512
4, AUGUST 1997
Voltage Control Strategy for Maximum Torque
Operation of an Induction Machine
in the Field-Weakening Region
Sang-Hoon Kim and Seung-Ki Sul, Member, IEEE
Abstract— In this paper, a novel field-weakening scheme for
the induction machine is presented. The proposed algorithm,
based on the voltage control strategy, ensures the maximum
torque operation over the entire field-weakening region without
using the machine parameters. Also, by introducing the direct
field-oriented (DFO) control, which is insensitive to the variation
of machine parameters in the field-weakening region, the drive
system can obtain robustness to parameter variations. Moreover,
the speed sensorless control can be achieved in the very-high-
speed range, where the utilization of the speed sensor is limited.
Experimental results for the laboratory induction motor drive
system confirm the validity of the proposed control algorithm.
Index Terms— Field-weakening scheme, high-speed operation,
maximum torque control, sensorless control.
NOMENCLATURE
-axis component of stator current in synchronous
reference frame.
-axis component of stator current in synchronous
reference frame.
-axis component of stator voltage in synchronous
reference frame.
-axis component of stator voltage in synchronous
reference frame.
-axis component of rotor flux in stationary reference
frame.
-axis component of rotor flux in stationary reference
frame.
Stator resistance.
Rotor resistance.
Number of poles.
Mutual inductance.
Rotor self inductance.
Excitation angular frequency.
Rotor angular frequency.
Rotor flux angle.
Stator self inductance.
Stator transient inductance.
Total leakage factor.
Manuscript received October 12, 1995; revised November 17, 1996.
S.-H. Kim is with the Department of Electrical Engineering,
KangWon National University, Kangwon-Do, 200-701 Korea (e-mail:
kshoon@cc.kangwon.ac.kr).
S.-K. Sul is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Seoul National
University, Seoul, 151-742 Korea (e-mail: sul@cae.wisc.edu).
Publisher Item Identifier S 0278-0046(97)05267-2.
0278–0046/97$10.00  1997 IEEE
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 44, NO.
Rotor time constant.
Quantities with “ˆ” mean estimated quantities.
Quantities with “ ” mean reference quantities.
I. INTRODUCTION
I N many applications, such as ac servo, traction, and spindle
drives, the high-speed capability of the machine is required.
In the induction machine drive, this is easily achieved over an
extended high-speed range by means of field weakening [1].
In the field-weakening region, since available voltage is
limited due to the limitation of dc-link voltage, available torque
is reduced. Therefore, the optimal utilization of voltage is
required to fully utilize the maximum torque capability of the
drive system under the limited voltage condition [2], [3]. A
conventional field-weakening method is to set the rotor-flux
reference inversely proportional to the rotor speed (“ ”
method) [4]. By this method, however, the machine cannot
yield the maximum output torque in the field-weakening
region, because the voltage margin enough to regulate the
command current cannot be maintained [2], [3]. Some ap-
proaches have been proposed to overcome this problem [2],
[5]–[7]. However, these approaches also cannot fully ensure
the maximum torque operation over the entire high-speed
range, which is well described in [3]. Another approach offered
an analytic solution of the optimal flux reference for producing
the maximum torque in the whole field-weakening region,
but its full effectiveness depends on the accuracy of machine
parameters [3].
In this paper, a new field-weakening scheme by the voltage
control strategy is presented. The proposed scheme can carry
out efficiently the maximum torque operation in the whole
field-weakening region by controlling the machine voltage
according to the optimal voltage pattern selected to produce
the maximum torque. The maximum torque in this study is
defined as a maximum absolute value of the torque under the
limit conditions of voltage and current at a particular speed
in the field-weakening region. Also, by introducing direct
field-oriented control in the field-weakening region where the
machine parameters vary widely, the drive system can obtain
the robustness to parameter variations.
At very high speeds, the encoder sensor pulse loses its
symmetry, and the maximum frequency of the sensor pulse
is limited by the processing capability of the microprocessor
