Analysis and simulation of the high-speed torque performance of brushless D.C. motor drives

Abstract

The work presented in this thesis is concerned with the analysis, modelling, simulation and control of a surface mounted permanent magnet motor supply by a voltage controlled Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) inverter. In Chapter 1 an overall description of the design and construction of individual components of the brushless dc drive system is presented along with a review of the general concept of the drive system. This type of machine is compared with other types of machine and the potential advantages of this new concept, both technical and economic, outlined. In Chapter 2 the operation and the control aspects of the brushless dc motor are described, with particular emphasis placed on the basic requirements for the operation, torque production, performance characteristic and control. The high-speed torque control methods are also described and their merits are reviewed. In addition the effects of different parameters of machine design on the torque-speed characteristics are discussed. Chapter 3 elaborates on the analysis and simulation work by presenting a comprehensive analysis which aims to show that direct three-phase representation can be used as an effective tool for performance assessement of brushless dc drive systems operating over a wide speed range. In Chapter 4 the performance of the brushless dc motor supplied by a PWM inverter with a view to improving the high-speed torque performance is investigated. Simulation and analysis of the brushless dc motor is presented in which the actual parameters of the experimental machine are used. The aim of the analysis is to simulate a brushless d. c. drive system operating in closed-loop control modes, which use high speed torque control techniques in conjunction with a PWM control technique. A detailed analytical model which makes possible the use of machine theory for representing the performance of the brushless dc motor is presented in Chapter 5. The method utilizes the phasor diagram, where machine performance in terms of the main control variables such as voltage and phase advance angle is demonstrated. Chapter 5 also presents an analytical expression for the phase-advance angle which yields maximum torque at a given motor speed. An analytical study concerning the optimum phase advance is developed in Chapter 6. In this work two analytical approaches to the problem of obtaining an optimum phase advance angle are presented. Chapter 6 presents a detailed analysis of the shape of the current and back-emf waveforms in a trapezoidal brushless dc motor drive and their effects on the torque/speed performance. Chapter 7 presents the implementation of a microprocessor based system, which can set the phase advance angle to its optimum value at any motor speed. This implementation is done in real time on the protortype drive using a TMS320C30 digital signal processor. Features of the method proposed in this thesis include the estimation algorithms for predicting the time advance. Experimental results on a drive system demonstrate the satisfactory performance of both the hardware and software of the control scheme.