Apply your fundamental knowledge of power conversion and AC machine theory to learn new skills that will make you more effective on the job.

This course will teach you:

• The principles of modern AC drives, including PM, induction PM, and reluctance machines
• The modes of interaction between ac motors and power conversion systems, including dynamic stability issues
• How to control ac machines, including the principles of field orientation and direct torque control
• How to model and simulate ac motor/drive systems
• How to use modern control theory to design controllers that minimize or eliminate dynamic interactions in drive systems
• The performance of sensorless control methods for ac drives
• The causes and mitigation of drive-induced machine bearing currents and insulation stress
• The operation and control of regenerative drives and converters

Engineers involved in the design and development of AC drive systems or a design/development engineer incorporating AC motors and drives into other products and equipment.

Review of Basic Induction Motor Theory

• Equivalent circuit model
• Variable frequency operation
• Non-sinusoidal excitation

Review of Synchronous Machine Theory

• Physical structure and principle of operation
• Equivalent circuit model
• Torque angle and phasor diagram
• Influence of saliency
• Variable frequency operation
• Permanent magnet machines

Converters for AC Drives

• Functional requirements of converters
• Types of converters in use today
• Operating features
• Performance capabilities

Adjustable Speed Drive Types

• Power semiconductor types
• Power converter classifications
• Induction machine drive configurations—VSI, CSI, Static Scheribus
• Synchronous machine drive configurations—VSI, CSI, Current Regulating

Induction Motor Model

• Coupled circuit model of AC machines
• d-q reference frame representation
• Vector representation of machines
• Effects of saliency

Vector Analysis of Induction Machines

• Steady state equivalent circuits
• Electrical transients at constant speed
• Transient equivalent circuits

Current Regulation in Power Converters

• Proportional and “P-I” Control Basics
• Command Feedforward (CFF)
• Disturbance Input Decoupling (DID)
• Decoupling State Feedback (DSFbk)
• Extension to VSI and AC Motor Current Control

Simulation of AC Machines and Drives

• Flux linkage machine models
• Survey of simulation programs
• Simulation using MATLAB/SIMULINK
• Converter modeling
• Demonstration of converter-machine simulation

Complex Modeling for Control Design and Analysis

• Vector and scalar models of machines
• Synchronous vs. stationary frame vector models
• Asymmetric root locations and frequency response functions
• Controller design using vector models

Field Orientation (FO)–Induction Machines

• Steady state induction machine FO
• Dynamics of induction machine FO
• Indirect controllers for induction machine FO
• Direct controllers for induction machine FO

Field Weakening

• Flux level selection
• Inverter imposed voltage and current limits
• Torque capability in field weakening
• Control system implementation

Flux Observers and Direct Field Orientation (DFO)

• Field orientation from a controls perspective
• Industry standard indirect Field Orientation
• Existing methods for DFO
• Observer-based flux estimation
• Observer-based DFO

Field Orientation Control of Synchronous Machines

• Requirements for high-performance torque control
• Self-synchronous control
• Maximum torque-per-amp operation
• Dynamic response characteristics
• “Brushless” DC machines

Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine Drives

• Permanent magnet machine discussion
• Vector control of permanent magnet synchronous machines
• Flux weakening operation

Direct Torque Control

• Stator flux and electromagnetic torque control
• Implementation alternatives

Sensorless Control

• Exciting and tracking saliencies
• Observers and performance metrics
• Implementation

Simulation of Field-Oriented Drives

• Motor model
• PWM/inverter model
• Speed and current regulators
• Slip gain calculation

Practical Aspects of Drive Control

• Current feedback
• Speed feedback
• PWM

Inverter Effects–Bearing Currents

• Short voltage rise times
• Voltage reflection
• Filters
• Influence of motors and cables

Operation and Control of Regenerative Drives and Converters

• Motivation for regeneration
• Regenerative converters as front-ends of regenerative drives
• Principle of operation
• Phase-lock loop systems for synchronization with single and three-phase systems
• DC Bus voltage control

Parameter Estimation and Adaptation

• Basic estimation principles
• Formulation of accurate methodology
• Forming induction machine models
• Selecting excitation models

Fault Protection for AC Drives

• Asymmetrical systems
• Fault model development
• Fault signature identification

"Very thorough and complete coverage of the presented topics."
—Jason Johnson, Northrop-Grumman Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia

"AWESOME! Nice to get the latest info in a concise and well-explained format. Lots of good info."
—John Neely, Eaton Aerospace, Grand Rapids, Michigan

"Very good presentation; quite insightful."
—DeWayne Speer, Manager of Electrical Engineering, Helmerich & Payne IDC, Tulsa, Oklahoma

"Best course I've ever had over a nearly 30-year career. I wish I'd had these professors when I was in college. They are all exceptional."
—Allen Davidson, Sr. Project Engineer, Northrop-Grumman Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia

Thomas Jahns

Dr. Thomas M. Jahns received his bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees from MIT, all in electrical engineering.

