveyed
[1,2,4,5]. These references cover many multiphase machine top-
ics such as properties [6,7], modeling [8–12], applications [12–15],
advantages [3,6,7,9,15,16] and performance with different con-
trol techniques [17–20]. By increasing the number of phases, the
∗ Corresponding author at: Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engi-
neering, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt. Tel.: +20 96171608898.
E-mail addresses: m.masoud@ieee.org, mahmoudmasoud77@hotmail.com
(M.I. Masoud).
1
Current address: ECE Department, Faculty of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos Uni-
versity, Muscat, Oman. Tel.: +968 96139466.
machine is that it gives additional degrees of freedom for new appli-
cations with high torque density by current harmonic injection
into concentrated winding machines [8,21–23]. Harmonic injec-
tion not only provides torque enhancement but also produces
more robust control [24]. Additionally, injection provides good
transient and steady-state performance with near rectangular flux
in the air-gap [9,18,25]. Most research is restricted to the five-
phase induction machine with two control planes (fundamental
and third); however the independent plane concept is valid for any
higher number of phases. Speed control techniques for multiphase
induction machines are similar to those for the three-phase induc-
tion machine. Conventional constant V/f scalar control has been
studied for the multiphase variable-speed induction motor drive
[26–28]. Vector control and direct torque control have been applied
to multiphase machines [10,18,29–33]. The difference is the axis
transformation calculation which must be adapted to produce n-
phase voltage or current [1]. The vector control algorithm was based
on decoupling the stator phase currents into flux components d1 ,
d3 ,. . . d2h−1 and the torque components q1 , q3 ,. . . q2h−1 where h is
the available number of decoupled planes which depends on the
machine n phase number [9]. The control objective is to provide
independent control of both flux and torque, and to generate a near
rectangular air-gap flux. In reference [12], rotor field orientation

0378-7796/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.epsr.2012.03.001
 A.S. Abdel-Khalik et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 89 (2012) 116–128 117

Fig. 1. Phasor diagram for the 1st and 3rd harmonics.

control is applied to a five-phase induction motor with combined
fundamental and third harmonic currents to generate a near rect-
angular air-gap flux. However, the control concept is valid for any
number of planes. The dq current components of each plane are
controlled separately with n−1 PI-controllers in the voltage decou-
pling network [12,34]. If the number of injected harmonics is more
than two (n > 5), the tuning process becomes difficult. Moreover,
the use of multiple PI-controllers introduces improper alignment
of different harmonic components with the fundamental flux com-
ponent [23]. With conventional control [18], variable misalignment
between fundamental and third air-gap flux components occurs for
different mechanical loadings. Some techniques are developed to
overcome this problem in five-phase induction machine but with
complex controller and questionable stability problems [17]. Other
techniques are used to synchronize the flux components in dual
induction machine [35].
This paper proposes an indirect vector control algorithm that
avoids PI-controllers for each non-fundamental plane by calculat-
ing the dq command signal for each plane from the fundamental
dq plane. With this technique, the vector control system only has
two current controllers. Consequently, the drive system becomes
simpler and the alignment between different harmonic compo-
nents of the applied voltages is guaranteed as they are not obtained
from separate PI-controllers and will not be affected by mechanical
loading.
A prototype eleven-phase machine is used where up to the ninth
harmonic can be injected. Practical results confirm MATLAB simu-
lation results.
2. Harmonic injection effect on flux distribution
This section introduces the main concept behind harmonic
injection. Firstly, the effect of harmonic injection on flux den-
sity distribution is explored. Accordingly, the problem of flux
components misalignment due to mechanical loading is then
highlighted. For simplicity, the problem is described with third har-
monic injection; however, it can be generalized for any harmonic
injection order. Finally, GA algorithm is used to determine the opti-
mized flux distribution for harmonic injection up to the ninth. This
optimized flux distribution is then used to construct the proposed
controller.
2.1. Third harmonic injection effect on air-gap flux density
Harmonic injection can be used to enhance the power density
of multiphase machine and achieve a quasi-square flux distribu-
tion in the air-gap. Ref. [9,18] introduce an indirect field orientated
control for a five-phase induction machine with third harmonic
injection, where two PI current controllers are used to each plane
with a total of four PI controllers to be tuned. This controller aims to
align the rotor flux space phasor components, r1 , r3 to the direct
axis to obtain an approximate quasi square air gap flux. However, it
neglects the difference between the rotor flux and the air gap flux,
which is the main control objective rather than rotor flux. In other
words, the controller is targeting the air-gap flux by controlling the
rotor flux. This difference may be neglected for light loads. As the
mechanical load increases this error cannot be tolerated and yields
to flux distortion [17]. With third harmonic injection applied, there
is no condition that guarantees that the two components of the
air-gap flux space phasor (m1 , m3 ) are aligned where the angle
between the air-gap flux and the rotor flux space phasors (m1 and
r1 for the fundamental plane and m3 and m3 for the third har-
monic plane), depends on the mechanical loading, which leads to
a variable misalignment between the fundamental and third com-
ponents of the air gap flux. This problem can be illustrated by the
phasor diagram in Fig. 1 and the corresponding air gap flux distri-
bution is indicated in Fig. 2. The desired air-gap flux distribution is
shown in Fig. 2a, where both the fundamental and the third space

