Switched reluctance motor torque control with peak current minimization

In this paper a new instantaneous torque controller is designed for a low speed operation of a switched reluctance motor (SRM). The commutation angles are optimized in order to minimize the torque ripple which occurs at commutation regions. The ripple-free torque which can be developed by the motor is evaluated for both single and double phase excitation methods. In order to minimize the peak current observed at the end of each active region, a current limiting control law based on torque-current characteristics is proposed. Simulation results show that the proposed torque control strategy allows good torque tracking with low torque ripples and minimum peak currents. Moreover, it is simple to implement since it does not require time consuming online computations.