Proceedings of the 10th Mediterranean Conference

on Control and Automation - MED2002

Lisbon, Portugal, July 9-12, 2002.

TORQUE AND SPEED MODES SIMULATION OF A DTC-

CONTROLLED INDUCTION MOTOR
Nuno M. Silva1, António P. Martins2, Adriano S. Carvalho2
1
MSc student, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto,
Rua Dr Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal, - e-mail: pee01003@fe.up.pt
2
Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Instituto de Sistemas e Robótica,
Rua Dr Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal, - fax: +351 22 5081443, e-mail: ajm@fe.up.pt

Keywords: Converter control, Induction motor, an optimal switching vector, making possible fast
Direct Torque Control, Simulation torque response, low inverter switching frequency
and low harmonic losses.
Abstract Figure 1 shows the usual block diagram of a DTC
controller.
By the huge advantages associated, induction
motors drives are still justifying research and
development. This paper presents the work Motor
~ ~
developed in Direct Torque Control (DTC) based AC Gate signals
drives. With a growing importance in several input
Switching logic 1, 2, 3 α, β
applications, this method was object of a deep φ θ τ Isα Isβ Vsα Vsβ
study, either in simulation environment and
hardware implementation. The reached results
confirm some weaknesses and several strengths, Φref +
T + * Rs R s
pointing out his worth in strength control, Tref - +
p
particularly in robotics. Φs -
x +y2
2 *

y x Φsα - +
1 Introduction Φsβ - +
In the past, AC drives were only used in small
demanding applications, regardless the advantages Figure 1. Block diagram of a DTC control system.
of AC motors opposite to DC motors, since the
high switching frequency inverters cost was rather With DTC it is possible to obtain direct flux and
competitive. electromagnetic torque control, indirect voltage
With the developments in the power electronics and current control, sinusoidal current and flux,
area, the vector control methods, which use fast low torque ripple, superior torque dynamics and
microprocessors and DSP’s, made possible the use hysteresis band dependent inverter switching
of induction motors in typically DC motors frequency [5], [2].
dominated areas, since the current components Among its main advantages are the absence of:
producing torque and flux are decoupled, achieving coordinate transformation (which are usually
the system separately excited DC motor similar necessary in most vector control drives),
features. modulation specific block, and the absolute
The Direct Torque Control (DTC) method, position determination.
developed by German and Japanese researchers However, there are some problems during start up
[8], [3], allows direct and independent and at low speed values, like the difficulty in start
electromagnetic torque and flux control, selecting up current control and high influence of the motor
parameters, as well as variable switching frequency The operation may be described by the following
and the need of flux and speed estimators. manner:
With the inclusion of a speed estimator in the Sk=1 Æ top switch closed, bottom switch opened.
system, it is possible to obtain gains in hardware
Sk=0 Æ top switch opened, bottom switch closed.
complexity reduction and bigger mechanical
endurance, making possible the operation in a Assuming that the n point is a virtual neutral, the
hostile environment and decreasing the line-neutral voltage may be evaluated; Vkn,
maintenance needs. Simultaneously the noise and Equation (2):
motor-load inertia immunity are increased.
 1
However it is necessary to use speed estimation V1n = 3 (2S1 − S 2 − S 3 ) ⋅ Vdc
techniques, like: open loop estimators, model 
 1
reference adaptive systems (MRAS), [6]; V2n = (2 S 2 − S1 − S 3 ) ⋅ Vdc (2)
Luenberger observers, [7]; Kalman filters, [4];  3
fuzzy logic estimators, [9] or neural networks, [1].  1
V3n = 3 (2S 3 − S1 − S 2 ) ⋅ Vdc
In this paper, it is introduced the work developed in 
simulation and experimentation associated to the The application of the Clarke transformation
implementation of a DTC based, DSP controlled allows the attainment of a generic vector
drive, of an asynchronous machine, in torque and expression, Equation (3):
speed modes.
2 2
V = Vα + jVβ = (V1n + aV2n + a V3n ) (3)
2 The control process implemented 3
2π
In a voltage source two level three phase inverter, j
where a = e 3 .
represented in figure 2, and neglecting the
switching interval effect (dead-time, snubbers), Using the measured inverter output currents and
feeding a three phase, balanced, wye connected voltages, the motor flux is estimated, and then the
load, the voltage measured between the output of electromagnetic torque is estimated.
each branch and the 0 point can have two values,
Vdc or 0 V, given by Equation (1): In this set of operations it becomes specially
important the stator flux estimation. In this
Vk 0 = S k × Vdc (1) application, it has been implemented an open loop
estimator, with the flux calculated by stator voltage
being Sk the control signal of k branch, and Vdc the
integration, and considering the stator losses,
voltage in the DC bus.
Equation (4).
( )
Φ s = ∫ U s − Rs I s dt (4)
Vdc
Being p the number of pole pairs, the
electromagnetic torque is determined by the
V1n
1 V2n following expression, Equation (5):
2
3
n