(a) 1.25
B1 (b) 1.25
B1
1 1

0.75 0.75
B( s ), pu

B( s ), pu

0.5 0.5

0.25 0.25 B3
B3
0 0

-0.25 -0.25
0 60 120 180 0 60 120 180
s
, deg s
, deg

Fig. 2. Flux density distribution and its components (a) aligned and (b) misaligned.
118 A.S. Abdel-Khalik et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 89 (2012) 116–128

phasors are aligned. The ideal distribution has two peaks of 1 pu Table 1
Optimum values for maximum fundamental voltage [36,37].
at 60◦ and 120◦ [25]. However, Fig. 2b illustrates the same case
with a 10◦ misalignment between the two space phasors due to a Injected 3rd 3rd and 3rd, 5th, 3rd, 5th, 7th,
certain mechanical loading. It is shown that the first peak at 60◦ harmonics 5th and 7th and 9th
exceeds 1 pu and the second peak is less than 1 pu. If saturation C3 0.167 0.24 0.267 0.287
is not considered, there is no effect since the two curves have the C5 0 0.07 0.104 0.132
same area as the total flux is not affected [23]. However, if saturation C7 0 0 0.034 0.061
C9 0 0 0 0.020
occurs, the saturation will increase the iron losses. Although some
K 1.155 1.21 1.231 1.243
controllers are proposed to mitigate such problem in five-phase
machine [17,35], as number of phase’s is increased rather than 5,
the number of planes is increased and the problem becomes more The magnitude of the required fundamental flux which assure
difficult to be solved. that the flux distribution is not greater than the maximum flux Bmax
is given by
2.2. Optimised flux distribution using genetic algorithm Bmax
B1 = (7)
Xmax
In Section 2.1, the problem is described with only third har-
Then the flux per pole can be determined from (4). The solution
monic injection to be applied. In order to extend the study for higher
is repeated until obtaining the maximum flux or the maximum
injection order, the optimized flux distribution containing the kth
fundamental flux density. The fundamental torque, which repre-
harmonic contribution should be obtained. The optimized flux dis-
sents the maximum portion of the total machine torque, depends
tribution for third harmonic injection is extensively addressed in
on fundamental flux density magnitude [25]. However, the torque
the literature and is given in pu by [25]
components corresponding to the other harmonics are small com-
2
 1
 pared with the fundamental torque component.
Bg (s ) = √ sin s + sin(3s ) (1)
3 6 The prototype eleven-phase induction machine is used with
injection up to the 9th harmonic. The optimum flux distribution
Accordingly, the appropriate target reference flux waveform for is
an n-phase machine, containing the kth harmonic contribution, can
be defined as Bg (s ) = B1 (sin s + C3 sin 3s + C5 sin 5s + C7 sin 7s
⎛ ⎞
+ C9 sin 9s ) (8)

