Tuning of modern speed drives using IFOC: A case study for a five-phase induction machine

Electric machines have existed since the beginning of the 19th century. Although variable-speed drive technology has evolved considerably during the last years, the indirect field-oriented control technique has been in use as a standard control method since the 1960s, using an outer speed loop and an inner current loop. This paper deals with the non-trivial problem of tuning the outer speed controller of modern variable-speed drives, where experimental results are provided to show the need for new tuning methods. The influence of non-modeled effects on the performance of the drive is illustrated considering the dynamical effect of the mechanical speed sensing procedure using optical devices. This effect has not been generally considered. However, it is shown that it has a notable effect on tuning for high performance drives. This is especially true when considering some figures of merits of relevance for drives, such as the torque ripple. A Pareto analysis is proposed to reveal trade-offs between typical figures of merit to establish new tuning methods. To focus our contribution, a five-phase induction drive is considered as the case study, using a finite-state model predictive controller for the stator current control and PI regulators for the outer speed control loop. • Problem of tuning the outer speed controller of modern variable-speed drives. • Analysis of the influence of non-modeled effects on the performance of electric drives. • Figures of merits of relevance for characterizing the performance of variable-speed drives.