Direct instantaneous torque and force control: a control approach for switched reluctance machines

Switched-reluctance technology is appealing to the automotive industry due to its low cost. Conventional research focuses on the two main issues, namely torque ripple and acoustic noise. However, control schemes usually only address one of these two issues at a time. This study unifies the approaches of direct instantaneous torque control and direct instantaneous force control to simultaneously eliminate two central drawbacks of switched reluctance machines (SRMs). A search algorithm was used to predict appropriate reference values for each phase to keep torque and overall radial force smooth at any time. Simulation and measurement results confirmed that the control objectives were met so that torque ripple was reduced and the acoustic behaviour of the investigated automotive traction drive was simultaneously improved. A comparison with conventional control methods investigating vibrations and efficiency is provided. The proposed control approach thus provides future engineers with a powerful tool for adapting SRMs to the requirements of the automotive sector.