193

A Universal Method for Modelling Electrical Machines

A. Veltman

P.P.J. van den Bosch

Abstract
This paper shows a universal method for composing a simulation model for any type of electrical rotating machine. Models
for Asynchronous machines, Permanent Magnet- or exited Synchronous machines, brush-less and brush DC, Stepping- and
Variable Reluctance motors are presented. A simulation model
is needed when detailed interactions between driver circuitry,
machine, load and controller are t o be studied. In such cases
it is usually not possible to transform the system into a solvable matrix differential equation. A general applicable transient machine model, interacting easily with existing models of
its surroundings, the inverter and the mechanical load, is to be
preferred.

General machine characteristics

In literature different transient machine models are used. For

large machines 121, the shaft speed is considered piece wise constant in order t o solve the machines fourth or higher order
differential equations. An other method considers a transformation to flux coordinates ]1],[4]. Both mentioned methods do
not permit straight forward implementation of auxiliary effects
like stator tooth effects, salient rotor poles and skin effects.
Further more, switching from voltage input t o current input is
not easy. In this paper a universal method for modelling electrical machines, that does permit easy addition of these auxiliary
effects and optional voltage or impressed current application,
is presented.
One common characteristic of all rotating electrical machines
is that it consists of a rotating part, the rotor, and a static non
moving part, the stator. Multiphase machines can be reduced
t o a n equivalent model with just two orthogonal windings in
stator and rotor, as depicted in figure 1. In this paper, all electrical quantities like currents, voltages and fluxes are considered
as space vectors. These vectors are represented in different orthogonal coordinate systems. An equivalent circuit or machine
model contains two identical per phase circuits, one for each
space axis. A vector named V that applies to node pair N
represented in coordinate system S is written as:

(Z)

The indices a,@ refer to standstill stator coordinates, while

a, b refer to coordinates fixed to the rotor. The rotor coordinate system is turned by shaft angle 0 relative to the stator
coordinates.
The asynchronous machine model is used as the basic electrical machine in this paper. The electrical properties or the
windings as indicated in figure 1, representing resistance R,
a mutual main inductance L,, and a leakage inducta.nce Lo,

Figure 1: Defining the stator (a,@)and rotor (a,b) relerence

frames.

conclude to the general linear steady state machine model for

an asynchronous machine with shorted rotor windings and slip
frequency slip, depicted in figure 2

$=----?3

Gi

1,

E
dip

Figure 2: General linear steady state per phase asynchronous

machine model, supplied by a sinusoidal voltage source.

The machine can produce torque T., based on the Lorenlz

= 1 . f x l?, the force on a conductor with IengtJ
Force:
1 and current f i n a space with magnetic field flux density R .
Lorentss law acts on both rotor and stator windings. Windings are applied to generate a current distribution around the
circumference of the stator and/or the rotor. The magnetic
flux density B can be generated by a permanent magnet like
in a P M brush-less motor or PM stepping motor, by currents
through rotor windings as in,an exited synchronous machipe or
induced as in asynchronous machines.

The eleLtrical machine is an electro mechanical transducer and

can be decomposed in three fundamental sections: the stator
section, the rotor section and the mechanical section. Energy
and power are transferred between these three sections. Each
section contains a t least one energy bufIer. Magnetic energy
is stored in inductors in stator, rotor and the air gap. Mechanical energy is stored in the inertia of the rotating parts.
For example in an induction machine, electrical energy can be
transferred from the stator t o the rotor as in an ordinary bansformer by means of the mutual inductance of both windings.
Electrical energy is first transferred into magnetic energy in
the machines core and air gap, and is succeedingly transferred
back into electrical energy in the secondary (rotor) winding.
These basic ways of energy exchange are depicted in figure 3.

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194

i i s supposc~l,caused by an arl>il,raryrornplex irnpcrlanrr ZR

nu I.hp rnt.or side of the IRTF. The energy in a single inductor is
the p r o d u c t of flux and currrnt: EL = W L I L . T h e energy E in a
system with vector qnantitirs, seen from the stator or the rotor
is the inner product of both flux and current. wctors. Torque
can be expressed by means of t l ~ epartial derivative Te =
'l'liis torqrip is direrted into the IRl'Fsee ( R ) , llicrefore a minus
sign is added to get, a n expression for tlie developed torque to
t l w nrotor shaft..

g.

