A Segmented Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor for Wide Field Weakening Range and its Sensorless Control using Improved Flux Estimators. Australia has the world's second largest reserve (after China) of high energy-density permanent magnet (neodymium-iron-boron) material for the IPM motor. The present limitation of the machine to be driven sensorless over a wide speed range with field weakening is believed to be holding back its widespread use in applications other than servo-type which ....A Segmented Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor for Wide Field Weakening Range and its Sensorless Control using Improved Flux Estimators. Australia has the world's second largest reserve (after China) of high energy-density permanent magnet (neodymium-iron-boron) material for the IPM motor. The present limitation of the machine to be driven sensorless over a wide speed range with field weakening is believed to be holding back its widespread use in applications other than servo-type which requires high-resolution mechanical sensors. Extension of the motor speed range by a combination of magnetic system design (for large field weakening range), and sensorless position and flux estimation with sufficient accuracy for fast dynamic control should lead to large scale adoption of this motor, and hence to significant improvement in energy efficiency and market share for Australia.Read moreRead less
Improvements of Direct Torque Controllers for the Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor. The Direct Torque Control (DTC) strategy has recently been applied successfully to the interior permanent magnet (IPM) motor which offers the highest torque/volume and efficiency of all known machines. Exploitation of the recently developed Neodynium-Iron-Boron material, of which Australia is the world's second largest producer, in the IPM motor and of new sensorless control strategies such as the DTC ....Improvements of Direct Torque Controllers for the Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor. The Direct Torque Control (DTC) strategy has recently been applied successfully to the interior permanent magnet (IPM) motor which offers the highest torque/volume and efficiency of all known machines. Exploitation of the recently developed Neodynium-Iron-Boron material, of which Australia is the world's second largest producer, in the IPM motor and of new sensorless control strategies such as the DTC controller, promises to open vast application potentials, such as in the upcoming hybrid and totally electric automobiles, for these motors. The new DTC controller developed at UNSW shows high promise for delivering a high-performance, sensorless IPM motor drive. This project aims to investigate, and overcome, the remaining problems of this technique.Read moreRead less
Optimum rotor and concentrated stator-winding structures for improving the torque, field-weakening and power-density characteristics of interior permanent-magnet machines. The successful completion of this project will deliver one of the most energy efficient and compact motor which will meet the expectations of future electric and hybrid electric vehicles. The current generation of surface Permanent Magnet (PM) and Interior Permanent Magnet (IPM) motors are not optimized in terms of compactness ....Optimum rotor and concentrated stator-winding structures for improving the torque, field-weakening and power-density characteristics of interior permanent-magnet machines. The successful completion of this project will deliver one of the most energy efficient and compact motor which will meet the expectations of future electric and hybrid electric vehicles. The current generation of surface Permanent Magnet (PM) and Interior Permanent Magnet (IPM) motors are not optimized in terms of compactness, energy-density and efficiency, and torque characteristics. Australia has the world's second largest reserve of the magnet material for IPM machines. It also has a significant niche industry for specialized machine design. These twin advantages should offer Australia huge potential benefits in the world market for electric and hybrid electric vehicles and for substantial reduction in our dependence on importing petrol and greenhouse gas emissions.Read moreRead less
Hydrodynamic Stability of the VentrAssist Blood Pump, an Experimental and Numerical Investigation. This project will investigate, both numerically and experimentally, the stability of the impeller-bearing system of a rotary blood pump and will make recommendations about the optimum bearing configurations. Findings from this project will contribute to the commercialisation of the blood pump undertaken by the research Group formed by the staff from UTS, UNSW and VentrAssist Pty Ltd - the first of ....Hydrodynamic Stability of the VentrAssist Blood Pump, an Experimental and Numerical Investigation. This project will investigate, both numerically and experimentally, the stability of the impeller-bearing system of a rotary blood pump and will make recommendations about the optimum bearing configurations. Findings from this project will contribute to the commercialisation of the blood pump undertaken by the research Group formed by the staff from UTS, UNSW and VentrAssist Pty Ltd - the first of its kind in Australia. Rotary blood pumps are at the leading edge of cardiac assist technology worldwide and an investigation of the impeller dynamics will add greatly to the understanding of the related important factors in blood pump design.Read moreRead less
Properties and Characterisation of Magneto-Rheological Materials under Rotating Magnetic Field Excitation. Through the proposed theoretical and experimental studies, new electro-magneto-mechanical phenomena of the MR materials under various vectorial magnetisations will be observed. Based on the in-depth understanding of the complex vectorial magneto-rheological mechanisms, an accurate coupled model will be developed for design and analysis of novel dampers. These outcomes will greatly enhance t ....Properties and Characterisation of Magneto-Rheological Materials under Rotating Magnetic Field Excitation. Through the proposed theoretical and experimental studies, new electro-magneto-mechanical phenomena of the MR materials under various vectorial magnetisations will be observed. Based on the in-depth understanding of the complex vectorial magneto-rheological mechanisms, an accurate coupled model will be developed for design and analysis of novel dampers. These outcomes will greatly enhance the design capacity of Australian industry in smart structures, i.e. using novel dampers to reduce harmful vibrations and protect people in vehicles, buildings, and bridges. This will help Australians to live in a safer and healthier environment, and could save billions of dollars per year nationwide for treatment, recovery, and insurance claims.Read moreRead less
