A unified wavelet-based approach to electrical machine modeling

S. Fedrigo

c),(7
A. Gandelli c),A. Monti <"), F. Ponci (')
Dipartimento di Elettrotecnica
Politecnico di Milano
Piazza Leonard0 da Vinci 32
20133 Milano (Italy)
Department of Electrical Engineering
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208 (USA)

Abstract- The paper presents an original approach to

electrical machine modeling based on wavelet transformation.
The main purpose of the approach is to give a more detailed
description of the field in the airgap removing the hypothesis of
sinusoidal field distribution typical of traditional space-phasor
approach. As result, more detailed closed-form analysis is
possible including torque ripple evaluation.
1.

INTRODUCTION

The modeling of air-gap electromotive force for motor

design or motor control has followed different ways. In
particular both numerical, through finite elements
computation and analytical ways have been followed. All the
proposed methods are in general time consuming [ 11-[2] and
are structured to supply high level of detail. On the other
hand the traditional space phasor approach implies a rough
approximation neglecting the presence of the slots and
assuming ideal materials and ideal conductors distribution.
The method here proposed allows the synthesis of a more
realistic model of the machine still requiring a low
computational effort.
The traditional approach for describing magnetic
interactions within electrical machines air-gap is based on a
simplified space representation of the magnetic field. In
particular, under ideal material conditions, the magnetomotive force along the air gap is square-shaped as reported in
Figure 1. For calculation purpose only the first harmonic in
space, corresponding to a sinusoidal winding distribution, is
considered.

This method will lead to satisfactory results compared with

traditional approach both in term of torque and torque ripple
analysis.
Starting from this new approach, we will achieve an
original and unified way to study rotating electrical machines
without the limits related to the electric currents waveform
and physical structures.
To achieve this result the Haar wavelet approach is used.
Haar wavelets proved to be particularly efficient in
synthetically represent a piecewise constant function with
compact support such as the magnetic field along the air gap
in electrical rotating machines.
11.

HAARTRANSFORM BASICS

The basics of Haar wavelet approach and applications are

widely presented in [l-71. In particular we recall here that the
orthogonal set of Haar functions, har(k,t), is defined from the
Haar mother wavelet

1 ifOlt<1/2
har(l,t)= -1 if 1 / 2 1 t < l

0 for any other interval

by translation of the non-negative integer n = k - 2' and

by contraction of 2' where j is the scale parameter. The
function har(O,t), equal to unity in the interval [0,1], closes
the orthogonal set.
In our studies we deal with finite sequences of N samples
of the analysed signal, { x ( n / N)} , where N = 2' A band-

limited Haar-transformable function is gven whose

maximum wavelet frequency equals to N/2. Uniform
sampling in the interval [0,1] is carried out, yielding a
sequence of N samples univocally related to the Haarsequence of N wavelet-coeficients. By ordering these
sequences respectively in the column vectors of samples
xNand coefficients X, ,the matrix relation follows:

Figure 1: electro-magnetic force along the air gap and its first space
harmonic within a rotating electrical machine

where we have introduced the square matrix [H,] , whose

N rows are made up of samples of ordered Haar-functions:

In this paper we propose a new simplified method to

analyze the magneto-motive force without these assumptions.

0-7803-7091
-0/01/$102001 IEEE

765

Due to the orthogonal properties of the Haar basis,

1'

[H
[H
inferred

]= [IN1, the following synthesis relation can be

xN=[HNkN

111.

(3

THE ELECTROMAGNETIC COUPLING JOINT: A SIMPLE CASE

Let us analyze a simple case of coupling joint (see Figure

2). We suppose to operate with an ideal iron material with
infinity permeability.
As result of that, we have:
1. The wave-shape of the magneto-motive force is
reported in Figure 1.
2. The superpositiontheorem holds.
..&et us suppose to analyze the magneto-motive force using
Haar wavelets. Simply by inspection, we can conclude that
only one component is present in the transformed domain. If
we put the space reference on the half-way between the two
terminals only the mother wavelet will be present.
This result makes clear that wavelets are as comfortable in
this application field as Fourier spectrum used to be in the
traditional space-phasor approach.
The whole waveform is synthesized without any
approximation,with just one coefficient.
Let us now suppose to superimpose the action of a second
coil so to create a joint structure where one coil is located on
the external structure and one on the internal structure (see
Figure 2).

Every coil will contribute to the field in the airgap creating

a magneto-motive force with the same waveform.
In this case we have to consider that the space allocation is
different and then the space reference should be changed in
order to obtain the same result in terms of spectrum
defition.
Thanks to the linearity of the transformation, the same
result can be obtained simply rotating the columns in the
Haar transformation matrix. In a few words, we can say that
to multiply the Haar matrix by a rotated vector corresponds to
multiply the matrix, with translated columns, by the fix
vector. This is the equivalent of Kennelly-Steinmetz operator
in the phasor theory (e'?.
Combining this result with the previous one, we can
conclude that we are able to superimpose whatever number of
coils in whatever position to define the total magneto-motive
force in the airgap.
Once the magneto-motive force is calculated, it is easy to
develop an equivalent expression to define the magnetic
induction in the airgap thanks to the following relationship:

766

Figure 2: The coupling joint, the wire current density and the generated
magneto-motive force

where:
1. b is the magnetic induction as function of the position
2. pais the air permeability
3. m is the magneto-motive force as function of the position
4. t the size of the airgap

Every coefficient involved is constant so that the spectrum

for the magneto-motive force can be immediately converted
in the spectrum for the magnetic induction.
The main question is now: how many wavelets do we need
to achieve a good signal reconstruction? The answer is
related to the structure of the machine, in particular there is
virtually no approximation if we suppose to use as many
wavelet as the slots in the airgap

1v.