~(6,j,q5)=
wonm

Tc

The Ideal Rotating TransFormer

Two elFrtrical ports and one mechaniral port..

Two phase orthogonal windings on primary arid serondary side.
No winding resistance on pither side.
All flux is mutual, no leakage flux.
Winding ratio is 1 : I unless otherwise sperified.
Magnetizing current is zero, its main inductance L, =

7;

is

lGsll.sl

sin 4

x $ ~

(7)

(8)

t 'Pglz = I
:
/
- '@If
:

(9)

IJecause t,he defined orientation of the rotor current is opposite

to the stator current, the torque in (8) expressed in quantities
on the rotor side have t,he opposite in sign, and T. does not
depend on the shaft angle 0. It is not surprising to find great
similarity between ( 8 ) and Lorentz's force in section 1. N o rest.rictions to the momentary phase angle 4 were made, therefore
( 8 ) ran be used in general.

2.2

00.

= I ~ s ~ ~ 1 3 ~ c o s(6)
~

~_
( $i,_
, 4)
-a_

Equation (8) shows that torque is determined by the outer

product of f'and 6 , (8) ran also lie written as:

T. = -*:I;
I n figure 3, the Ideal Rotattrig TransFormer, IRTF [G]thkes care
nf the energy exchaiigP trrtween stator, rolnr and the mechanical section. The IRTF is an ideal transformer with:

@.is

84

Figure 3: IJasic ways oj energy ezchange in a general electrical

machine

Virtual impedances

Suppose an IRTF with a rotor circuit that just contains a resistor Rn switched in series with an inductor L R . Under steady
state conditions and sinusoidal voltage and currents, the rotor
impedance is:

The angle between t,he primary referenre frame and

the secondary reference frame is equal to the shall, displacement angle 0.
When the shaft angle 0 does not change, the IRTF
is equal to an ordinary transformer model with fixed
windings.

pn
Z R = RR + J W R L R= -1R

Tlie IRTF is ail ideal r~itilti-p~rt,

translorrner wit.11 no losses
and no eni'rgy storage. Therefore, tlie total input power of
the I R 7 F , the sun1 of stator power Ps, rotor power PR and
mechanical power P M , is zero. Mechanical power is the product
of shaft speed wW and torqne 2;.

(3)
A n ideal transformer transforms current and voltage of any
In
frequency perfectly by means of the mutual main flux I.
order t o maintain a flux in an IRTF, no magnetizing current is
needed, so the current on the rotor side of the IRTF is calculated from the current on the stator side or visa versa. Only
one electrical quantity can be input on either rotor or stator
side so that if
is input on the rotor side, 6
: must be inpnt
on the stator side, as indicated by the following expressions.

(10)

The rotor flux is tlip time integral of impedance times current:

,jjn

RR + i ~ ~ J , n j ~ , ( ~ ~ t + ~ )
iwn

(11)

T h e impedance that, accordingly apprars a t the stator winding

of tlie IRTF will depend on t.he shaft speed. T h e stator flux
3" a n d stator current is ran be calculated by ( 4 ) . By means
of the stator voltage, the time derivative of the stator flux, the
virtual impedance Zs on the stator is found:

From (13) follows rhat, an indnct,or on the rotor side of the

IRTF appears at, the stator side as if it was connected to the
stator side itself. T h e only difrerence is that it's equivalent on
the stator side experiences the stator frequency u s 1 while the
inductor i n the rotor circuit experiences rotor frequency W R .
Freqnenry dependent inductors can therefore not be moved t o
the opposite side of the IRTF. The resistor Rn is scaled by a
factor *
=
which corresponds t o the apparent rotor resiswn
tanre change in the general steady state asynchronous machine
model in figure 2 151. A n easy way to illustrate the fact that a
lincar inductor can be moved across an IRTF is t h e fixed relation between flux and current in an induct,or: 0, = L I . Flux
amplitude and current amplitude are equal on both sides of an

&,

Equation 4 shows that current and flnx on the rotor side are
equal to the quantities on the stator side, turned over angle
0 ( t ) . So (I) yields:

IRlF.

