Discrete terminal super-twisting current control of a six-phase induction motor

Abstract

In this manuscript, the high-accuracy stator currents tracking issue is considered for a six-phase induction motor subject to external perturbations and uncertainties due to unmeasurable rotor currents and electrical parameter variations. To achieve the control goals, the common two-cascade controllers structure is required for this type of motor. The first controller in the outer loop consists of a proportional integral to regulate the speed. Then, the second is the proposed inner nonlinear stator currents controller based on a robust discrete-time terminal super-twisting algorithm supported by the time-delay estimation method. For the design procedure, the discrete-time stator currents dynamics are derived; for example, the vector of the matched perturbations and unmeasurable rotor currents are specified to simplify the estimation. A detailed stability analysis of the closed-loop error dynamics using Lyapunov theory is given. Finally, a real asymmetrical six-phase induction motor is used to implement in real-time the developed method and to illustrate its effectiveness and robustness. The results obtained reveal a satisfactory stator currents tracking in steady state and transient conditions and under variation in the magnetizing inductance. Moreover, a comparative study with an existing method in steady state for two different rotor speeds is presented to show the superiority of the proposed discrete-time technique.