Review of Hardware Platforms for Real-Time Simulation of Electric Machines

Abstract

This paper presents a review of the research status for real-time simulation of electric machines. The machine models considered are the lumped parameter models, including the phase-domain, d-q, and voltage-behind-reactance models, as well as the physics-based models, including the finite-element method and magnetic equivalent circuit models. These models are initially presented along with their relative advantages and disadvantages with respect to modeling fidelity and their computational intensity. A field-programmable gate array, a graphics processing unit, a chip multiprocessor, and computer clusters are the main hardware platforms for real-time simulations. An overview of such hardware platforms is presented and their comparative performances are evaluated with respect to real-time simulation of electric machines and drives on the basis of simulation acceleration, machine types, and modeling methodology.