Torque Ripple-Free Operation of PM BLDC Drives With Petal-Wave Current Supply

Further to the vector analysis in the stationary plane of the behavior of a permanent-magnet brushless dc (PM BLDC) drive, this paper proposes a method of synthesizing the current supply of the motor that ensures torque ripple-free operation of the drive. The synthesis is carried out analytically by the vector approach, and the resulting current vector is then expressed in motor phase coordinates. It comes out that the current vector has a petal-shape trajectory in the stationary plane. The operation of the drive with such a current supply is extensively examined; in particular, the torque capability for an rms value of the phase currents equal to the rated one, the requirements for the voltages to be applied across the motor terminals, and the base speed in correspondence to the supply voltage saturation are determined. At last, experimental traces obtained from an in-wheel PM BLDC drive used for the traction of light electric vehicles are included to corroborate the theoretical findings.