This paper introduces a sensorless-speed-controlled PMSM motor fed by a
four-leg inverter in case of a single phase open circuit fault regardless in
which phase is the fault. To minimize the system performance degradation
due to a single phase open circuit fault, a fault tolerant control strategy that
includes taking appropriate actions to control the two remaining healthy
currents is used in addition to use the fourth leg of the inverter. Tracking the
saliency is done through measuring the dynamic current responses of the
healthy phases of the PMSM motor due the IGBT switching actions using the
fundamental PWM method without introducing any modification to the
operation of the fourth leg of the inverter. Simulation results are provided to
verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy for sensorless controlling of
a PMSM motor driven by a fault-tolerant four-phase inverter over a wide
speed ranges under the case of a single phase open circuit.