[8]. Thus, it is hard to perform the speed control precisely
KIM AND SUL: VOLTAGE CONTROL STRATEGY FOR MAXIMUM TORQUE OPERATION
with a sensor in higher speeds. Therefore, in this paper, the
speed sensorless control was carried out in the very-high-speed
range.
The validity of the proposed scheme is confirmed by the ex-
perimental results for the 2.2- and 22-kW laboratory induction
motor drive systems.
II. VOLTAGE CONTROL STRATEGY
FOR MAXIMUM TORQUE OPERATION
A. Constraints in Operating Conditions
The maximum voltage that the inverter can apply
to the machine is limited by available dc-link voltage and
pulsewidth modulation (PWM) strategy. In this paper, a PWM
strategy based on voltage space vector is used, and then
is limited to [9]. Also, the maximum machine current
is limited by the inverter current rating and the machine
thermal rating. Therefore, the machine voltage and current are
always subject to the following limits:
(1)
(2)
The steady-state voltage equations of the induction machine
in the synchronously rotating reference frame are given by [10]
(3)
(4)
In high-speed operation, the stator resistance effect is negligi-
ble in (3) and (4). Then the current-limit constraint of (2) is
rewritten by combining (2)–(4) as
(5)
This current-limit boundary given by (5) is an ellipse that
is a function of the operating frequency , while the voltage-
limit boundary of (1) is a circle the radius of which is a
constant value available from the inverter. Fig. 1 shows the
voltage-limit and the current-limit boundaries in the –
voltage plane for several operating frequencies. For conve-
nience, instead of is used in figures. The operating
region of and voltages to satisfy the limit conditions
of both voltage and current is inside the common area of the
circle and the ellipse at a given operating frequency (shaded
area in Fig. 1). The current-limit ellipse becomes larger as the
operating frequency increases. This means that the inverter has
to supply more voltage for the machine to regulate the current
as the operating frequency increases.
In the steady state, the torque equation of an induction
machine can be written as [10]
(6)
It can be further simplified as the product of and by
using (3) and (4) as
(7)
513
Fig. 1. Available voltage boundary.
where
The maximum product of and under a certain
condition means the maximum torque under that condition.
Thus, to get the maximum torque under the limit conditions
of voltage and current, the value of (7) should be maximized
in the shaded area in Fig. 1.
B. Optimal Voltage for Producing Maximum Torque
The whole field-weakening region can be divided into two
subregions. In each subregion, the optimal voltage for yielding
the maximum torque is described as follows.
1) Region I : In the normal speed re-
gion, the magnitude of required voltage
to regulate the rated and currents is always less than
. As the operating frequency increases, the magnitude
of further increases, as shown in Fig. 2(a). At the base
frequency nearly equals [point in Fig.
2(a)]. Above for regulating the rated current
exceeds (point ). Consequently, it deviates from the
available voltage boundary mentioned previously. Therefore,
needs adjusting to satisfy the available voltage boundary.
It means that the field-weakening operation has to begin
at this frequency. Among the voltage vectors satisfying the
available voltage boundary, point is optimal for producing
the maximum torque. It is because the curve that represents
a constant torque locus has the maximum value at point ,
which is the intersection of the voltage-limit circle and the
current-limit ellipse. By using this optimal voltage vector,
the maximum output torque under the limit conditions of
both voltage and current can be obtained. In region I, the
locus of the optimal voltage vector moves rightward along the
boundary of the voltage-limit circle as the operating frequency
increases, as shown in Fig. 2(a).
2) Region II : As the operating frequency further
increases, the current-limit ellipse is much larger, and the
optimal voltage vector coincides with point at ,
as shown in Fig. 2(b). Point is optimal for producing the
maximum torque only under the voltage-limit constraint of
(1). At this frequency, equals , and then the operation
of region II begins. Above , the optimal voltage vector for
producing the maximum torque is not the intersection point
as in the case of region I, but it is always the point
514 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 44, NO. 4, AUGUST 1997

