Fault diagnosis method for freewheeling diodes of dual-switch power converter of switched reluctance motor

A fault diagnosis method for freewheeling diodes of power converter of a switched reluctance motor with two main switch tubes per phase, comprising arranging two current sensors on a power converter with the two main switch tubes per phase, wherein, one current sensor LEM1 is used to detect the total current of the two main switch tubes connected to a DC bus, and the other current sensor LEM2 is used to detect the total feedback current of the freewheeling diodes connected to the DC bus, wherein:

• (1) supplying power to the power converter, and keeping both an upper main switch tube and a lower main switch tube operating normally without fault;
• if neither the upper main switch tube nor the lower main switch tube is in ON state, the current sensor LEM1 and the current sensor LEM2 will detect no current;
• (a) keeping the lower main switch tube of one phase in ON state only;
• if the current detected by the current sensor LEM1 exceeds a preset value, it indicates the upper freewheeling diode of the phase has short circuit fault;
• (b) keeping the upper main switch tube of the phase in ON state only;
• if the current detected by the current sensor LEM2 exceeds the preset value, it indicates the lower freewheeling diode of the phase has short circuit fault;
• (2) supplying power to the power converter, and keeping both the upper main switch tube and the lower main switch tube operating normally without fault;
• if neither the upper main switch tube nor the lower main switch tube is in ON state, but the current detected by the current sensor LEM2 exceeds the preset value, it indicates both the upper freewheeling diode and the lower freewheeling diode have short circuit faults;
• (3) supplying power to the power converter, switching on both the upper main switch tube and the lower main switch tube at the same time first, and then switching off both the upper main switch tube and the lower main switch tube at the same time;
• if the current sensor LEM2 detects no forward current and no reverse current, then, switching on both the upper main switch tube and the lower main switch tube at the same time and performing as follows:
• (a) switching off the upper main switch tube only;
• if the current sensor LEM2 detects reverse current, it indicates the upper freewheeling diode has open circuit fault;
• (b) switching off the upper main switch tube only;
• if the current sensor LEM2 detects no forward current and no reverse current, it indicates the lower freewheeling diode has open circuit fault, or both the upper freewheeling diode and the lower freewheeling diode have open circuit faults.