An Innovative Powertrain Architecture and Optimal Energy Management for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technologies will significantly reduce the dependence of vehicles on fossil fuels, thereby reducing their emissions of carbon and other pollutants. The project will produce new knowledge in automotive engineering, software tools for vehicle design and a novel powertrain architecture with key components almost ready for commercial application. The research will ....An Innovative Powertrain Architecture and Optimal Energy Management for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technologies will significantly reduce the dependence of vehicles on fossil fuels, thereby reducing their emissions of carbon and other pollutants. The project will produce new knowledge in automotive engineering, software tools for vehicle design and a novel powertrain architecture with key components almost ready for commercial application. The research will directly contribute to the use of green energy and the reduction of vehicles' harmful environmental impacts. The nation will benefit from new economic activity, such as increased exports of automotive parts and components, and from strengthening its position as a world leader in reducing carbon emissions.Read moreRead less
Millimetre Wave Communication Systems for Consumer Applications. The key outcome of this cross-disciplinary project will be a prototype single-chip (RF section), short-range, 1Gigabit/second, wireless network operating at 60 GHz. This will employ new Silicon Germanium technology in a 'system on chip' methodology that will pave the way for low-cost consumer applications of such technology. A new design flow will be developed to support this project, which will enable first silicon pass correct d ....Millimetre Wave Communication Systems for Consumer Applications. The key outcome of this cross-disciplinary project will be a prototype single-chip (RF section), short-range, 1Gigabit/second, wireless network operating at 60 GHz. This will employ new Silicon Germanium technology in a 'system on chip' methodology that will pave the way for low-cost consumer applications of such technology. A new design flow will be developed to support this project, which will enable first silicon pass correct design of complete mm-wave millimetre wave radios on a single chip, a feat that has yet to be demonstrated. A new communication system will be developed to support the high data rates proposed. The significance will be application in very high speed high-bandwith wireless local networks.Read moreRead less
Improved Capacitor Voltage Balance for Multicell Power Electronic Converters Controlled by Spectrally Optimal Modulation. There is a growing demand for high power and medium voltage energy conversion systems in a wide range of applications, including Rail, Renewable Energy, Defence and Electricity Distribution. Multicell-type multilevel converters are a very attractive means of satisfying this demand, but only if the cell voltages can be precisely regulated so as to ensure protection of the conv ....Improved Capacitor Voltage Balance for Multicell Power Electronic Converters Controlled by Spectrally Optimal Modulation. There is a growing demand for high power and medium voltage energy conversion systems in a wide range of applications, including Rail, Renewable Energy, Defence and Electricity Distribution. Multicell-type multilevel converters are a very attractive means of satisfying this demand, but only if the cell voltages can be precisely regulated so as to ensure protection of the converter while simultaneously ensuring the synthesis of switched waveforms with the required spectral quality. This project offers the potential to eliminate this barrier to the use of Multicell converter technology. In addition this project emphasises the development and training of people skilled in the design and development of this technology.Read moreRead less
Robust Dynamical System Identification. Innovative robust system identification methods are a Frontier Technology for Transforming Australian Industries. Robust system identification will provide a technology for generating high fidelity models by the use of breakthrough science. With the majority of advanced industrial control systems reliant on accurate models significant savings could be made due to the implicit improvement in process control. Furthermore, system identification is a key enabl ....Robust Dynamical System Identification. Innovative robust system identification methods are a Frontier Technology for Transforming Australian Industries. Robust system identification will provide a technology for generating high fidelity models by the use of breakthrough science. With the majority of advanced industrial control systems reliant on accurate models significant savings could be made due to the implicit improvement in process control. Furthermore, system identification is a key enabling technology in most modern systems (e.g. in aerospace, manufacturing, mining, minerals processing and telecommunications) and is also important in the emerging areas of nanotechnology and systems biology.Read moreRead less
Application Oriented System Level Optimum Design Method for Advanced Electrical Drive Systems. The new concept of application-oriented, integrated, system level design will relieve the constraints formerly applied to appliances by motors and give appliance designers full freedom to pursue the best appliance functions. The new platform will become a powerful tool for designing advanced drive systems of new materials, novel topologies, low cost and high performance, and shorten significantly the p ....Application Oriented System Level Optimum Design Method for Advanced Electrical Drive Systems. The new concept of application-oriented, integrated, system level design will relieve the constraints formerly applied to appliances by motors and give appliance designers full freedom to pursue the best appliance functions. The new platform will become a powerful tool for designing advanced drive systems of new materials, novel topologies, low cost and high performance, and shorten significantly the period of new product development. This will enhance tremendously the competitiveness of Australian industry. The energy savings achieved by using efficient systems will contribute significantly towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emission. High quality PhD and honours degree students will be trained.Read moreRead less