AN002-Efficiency Map of 100-kW PMSM Drive

Efficiency Map of 100-kW PMSM Drive
Altair PSIM Application Note
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Altair PSIM Application Note / Efficiency Map of 100-kW PMSM Drive
Overview
The efficiency map of a motor drive system is important design information as it gives system
engineers a picture of the overall efficiency of the drive and what operating point to operate at for
maximum efficiency.
The generation of the efficiency map of a PMSM drive system, however, is a significant task. It
involves comprehensive load testing of the complete PMSM drive system with a motor dynamometer.
The workload, time, and cost prohibit such activity most times. It is particularly true for a large power
size PMSM drive system. The alternative way to obtain the efficiency map of a large power PMSM
drive system is often through simulation. The finite element analysis (FEA) based motor model with
accurate motor control as well as with automated simulations is required to obtain the efficiency map
of the complete PMSM drive system. The simulation setup of a motor control system for a FEA-
based motor is a non-trivial task by itself, and the script programming is also required for the
automation of simulations.
The Motor Control Design Suite and automation script features make this task considerably easier.
Pre-built design templates are provided for FEA based motors from JMAG (in JMAG-RT format) and
motor control functions. Based on minimum system specifications, the Motor Control Design Suite
automatically designs all the controllers for speed and current loops with properly specified crossover
frequencies and stability margins, and implements advanced control algorithms such as Maximum-
Torque-Per-Ampere (MTPA) control, field weakening control, and Maximum-Torque-Per-Volt
(MTPV) control. It will generate a complete system that is operational and ready to simulate in
minutes. The script programming code can help to automate numerous simulations without users’
intervention for generating efficiency data of the PMSM drive system.
This application note describes how to generate the efficiency map of a 100-kW PMSM motor drive
system using the PMSM (IPM) Drive (JMAG-RT)(torque control) template and the script code
efficiency map - speed-torque limit script code. Files for this application note can be found in the
folder “Application Notes\Efficiency map of 100-kW PMSM Drive” in PSIM.
Please refer to a companion application note Control Design of 100-kW PMSM Drive (AN001).pdf
for speed control design of the same motor.
In PMSM (IPM) Drive (JMAG-RT) template, the IPM motor is modeled in a JMAG-RT model. A
JMAG-RT model is derived from JMAG finite element analysis. It delivers a very high level of fidelity
and accuracy as compared to the actual motor, with all nonlinear effects (such as saturation, spatial
harmonics) included.
Unlike the motor in the linear PMSM drive system, the JMAG-RT motor in this system is nonlinear,
and d‐axis and q‐axis inductances are functions of the motor currents Id and Iq. The nonlinear
inductances Ld and Lq are conveniently obtained from the JMAG-RT model in real time, and are fed
back to various control blocks to achieve the optimal control performance.
The power losses of the PMSM motor including copper loss and core loss can be obtained from the
JMAG-RT model, and the power loss of the drive including switching loss and conduction loss can
also be obtained from IGBT thermal module during the simulation. Hence the PMSM drive system
power loss and efficiency can be easily derived from the power losses of the PMSM and its drive.
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System Specifications
The 100-kW PMSM is based on the JMAG-RT motor model PMSM RTML-034 available from
https://www.jmag-international.com/modellibrary/034/). It has the following parameters:
Model: 100k_D_C_IV Height: 89 mm
Model Name: PMSM Magnet: Neodymium sintered
Max. Power: 100 kW Mass: 83.55 kg
Voltage/Current: 500 Vdc/200 A Max. Motor Current: 283 A
Number of Poles: 12 Average Torque: 178 N*m
Number of Slots: 18 Ld: 0.24 mH
Number of Phases: 3 Lq: 0.36 mH
Rotor: IPM Inductance: 0.19 mH
Stator (outside dia.): 400 mm Torque Constant: 0.627 N*m/A
Stator (inside dia.): 260 mm Max. Speed: 9000 rpm
Stator: Distributed winding Inertia: 0.198 Kg*m^2
A 3-phase inverter with a 500-V dc bus and 283A current will be used to drive the motor.
Step-by-Step Design Procedure

Several major steps are needed in order to derive the efficiency map of a PMSM drive system using
the Motor Control Design Suite:
‐ Create an operational torque control system for the PMSM motor drive.
‐ Use the thermal module of the inverter to obtain the IGBT power loss, and add efficiency
calculation.
‐ Run the script code to sweep the speed and torque and automatically simulate the motor
drive at different operating points and obtain the efficiency map of the drive system.
‐ Plot the efficiency map contour.
Follow the steps below to perform the efficiency map generation.
Step 1: Launch the Design Suite template.