Fig. 3. Block diagram of voltage controller.

(a)

As the operating frequency is further increased, is

reduced more and is increased more as the result of the
maximum torque operation. When is equal to , then
region II begins. The maximum torque operation of region II
requires that both and continue keeping to .
For this purpose, PI 1 controller adjusts in order to keep
below and, at the same time, PI 2 controller
adjusts in order to keep at . As a result,
and are always equal to regardless of the
operating frequency. This leads to reduction of both and
(b)
.
Fig. 2. Optimal voltage vector. (a) Region I. (b) Region II. In this way, the voltage controller can carry out efficiently
the maximum torque operation without the machine parameter
regardless of the operating frequency, as shown in Fig. 2(b). data in the whole field-weakening region.
Therefore, the attainable maximum output torque in region II
is determined only by the voltage-limit constraint as B. Control Strategy for Excellent Dynamic Torque Response
(8) In this voltage control strategy, the dynamic performance
depends on the selected operating point in the steady state.
For example, after the load is changed from the maximum
III. IMPLEMENTATION OF VOLTAGE CONTROL STRATEGY load to a half load , the machine can be operated at
several operating points, as shown in Fig. 4.
A. Voltage Control for Maximum Torque Operation If is controlled to keep regardless of the re-
Fig. 3 shows a block diagram of the voltage controller that duction of load, the operating point moves along the boundary
adjusts the machine input voltage according to the optimal of the voltage-limit circle from point to point . In this
reference voltage for the maximum torque operation in the case, is decreased due to the reduction of , while
whole field-weakening region. It consists of two PI controllers. is increased with the increase of . As a result, the
One (PI 1) controls the field-component current to adjust flux is increased. At this operating point , if the maximum
the machine input voltage and the other (PI 2) controls the torque operation is required, the dynamic torque response
maximum value of the torque-component current degrades because the flux has to be changed. Point is also an
to adjust . In each region, the voltage controller operates undesirable operating point because the flux is greatly changed
as follows. during the load change. The excellent dynamic torque response
When the required machine voltage begins to exceed the can be achieved from the operation at point , where the
maximum voltage due to the increase of the operating flux remains unchanged at the value of the maximum torque
frequency, the voltage controller starts on the field-weakening operation regardless of the load. For this operation, is
operation. The optimal voltage vector in region I has to be required to keep the value at the maximum torque operation
kept on the intersection point of the voltage-limit circle and regardless of the load. The control block diagram for this
the current-limit ellipse that varies as the operating frequency. operation is shown in Fig. 5.
For this operation, PI 1 controller adjusts so that This controller always watches the difference between
cannot exceed . This results in reduction of , and and . They make a difference in case of the
then is reduced. But continues to increase. On the reduction of load. In such a case, the controller keeps
other hand, since PI 2 controller is saturated in region I, it the value at the maximum torque operation by holding
outputs the maximum value of that increases to utilize the value at the maximum torque operation. There-
the current rating fully according to reduction of . As a fore, the flux remains the value at the maximum torque
result, in region I, is reduced, but is increased. operation.
KIM AND SUL: VOLTAGE CONTROL STRATEGY FOR MAXIMUM TORQUE OPERATION 515

Fig. 4. Voltage vector selection for load reduction. Fig. 6. Block diagram of the whole control system.

TABLE I
RATINGS AND PARAMETERS OF 2.2-kW INDUCTION MOTOR.

3 hp, 220 V, 6 poles, 60Hz, 1140 r/min

Rs 0.62
Rr 0.55

Lls 3.54 mH Llr 3.54 mH

Lm 61.2 mH Jm 0.04 kg1m2

TABLE II
Fig. 5. Block diagram of controller for load change. RATINGS AND PARAMETERS OF 22-kW INDUCTION MOTOR.

