Research Projects

Electrically Excited Synchronous Machines (EESM) are a promising technology for the electrification of mobility, offering sustainability, efficiency, and performance advantages over rare-earth-dependent motors. However, the complications of rotor excitation, such as the need for additional DC/DC converters, demand robust engineering solutions. The proposal focuses on developing an integrated converter topology wherein the stator-side inverter can take care of the rotor field current along with the stator-side voltage and frequency. This is achieved by utilizing the common mode voltage between the motor neutral and the inverter neutral. This can be achieved by injecting a DC current through each stator winding in a balanced manner such that the fundamental airgap flux is unaffected. With such an arrangement, the additional converter can be eliminated. However, this may introduce new design challenges related to the machine and the associated converter. This proposal will focus on addressing these challenges to support the EESM-driven EVs.