Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

Fractional- and small-horse-power electric motors are used in large quantities in many industrial applications (production automation, robotics, instrumentation, etc.), as well as in many house hold appliances (washing/drying machines, refrigerators, air conditioning, cleaning tools, etc). Other applications that become increasingly noticeable include small electric transportation (electric bikes, golf carts, wheelchairs, etc.), and small-scale distributed energy resources such as micro wind turbines in the 200W to 3kW range. Overall, the performance and efficiency of low-power ac and dc electric machines used in the abovementioned applications remains lower than that of larger machines. To give and idea, the efficiency of conventional claw-pole alternators (used in most passenger vehicles) and the motors in typical household vacuum cleaners, blenders, handheld tools, fans, etc. may be in the 50 to 60% range. The mechanical vibrations and acoustic noise also strongly contribute to the reduction of equipment lifetime and the noisy environment. Since these machines are very widely used, even a small improvement of efficiency and electromechanical characteristics may have wide-ranging consequences including immediate/direct energy savings, increased reliability and prolonged lifetime of equipment, etc.The requested equipment comprised of several components that will be used to build a versatile bench for testing electric motors and alternators up to 3kW in the speed range 0-5,000 rpm in steady-state and transients. We will be investigating ways and methods of better utilization of such machines through the use of "smart" controllers and power electronics, as well as searching for alternative and at the same time inexpensive design solutions to improve their characteristics. We will be looking at improving electromechanical characteristics of inexpensive PM brushless DC machines and effectiveness of their use in larger number of applications. The testing bench will also be used for developing and validating the accurate models of such motors/alternators needed for investigating the control algorithms for enhancing the energy conversion.