Hall-Sensor-Based Position Detection for Quick Reversal of Speed Control in a BLDC Motor Drive System for Industrial Applications

Abstract

This paper proposes the novel idea of eliminating the front-end converters used indirect current (DC) bus voltage variation, thereby allowing for control of the speed of the brushless direct current (BLDC) motors in the two-quadrant operation of a permanent magnet brushless direct current (PMBLDC) motor, which is required for multiple bi-directional hot roughing steel rolling mills. The first phase of steel rolling, the manufacture of plates, strips etc., using hot slabs from the continuous casting stage, is carried out for thickness reduction, before the same is sent to the finishing mill for further mechanical processing. The hot roughing process involves applying high, compressive pressure, using a hydraulically operated mechanism, through a pair of backup rolls and work rolls for rolling. Overall, the processes consist of multiple passes of forward and reverse rolling at increasing roll speeds. The rolling process was modeled, taking into account parameters like roller dimensions, angle and length of contact, and rolling force, at various temperatures, using actual data obtained from a steel mill. From this data, speed and torque profiles at the motor shaft, covering the entire rolling process, were created. A profile-based feedback controller is proposed for setting the six-pulse inverter frequency and parameters of the pulse width modulated (PWM) waveform for current control, based on Hall sensor position, and the same is implemented for closed loop operation of the brushless direct current motor drive system. The performance enhancement of the two different controllers was also evaluated, during the rolling of 1005 hot rolled (HR) steel, and was taken into consideration in the research analysis. The entire process was simulated in the MATLAB/Simulink platform, and the results verify the suitability of an entire-drive system for industrial steel rolling applications.