A simple overlap angle control strategy for reducing commutation torque ripple in a brushless DC motor drive

A commutation torque ripple is generated in a brushless DC motor due to a finite time taken for current transfer between outgoing phase and incoming phase due to the phase inductance. The effect of commutation ripple will be more severe for low voltage high current BLDC drives used for automotive applications. Direct Torque Control (DTC) techniques are used to reduce the torque ripple. Two phase conduction with six voltage space vectors and three phase conduction with twelve voltage space vectors with DTC are used to reduce the torque ripple. Twelve Step DTC (TSDTC) is capable of reducing torque ripple considerably but at the cost of increased inverter and winding losses. In Six Step DTC (SSDTC) the torque ripple is higher than that of TSDTC but with reduced winding and inverter losses. In this paper an attempt has been made to strike a balance between torque ripple and losses. A novel Direct Torque Control with twelve voltage space vector with overlap angle control has been proposed. The proposed method is validated through simulation and experimental results.