30 hp, 220 V, 4 poles, 60 Hz, 1765 r/min

C. Direct Field-Oriented Control and Sensorless Control Rs 0.0413
Rr 0.35

Lls 1.8 mH Llr 1.8 mH

In the field-weakening region, the machine-parameter mag- Lm 13.28 mH Jm 0.122 kg1m2
netizing inductance varies easily, due to the variation of the
flux. Rotor resistance is also subjected to variation according to
temperature. In this paper, the control insensitive to parameters where, . Then, the excitation frequency can
is realized by using the direct field-orientation (DFO) approach be estimated by
in the field-weakening region. The rotor flux for DFO can be
estimated from the stator voltage and current as follows [11]:

(9)
(13)
(10)

where The slip angular frequency is sensitive to the rotor resistance.

derivative operator. Then, the rotor flux angle is given by However, since it is a much smaller value than the excitation
frequency at high speeds, the estimated speed is little affected
by the inaccuracy of the slip angular frequency, due to the
(11)
error of the rotor resistance.

This DFO approach at higher speeds is insensitive to ro-
tor resistance and stator resistance. Furthermore, it does not
require the information of the variation of magnetizing induc-
tance in the field-weakening region. Therefore, this approach
gives good performance, robust to parameter variations in the
high-speed region.
For very-high-speed ranges, speed control with an encoder
sensor has some problems, as mentioned previously. In this pa-
per, the speed control without an encoder sensor is performed
in the very-high-speed ranges. For sensorless control, the rotor
speed is estimated from the slip angular frequency used in the
indirect field orientation as follows:
(12)
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The experiments were carried out to verify the proposed
scheme for 2.2-kW and 22-kW induction motor drive systems.
The whole control algorithm, including the proposed scheme,
was fully implemented in software with a TMS320C30 digital
signal processor (DSP). The whole control system is shown
in Fig. 6. The parameters of two induction motors are listed
in Tables I and II.
Figs. 7 and 8 show the experimental results of the field
weakening operation of 2.2- and 22-kW induction motor drive
systems with the proposed scheme, respectively. The indirect
field-oriented control is switched to the direct-oriented control
in the field-weakening region. Sensorless speed controls begin
at 2000 r/min for the 2.2-kW motor and 2500 r/min for the
516 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 44, NO. 4, AUGUST 1997

(a) (a)

(b) (b)

(c) (c)

(d) (d)

(e)
(e)

Fig. 7. Experimental results of field weakening operation (2.2 kW).

Fig. 8. Experimental results of field weakening operation (22 kW).