Bg (s ) = B1 ⎝sin s + Cj sin(js )⎠ (2)
j=3,5,... The detailed study of the GA optimization is introduced in Refs.
[36,37]. The resultant optimum values for harmonic injections up
where B1 is the peak flux density for the fundamental flux and B1 Cj to ninth are listed in Table 1.
represents the peak value for injected harmonic j, for j = 3, 5,. . . n−2.
For an eleven-phase machine, up to the ninth harmonic can be used 3. Multiphase machine modelling
to obtain the required quasi-square flux distribution.
This optimization problem can be addressed using GA, where This section introduces the dq mathematical model for an
the relation between the fundamental and other harmonics compo- n-phase machine which will be used to describe the proposed con-
nents can be determined for the best iron utilization. The scenario troller in the following section. The multi-phase induction machine
used is to find the optimum value for constants ‘Cj ’ which obtains can be modeled as multiple decoupled dq planes after using an
a maximum fundamental flux B1 with the condition that flux den- appropriate transformation [10–12]. Each plane corresponds to a
sity at any point does not exceed the maximum permissible value. certain sequence. For an odd phase system with n-phases, the corre-
The following optimization process is used. The flux per pole is sponding number of planes will be ½(n−1) with one zero sequence.
calculated by integrating the flux density in (2) over one pole However, for an even number of phases, the number of decou-
 pled planes is ½(n−2), with two zero sequences. The dq voltage
˚ = rl · Bg (s ) · ds (3) equations corresponding to each sequence can be written as
0
vdsk = Rs idsk + pdsk − kωf qsk (9)
hence
⎛ ⎞ vqsk = Rs iqsk + pqsk + kωf dsk (10)
 Cj 0 = Rrk idrk + pdrk − k(ωf − ωr )qrk
˚ = 2rlB1 ⎝1 + ⎠ (11)
(4)
j
j=3,5,... 0 = Rrk iqrk + pqrk + k(ωf − ωr )drk (12)

Assume that where

dsk = Lsk idsk + Lmk idrk (13)

Bg () = B1 · X(s ) (5)
qsk = Lsk iqsk + Lmk iqrk (14)
where
 drk = Lrk idrk + Lmk idsk (15)
X(s ) = sin s + Cj sin (js ) (6)
j=3,5,...
qrk = Lrk iqrk + Lmk iqsk (16)

and k equals 1, 3,. . . 2h−1.

The Cj constants can be determined using GA by tuning these
Each sequence contributes to the mechanical torque production
constants in such a way to obtain the minimum value of the maxi-
mum of the distribution X(s ) which is considered as the objective nP
Tek = k(dsk iqsk − qsk idsk ) (17)
function to be minimized by GA. 4
 A.S. Abdel-Khalik et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 89 (2012) 116–128 119

Fig. 3. Indirect vector control with h planes harmonic injection for n-phase induction machine.

and the total torque is where c and s indicate cosine and sine, respectively, while angle
 i indicates an angle  − j˛, with ˛ = 2/n and j = 1 to n−1. For an

n−2 eleven phase induction machine, the number of planes h will be five.
Te = Tek (18) These planes correspond to the fundamental, third, fifth, seventh,
k=1,3,... and ninth sequences.

The transformation matrix, which transforms the phase vari-

ables into dq variables, is
⎛ ⎞
c c1 c2 ··· ··· cn−1
⎜ −s −s1 −s2 ··· ··· −sn−1 ⎟
⎜ ··· ··· ⎟
⎜ c3 c31 c32 c3n−1 ⎟
2⎜ .. .. .. .. .. .. ⎟
T= ⎜ ⎟ (19)
n⎜ . . . . . . ⎟
⎜ c(2h − 1) c(2h − 1)1 c(2h − 1)2 ··· ··· c(2h − 1)n−1 ⎟
⎝ ⎠
−s(2h − 1) −s(2h − 1)1 −s(2h − 1)2 ··· ··· −s(2h − 1)n−1
1/2 1/2 1/2 ··· ··· 1/2

Fig. 4. Proposed indirect vector control with harmonic injection.

