March 2025
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Student Shoutout David Skrovanek received second place in UW-Madison’s Three Minute Thesis competition for his thesis titled, “There is no transition without transmission”. Read more about the competition here. |
New Equipment in the Lab:
Power Hardware-in-the-Loop System & 120,000 rpm High-Speed Dynamometer
WEMPEC Affiliate Faculty members Dominic Gross and Manish Singh, both from the Power Systems group, have acquired a Power Hardware-in-the-Loop (PHIL) system capable of simulating up to two 3-phase AC systems or one DC and one 3-phase AC system in real time. Examples of DC and AC systems that can be simulated include but are not limited to AC and HVDC power systems, solar PV, batteries, and electric machines, allowing the testing of DC/AC or back-to-back 3-phase AC power electronic converters and their control algorithms at significant power levels. The PHIL system will first be used to validate various grid-forming control algorithms on converter hardware.
Through the research project “Multi-Fuel Capable Hybrid-Electric Engine Technologies”, funded by the Army Research Laboratory and led by Prof. David Rothamer (UW-Madison, Engine Research Center), a new 120,000 rpm, 4 Nm, 41.9 kW high-speed dynamometer has been added to the WEMPEC dynamometer room. The project develops new technologies and designs of multi-fuel capable hybrid-electric engines for the Army air and ground vehicles of the future. Prof. Eric Severson’s research group (University of Minnesota) contributes by developing the science of bearingless e-turbochargers. Testing of the first bearingless high-speed machine from the project is scheduled to begin this summer. |