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Analysis of torque ripple due to phase commutation in brushless DCmachines

Article  in  IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications · June 1992

DOI: 10.1109/28.137450 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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 ANALYSIS OF TORQUE RIPPLE bUE TO PHASE CCBMMU'PAPPIBN
IN BRUSHLESS DC MACHINES
Renato Carlson Michel Eajoie-Mazenc Joao C. dos S. Fagundes
GRUCAD/EEL/UFSC LEEI/CNRS EEL/CTC/UFSC
PO Box 476 2, rue Camichel PO Box 476
88049 Florianopolis BRAZIL 3 1071 Toulouse Cedex FRANCE 88049 Florianopolis BRAZIL

Abstract current
An original analytical study is developed concerning
the torque undulation due t o phases commutation on
brushless DC motors. The results indicate that the VOLTAGE
relative ripple is independent of current, varies with V INVERTER
speed and may reach 50% of the average torque. The
amplitude of the torque undulation and the duration
of the commutation are analysed showing how this
affects the torque-speed curve of the drive. position
Simulation as well as experimental results are sensing
presented t h a t validate the theoretical analysis. CURRENTS
Introduction CONTROL
SYSTEM
Brushless DC motors have a trapezoidal back emf
waveform and are fed with rectangular stator .) reference
currents. On these conditions the torque produced is, current
theoretically, constant. However, in practice, torque
ripple may exist, due t o the machine itself but also t o Figure 1 - schematic of a brushless dc drive
the feeding system. The causes of ripple coming from
the machine are cogging torque and emf waveform
imperfections and those coming from the supply are The machine model and the conventions adopted for
current ripple (resulting of the pwm or hysteresis the study are shown on figure 2.
control) and phase current commutation.
Many ways were proposed t o attenuate cogging
torque, mainly by slots skewing or by changing the
magnets dimensions and positioning (lI2). Emf or
static torque imperfections were analysed and some
original solutions were proposed to overcome
them (3).
On the other hand, few studies of ripple due t o the
supply are available. To our knowledge, only Pillay
and Krishnan have shown, using a simulation, that
the commutation can introduce significant torque
pulsation (4).
So, in order to obtain a better understanding of Figure 2 - Machine model and conventions.
brushless DC motor behavior, an original analytical
study of commutation is proposed in this paper. The Assuming constant self and mutual inductances, the
evolution of the torque during the current voltage equation is:
commutation between two phases of the machine is
analysed and the developed expressions allow t o
determine torque undulation due t o
commutation. The theoretical analysis is illustrated
by simulation and experimental results.
this
R O O
O OR 01
= [0 R
where: f = L - M.
€ 0 0 d
liil
+ [00 0f f01 d t - ig+ I%il (1)

The torque is given by:

Description of the svstem and general assumptions
A brushless DC motor drive consists of a permanent
magnet machine, fed by a current controlled inverter.
This is shown in figure 1 where the DC supply has
been idealized.
There are two levels of current control. The first one
determines the phases sequence and the moment of
current commutations from a phase t o the following
one. This control is determined from a rotor position
sensor. The second level controls the current
amplitude from machine currents sensing and can be
done by pwm or by hysteresis.
Usually, the machine currents are directly measured
by sensors placed in the AC link between inverter
and machine. But with rectangular waveform
currents a n image of the phase currents can be
obtained by a current sensor placed in the DC link at
the inverter input (5,6).
In the following, these two configurations will be
successively examined.
90/CH 2935-5/90/00004287$01.00@1990 E E E
1
T = - ( e l i l + e2i2 + e3i3) (2)
0
In order t o only show off the torque ripple due t o the
supply, ideal trapezoidal emf e e and e 3 (with a
1200constant plateau) are consikre%.
Control from DC link current sensing
Figure 3 describes the general structure of the drive
with this kind of control. It should be observed that
a rectification of the sensed DC link current is
needed t o get a correct image of the machine current,
owing t o the current returned by the free-wheeling
diodes of the inverter. In order t o simplify the
analysis a n hysteresis control of the current
amplitude is adopted.
For this analysis a very small hysteresis band is
considered, so the current through the winding of the
machine between commutations is supposed constant
and equal t o I.
 1
rotor