120 A.S. Abdel-Khalik et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 89 (2012) 116–128

4. Proposed controller

Multiphase induction machine can be controlled using vector

control exactly similar to three-phase induction machine using only
fundamental sequence with an appropriate transformation.
For proper orientation at steady state, the following equations
are hold [9,38]

qr1 = pqr1 = 0 (20)

Substituting for fundamental sequence into (11) and (12)

0 = Rr1 idr1 + pdr1 (21)

0 = Rr1 iqr1 + (ωe − ωr )dr1 (22)

From the flux equations, the following relations are deduced

dr1 − Lm1 ids1
L 
r1
idr1 = , iqr1 = − · iqs1 (23)
Lr1 Lm1
hence
Lm1 Lm1
dr1 = i , ωsl = iqs1 (24)
1 + r1 p ds1 r1 dr1
and the slip-speed for fundamental plane is [9,38]
Lm1
ωsl1 = iqs1 (25) Fig. 5. Decoupling networks (a) current decoupling and (b) voltage decoupling net-
r1 dr1 work.

where  r1 = Lr1 /Rr1

At steady state, if the rotor flux is properly aligned to the direct Needless to say that tuning process of two PI-controllers is much
axis, the rotor current is perpendicular to the rotor flux and its direct easier than the system given in Fig. 3. The block diagram for the
axis component becomes zero, hence proposed controller is shown in Fig. 4.
dr1 = Lm1 ids1 (26) The fundamental sequence voltage as function of the rated volt-
age is given by
Harmonic injection can be employed to vector controlled mul-
tiphase induction machine by using two PI-controllers for each Vs1 = KVrated (27)
plane (conventional controller), to control the current components
for different sequence planes [9]. The generalized block diagram and the sequence voltage corresponding to any sequence k is given
for indirect vector control with harmonic injection is illustrated by
in Fig. 3. The speed controller determines the command q-current
Vsk = Ck Vs1 (28)
component. The dq reference current components are used to cal-
culate the command currents and slip-speed for each plane where where K and Ck are constants.
the reference current components for each plane are derived from Since the emf waveform has the same shape of the flux density
the fundamental sequence reference current components [9]. A distribution with the peripheral angle, the optimized flux distri-
voltage decoupling network contains 2h PI-controllers are used to bution gains obtained from GA can be used. For an eleven-phase
evaluate the dq voltage components with a control algorithm which induction machine, the values of K and Ck , are tabulated in Table 1.
requires tuning process for high number of PI-controllers. Added to
that, the resultant air-gap flux component has misalignment with
mechanical loading.
To solve this problem, an indirect vector controller using har-
monic injection with a technique that avoids numerous current
regulators and gives a near square air-gap flux distribution is intro-
duced in this section.
The proposed technique uses only two PI-controllers, in the
fundamental current plane from which the fundamental dq volt-
age components are derived. The controller concept is to orient
the fundamental plane variables to the fundamental rotor flux
space phasor. The dq components for other planes are derived
from the fundamental dq voltage components through a simple
injection technique based on the optimized constants given by GA
as explained in Section 2.2. The values of the sequence voltages
applied to the machine depend on the number of injected harmon-
ics used to obtain a near rectangular air-gap flux distribution. The
flux distribution induces an emf voltage Em of the same shape. If the
applied voltage is nearly rectangular, the induced emf has a simi-
lar shape by neglecting the stator resistive voltage drop, which is
acceptable for high power rating machines. With this technique,
the harmonic components of the corresponding air-gap flux den-
sity are guaranteed to be aligned irrespective of mechanical loading. Fig. 6. Simple injection technique for eleven phase machine for h = 5.
 A.S. Abdel-Khalik et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 89 (2012) 116–128 121

(a) 80 (b) 80
40 40

Em , V

Em , V
0 0

-40 -40

-80 -80
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time , s Time , s

4 5

2 2.5

Is , A
Is , A

0 0

-2 -2.5

-4 -5
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time , s Time , s

(c) 80 (d) 80

40 40

Em , V
Em , V

0 0

-40 -40

-80 -80
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time , s Time , s

6 6

3 3
Is , A

Is , A
0 0

-3 -3

-6 -6
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time , s Time , s

(e) 80 (f) 80

40 40
Em , V
Em , V

0 0

-40 -40

-80 -80
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time , s Time, s

6 6

3 3
Is , A
Is , A

0 0

-3 -3

-6 -6
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time , s Time, s

(g) 80 (h) 80

40 40
Em , V
Em , V

0 0

-40 -40

-80 -80
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time, s Time , s

6 8

3 4
Is , A

Is , A

0 0

-3 -4

-6 -8
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time, s Time , s

Fig. 7. Simulation results for the proposed controller: (a–d) are no-load and (e–h) are with load, (a and e) third harmonic injection, (b and f) up to fifth harmonic, (c and g)
up to seventh harmonic, and (d and h) up to ninth harmonic.
122 A.S. Abdel-Khalik et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 89 (2012) 116–128