22-kW motor. From speed and current figures, it is seen that

transfer into the field-weakening operation and the direct-
oriented control is smooth, and the sensorless speed control
performs well.
Fig. 7(d) shows the and voltages that are controlled
according to the voltage pattern for the maximum torque
operation. The – plot [Fig. 7(e)] of these voltages shows
the locus of the maximum torque operation that moves along
the boundary of the voltage-limit circle as the operating
frequency increases in region I and is kept at the point of
in region II. Fig. 7(b) shows that
is increased in region I, but decreased in region II, as the
result of the maximum torque operation. In the steady state,
and are held to be constant for keeping the flux to be
constant. This ensures the excellent dynamic torque response
when the maximum torque operation is again required, which
is verified from Fig. 9.
Fig. 9(a) and (b) show the dynamic responses of the
torque-component current for the 2.2-kW motor when the
command speed is changed. Fig. 9(a) is the case that
is controlled to keep (point in Fig. 4) in the steady
state. In this case, the dynamic response of degrades, owing
to the flux variation according to load. Fig. 9(b) is the case
that is controlled to keep the value at the maximum torque
operation in the steady state (point in Fig. 4). In this case,
since the flux is not changed, the excellent dynamic response
of can be obtained.
Fig. 10 compares the speed response of the proposed
scheme with that of the conventional “ ” method when
the command speed is changed. In the proposed scheme that
can achieve the maximum torque operation in the whole field-
weakening region, the acceleration time required to reach
the command speed is shorter than in the “ ” method.
KIM AND SUL: VOLTAGE CONTROL STRATEGY FOR MAXIMUM TORQUE OPERATION
(a)
(b)
Fig. 9. Transient response of ieqs for change of command speed (2.2 kW).
e . (b) Constant v e .
(a) Constant vgds qs
This result indicates that the output torque can be increased
considerably by adopting the proposed scheme. Also, it is seen
that the output torque for a 22-kW motor with a large leakage
factor is more improved than for a 2.2-kW motor with a small
leakage factor by adopting the proposed scheme.
V. CONCLUSION
Considering the constraints of voltage and current, a novel
field-weakening scheme to fully use the maximum torque
capability of the induction machine over the entire high-speed
range was presented. Since the proposed scheme using the
machine voltage control strategy makes no use of the machine
517
(a)
(b)
Fig. 10. Speed response comparison proposed method with ‘1=!r ’ method.
(a) 2.2-kW motor. (b) 22-kW motor.
parameters, robust maximum torque operation can be possible
over the entire field-weakening region. Also, for the drive
system robust to parameter variations, the direct field-oriented
control, which is insensitive to the variation of machine
parameters, is used in the field-weakening region. Also, the
speed sensorless control is carried out in the very-high-speed
ranges, where the utilization of a speed sensor is limited.
Experimental results confirm the validity of the proposed
control algorithm and verify that the proposed scheme provides
an improved torque capability over the conventional “ ”
method in the field-weakening region.
REFERENCES
[1] J. M. D. Murphy and F. G. Turnbull, Power Electronic Control of AC
Motors. New York: Pergamon, 1988, pp. 284–287.
[2] X. Xu and D. W. Novotny, “Selecting the flux reference for induc-
tion machine drives in the field weakening region,” IEEE Trans. Ind.
Applicat., vol. 28, pp. 1353–1358, Nov./Dec. 1992.
[3] S. H. Kim and S. K. Sul, “The maximum torque control of an induction
machine in the field weakening region,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol.
31, pp. 787–794, July/Aug. 1994.
[4] P. Vas, Vector Control of AC Machines, Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon,
1990, pp. 124–126.
[5] X. Xu, R. De Donker, and D. W. Novotny, “Stator flux orientation
control of induction machines in the field weakening region,” in Conf.
Rec. IEEE-IAS Annu. Meeting, 1988, pp. 437–443.
[6] J. Wiesing and H. Grotstollen, “Field oriented control of an asyn-
chronous motor with a very wide region of flux weakening,” in Proc.
IEEE-IES Symp., 1992, pp. 606–610.
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[7] Y. T. Kao and C. H. Liu, “Analysis and design of microprocessor-based
vector-controlled induction motor drives,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat.,
vol. 39, pp. 46–54, Jan./Feb. 1992.
[8] T. Kume et al., “A high-speed vector-controlled spindle motor drive
with closed transition between with encoder control and without encoder
control,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 28, pp. 421–426, Mar./Apr.
1992.
[9] H. W. Van Der Broeck et al., “Analysis and realization of a pulse-width
modulator based on voltage space vectors,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat.,
vol. 24, pp. 142–150, Jan./Feb. 1988.
[10] D. W. Novotny and R. D. Lorenz, “Introduction to field orientation and
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Seung-Ki Sul (S’78-M’80) received the B.S., M.S.,
and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from
Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 1980,
1983, and 1986, respectively.
He was with the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin,
Madison, as a Research Associate from 1986 to
1988. From 1988 to 1990, he was with GoldStar
Industrial Systems Company as a Principal Research
Engineer. Since 1990, he has been with the De-
partment of Electrical Engineering, Seoul National
University, Seoul, Korea. His current research interests are in the area of
high-performance electric machine controls using power electronics. He is
conducting various research projects for industrial systems, the results of
which are applied to industrial high-power electric machine control.

Sang-Hoon Kim (S’92-M’95) received the B.S.,

M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering
from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in
1987, 1989, and 1994, respectively.
From 1994 to 1995, he was a Senior Research
Engineer with the Institute for Advanced Engineer-
ing, DaeWoo, Korea, where he was engaged in the
design of linear motor and electric vehicle drive
systems. In 1996, he was with DaeWoo Heavy
Industries Ltd., Kyunggi-do, Korea, where he was
involved in the development of propulsion systems
for rolling stock. He is currently with the Department of Electrical Engineer-
ing, KangWon National University, Kangwon-Do, Korea. His teaching and
research interests are power electronics and ac motor drives.