In PSIM, go to Design Suites >> Motor Control Design Suite, and select PMSM (IPM) Drive
(JMAG-RT)(torque control). Choose the folder to unpack the files. The template will be loaded to
PSIM as shown below.
PMSM in JMAG-RT
Parameter Advanced
Panel Torque Control
The Input Parameter Panel of the template and the PMSM block in the JMAG-RT model are
highlighted in red. The advanced Torque Control block (also highlighted in red) includes MTPA,
field weakening, and MTPV control all in one.
Step 2: Load the JMAG-RT model file.

Double click on the PMSM block. The following dialog menu will appear:
Click on the Browse button (highlighted in red above). Select and load the correct JMAG-RT file for
the 100-kW PMSM, as shown below:
For this JMAG-RT model, the spatial harmonics model is available. Set the Accuracy Type to Spatial
Harmonics to take into account the spatial harmonics effect.
Step 3: Enter system parameters.

Enter parameters of DC Bus, Inverter, Load, Motor, and Motor Controller in the Parameter Panel
based on design requirement, operation conditions, and motor parameters, as shown below:
DC Bus:
Vdc (operating dc bus voltage): 500
Inverter
fsw (switching frequency): 20k

Is_max (maximum inverter current): 283
Load:
Nm_load (load speed): 6000
Motor:
Rs (stator resistance): 0.002

Ld (d‐axis inductance): 0.22m
Lq (q‐axis inductance): 0.35m
Ke (back EMF constant): 80.3
P (number of poles): 12
J (moment of inertia): 0.198
T_shaft (shaft time constant): 100
P_max (maximum power): 100k
nm_max (maximum speed): 9000
Motor Controller:
Vtri (PWM carrier amplitude): 1
fsam (current loop sampling frequency): 20k
fsam_w (speed loop sampling frequency): 20k
fcr_i (current loop crossover frequency): 2k
fcr_Te (torque loop crossover frequency): 200
Te_cmd (torque command): 160
One needs to decide the proper values of the switching frequency fsw, the sampling frequency fsam
of the current loop, and the sampling frequency fsam_w of the speed loop. One also needs to decide
the crossover frequencies fcr_i and fcr_Te of the current loop and the torque loop. Typically, fcr_i
should be roughly fsam/10 or less, and fcr_Te should be roughly fcr_i/10 or less.
For this motor, considering the power level of 100 kW, we choose fsw, fsam, and fsam_w to be 20
kHz, fcr_i to be 2kHz, and fcr_Te to be 200 Hz.
Click on the button Update Parameter File to update the system parameters for simulation.
Step 4: Run simulation to validate a functional and stable motor drive system.
Once the parameter file is updated, it’s ready to run the simulation. It is important that the system is
functionally stable and has reached the steady state.
Again, one may need to adjust fsw, fsam, fsam_w, fcr_i, fcr_Te, and the simulation time step to
achieve the desired performance. Also, adjust the simulation time so that motor torque and system
efficiency reach the steady state.
One key simulation waveform to watch is the modulation signal Vma at the input of the PWM block.
The waveform Vma should not be severely out of the range of the carrier wave.
Simulation results from this step are shown below.
The waveforms show the start-up transient of the 100-kW IPM drive from 0 to 160 Nm at the speed
of 6000 rpm.
The traces in the first window are the motor currents.
The traces in the second window are the torque reference and the actual torque. It reaches 160 Nm
around 0.2 s.
The trace in the third window is the modulation signal Vma.
Step 5: Run simulation again to validate system efficiency calculation.