(a) 1002 (b) 16 Fundamental Only

1000 14
998

Developed Torque , N.m

12
996 Injection up to
10 ninth harmonic
994
Speed , rpm
8
992
990 6
Injection up to
988 ninth harmonic 4
986 2
984
0
982 Fundamental Only
-2
0 0.5 1 1.5 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

Time , s Time , s

Fig. 8. Machine transient mechanical response when mechanically loaded with 13 Nm (a) speed and (b) torque.

Assuming that direct and quadrature components obtained The input impedance is
from the voltage decoupling networks are vds and vqs , then Zrk · Zmk
Zik = Rs + jkωs lsk + (39)
V = |V | · ej˛ (29) Zrk + Zmk
and the current corresponding to each sequence is found from
The fundamental sequence voltage is given by
V sk
V s1 = K|V | · ej˛ = vqs1 + jvds1 (30) I sk = = iqsk + jidsk (40)
Zik
Generally
The machine torque produced by any sequence plane k is given
V sk = Ck · K|V | · ekj˛ (31)
nkP Lmk 2
Tek = i i (41)
The fundamental direct axis current is calculated from the input 2 Lrk dsk qsk
reference value for the direct axis current from the relation
The total torque is given by
ids1 = Kids (32) 2h−1

The quadrature component is evaluated from the speed con- Te = Tek (42)
troller output. The dq components for the fundamental stator k=1,3,...
voltage sequence can be calculated at steady-state from
The machine total rms voltage is calculated from
vds1 = Rs ids1 − 1 ωf Ls1 iqs1 
(33)

1 2h−1
vqs1 = Rs iqs1 + ωf Ls1 ids1 (34) Vsrms =  · |V sk |2 (43)
2
The other sequence voltages are calculated using (31). k=1,3,...

The other sequence currents are calculated from the sequence The machine total rms current is calculated from the individual
voltages by calculating the machine input impedance for the dif- sequence currents as
ferent sequences. 

The current decoupling network calculates the fundamental 
1 2h−1
dq currents as shown in Fig. 5a. The voltage decoupling network Isrms =  · |I sk |2 (44)
2
evaluates the dq voltages as shown in Fig. 5b. For the prototype k=1,3,...
eleven-phase machine, the voltage of each sequence is calculated
using (31) as detailed in Fig. 6. The total power is


2h−1 
2h−1
n 
2h−1
∗
5. Machine characteristics S= Pk + j Qk = V k Ik (45)
2
k=1,3,... k=1,3,... k=1,3,...
The machine slip for any sequence is calculated from
nsk − nm 6. Simulation and experimental results
sk = (35)
nsk
A prototype eleven-phase induction machine with concen-
where nsk is the synchronous speed for sequence k and is given by tric windings is simulated and experimentally tested to validate
60kfs 60fs the proposed controller and investigate its performance through
nsk = = = ns1 (36) comparison with the conventional control technique which uses
kp P
multiple current regulators. An eleven-phase SPWM inverter, oper-
Accordingly, the machine slip is the same for all sequence cir-
ating at switching frequency of 5 kHz, is used to inject the required
cuits.
voltage pattern. An Infineon TC1796 DSP is used to implement all
The machine input impedance is calculated as follows
control strategies. In the prototype machine the number of turns
Rrk per phase is 80. The machine is coupled to a dc-generator, which
Zrk = + jkωs lrk (37)
s acts as a mechanical load to estimate the machine torque. The
and the magnetizing impedance is given by rotor speed is measured using a tacho-generator. The machine
cross section, experimental setup and test rig picture are shown in
Zmk = jkωs Lmk (38) Appendix A.
 A.S. Abdel-Khalik et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 89 (2012) 116–128 123

(a) 80 (b) 80
40 40

Em , V

Em , V
0 0
-40 -40

-80 -80
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time, s Time , s
4 4

