Design of controllers for drives
3.1 Transfer function of a separately excited DC motor and load
Separate field excitation in a separately excited DC motor makes the speed control relatively
easy.
In most applications, the armature voltage of the motor is controlled in a closed loop feedback
system as shown in Fig. 3.1.
In an armature-current controlled DC motor, the field current (If) is held constant, and the
armature current (Ia) is controlled through the armature voltage (Va).
Fig. 3.1 Equivalent circuit of Motor – Load system
Consider a separately excited dc motor with armature voltage control as shown in Fig. 3.1.
Applying KVL, We know that,
Taking laplace transform of eqn 1,
The fundamental torque equation is,
Taking laplace transform,
Where a is the armature constant.
Where m is the motor constant.
Equations 1, 2, 3 and 4 are used to construct the functional block diagram of dc motor with
load as shown in Fig. 3.2.
Fig. 3.2 Transfer function model of motor – load system
If load torque is neglected, then the above block diagram can be drawn as shown in Fig. 3.3
Fig. 3.3 Simplified Model
In the above equation, can be neglected
because <<< .
Dividing the above equation by ,
Where
Hence
From equations 6 and & 7,
Where
Where
From Fig. 3.3,
Thus the motor can be represented using the equations 7 & 8 as shown in Fig. 3.4
Fig. 3.4 Transfer function model of dc motor.
3.2 Design of Speed Controller (Or) Closed loop speed control with P controller
In the above Fig. 3.4, if a tachogenerator is attached with the motor shaft, the speed can be
measured and fed back to the input side to find the error.
The error in speed is produced by comparing the actual speed and reference speed. Thios error
is used to control the armature voltage.
The applied armature voltage is controlled by a three phase or single phase converter.
The closed loop speed control system is shown in Fig. 3.5.
Fig. 3.5 Closed loop speed control
From Fig. 3.5, the transfer function is given by,
From equation 1 in this section,
Where
By using partial fraction,
Hence 1 can be neglected,
We know that,
Substituting the values of A & B in equation 3,
From equation 7 in section 3.1, we get,
Taking inverse laplace transform of equation 4,
3.3 Design of Current Controller
It is always beneficial to limit the motor current to its maximum allowable value. This
objective cannot be achieved by using a simple speed control loop.
In speed control loop, the motor voltage is controlled by speed error. When speed error is
reduced, the applied voltage is changed. But no change in current happens.
Hence a current limit is implemented using a current control loop by using the speed error to
produce current reference.
It is implemented using both P and P-I controllers.
3.3.1 P – Controller
The inner current control loop is shown in Fig. 3.6. In this figure, Kr is the gain of the current
transducer and KI is the gain of the current controller (Proportional controller).
Fig. 3.6 Current control loop
From Fig. 3.6, the transfer function is,
Where
. . 1. Hence equation 1 becomes,
From equation 3, it is found that the current Ia is directly proportional to EI. Hence a limit on
EI will limit the current Ia.
This inner current control loop is combined with the speed control loop using the speed error
as the current reference EI as shown in Fig. 3.7.
Fig. 3.7 Functional block diagram of Proportional speed control with inner current control
3.4 Closed loop speed control
Closed loop systems are employed for satisfying the following requirements.
Protection
Enhancement of speed response
To improve steady state accuracy
The speed control in a dc motor is obtained by two methods.
Armature voltage control
Field current control
In armature voltage control, the speed of the motor is controlled below base speed. In field current
control, the speed of the motor is controlled above base speed. The closed loop speed control scheme is
shown in Fig. 3.15.
The drive employs an inner current control loop and an outer speed control loop.
This drive operates at constant field current and variable armature voltage below the base
speed.
For above speed, the drive operates with constant armature voltage and variable field current.
Both armature and field are separately fed from two fully controlled rectifiers.
When a fully controlled rectifier is used, regenerative braking is not possible. Hence braking is
possible by deceleration of drive due to the inertia (weight) of the load.
Fig. 3.15
Speeds below base speed (Armature voltage control)
The back emf E is compared with E* in the field control loop. E* will be0.85 to 0.95 of rated
armature voltage.
Back emf E will be less when the motor runs at low speeds. Hence the error (e f = E – E*) after
comparing E & E* will be more. Hence field controller saturates.
The firing angle of field controller is maintained at zero. Hence maximum (rated voltage)
voltage is applied to field winding. It means that rated field current is applied to field winding.
When reference speed is increased, the speed error will saturate the current limiter and hence
current limiter sets a maximum current as reference.
Whenever the current is set at maximum, the drive will accelerate (speed increases).
The current limiter de-saturates (current becomes normal) when the motor speed reaches the
reference speed.
Now the drive continues to run at this speed and current which gives motor torque equal to
load torque.
When reference speed is decreased, the current limiter sets zero current as reference.
Whenever the current is set at zero, the drive will decelerate (speed decreases).
Motor current becomes normal when the motor speed reaches the reference speed.
Now the drive continues to run at this speed and current which gives motor torque equal to
load torque.
Speeds above base speed (Field weakening control)
Speed of the motor is brought near rated speed. At rated speed, the back emf E will be close to
E* and ef will be less. Hence field controller comes out of saturation.
If the reference speed is set for a speed above rated speed, the current reference will be set at
maximum current.
The firing angle of the armature rectifier a is reduced to increase armature voltage Va.
Now the motor accelerates and hence back emf E increases. The error in back emf will
decrease and hence firing angle to field controller f increases.
When f is increased (firing angle delayed), the output voltage decreases and hence field
current reduces.
When the field current is increased, the speed of the motor increases. When speed reaches the
reference speed, the drive settles at that speed. Hence motor torque will be equal to load
torque.
Thus speed control above base speed is obtained by field control with armature voltage kept
constant.