*m-! reference
comparator
a) before commutation

current
Rgure 3 - Schematic of the brushless DC drive With
DC link current sensing and hysteresis control
Commutation seauences
b) commutation: 2 switches and 1 diode conducting
For this analysis the commutation of the current
from phase 1 t o phase 2 is considered. This current
transfer is done by switching off T1 and by switching
on T2. Nevertheless, this transfer is not done directly
and puts into action the free-wheeling diodes. The
circuit before this commutation is shown in
figure 4.a. Immediately after switching off T1 the
circuit configuration is that of figure 4.b.
From this point, three different cases can be found
that depend of the operating conditions:
c) commutation: 3 diodes conducting
Casea:current i, vanishes a t the same time the
current i, reaches its final value I; the next
sequence is then that of figure 4.d and the
commutation is finished;
Case b:current i, vanishes before current i,
reaches its final value; the next sequence is
also that of figure 4.d but in this case the
commutation will be achieved only when
current i, will reach the final value I;
Case c: current i, reaches the value I before
current il vanishes; the next sequence is in
this case that of figure 4.c where T2 and T6 Figure 4 - Commutation sequences.
where switched off and three diodes
conduct until i, vanishes. For the sequence of figure 4.c the current derivatives
Once these three possible sequences are identified are given by:
the equations describing the evolution of the phase di, V + 2E
currents can be established. This will be done - (9)
neglecting the winding resistance and considering dt 3f
that the emfs remain constant during commutation. di, V + 2E
For the sequence of figure 4.b, the current - - (10)
derivatives are given by: dt 3f
di, V + 2E di, 2(V + 2E)
-- (3) - - - (11)
dt 3f dt 3f
di, 2(V - E ) Finally, for the sequence of figure 4.d, where there
- - - + (4) are only two phases conducting in series, the
dt 3f derivative of currents i, and ig is given by:
di, (V - 4E) di, di, V - 2E
(5) - = - - = -- (12)
dt 3f dt dt 2f
Taking the beginning of the commutation as the time Analvsis of commutation
origin, the phase currents are given by: From the above equations, it is possible to determine
V + 2E the commutation sequences duration and the
i l = I - - t (6) condition for the three cases to occur.
3f Casea:in this case (figure 5) i,(t )=O, then the
2(V - E ) commutation time tf can be calculated h o m eq. 6 as:
i, = t (7) 3f I
3f t, = ~ (13)
V - 4E V + 2E
i 3 = - I - -t (8) But i t is also known that i2(tf) = I, then from eq. 7:
3f
288
 3fI Case c: In this case, the commutation is also done
tf = (14) in two sequences (figure 7). The first one corresponds
2(V - E) to the circuit of figure 4.b and the second one to the
circuit of figure 4.c.
The condition for case a to take place can be
obtained from these two equations and is given by: From eq. 7 the duration of the first sequence is
obtained:
V = 4E (15)
For a constant voltage V a t the input of the inverter, (21)
this condition corresponds to a given speed.
The commutation duration is given by: At the instant tfffthe current i, is given from eq. 9
€1 by:
t, = -- (16) V - 4E
2E
It is to be noted that in this case the derivative of
current i, (ea. 5) is zero making that this current
i,(t",) = I
[ 2(V - E) ]
The condition for having this situation is given by
(22)

remains unchanged during commutation. i2(t11f)= I and by il(tvIf)> 0, that is from eq. 22:
V > 4E (23)
I+\ ,/I '2
/-----------
From the analysis of the circuit of figure 4.c,
' I corresponding t o the second sequence (eqs. 9 to ll),
it is possible t o obtain the total duration tf of the
commutation:
3fI
t, = - (24)
V + 2E
i3 It can be noticed that in this case also current ig
varies because its derivative (eqs. 5 and 11) is
Figure 5 - Case a currents evolution. different from zero when the condition of eq. 23 is
Case b:In this case the commutation is made in fulfilled. Moreover the sign of the derivative is
two sequences. The first sequence, defined by the inversed with respect to that occurring in case b.
time that current i takes to vanish is characterized
by the circuit of figlure 4.b. The duration of this step
is given from eq. 6 by:
3fI
t', = - (17)
V + 2E
A t the end of this sequence current i2 is given from
eq. 7 by:
2(V - E)
lE(t'f) = I (18)
V + 2E
The condition for having case b is given by i2(Vf) < I, Figure 7 - Case c currents evolution.
that is from eq. 18:
V < 4E (19) Toraue during commutation
For the second sequence there are only two phases The general expression of torque was given in eq. 2
conducting in series and the circuit configuration is and the torque between commutation is given by:
that of figure 4.d. 2EI
The total duration of the commutation is given by: T = - (25)
w
fI
tf = - (20) The first sequence of commutation is common to the
V - 2E three cases analysed above. The torque during this
It is important t o note that in this case current i,, first sequence is given by:
which is not directly involved in the commutation,
does not remains constant because its derivative
(eq. 5 and eq. 12) is different from zero when the
T = -1
w
[ E i l + Ei2 + Ei3
1
condition of eq. 19 is fulfilled. As i, + i, + i, = 0 then:
i, 2E
T = - - i 3 (26)
w
This result shows that the torque is proportional to
the current which is not directly involved in the
I I
commutation.
Replacing i, by the expression of eq. 8 comes:

Figure 6 - Case b currents evolution.

