Fault accommodation and reconfiguration in variable speed drives

In this paper the problem of fault accommodation and hardware reconfiguration is discussed for variable speed drives (VSD) of electric motors (EM). First, the sensors and actuators used in VSD and their possible failure modes are reviewed. Next, the fault diagnosis strategies based on signal processing, model based techniques, and artificial intelligence are briefly discussed. Moreover, the diverse hardware reconfiguration schemes proposed in case of a semiconductor failure in the power actuators are detailed. A key piece in any VSD is the control algorithm, which can be severely affected in a fault conditions. Therefore, the fault accommodation algorithms suggested so far in the literature are illustrated.