Optimal Control for a Hybrid Excited Dual Mechanical Port Electric Machine

An electrical variable transmission (EVT) is an electrical machine consisting of a stator and two concentric rotors. It is a competitive alternative for power split devices used in current series-parallel hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Although tending to have high power densities, permanent magnet (PM) machines suffer from no-load iron losses. Since the torque interaction between stator and outer rotor is low during large time intervals, the EVT in this paper possesses a flux bridge with dc-field winding to modulate the stator field, while maintaining the inner rotor flux linkage. In this paper, a torque controller is proposed that optimally combines the stator, dc-field, and inner rotor currents in order to minimize the copper and iron losses in every operating point of torque and speed on both rotors. Also the electromagnetic coupling between both rotors is considered. It turns out that there are two optimal load angles for the stator currents, of which one of the two is dominant depending on speed and torque. The control is tested on a 120 kW prototype EVT, and measurement results are given to illustrate the optimal performance obtained with the proposed torque control. In addition, efficiencies are measured in order to support the statements made concerning the proposed method.