Abstract
This paper describes the application of sensorless control for hybrid electric vehicles and an analysis of the influence of magnetic saturation on sensorless control. 3-phase high frequency voltage input sensorless control that provides information on rotor position using a simple integration procedure is proposed. To analyze the influence of magnetic saturation, a non-linear motor voltage equation is solved by using finite element analysis. Simulation results show good correlation with experimental results and clearly reflect the influence of magnetic saturation. The performance of 3-phase high frequency voltage input sensorless control is greatly improved by using analyzed results. The improved sensorless control algorithm is applied to hybrid electric vehicles and gives good startup performance of an internal combustion engine. The proposed approach is very useful for designing control algorithms, considering the influence of magnetic saturation in hybrid electric vehicle applications.