2.1

Torque computation

In order to calculate t.he torque, produced by an IRTF as a

funrlion of its ii1put.s 6,l'and 0, a phase angle q5 bel.weeri and

A n IRTP' inrorporaks I.he fundamental relations between two

relative moving winding systrnis, and can be seen as the hart of
all rotating i~IecI.ricaImachines. T h e next step in synthesizing
a machine model is t o add the other machine sections from
ligure 3, the stator and rotor and the mechanical section.

195

3
3.1

Model construction
Leakage inductances

By applying Thevenin's equivalent theory 121, 161,the main inductance L, (figure 2) can be moved parallel to rotor resistance
R R , or t o the left side of L,s. Both rotor leakage and stator
leakage inductances can be replaced by one ellective total leakage iuduclance Lo,,, if all leakage is concentrated in the stator.
In case all leakage inductance is supposed in the rotor, LOtzapplies. In this way the three dependent inductances are replaced
by just two independent ones.
t

,...._._____........~~.......~~~~~~~~~-.--.-.

Figure 5: General simulation model structure Jor a separately

eztled machine.

' Eq.l '

'

'

' Eq.11

Figure 4: Both possible simulation models, all leakage inductance i n the stator or i n the rotor.
The IRTF can be inserted a t three dilTerent places f ,2,3 in both
circuits. Dashed lines indicate the possible points of insertion.
Both figures 4 q . I , E q . I 1 are equivalent in terms of representing
the circuit in figure 2. Their simulation models are equivalent
but not identical. A major dilTerence is that, in case the IRTF
is inserted between the two inductors (option 2). Eq.1,2 produces rotor flux, while Eq.11,2 produces rotor current. Both
equivalents in figure 4 are starting points for more elaborate
machine models. The transformed parameters in both equivalents are related to the general parameters in the steady state
machine model from figure 2.

shaft angle (21) and J, the total inertia of all rotating parts on
the shaft:

Illlo,

(21)

The number of pole pairs acts as a mechanical gearbox with

transmission ratio f (20),(21). The electrical torque 2'. is a n
output of the IRTF and determines with given load (all other
loads, including lriction) the actual acceleration of the total
inertia J . on the machine-shaft. The block diagram for simulation is straight lorward (figure 6).

Figure 6 Mechanical section: simulation model m'th

pole

pairs.

Unless otherwise specified, the number of poles is considered to

he two. The Lransformation ratio is then equal to one.

3.2

3.4

Inductor model

Because numerical integration is accurate and dilTerentiation

is inaccurate, a computational model for an inductor should
preferably consist of an integrator.

Integrators in the following block diagrams are indicated by $,

with p the Laplace operator ( p =
Using (19), the general
per phase induction machine model from figure 4&.1,2can be
translated into figure 5. Figure 5 shows the two circuits in a,o
and a , b coordinates connected by an IRTF.

5).

The IHTF also links the mechanical section. As was indicated

before, the IRTF could just as well be put on the left of
or right of main inductance
without changing the models
characteristics.

&,

3.3

mechanical section

The mechanical section can he represented by the following differential equation with np the number of poles, 8, the physical

Computational causality

In physical reality, there is no distinction between cause and

elTect 131. One can say that voltage across a resistor causes a
current to flow, but one can say just as well that a current Row
through a resistor causes a voltage drop across the device. A
resistor simulation model therefore has a n arbitrary causality.
An inductor according to (19). has voltage causality. Inductor
current in this way is a function of voltage. It should be noted
that if not voltage, but flux is used, a linear inductor model
concludes to a multiplier. Both flux and current causality are
then possible.
The I R l F a l s o inhabits a computational causality. As shown in
(4), shalt angle 0 is an input and torque II:, is an output of the
IRTF. Its causality on the electrical ports is two fold. Current
in and flux out on the rotor side, or flux in and current out on
the rotor side.