T = 2 Ew [ V
I + - t ] 3f
- 4E
(27)

289
From eqs. 25 and 27 i t can be seen that, during the AT(pu)
first sequence, the torque varies as follows:
V = 4E (case a ) *torque remains constant;
V < 4E (case b) *torque decreases;
V > 4E (case c ) *torque increases;
oj-$(a)
To evaluate the torque ripple undulation during
commutation it is only necessary to calculate its
value at the end of the first step, that is: ,
5L7
-0 5
-for V < 4E (case b ) : XIO-~

T (t’,) = -
2E1
w
[ 1 +
V -+ 4 2E
E 1 (28) O J: ta: istheoretical

Dividing by eq. 25 the relative torque undulation is

obtained:
V - 4E
AT = -( p u ) (29) E/V

~lll,Jl,l
V + 2E 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 / 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 , 1 1 1 , 1 /

0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5
-for V > 4E [case c ) :
figure 8 - (a) Relative torque undulation amplitude
T (t’,) = 2EI [ 1 + 2 (VV - -4 EE )
w 1 (30)
and (b) its duration.

The relative torque undulation is given by:

V - 4E
AT = (PU)
2(V - E)
Equations 29 and 31 show that ior V = ct. the
relative torque undulation due to the commutation is
independent of the current I but depends of the emf
E (i. e. of the speed).
Theoretical results
The relative torque undulation and the duration of
the commutation calculated from the above equation
for a given machine, can be synthesized on figure 8.
The corresponding torque-speed characteristic is
given on figure 9.
The maximum relative torque undulation reaches
+50%at low speed and -50% a t high speed passing by
zero for the speed corresponding to V = 4E.
The duration of commutation, given on figure 8.b,
slightly decreases as speed increases in the low speed
range and i t increases rapidly as speed increases in
the high speed range. This duration is minimum for
V = 4E when the torque undulation is zero.
The results of figure 8 allows t o explain the shape of
the torque-speed curve given in figure 9. In the low
speed range, in spite of having a large torque
undulation amplitude the effect of commutation on
the average torque is not sensible because its
duration is small. On the other hand, in the high
speed range, the effect of commutation becomes
important because both the duration of commutation
and the torque undulation amplitude increases as
speed increases.
Control from direct phase currents sensing
For this control the current sensor are placed in the
AC link between inverter and machine. only two
sensors are needed because the third current can be
constructed from the others. In this control each
inverter branch is commanded from the evolution of
the corresponding phase current.
For the study of this control the hypothesis and
conditions of the above section are retained.
Commutation analysis
Starting with phases 1 and 3 supplied, the first
commutation sequence always corresponds to figure
4.b and eqs. 3 to 8.
gqN
;.;( ~ l , /
(31 1
V=4E
N(rpm)
0 00
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Figure 9 - Torque speed characteristics
According t o t h e above analysis it is necessary to
examine three cases:
Case d * V = 4E: the derivative of current i, is
zero; so the hysteresis control related to phase 3
does not operate and the behavior is the same as in
case a ;
Case e * V < 4 E during the first sequence of
commutation current i is negative and its derivative
is positive; so, even with switch T6 on, the current i,
will continue t o decrease up to the current i,
vanishes; the behavior is the same as in case b.
Case f* V > 4E: during the first sequence of
commutation the current i, is negative and its
derivative is also negative; this means that its
amplitude tends to increase; when the upper limit of
the hysteresis band is reached T6 is switched off; in
the same manner, when current i, reaches the lower
limit of the hysteresis band T6 is switched on; so, the
current i is controlled during the commutation
between p%ases 1 and 2.
Torque undulation
From the above analysis, the torque undulation in
cases d and e is the same as in cases a and b. On the
other hand, in case f the commutation of phases
current does not introduce torque undulation
because the current that is not involved in the
commutation (and. to which the torque is
proportional) is controlled. The torque ripple
corresponds then to that introduced by the
hysteresis band width.
The different cases can be summarized as follows:
V = 4E * case d -torque remains constant;
V < 4E * case e -torque decreases;
V > 4E * case f -torque ripple corresponds to
the hysteresis band.
290
 37 1 (A)

