AN IMPROVED V/F CONTROL SCHEME FOR SYMMETRIC LOAD SHARING OF

MULTI-MACHINE INDUCTION MOTOR DRIVES

Jaishankar Iyer, Kamran Tabarraee, Sina Chiniforoosh, and Juri Jatskevich

Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

ABSTRACT

The traditional low-cost Volts-per-Hertz (V/F) induction
motor (IM) drives typically operate based on speed
command, whereas the developed torque is consequently
determined according to the torque-speed characteristics of
the machine. In multi-machine load-sharing applications, it
is preferred to have number of identical IMs; whereas in
practice, deviations among motor parameters is probable
and will result in disproportionate sharing of the mechanical
load and even overloading one or several machines. In this
paper, an improved V/F scheme is presented, which
compensates for possible variations in the motor parameter
(e.g. rotor resistance) and balances the load accordingly.
The new method is shown to be effective and easy to
implement, and may be readily extended to an arbitrary
number of motors driving a common load.

Index Terms induction motors, V/F control, load
sharing, variable frequency drives.

1. INTRODUCTION

Multi-motor-driven loads can be found in a wide range of
applications in industry such as conveyor belts for
transportation of raw material, mill motors used in iron and
pulp and paper industries, mining drills, etc. The term load
sharing is commonly used when describing such systems
wherein typically a number of mechanically-coupled
induction motors (IMs) are fed by corresponding variable
frequency drives (VFDs) as shown in Figs. 1(a) and (b) [1].
These VFDs range from the more advanced and expensive
vector-controlled schemes, wherein the torque control may
be achieved practically instantaneously, to the conventional
Volts-per-Hertz (V/F) control which relies on steady-state
analysis and is often used along with a closed-loop speed
regulator as shown in Fig. 1(c). The former is advantageous
because it is capable of both speed and torque control and
can implement load sharing schemes such as torque-
follower or trim control [1]. Nevertheless, the latter is
widely used in many industrial applications mainly because
of simplicity and low cost.
The properties of a load sharing system also depend on
the type of coupling used between the motors [2].The focus
in this paper is on the cases that the load sharing is carried

IMn
LOAD
VFD1
VFD2
VFDn
(a)
IM2
IM1
Speed feedback
IMn
IM1
IM2
VFD
(b)
LOAD
(c)
Speed feedback
V/F Control Speed Command IM1
Speed
Control
Regulator
VSI
Speed feedback

Fig. 1. Different load sharing configurations: (a) multiple motors driven by
individual drives; (b) multiple motors driven by a single drive unit; and (c)
block diagram of a conventional V/F speed control scheme.

out merely through rigid couplings, although the proposed
concepts may be extended to other cases.
As seen in Fig. 1, generally, the machines may be fed
from either a set of drive units (a) or a single drive unit (b).
In its strictest sense, however, a load sharing scheme
requires that the fraction of torque applied to the load by
each motor can be dictated by the drive-motor set [1], [3].
From this viewpoint, the configuration of Fig. 1(b) is not
deemed effective since therein the torque developed by each
machine is determined according to the corresponding
torque-speed characteristics.
For the purpose of this paper, the V/F control depicted
in Fig. 1 is assumed to operate only in speed control mode.
Here, the speed command and feedback signals are fed into
the speed regulator block as seen in Fig. 1(c). The resulting
speed reference is then converted to the voltage reference
according to the following equation [4]:
ref
b
b
s
V
V

= . (1)
Here, the base voltage and base angular frequency of the
machine have been denoted by
b
V and
b
, respectively.
The torque-speed characteristic of the IM depends on the
applied voltage, frequency and the rotor resistance. In
practice, the equivalent rotor resistance values of two
IEEE CCECE 2011 - 001487
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similar machines may not be equal even if they come from
the same manufacturer. Moreover, the rotor resistance
changes with loading and temperature. The equivalent rotor
resistance also changes with the frequency of the rotor
currents and slip due to the deep-rotor-bar effect, which
depends on the rotor design [5], [6]. In a load sharing
system composed of several machines, such variations in the
value of rotor resistance results into different torque-speed
characteristics for the machines and hence different values
of developed electromagnetic torque. In other words, the
load will not be equally shared among the motors and/or the
symmetry might gradually deteriorate due to changes in
loading, temperature, etc. This issue is further discussed in
the next section and a new and improved V/F control
scheme is proposed to ensure a symmetric load sharing
among the motors despite.