ENERGY
AND TORQUE EVALUATION

Following the typical procedure applied for the spacephasor approach, we can now define the energy and the
torque in the new domain.
First of all, the Haar transformation is an orthogonal one
and then energy does not change changing the domain. This

means that we can calculate the energy stored in the airgap

directly in the new domain. The calculation is rather simple
thanks to the linear algebra properties of the Haar domain.
With reference to the simple magnetic joint structure, the
energy stored can be defined as:

where I is the length of the magnetic structure.

The main problem now is the calculation of the integral
defined over the airgap.
Working with a discrete-space approach, and considering
the step-wise wave-shape of the magnetic induction, the
following relationship holds:

W=-

2%

jb2d29= -0
2% N,,

In this case we suppose a two-phase winding on the stator

and a single coil on the rotor. For sake of simplicity we
perform the calculation having 4 slots on the stator and 2 on
the rotor. We want to study the torque as a function of the
rotor position in steady state condition, when the rotor is
rotating synchronouswith the field created by the stator coils.
The current distribution at the machine air gap surface
shows four pulses (the stator current sources) with variable
amplitude, and two pulses with fixed amplitude but moving
location along the periphery. Applying the same procedure
described in what above, the total field can be calculated
superimposing the action of the three windings.
As result the field will be represented with a restricted
number of coefficients in the Haar domain. After that the
torque can be estimated for every rotor position.
The results of this analysis are reported in Figure 3.

00

039

.
.
.

04

TOVC

034

a36

where p] is the vector containing the sampling of the

magnetic induction, and Nwv is the number of samples that
will be equal to the number of wavelets.
Let us now suppose to apply the Haar transform matrix
[HI, we have:

a42
0
4
4
046

W=-- I

2%

I 2n
[bY[b]=-[by [HI' [HIbl=
Nwllv
2tP* Nwm
2n

048
Q5

767

proposed approach, is introduced and also reproduced in the

study of the constructive characteristics of the machme.
As shown in what follows, linear algebra allows us to
consider anisotropy in Haar domain as a variable. The
expression in Haar domain is obtained simply by multiplying
the magneto-motive force in the Haar domain by a suitable
matrix T.
-1 6 5

,
.,.

.
#
,,

,,

,
..
.

##

,
..

,,

,,

Figure 4: the new sampling basis for the analysis of three-phase synchronous
machine

The torque ripple obtained with respect to the displacement

angle between stator and rotor field is shown in Figure 5.

-'.,':

-2.05

I
I"

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

10.

Displacement:

Figure 6: Torque ripple of a three phase synchronous machine having q=3

Being:
.I

.,.

,.

,.

,.

I.

I.

I .

I O

..

I..

$ 0

within the Haar domain the following holds:

[Hl.[bl= P o [ H l . [ ~ x ) ] , + l
. * I

,.

I *

I ,

*e

'

I ,

'

1 0

'

I ,

I .

'

4 1

'

3 0

'

where

Figure 5: Torque ripple vs displacement for three phase synchronous

machine

In case of more slots for each phase, the magneto-motive

force presents a more irregular form. Its analysis within the
Haar domain simply needs a larger matrix size. As already
stated, the minimum size of the sampling matrix is related to
the number of slots in the machine.
Once the magneto-motive force is synthesized for each
phase, the torque ripple is obtained. In Figure 6 the torque
ripple is reported for a three phase synchronous machine with
slots per pole per phase ratio q=3.

VII.

AIRGAPANISOTROPY

One of the limits of space-phasor approach is the

hypothesis of constant airgap. The anisotropy condition can
be analysed anyway, but it requires more complex analytical
elaboration like a rotating reference.
The problem can be easily managed in the Haar domain.
The concept of modularity of the calculation, proper of the

768

1 0

/g

and follows:

and eventually:
bwnvelet

= Po .[TI-"!wavelet

VIII.

APPLICATIONS

A. Unified approach to torque ripple modeling

The possibility to study machines with a typical current
waveform is one of the main aspects of the proposed
approach. No assumption is needed concerning -current. The
Haar matrix can synthesize the magneto-motive force and
calculate the torque in a closed form. For the same reason we
can approach the analysis of DC and AC brushless machine
without any a priori Qfference. Moreover a certain
computational speed makes the application of wavelet
approach possible even in real time.
B. Minimization of torque ripple
Coming to on-line application, the method can be easily
applied to determine the optimum current waveform for any
kind of rotating machine in order to limit the torque ripple.
The approach here introduced allows the definition of a
unified approach to the solution of this problem also for nonclassical machines.
In particular, the approach can be applied to modular
machines where every single winding is controlled by a
single inverter, producing a non-typical induction waveform.
IX.

CONCLUSION

A new wavelet based approach in the study of electrical

rotating machines was introduced. The Haar domain
approach allows the analysis of different kind of machines;
the torque and torque ripple calculation without any
assumption related to the current waveform. Anisotropy of
the machine can be handled as well. With this new approach
the differences between machines vanish and a unified way to
study modeling and control is opened.

REFERENCES

[l] K.F.Rasmussen, J;H.Davies, T.J.E.Miller, M.I.McGilp,

M.Olaru "Analytical and Numerical Computation of AirGap Magnetic Fields in Brushless Motors with Surface
Permanent Magnets", IEEE Trans. On Industry
Applications, Vol. 36, No. 6, NovDec 2000
[2] J.De La Ree, N. Boules, "Torque Production in
Permanet-Magnet Synchronous Motors", IEEE Trans.
On IA, Vo1.25,No. 1, Jan/Feb 1989, pp. 107-112
[3] S. Santoso, E. J. Powers, W. M. Grady - P. Hofmann,
"Power Quality Assessment via Wavelet Transform
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spectra for periodic switching circuits", IEEE PESCOO,
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