2 2

Is , A
Is , A

0 0

-2 -2

-4 -4
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time, s Time , s
80 80
(c) (d)
40 40
Em , V

Em , V
0 0
-40 -40

-80 -80
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time , s Time , s
6 6

3 3
Is , A
Is , A

0 0

-3 -3

-6 -6
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time , s Time , s
80 80
(e) (f)
40 40
Em , V

Em , V

0 0
-40 -40

-80 -80
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time , s Time , s
6 6

3 3
Is , A

Is , A

0 0

-3 -3

-6 -6
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time , s Time , s

(g) 80 (h) 80

40 40
Em , V
Em , V

0 0

-40 -40

-80 -80
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time , s Time , s
6 8

3 4
Is , A

Is , A

0 0

-3 -4

-6 -8
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03
Time , s Time , s

Fig. 9. Experimental results for the proposed controller: (a–d) are no-load and (e–h) are with load (a and e) third harmonic injection, (b and f) up to fifth harmonic, (c and g)
up to seventh harmonic, and (d and h) up to ninth harmonic.
124 A.S. Abdel-Khalik et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 89 (2012) 116–128

4.5 4
(a) (b)
4
3.5
3.5
Is (rms) , A

Is (rms) , A
3
3

2.5
2.5

2
2
1.5

1 1.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Te , N.m Te , N.m

4.5 5
(c) (d)
4 4.5

4
3.5
Is (rms) , A

Is (rms) , A
3.5
3
3
2.5
2.5

2
2

1.5 1.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 0 5 10 15 20
Te , N.m Te , N.m

5
(e)
4.5

4
Is (rms) , A

3.5

2.5

1.5
0 5 10 15 20
Te , N.m

Fig. 10. Torque–current characteristic with (a) fundamental only, (b) third harmonic injection, (c) up to fifth harmonic, (e) up to seventh harmonic, and (f) up to ninth
harmonic.

The air-gap flux distribution is determined by measuring the
induced voltage on a 40 turns search coil wound within one sta-
tor phases, housed in the same slots. Since the field rotates with
synchronous speed related to the supply frequency, the time func-
tion of the voltage waveform has the same shape as the air gap
flux distribution with peripheral angle. Multiplying the time axis
with angular synchronous speed gives the peripheral angle, while
multiplying the flux linkage distribution with angular synchronous
speed gives the induced voltage magnitude.
As the simulation and experimental study on this paper focuses
on steady-state operation under running conditions, PI-controllers
for both conventional and proposed controllers are tuned experi-
mentally using try and error method.
6.1. Simulation results
The proposed controller is tested under no-load and a mechan-
ical load of 13 Nm. The d-axis current, ids , is set to 2 A. The
fundamental d-axis current component, ids1 * is calculated using
(30) where K depends on the required injection harmonic order,
as given by Table 1. The machine speed reference is 1000 rpm.
First, the machine is accelerated to 1000 rpm with its shaft
mechanically unloaded. The induced voltage across the search coil,
which represents the internal induced voltage, and the correspond-
ing stator phase current are shown in Fig. 7 parts a to d for different
injection harmonic orders. As the number of injected harmonic
orders increases, the flux pattern approaches a quasi-square dis-
tribution.
Second, for the loaded case shown in Fig. 7 parts e to f, the
machine is loaded with a 13 Nm step torque. The flux approximately
has the same distribution as in the no-load case. This means that
mechanical loading does not affect the flux distribution, which is
one of the main advantages of this controller. This is not the case for
the conventional controller using multiple PI-controllers [9,17,18].
The controller transient response is tested when the machine
is loaded with a 13 Nm step load torque with fundamental
 A.S. Abdel-Khalik et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 89 (2012) 116–128 125

1.3
(a) 5.5 (a) Fund
Fund 1.25 Third

RMS Stator Phase Voltage , p.u

5 Fifth
Third 1.2
Seventh
Fifth
4.5 1.15 Ninth
Seventh
4 Ninth 1.1
Is (rms) , A

1.05
3.5
1
3 0.95

2.5 0.9

0.85
2
0.8
1.5 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
Torque , p.u
1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 (b) 100
Te , N.m 95