2. PROBLEM DEFINITION AND MOTIVATION

Herein, two identical IMs are considered to be mechanically
coupled and fed by VFDS with corresponding V/F control
as seen in Fig. 2. The analysis, however, may be further
extended to any number of machines. The steady state
operating torque developed by each IM is given by [5]
( ) ( )
2 2
2
2
3
r th r th
r
e
th
e
X X s r R
s r V P
T
+ + +
=

, (2)
where
th
V ,
th
R , and
th
X are the Thevenin equivalent
circuit parameters obtained from the equivalent circuit of
Fig. 3, and
e
is the electrical frequency of the source. In
the motoring region where the slip is typically low, (2) may
be approximated by
( ) r e
th
r
r
e
th
e
r
s V P
s r
s r V P
T =

2
2
2
2
3
2
3 . (3)
As seen in (3), the torque-speed characteristic is
approximated by a linear equation in the low-slip region.
The dependency of the developed torque on the voltage,
frequency, and rotor resistance is evident in (2) and (3). In
the V/F controlled scheme of Fig. 2, the voltage and
frequency are dictated by the speed control regulator block
according to (1) and the actual and command speed signals.
Since these speed signals are the same for both drives, the
same voltages and frequencies will be injected into both
machines. Therefore, if the rotor resistance values are
different, the corresponding amounts of electromagnetic
torque developed by the machines will be different, and the
load will not be equally shared between the machines.
As a result of this, one machine will be responsible for
carrying a higher fraction of the load.
The above-mentioned problem is clarified in the torque-
speed characteristics depicted in Fig. 4 for the induction
machines with parameters given in the Appendix. Here, the
two machines are identical except the rotor resistance,
which are 06 . 5 and 41 . 7 for IM1 and IM2,
respectively. A mechanical load of m N. 1 . 8 has been
applied to the machines at
sec
188
rad
. It is observed that,
as predicted by (3), the motor with the smaller rotor
resistance, IM1, carries a higher percentage of the load than
motor IM2.


Fig. 2. Load sharing between two V/F controlled induction motors.
'
r
r
s

Fig. 3. Equivalent circuit of an Induction Machine.


Fig. 4. Torque-speed characteristics of IM1 and IM2 using the conventional
V/F scheme.

The values of electromagnetic torque developed by the
machines are provided in Table I. It can be seen that IM1 is
overloaded by 18% whereas the other machine is operating
below the rated torque. The problem could become more
severe if a larger number of machines are interconnected.
The asymmetry in the load sharing is even more pronounced
for the IMs with a low rotor resistance where the slope of
the torque-speed characteristic becomes higher in magnitude
and the characteristic is very steep in the low-slip region
according to (3). Indeed, high-slip motors are preferred for
load sharing in applications such as conveyor belts to reduce
IEEE CCECE 2011 - 001488
the effects of belt stretch and improve the load sharing
among belt-coupled drums [7]. However, high-slip motors
have higher copper loss and lower efficiency. Therefore,
using the traditional method for load sharing has the trade-
off between the symmetric load sharing and high efficiency.
This is the motivation for modifying the traditional V/F
scheme in order to achieve a symmetric load sharing among
possibly different motors.

Table I. Electromagnetic torque developed by IM1 and IM2 using the
conventional V/F scheme.
IM1 ( = 06 . 5
r
r ) IM2 ( = 41 . 7
r
r )
( )
e
T Nm
e
rated
T
T

( )
e
T Nm
e
rated
T
T

4.77 118% 3.33 82%

3. PROPOSED SCHEME

The torque generated in the motoring region is a
function of voltage, electrical frequency and rotor resistance
(see (3)). For the IMs, with different rotor resistances, in
order to have the same operating torque, the voltage and the
frequency fed to the machines should be different. This in
turn requires different speed references. For the torques to
be equal, the following equation should be satisfied:
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
2
1
.
2
3
2
3
r e
th
r e
th
r
s V P
r
s V P

= . (4)
Solving (4) results in
( )
r
S
S
r
r
M
M
r e e
X
X
r
r
X
X
+

=
1
2
1
2
2
1
1 2
, (5)
where
e
is the electrical frequency,
M
X is the magnetizing
inductance,
S
X is the stator self inductance. The suffix 1 and
2 denotes IM1 and IM2. This equation will be used to
generate the reference speed for the second drive. The new
scheme is shown in Fig. 5 where the Speed reference
correction block is formed using (5). The second drive is
now operating without the speed control regulator block and
the actual speed feedback is taken as the Speed reference
correction block. From (5), it is seen that the speed
reference to the second drive is varied as per the change in
the rotor resistance. Therefore, the motors will be operating
with different voltages and synchronous speeds.
Employing the proposed approach, the improved load
sharing for the case discussed in the previous section is
shown in Fig. 6. Notice that the maximum torque is now
different for the motors indicating that different voltages and
frequencies are injected into the machines. It is also
observed that the machines are running with different
synchronous speeds unlike the case in Fig. 4. Most
importantly, the torque-speed characteristics of the
machines now intersect near the commanded speed which
results in almost equal values for torque. It should be noted,
however, that the intersection does not take place exactly at
the commanded speed. This is of course due to using the
approximation (3) in the model.


Fig. 5. Block diagram of the proposed improved V/F scheme.


