Layered Functional Design and Hierarchical Predictive Current Control of Magnetic-Pole-Guided Variable-Reluctance Flux-Controllable PM Machines

The flux controllable permanent magnet (FC-PM) machines, which feature excellent flux regulation and high efficiency with a wide speed range, have been proposed recently. Yet, due to the characteristics of variable flux and the conflicting design between the permanent magnet utilization and the flux regulation range, the design and control of such machines are relatively difficult. To overcome this barrier, this paper proposes a layered functional design method and hierarchical predictive current (HPC) control for a magnetic-pole-guided variable-reluctance flux-controllable permanent magnet (MPG-VRFCPM) machine. The proposed design method for a pole-guided structure decomposes the functional roles of permanent magnets. The mapping relationship between the function of the PM module and air gap flux is analyzed to derive the rotor topology. The design equations for the key parameters of the machine are deduced based on the equivalent magnetic circuit, and an optimization design is conducted. On this basis, in order to achieve effective flux regulation, an HPC control based on the model predictive current control (MPCC) is proposed. Finally, a 48-slot/8-pole MPG-VRFCPM machine is fabricated to verify the analyses, and compared with the conventional MPCC, the experimental results verify the effectiveness of the HPC control.