Dynamic Response Enhancement and Fault Protection of Boost Converter-Fed Brushless DC Motor in Aerospace Applications

Abstract

The permanent magnet (PM) brushless DC (BLDC) machine has been widely used in various applications due to its high reliability and simplicity. In aerospace applications, the requirements of its dynamic acceleration characteristic and fault protection capability have further increased. This paper proposes an optimized inverter topology composed of a boost converter, two protective power switches, and a three-phase full bridge for the dynamic response improvement and fault protection capability enhancement of PM BLDC machines. The corresponding drive logic, control method, and protection strategy are designed to develop a drive system for an aeronautical fuel pump. The response performance is significantly improved in handling under-voltage and over-rated conditions by utilizing the boost converter during different processes, and the protection capability is enhanced to deal with over-voltage and over-current fault isolation. A boost converter-fed BLDC pump system prototype is built and tested. It is concluded that the simulation and experiment results verify the rationality and validity of the proposed method.