Synchronous machines

Synclironous machine rotors usually contain two distinct rotor windings, an excited rotor winding to generate the rotor

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196

flux, and a short,-circuit damping winding. 1101.11 rotor win&

ings have a high mutual flux linkage. Mosl. of this niutiial flux
is also linked with the stator wiiidiiig. 111 order t.0 coiisI,rurI a
simulation model for two parallel windings, current should be
calculated from voltage or flux. Ilencc the leakage irirlurlanre
01 each rotor winding should be on the rot,or side of the main
inductance. Uased on figure 4Eq.11, I , a sirnulation model lor
a machine with double rotor rircuit IZotZ,
Rnz and second rotor
winding L , , Z , R k z is shown in figure 7 .

nn I I I P r o l n r side, shows f l n x - r a r d i t , y on thr slnl.or sidr of I.he

1117'1.'. Flux causality n l t h p lR7'F on t h e sl.al.or sidr is nwded
i f a multi-wiiirling rot,or is simulated or when skin e k l . i n l h e
rotor cage is implemented in thr simulation model. In t,hese
rases irnpressrd stator currrnt.s cannot bc simulated without
solving art algebraic loop. Th? morlrl output, 4'2 can be used
MECHANICAL

Te

- V,"

%I," a

Figure 8: General simulation model /or a machzne with impressed stator current.
t o cslirnate the input voltage as a result of impressed stator
1,SRs.
current by means of a derivator: G: = d(';Lt$Ls''l

Figure 7 : General simulation model for a machine with two

rotor windings, one damping cage.
Models for P M synchronous machines require a model for a
permanent magnet. A permanent magnet can be considered as
a current-source that magnetizes the main inductance LmI or
L,? and builds a flux GWn = Lnfmp accordingly. If one of
the two rotor 'windings' in figure 7 is a permanent magnet, a
current source can be added t o the current adding point on the
right side of the IRTF.

Adding a permanent magnet t o the rircuit in figure 5 is also

possible, because I,,
is a n independent quantity. This, as
shown in figure 8 results in:

Many synchronous machines contain rotors with salient poles.

A salient pole rotor is asymmetrical and inhabits therefore different values for the main inductance L,z and the leakage illductance LOl2in the direct ( a ) and perpendicular ( b ) axes. This
asymmetry is fixed t o the rotor, and should therefore be rcpresented in rotor coordinates. T h a t is why, in case of rotor
asymmetry, both L, and Lot have t o be on the rotor side of
the IRTF (options Eq.l,l; Eq.lI,f) in the simulation model, as
shown in figure 7.

6
6.1

Auxiliary phenomena
Tooth effects

All previous machine modrls were models for smooth air gap
machines. An additional romponent that incorporates torque
and inductance ellerts lor toothed stators and rotors is presented, The main quantity that. changes with shaft position
is the main inductance in both axis: l,,,,ls(0), L,,,lb(0). Because the niairi indurtance determines the reriprocal relation
i t is easier t o directly consider this rebetween
and
lation. Suppose the most siniplc_ronfiguration 01 a two pole
rot,or, with magnetizing current I,,,,, and a stator with four
arbitrary teeth, one each 90",as depicted in figure 9. T h e resulting flux vector under static conditions in the stator core
has a preference for the teeth positions, and will therefore not
always be aligned with the current vector in the rotor. This
non alignment causes a torque, just as in the IRTF (8).

2,

Voltage or current input

The machine model in figure 5 has stator- and rotor-voltage

as an input and a n IRTF with current-causality on the stator
side. If machines with impressed stator currents have t o b e
simulated, a model with current,-causality on the stator side
is needed, so the model in figure 8 , the circuit in figure I E q . 1
is suitable for impressed stator currpnts. The circuit i n figure 4Eq.I1,1 (model in figure 7 ) , with all leakagr iiidiir-tance

Figure 9: Idealized fluz and current vector relations in a uartable reluctance machine: toothed stator.