Dr. Jahns joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998 in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.  He served for 14 years as a Co-Director of the Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC), a world-renowned university/industry consortium in the electrical power engineering field.  Since 2021, he is the Grainger Emeritus Professor of Power Electronics and Electrical Machines.

Prior to coming to UW-Madison, Dr. Jahns worked at GE Corporate Research and Development (now GE Global Research) in Niskayuna, NY, for 15 years, where he pursued new power electronics and motor drive technology in a variety of research and management positions. His current research interests at UW-Madison include integrated motor drives and electrified propulsion for both land vehicles and aircraft.

Dr. Jahns is a Fellow of IEEE.  He received the 2005 IEEE Nikola Tesla Technical Field Award “for pioneering contributions to the design and application of AC permanent magnet machines”.  Dr. Jahns is a Past President of the IEEE Power Electronics Society.  He was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2015 and received the IEEE Medal in Power Engineering in 2022.

Russel Kerkman

Dr. Kerkman is a Distinguished Engineering Fellow with Rockwell Automation. His career spans 32 years in power electronics and adjustable speed drives and his current interests include adaptive control applied to field-oriented induction machines, design of AC motors for adjustable speed applications, and EMI from PWM inverters. Dr. Kerkman received his BSEE, MSEE, and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from Purdue University.

Bulent Sarlioglu

Bulent Sarlioglu is a Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Technology and Collaboration Director of WEMPEC of the Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium. From 2000 to 2011, he was with Honeywell International Inc.'s Aerospace Division, Torrance, CA, USA, most recently as a Staff Systems Engineer.  His expertise includes electrical machines, drives, and power electronics, particularly in electrifying transportation and industrial applications. He is the inventor or co-inventor of 22 U.S. patents and many international patents. In addition, he has more than 300 technical papers that are published in conference proceedings and journals. Dr. Sarlioglu received Honeywell's Outstanding Engineer Award in 2011 for his outstanding contribution to aerospace, the NSF CAREER Award in 2016, and the 4th Grand Nagamori Award from Nagamori Foundation, Japan, in 2018.  Dr. Sarlioglu received the IEEE PES Cyril Veniott Award in 2021. Dr. Sarlioglu became a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2021 and an IEEE Fellow in 2022.

Ian Brown

Ian P. Brown received the B.S. degree in engineering from Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, in 1999, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 2003 and 2009, respectively. Since 2012, he has been with the Illinois Institute of Technology where he is currently an Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Previously he was with the Corporate Technology Center, A. O. Smith Corporation, Milwaukee, WI. His main research interests are high-performance electrical drives and the design of electric machines.

Ivan Celanovic

Dr. Ivan Celanovic is Co-founder and Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO) of Typhoon HIL Inc., and Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies. His passion is developing, transitioning, and commercializing new and disruptive energy technologies with focus on future grid, e-Mobility, renewables, and energy storage.  He is particularly passionate about transitioning fundamental research from a lab to commercial world. Dr. Celanovic has published over 80 journal publications, 5 patents, and two book chapters. He holds an Sc.D. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, an M.Sc. degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and a Diploma Engineer degree from the University of Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia, all in electrical engineering and computer science.

Michael Harke

Michael received his BS, MS and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1997, 1999 and 2006, respectively.  His research focused on control theory, electric machines and power electronics.  During his studies, he worked with numerous companies including Whirlpool, Ford Motor Company, Schneider Electric, International Rectifier and Hamilton Sundstrand.

 In 2006, Michael joined Hamilton Sundstrand in the Applied Research Department where he worked on control and power electronics for aerospace applications including motor drives and actuators.  Between 2010 and 2013 he was with Danfoss Power Electronics where he focused on industrial motor control.  He has since returned to Hamilton Sundstrand, now known as Collins Aerospace.  He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Rome La Sapienza, teaching coursework on dynamic analysis and control of ac machines.

 Michael is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers where he serves as the Past Chair of the Industrial Drives Committee and society representative to the Sensors Council AdCom for the Industry Applications Society.  He was the Technical Program co-Chair for the IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition in 2013 and 2021.  He has published 25 papers in conferences and journals and has numerous patents.

Hao Huang

Dr. Hao Huang is the Retired Technology Chief of General Electric Aviation’s Electrical Power Division. Prior to retirement in 2020, he was responsible for providing technical direction, innovation strategies, and multi-generation product roadmaps for the GE aircraft electrical power division. He has been constantly leading and contributing innovations and inventions of aircraft electrical power technologies. Dr. Huang is a NAE Member, IEEE fellow, and SAE fellow. He received his Ph.D. Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA in 1987. He has 33 years of experience in Aircraft Electrical Power Systems, Power Generations, Engine Starting, Power Electronics and Controls, and Electric Vehicle Drives. He has 80 US patents including several pending, and has published a number of papers. Dr. Hao Huang is the recipient of 2019 IEEE Transportation Technologies Award.