1.4
(b) 90

Efficiency , %
1.2 85

80
1
Third
75
Torque Gain

Fifth Fund
0.8 Third
Seventh 70
Fifth
0.6 Ninth 65 Seventh
Ninth
60
0.4 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
Torque , p.u

0.2 0.8
(c)
0.7
0
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
0.6
Is (rms) , p.u
Power Factor

0.5

Fig. 11. (a) Torque–current characteristics and (b) torque gain function of per unit
0.4
stator current.
Fund
0.3 Third
injection only and with harmonic injection up to the ninth order. Fifth
0.2 Seventh
Fig. 8a shows the speed response while Fig. 8b shows the torque
Ninth
response. Harmonic injection improves controller response. The 0.1
machine torque overshoot reduces from 10.25% with only funda-
0
mental injection to 8.57% with harmonic injection up to the ninth. 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
Additionally, the speed dip reduces with harmonic injection. Torque , p.u
1.4
(d)
6.2. Experimental results
Torque / RMS current ratio , p.u

1.2

The eleven phase machine is tested for the same conditions as 1

in simulation for both no-load and loading. Fig. 9 parts a to h shows
0.8
the filtered induced voltage from the search coil, which represents
the internal induced voltage, and the corresponding filtered sta- 0.6
tor phase current. The experimental results match the simulation
0.4
results. Moreover, it is clear from Fig. 9 parts (e–h), which match Fund
simulation results in Fig. 7 for the same parts, that air-gap flux 0.2 Third
waveform has almost equal tips with different harmonic injections. Fifth
0 Seventh
This means the proposed controller ensures alignment between the Ninth
fundamental component and injected harmonics where conven- -0.2
tional controller cannot cover this problem as previously explained 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
Torque , p.u
in Section 4 [23].
Fig. 12. Performance with harmonic injection versus per unit load torque (a) rms
6.3. Characteristic curves stator phase voltage in pu, (b) drive system efficiency, (c) input power factor, and
(d) torque/current ratio.

In this subsection, the torque–current characteristics, with dif-

ferent injection harmonic orders, are calculated and compared
with the experimental results for different mechanical loadings.
126 A.S. Abdel-Khalik et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 89 (2012) 116–128

4
With 3rd Harm. using proposed controller
3.5 With 3rd Harm. using PI controllers
Fundamental only

3
Is (rms) , A

2.5

1.5

1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Te , N.m

Fig. 13. Torque–current characteristics for fundamental sequence, proposed con-

troller using simple harmonic injection, and conventional controller using current
regulators (up to third harmonic).

Fig. 10 parts a to e illustrates the torque–current characteristic for

the proposed controller with different injection harmonic order
where the continuous line represents the simulation results and
the discrete points are the experimental results. Fig. 11a shows the
torque–current characteristic for all harmonics in one plot while
Fig. 11b shows the corresponding torque gain for different injec-
tions. For light loads and with only fundamental injection, the rms
current is the minimum value. As the mechanical load increases,
harmonic injection produces more torque gain with less stator cur-
rent. This means that it is better to operate the controller without
injection up to a certain torque/current, determined from the T/Irms
characteristic.
Then as the torque exceeds this load point, harmonic injec-
tion should be applied. For the studied prototype eleven-phase
machine, only the fundamental sequence should be applied if
the mechanical torque is less than 7.68 Nm (corresponding to an
rms phase current of 2.43 A). If the load torque exceeds 7.68 Nm,
third harmonic injection is optimal. For mechanical loads above
13.65 Nm (corresponding rms phase current is 3.49 A), up to the
fifth harmonic gives a better torque gain. The effect of the seventh
and ninth harmonic is not significant in the permissible phase cur-
rent range. This means that harmonic injection up to the 5th is
acceptable. The increase in torque due to third harmonic injection
is 12.4%. However, the torque increase is 13.3% when adding the
fifth harmonic.
Fig. 12 parts a to d shows the machine performance in terms of Fig. A1. (a) Stator cross section, (b) experimental setup and (c) test-rig photo.
the pu mechanical load torque. Part a shows the per unit rms phase
voltage which is a quasi square wave in its instantaneous form. For
the machine efficiency. The machine power factor decreases as the
a pure square wave the rms value of the voltage reaches 1.27 pu,
number of injected harmonics increases. This is because harmonic
however, the instantaneous value of the phase voltage does not
injection increases the required input reactive power to increase
exceed 1 pu. This is ensured using GA optimization technique. Con-
the machine flux (increased magnetizing current). The torque per
sequently, motor insulation has no effect because motor insulation
current ratio is useful in machine design which relates the gain in
is affected by the instantaneous value which will not violating 1 pu
torque per unit volume to the increase in the rms current which
peak value.
increases machine losses.
Part b shows the machine efficiency, part c shows the power
factor, and part d shows the torque per current ratio versus the
per unit mechanical load. As the mechanical load increases, the 7. Comparison between conventional and proposed
controller increases the applied voltage which increases the input controller
power. For the same mechanical load, as the number of injected
harmonic increases, the rms stator voltage increases due to the The controller comparison is based on third harmonic injection,
increase in the phase voltage waveform area which increases the which simplifies the tuning of the four PI-controllers in the con-
dc-link utilization and hence increases the controller stability limit ventional controller. Fig. 13 gives the torque–current characteristic
(non-saturating flux level). The machine exhibits better efficiency for both controllers, with only the fundamental sequence. The pro-
for mechanical loads up to 50% of the rated value without harmonic posed controller gives virtually the same results as the conventional
injection. However, for higher loads, harmonic injection improves controller, which validates the proposed technique.
 A.S. Abdel-Khalik et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 89 (2012) 116–128 127