71,

For 0 t [O,:, n,
the flux is high, the alignment is correct:
I.hese are stable poqitions. The positions in between,
-:,

1-9,

197

$,?I

Impressed stator currents: Eq.I,2,3

show a low flux and correct alignment: these posit.ions

are unstable. If the relative amonnt of inductance modulation
is I<, and the teeth disturbance is snpposed sinusoidal:

li; = CL.,,(I
+ I<~c"') = / ~ L , ( o )

Miilti rotor windings: Eq.lI,I,Z, figure 7.

Asymmetrical rotor (salient poles): E q . l , l , Eq.11,1,2

(24)

Toothed stator: Eq.l,l,Z or Eq.lI,l, figure 10.

Or, when I< << 1, the inverse relation is approximated by:

Permanent magnet in rotor: add current source.

Brush DC machine: E q . l o r Eq.11 with additional commutator a t rotor circuit: a coordinates transformer representing brnsh-collector transfer. V:=DC.

The maximum torque developed by this nun aligriment is according t o (8):

~ = L Jl

~ K~

=L+:K
~
L,

Eq.l,l and Eq.11,1,2 with impressed stator current: Algebraic loop problem.

(26)

The above equations can be implemented in the simulation

model of figure 5 , but one additional step has to be realized.
It is obvious that in case of a PM stepping motor, the torque
developed by the tooth effect in case of no stator current, the
so called detent torque should be developed by the IRTF. If
the stator current itself is zero, the magnetizing current has to
develop the detent torque. This brings the need of one additional coordinates transformer, as depicted in figure 10. The

%-

Skin effect and satnration: see 181

Conclusions

A unified framework for deriving simulation models for electrical machines has been presented. It has been shown that both
asynchronous and synchronous (Permanent Magnet, Variable
Reluctance, hybrid and Brush-less DC) machines can be described uniformly by the introduction of the Ideal Rotating
TransFormer. Auxiliary effects such as tooth effects, detent
torque, skin effects and saturation can be added elegantly.

References
111 Leonard, W., "Control of Electrical Drives",
Verlag, 1985.

Springer-

[Z] Say, M.G., "Alternating Current Machines", ELBS and I'itman, 1983, pp 264-267.

(31 Breedveld, P.C., "Physical systems theory in terms of bond

graphs", Thesis, Twente Univ. of Techn., 1984.

Figure 10: Generalized black diagram of a reluctance machine

with permanent magnet, toothed stator and impressed stator
current.
model in figure 10 can easily be modified for any number of
teeth, the value 4 in (24) and (25) resembles the number of
stable positions in one equivalent electrical cycle. K represents
the amount of detent torque.

141 Vas, P., "Vect.or Control of AC Machines", Clarendon Press

Oxford, 1990.
(51 Richter, Rudolf, "Elektrische Maschinen, teil 4, Die Inductions Maschinen", Verlag-Birkhauser, 1954.
161 Veltman, A,, Klaassens J.R., Mesger, H.J., Ehrenburg II.II.,
"Modelling Skin Effect and Saturation in Controlling Asynchronous Machines", Proceedings Electrical Drives Symposium, Capri 1990, pp 57-62.

The appropriate model

All electrical rotating machines, can be simulated with the presented block diagrams. In practise, most types of machines are
of the synchronous type. P M stepping motors, Variable Reluctance stepping motors, Hybrid stepping motors, Brush-less DC
machines are all synchronous machines. All inhabit some kind
of rotor losses, expressed in the resistor RR. The asynchronous
machine is just a synchronous machine without a magnet or
excited winding with VE = 0. How t o choose the appropriate
model can be seen in the following list, in which the following abbreviations are used: Eq.L circuit in figure 4Eq.l. The
optional IRTF positions are indicated with 1 , Z or 9. For example: With Eq.1,2 the general structure in figure 5 is meant.
Eq.lL circuit in figure 4Eq.11. The general structure in figure 7
is indicated with Eq.I1,1.
Asynchronous machines: Eq.1,1,2,3; Eq.l1,1,2,3, f{ = 0.

6
'