Control strategies for DC motors driving rotor dynamic systems through resonance

Abstract

Rotor dynamic systems require considerably higher power/torque to accelerate through the structural resonance. However, most sources of mechanical power are non-ideal, i.e., they can only provide a limited amount of power. If there is insufficient power to overcome the resonance then the rotor speed may get caught at resonance and the persistent high vibrations can damage the machine. Various proposed solutions to this problem deal with modifications to the mechanical structure and active/semi-active control of structural parameters. This article proposes modification to the prime mover so that peak available power is delivered exactly at the structural resonance frequency. The limited power/non-ideal prime mover considered in this article is a direct current (DC) motor and the structural resonance happens due to forcing from an eccentric rotor disk and vibrations of a flexible weakly damped foundation. Various control strategies to modify the torque-speed characteristics of permanent magnet, shunt and series wound DC motors to promote escape through resonance are considered. Also, the characteristic curves for rotor/motor speed versus the DC supply voltage are obtained for the considered DC motor types from which the unattainable steady angular speeds and the speed jumps due to Sommerfeld effect are computed. Transient simulations are performed using bond graph models for this multi-energy domain (here, electro-mechanical) system. It is shown that a switched control permitting to switch between shunt and series DC motor configurations gives better regulation over the power delivery at the resonant frequency as well as super-critical operating speeds in the neighborhood of structural resonance.