Distributed Back-EMF-based Position Self-Sensing of Fault-Tolerant Permanent Magnet Modular Motor Drives for Electrical Aircraft Propulsion

Permanent magnet (PM) modular motor drives (MMDs) have been recognized as promising candidates for motor drive propulsion units in electrified aircraft due to their high power density, high efficiency, and promising potential for high fault tolerance. A distributed position self-sensing (sensorless) algorithm for modular motor drives is proposed to further enhance the system reliability by eliminating single-point failures attributable to the machine's single shaft-mounted position sensor. A distributed back-EMF state filter with integrated bandwidth-partitioned observer command feedforward (IBP-OCFF) has been developed with virtual electromagnetic isolation features that reject negative impacts on estimated position and speed from both asymmetries inside a module and disturbances from other modules. Simulation and experimental results have demonstrated that a high level of inter-module independence can be achieved in the modular motor drive using the proposed distributed position self-sensing algorithm.