Fig. 6. Torque-speed characteristics of IM1 and IM2 using the proposed
improved V/F scheme.

Table II. Electromagnetic torque developed by IM1 and IM2 using the
proposed improved V/F scheme.
IM1 ( = 06 . 5
r
r ) IM2 ( = 41 . 7
r
r )
( )
e
T Nm
e
rated
T
T

( )
e
T Nm
e
rated
T
T

4.1 101% 4 99%

Comparing the torque values in Table II with those of
Table I, it is seen that, using the proposed scheme, the load
sharing has become symmetrical between the machines and
the overloading is removed. Each of the motors now shares
roughly 50% of the load. Consequently, a lower-slip motor
can be used, if desired, to increase the efficiency of the
system without the risk of overloading and possible
breakdown.
The above scheme can be readily extended to multiple
motors (more than two). It can be realized in practice, by
implementing the Speed reference correction block in a
PLC or similar logical device. The first drive is speed
referenced as per the required speed and the second drive is
speed referenced by the Speed reference correction block.
IEEE CCECE 2011 - 001489
4. OPERATION UNDER INCREASED LOADING

It is well understood that (3) only holds when the slip is
small and the machine operates near the synchronous speed.
With the increased loading, as slip increases, the torque-
speed curve gradually loses its linearity. It is then expected
that the performance of the proposed scheme would be
superior under lighter loads and deteriorate as the machine
gets more heavily loaded.
In order to investigate the above-mentioned
characteristic, the IMs considered in this paper have been
subjected to 25%, 50% and 100% loading. The torque
developed by the two machines using the conventional and
proposed V/F schemes has been superimposed in Fig. 7.


Fig. 7. Load sharing under different loading conditions.
As seen in this figure, using the proposed scheme the
loading of the machines is essentially equal at 25% load and
has a difference of 2% at full loading. However, using the
conventional method, the load is never shared equally
among the machines and the difference ranges from 10% at
25% loading to 36% at full loading.
The percentage of loading for the motors at different
loading conditions is shown in Table III. It is seen that in the
conventional scheme, IM1 is overloaded when the system is
subjected to the full loading. At the same time, this is
completely avoided using the proposed scheme.

Table III. Comparison of the conventional (a) and proposed (b) schemes
under different loading conditions.
(a)
Loading IM1 IM2
( )
e
T Nm
e
rated
T
T

( )
e
T Nm
e
rated
T
T

25% 1.21 30% 0.82 20%
50% 2.40 59% 1.65 41%
100% 4.77 118% 3.33 82%
(b)
Loading IM1 IM2
( )
e
T Nm
e
rated
T
T

( )
e
T Nm
e
rated
T
T

25% 1.01 25% 1.01 25%
50% 2.03 50% 2.02 50%
100% 4.10 101% 4.00 99%

5. CONCLUSION

A new and improved V/F scheme was proposed for
symmetric load sharing between mechanically-coupled
induction motors. It is assumed that the trend in the rotor
resistance variation with respect to slip is known. The
proposed scheme has better load sharing under different
loading conditions compared to the traditional method. The
possibility of load sharing among drives under V/F control
using measurable parameters like stator currents and
voltages is under study and will be the topic of further
research.

6. APPENDIX

Induction Machines (IM 1 and 2) Parameters:
Baldor Reliance, 1 hp, 480 V, 60 Hz, 1750 rpm, 4 Pole.
Catalogue No.: CM3546, Spec No.: 34G795X269,
= 98 . 6
s
r , = 41 . 7
r
r , = 84 . 11
ls
X , = 03 . 11
lr
X
= 23 . 207
m
X , m N T
rated
. 05 . 4 = , m N T . 15 . 17
max
=
2
. 00261 . 0 m kg J = .

7. REFERENCES

[1] P, Rockwell Automation-Load Sharing Applications for AC Drive
Publication Number DRIVES-WP001A-EN-P June 2000
[2] Jeftenic, B.; Bebic, M.; Statkic, S.; , "Controlled multi-motor drives,"
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SPEEDAM 2006. International Symposium on , vol., no., pp.1392-
1398, 23-26 May 2006
[3] N. Mitrovic, V. Kostic, M. Petronijevic, B. Jeftenic, "Multi-Motor
Drives for Crane Application," Advances in Electrical and Computer
Engineering, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 57-62, 2009.
[4] P. Krause, O. Wasynczuk, S. Sudhoff, Analysis of Electric
Machinery and drive system Second Edition ISBN 9812-53-150-5
[5] P. C. Sen, Principles of electric machines and power electronics,
2
nd
Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
[6] Foroosh, S.C.; Liwei Wang; Jatskevich, J.; , "A simple induction
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[7] Paulson, G. E. Motor Selection for Belt-Conveyor Drives presented
at the Tenth CIM Maintenance/Engineering Conference, Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan September 13-16, 1998.
IEEE CCECE 2011 - 001490