12 11 12 12

1 4
-2w,
-1 -1-
-1

-2

-3

0.0 ,
0 .I14
I I
0.'16
I I
0. I f 8
I
t (9)
0 .I12
0.0 I I I

0 .I08
I I

xio-2
figure 10 - Simulated result with Figure 11 - Simulated result with Figure 1.2 - Simulated result with
DC link current sensing for V>J% DC link current sensing for V%E
Simulation and exoerimental results
The above theoretical analysis has been validated by
a numerical simulation and illustrated by
experimental results.
Simulation results
A software was developped to study the behaviour of
brushless DC motors (7). It considers a permanent
magnet machine with constant synchronous
inductance and a trapezoidal emf with a plateau of
120". The power switches are considered as ideal and
it is possible to simulate the two ways of current
control: with DC link current sensing and with AC
link currents sensing.
The different cases studied in the theoretical analysis
have been simulated and the first presented results, torque
concern the evolution of currents and torque for a
current control from DC link. These results are given
on figures 10, 11 and 12.
Figure 10 shows a simulation result in the range of
speed where V > 4E. As was predicted by the
theoretical analysis, torque increase during
commutation and is proportional to i,.
The result obtained for V = 4E is shown in figure 11, the
where it is verified that the torque remains constant
during commutation.
Finally, figure 12 shows the results for a speed in the
range where V < 4E. The two sequences of
commutation can be clearly identified in this figure using an
and the theoretical predictions are verified, that is
the torque undulation introduced by the
commutation corresponds to a decrease of the
average torque.
Beyond this qualitative analysis, the torque
undulation and the duration of commutation have
0 .'io
I
t (91
7
0 .'12
x 10'2 x 10-2
DC link current sensing for V<4E
been measured from simulation. These results are
marked on figures 8.a and 8.b corresponding to
theoretical results. Because of the good agreement
between these results, it can be verified that the
main hypothesis taken for the theoretical analysis
(hysteresis band neglected and emf constant during
commutation) does not affects the results even in the
high speed range.
The last simulation result presented is given on figure
13 and concerns the evolution of currents and torque
in case of current control by directly sensing the
machine currents in the low speed range. On this
figure it appears, according to the theoretical
analysis, that the current not directly involved in the
commutation is effectively controlled and that the
ripple during commutation is proportional to
the ripple of this current.
In the high speed range the results obtained with this
control are the same as on figures 10 and 11.
Experimental verification
In order to present experimental results to illustrate
theoretical and simulation ones, some tests were
made on a brushless DC motor available in the
laboratory. This drive consists of a machine with
magnets associated with polar pieces fed by a
MOS/FET inverter.
Figure 14 shows the experimental results obtained
hysteresis control and DC link current
sensing. Figure 14.a was obtained in the low speed
range and is quite comparable to figure 8. Figure
14.b was obtained almost a t the speed corresponding
to V = 4E and is also comparable to figure 9. Finally,
figure 14.c corresponds to a speed in the range where
V < 4E and is comparable to figure 10.
29 I
 X

-2

-
.l
&
0-3
6

T(N.m)

0.4-

t (SI
0.0 I
I I
I I

Figure 14 - Experimental results.

These results indicate t h a t the relative ripple is
independant of current, varies with the speed and
may reach 50% of the average torque a t the very low
and very high speeds. Particular attention was also
paid t o the duration of the commutation which
becomes very important in respect to the electrical
period in the high speed range.
Two kinds of current control have been analysed.
The first one, based on the DC link sensing, has the
advantage of simplicity but the second one, based on
direc machine current sensing, allows to eliminate
the torque pulsation due to commutation in the
lower speed range.
From this analysis it is possible t o get the influence
of the machine inductance and then this can be
introduced in the machine design in order to
minimize the influence of commutation.
292
References
[l]T. Li and G. Slemon, "Reduction of cogging torque
in permanent magnet motors", IEEE Transactions
on Magnetics, vol.EC-2, n"6,Nov. 1988.
[2] R. Carlson, A.9; Tavares, J.P. Bastos and M.
Lajoie-Mazenc, Torque ripple attenuation in
permanent magnet synchronous motors", Conf.
Rec. 1989 IEEE IAS Annual Meetin , San Diego-
CA, USA, October 1-5 1989, pp. 57-62
[3] M. Lajoie-Mazenc, B. Nogarede and J.C. Fagundes,
"Analysis of torque ripple in electronically
commutated permanent magnet machines and
minimization methods, Conf. Rec. Fourth Int.
Conf. on Electrical Machines and Drives, London
(GB), September 13-15 1989, pp.85-89.
[4] P. Pillay and R. Krishnan, "Modeling, simulation
and analvsis of a Dermanent magnet brushless DC
motor diive", Coif. Rec. 1987 'iEEE IAS Annual
Meeting, San Diego-CA (USA), October 1-5 1989,
pp. 7-14.
[5] M. Lajoie-Mazenc, J. Cros and M. Cartignies, "Vers
l'integration mecatronique: la commande sans
capteur des machines a aimants sans balais",
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published in revue: Inghieurs de 1'Automobile
SIA).
[6] T.J.E. Miller, Brushless Dermanent magnet and
reluctance motor drives, Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1989.
[71 R. Carlson, A.A. Tavares and M. Lajoie-Mazenc,
Operating analysis and simulation of a brushless
DC machine with a 120" hysteresis current
controlled voltage inverter", Conf. Rec. 3rd
Eurovean Conf. on Power Electronics and
Amlications, Aachen (FRG), October 9-12 1989,
pp. 1507-1511.

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