Table A1 Pk active power for sequence k

Machine ratings.
Qk reactive power for sequence k
Rated power hp 3 R resistance
Synchronous speed rpm 1500 T transformation matrix
No of poles – 4
Te electromechanical torque
Phase voltage V 80
Phase current A 4
 rotor angular position
Supply frequency Hz 50  flux linkage
Number of phases – 11 r rotor time constant
Phase connections – Star ω angular frequency
Number of turns per stator phase – 80
ωsl slip angular frequency

Table A2
Machine parameters referred to the stator. Subscripts
d, q direct and quadrature axes
Rs 0.74 ls 5.3 mH
f synchronous reference frame
Rr1 1.0 lr1 16 mH Lm1 140.3 mH
Rr3 1.34 lr3 21.4 mH Lm3 17.97 mH m magnetizing
Rr5 2.78 lr5 44.4 mH Lm5 6.6 mH r rotor
Rr7 3.89 lr7 62.2 mH Lm7 3.7 mH s stator
Rr9 4.99 lr9 79.9 mH Lm9 2.4 mH

8. Conclusion
An indirect vector controlled multiphase induction motor drive
has been presented. The controller is based on orienting all machine
variables to the fundamental rotor flux space phasor. Only two
current regulators are used with a simple voltage decoupling net-
work to evaluate the fundamental dq voltage components; from
which the dq voltage components for each injected harmonic plane
are calculated. Compared to conventional indirect vector control,
the proposed technique avoids the use of multiple PI-controllers.
Moreover, it ensures the alignment between fundamental air-
gap flux and its harmonic injection components. This means the
flux distribution is not much affected by mechanical loading. The
machine performance under different injection harmonic orders
was simulated and experimentally investigated using a prototype
eleven phase induction machine. The machine torque has been
enhanced using harmonic injection with different harmonic orders.
The controller response is improved with harmonic injection. The
torque–current characteristic shows that for light loads, less than
about 50% of full load, it is not optimum to use harmonic injec-
tion, since the phase current for the same load torque is higher.
However, for higher mechanical loads, harmonic injection offers a
better torque per current ratio. Harmonic injection, up to the fifth,
is adequate in the permissible rms stator current range.
Appendix A.
Eleven-phase machine cross section, experimental setup and
test-rig are shown in Fig. A1 while Tables 1, A1 and A2 give the GA
optimization results for the maximum fundamental flux, machine
ratings, and machine parameters referred to the stator.
Appendix B. List of symbols
h number of planes
i current
k the sequence number
n number of phases
p differential operator
v voltage
B flux density
K gain in fundamental flux due to injection
L self Inductance
l leakage inductance
P number of poles
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