V3n
(
Tem = p ⋅ Im Φ s ⋅ I s * ) (5)

2.1 Electromagnetic torque control mode

0 V10 V20 V30
The electromagnetic value resulting from the
S1 S2 S3 previous stage is then compared with the
electromagnetic torque reference, using the three
Figure 2. Schematic of a voltage source two level level hysteresis comparator, represented in figure
three phase inverter. 3. In this manner, the result may be increase,
decrease or maintain the torque, depending on the 90o
comparator output.
150o 30o
θ3 θ2

θ4 θ1
1
Tref + θ5 θ6
210o 330o
0 τ 270o
-
T -1
Figure 5. (α, β) plane division in six angular
sectors.
Figure 3. Three level hysteresis comparator:
τ=1⇒ increase torque; τ=0⇒ maintain torque; τ φ θ1 θ2 θ3 θ4 θ5 θ6
τ=-1⇒ decrease torque.
+1 1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V1
In a similar way, the flux value will be compared 0 1 V7 V0 V7 V0 V7 V0
with a flux reference, but using a two level
hysteresis comparator, shown in figure 4. The -1 1 V6 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5
result will be used to increase or decrease the flux. +1 0 V3 V4 V5 V6 V1 V2
0 0 V0 V7 V0 V7 V0 V7
-1 0 V5 V6 V1 V2 V3 V4
1
Φref + Table 1: Optimal switching selection table.
0 φ In figure 6 it is represented the relative positions of
-
Φ the stator and rotor fluxes and the stator current
vectors. From figure 6, and as can be seen in figure
Figure 4. Two level hysteresis comparator: φ= 1 ⇒ 7, the next applied voltage vector, will cause a
increase flux; φ= 0 ⇒ decrease flux. displacement in the stator flux vector in order to
reach the results determined by the comparators.
An important factor in these operations is the
hysteresis band of the two comparators. A narrow y
window will give a better current flux waveforms ω
but will also increase the inverter switching
frequency.
Is
For the switching vector selection it is necessary to Φs
know the angular sector in which the actual flux is
Φr
located. The actual position can be determined by γ
Equation (6), from the orthogonal flux
components:
x
 Φ sβ 
θ = arctg  
 (6)
Figure 6. Stator and rotor fluxes and stator current
 Φ sα 
vectors.
The θ angle returned by Equation (6) determines
the sector where the flux is, (figure 5). According to the stator flux vector position, it is
applied the voltage vector that satisfies the table
The combination of the comparators outputs and entries requirements.
the sector is then applied to an optimal switching
table (Table 1) which will give the voltage vector Considering the situation presented in figure 6, if it
to be applied to the inverter. is wanted a torque increase and flux maintenance it
should be applied voltage vector V3, as it will be Afterwards, with the measured stator currents, it is
the one that will cause the bigger displacement of obtained the electrical motor frequency. At last, the
the stator flux vector in the direct direction. electrical speed is calculated by the following
expression, Equation (9):
 T 
V3 V2 ω r = p ω e − R r e  (9)
β  Φr2 
V1  
V4
90º
θ3 θ2 Φs This method has some error sources, since beyond
150º 30º V5 V6 using motor parameters that may have errors, there
θ1
are still the flux and electrical angular speed
θ4 calculations as the more complex quantities.
α
210º 330º
In the speed mode operation, the estimated speed is
compared with the speed reference. The error is
θ5 θ6 applied to speed controller, which supplies an
270º
electromagnetic torque reference.
Figure 7. Possible voltage vectors to be applied to a
stator flux vector.
3 Simulation
Instead, vector V6 would cause a bigger
3.1 Simulation platform
displacement in the inverse direction. Every time
the torque is out of the hysteresis bounds a null Using the per phase equivalent circuit of a three