Make changes to the simulation schematics highlighted in red shown below and run the simulation:
‐ Replace the inverter with an inverter from the Thermal Module for loss calculation.
‐ Add circuit to obtain motor power loss from the JMAG-RT motor model.
‐ Add circuit to obtain motor torque from the JMAG-RT motor model.
‐ Add efficiency calculation circuit to obtain the motor drive system efficiency.
Motor power
IGBT Thermal losses
Module
Motor torque
Efficiency
Calculation
In this example, we select the Infineon HybridPACK 2 IGBT FS800R07A2E3 for the inverter, and
two HybridPACK 2 connected in parallel are used.
The motor copper loss and iron loss are obtained from the JMAG-RT model. A low-pass filter is
used at each power loss output to smooth out the waveform.
The motor developed torque is also obtained from the JMAG-RT model. This torque contains a
significant amount of spatial harmonics, and a low-pass filter is used to smooth out the waveform.
The efficiency calculation subcircuit is given in the PSIM folder “Application notes\Efficiency Map of
100-kW”.
Simulation results from this step are shown below.
The waveforms show the steady state of the 100-kW IPM drive.
The trace in the first window is the motor speed (6000 RPM).
The trace in the second window is the steady state motor torque of around 160 Nm.
The trace in the third window is the steady state system efficiency of around 96.2%.
Step 6: Run automated simulations with the script code and plot the efficiency map.
After the simulation is fully set up and ready to generate the efficiency map, one can run simulations
by sweep the torque command and the load speed, and record the system efficiency. In this example,
Te_cmd is set as 20, 40, …, 200 Nm (10 points), and nm_load is set as 1000, 2000, …, 9000 RPM
(9 points). For this example, a total of 90 simulations (i.e. 9x10) are required to capture the complete
system efficiency data over the entire speed-torque range, and this is a big and time-consuming task.
PSIM’s script function can be used to automate the process. A script code “efficiency map – speed-
torque limit.script” is prepared to run all the simulations, record the efficiency map data (system
efficiency eff_Drive, motor efficiency eff_motor and inverter efficiency eff_inv vs. the speed nm and
torque Tem), and create three Matlab m files for plotting the contour maps of the motor, inverter and
drive system efficiencies in the Matlab software.
Before running the script code, one needs to disable the speed and torque commands from the
parameter file in the simulation schematic as shown below:
To run the script, load the script “efficiency maps - speed-torque limit.script” into PSIM, and select
Run >> Run Script as shown below.
After automated simulations are completed, three Matlab m-files “efficiency_map_drive.m”,

“efficiency_map_motor.m”, and “efficiency_map_inverter.m” that contain the efficiency map data for
the drive system, motor, and inverter respectively will be created. Launch Matlab, and load and run
the m-files. The efficiency maps for this example are shown below (top left: motor; top right: inverter;
bottom: drive system).
From these efficiency maps, one can conclude that if the PMSM motor is operated in the region of
1500-2500 rpm and 120-185 N*m, or 5000-9000 rpm and torque along the limit of the speed-torque
curve, it achieves the highest efficiency. But the highest efficiency region for the inverter is when
speed is 5000 to 9000 rpm, and torque along the limit of the speed-torque curve. Overall, for the
drive system, the highest efficiency region is when the speed is 5000 to 9000 rpm, and torque is
along the limit of the speed-torque curve.
To generate an efficiency map with finer resolution, more speed and torque points can be selected.
Conclusions
With the Motor Control Design Suite, JMAG-RT motor model, and the script function in PSIM, the
process of generating the efficiency map of a motor drive system, which is difficult, tedious, and time-
consuming, is made considerably easier. This greatly helps motor design engineers in evaluating
the motor performance in a motor drive environment, and helps system engineers in determining the
optimum operation of the motor drive system.

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Efficiency Map of 100-kW PMSM Drive

Altair PSIM Application Note

Step-by-Step Design Procedure

Step 1: Launch the Design Suite template.

Step 2: Load the JMAG-RT model file.

Step 3: Enter system parameters.

Vdc (operating dc bus voltage): 500

fsw (switching frequency): 20k

Nm_load (load speed): 6000

Rs (stator resistance): 0.002

Lq (q‐axis inductance): 0.35m

Ke (back EMF constant): 80.3

J (moment of inertia): 0.198

T_shaft (shaft time constant): 100

P_max (maximum power): 100k

nm_max (maximum speed): 9000

Vtri (PWM carrier amplitude): 1

fsam (current loop sampling frequency): 20k

fsam_w (speed loop sampling frequency): 20k

fcr_i (current loop crossover frequency): 2k

fcr_Te (torque loop crossover frequency): 200

Te_cmd (torque command): 160

Step 5: Run simulation again to validate system efficiency calculation.

After automated simulations are completed, three Matlab m-files “efficiency_map_drive.m”,

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