A Simple Voltage Modulator Scheme for Torque Ripple Minimization in a Permanent Magnet Brushless DC Motor

This paper presents a simple dc-link voltage modulation scheme to minimize the commutation torque ripple in a permanent magnet brushless dc motor (PMBLdcM). Maintaining a constant current in the noncommutating (NC) phase helps to minimize the torque ripple, which can be achieved by boosting the motor input voltage whenever two phase currents are undergoing commutation. At low speeds, since the required ac voltage at commutation is also less than nominal, the standard pulsewidth modulation operation of the inverter with nominal dc-link voltage suffices. However, at higher speeds, a momentary (only during the commutation interval) boost in the dc-link voltage (above the nominal level) is needed to ensure a boost in motor voltage, and hence, a steady current in the NC phase. In the proposed scheme, the dc voltage boost at higher speeds is obtained by connecting two capacitors in series, which are normally connected in parallel, across the dc-link. The proposed scheme is verified for a 1-hp PMBLdcM drive through simulations and experiments in the laboratory. Results exhibit a notable improvement in reducing the torque ripple.