vector is applied (V0 or V7). phase induction motor, with the parameters
presented in Table 2 (obtained with a set of essays
2.2 Speed control mode according to the IEEE 112 Standard) it was
It is also possible to implement a speed controller implemented a control algorithm in the simulation
in closed loop using the DTC method. For that, it software package “SABER”.
becomes essential to know the rotor mechanical
speed. To meet this requirement it has been U 220/380 V Xm 22,92 Ω
developed a rotor speed estimation algorithm. I 18.5/11.5 A Xs 1,7 Ω
Between several options, as referred earlier in this P 4 kW Xr 1,7 Ω
paper, there are open loop estimators, neural
network and fuzzy logic based models and Cos ϕ 0.78 Rs 1,48 Ω
observers. However, due to methods complexity Poles 4 Rr 1,05 Ω
and to the implementation available means, an
open loop estimator have been chosen.
Table 2: Motor parameters.
In the presented application, the rotor flux is
calculated from Equation (7): The implementation was made considering the
subsequent experimental validation in a hardware
Φr =
Lr
Lm
( )
Φ s − σLs I s = Φ rx + jΦ ry (7) platform composed of diode rectifier and a
MOSFET three phase inverter, being the control
algorithm accomplished with a TMS320F240
where, Lm is the magnetizing inductance, Lr the digital signal processor.
rotor inductance, Ls the stator inductance and σ the
leakage factor, calculated according to Equation The control algorithm has been implemented using
(8): a C function, which simulates the microcontroller,
and the remainder components with the simulator
Lm
σ= (8) blocks. In this way, the migration to the hardware
( L s + Lm )( Lr + Lm ) system is made easier.
3.2 Simulation results twice the nominal speed), having the motor no load
After the algorithm implementation it were made coupled to the shaft.
several essays in order to evaluate the controller
behavior, either in torque control mode, either in
speed control mode.

3.2.1 Torque control mode

In the essay presented in figure 8, in a first instant
the electromagnetic torque and the flux references
have been kept constant, being the load torque
varied later. Afterwards, an electromagnetic torque
reference step is applied, being the torque and flux
kept constant.

Figure 9. Electromagnetic torque step response.

In this case, it is possible to verify an error of

approximately 15 rad/s between real and measured
speeds (figure 10). This error is due to the used
speed estimation method.

Figure 8. Electromagnetic torque and flux

behavior, with load torque applied.

As can be seen in figure 8, the system behavior is

good, even in extreme conditions like the overload
regime, in which the system has been submitted Figure 10. Estimated and measured speed.
between instants t=0.25 s and t=0.375 s, tracking,
even so, the supplied electromagnetic torque In figure 11 it is possible to observe both the
reference. The observed ripple in both controller generated electromagnetic torque and
electromagnetic torque and flux is due to the use of flux references, as well as the field weakening
hysteresis controllers. action.
In figure 9, it can be seen an excellent response to
an electromagnetic torque step, being fast (tr=500 4 Conclusions
µs) and without overshoot. Is this paper it has been presented an
implementation of the DTC control method
3.2.2 Speed control mode
associated with a three phase induction motor. Two
The speed controller essay was made supplying a control modes have been implemented, the
speed reference of ω=300 rad/s (approximately electromagnetic torque mode and the speed control
mode.
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Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do
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