Advanced rotor temperature estimation of permanent magnet synchronous machines for electric vehicles

The actual power capacity of permanent magnet synchronous machine for electric vehicles is usually limited by rotor temperature, and rotor overheating is one of the major reasons for permanent magnet synchronous machine failure. Therefore, an approach of rotor temperature estimation is proposed to improve motor peak power utilization and protect permanent magnet synchronous machine from serious demagnetization due to thermal damage. A real-time iterative algorithm is provided based on the equivalent thermal model for rotor temperature. First, the heat generating principle of each part as well as the power flow transferring of the motor system is analyzed. Second, rotor temperature model is built based on the conservation of energy loss from the stator and real-time superposition of temperature variation rate for the rotor. Finally, the motor performance test bench is built to validate the proposed algorithm and numerical models are also constructed to simplify estimation parameters for rotor temperature model. The algorithm accuracy is improved and verified by optimizing control parameters with given environment temperature and power load. The experimental result shows that the maximum error between actual test value and estimation value is within ±10°C, and it meets the requirement of algorithm accuracy and also benefits on system performance and manufacture cost efficiently.