FAULT TOLERANT INVERTER FOR PARTIAL PHASE LOSS IN MULTI-PHASE MACHINES

A method and system of operating a multi-phase electric machine include operating an inverter to control the multi-phase machine. The inverter has a plurality of inverter legs including an auxiliary inverter leg. Each of the plurality of inverter legs has at least one switch device. The multi-phase machine has a plurality of phases in which each phase is controlled by a respective inverter leg of the inverter. The method and system also include determining whether a phase of the multi-phase machine is experiencing a partial phase loss, for example, by injecting a signal into the phases and analyzing the frequency response. In response to determining that a phase of the multi-phase machine is experiencing a partial phase loss, the method and system include utilizing the auxiliary inverter leg to supplement energy to the phase experiencing the partial phase loss to continue operating the multi-phase machine.