Predictive control of switched reluctance motors for aircraft electrical actuators applications

Abstract

Aircraft applications require high reliability, high availability, and high power density, while aiming to decrease weight, complexity, fuel consumption, operational costs, and environmental impacts. Modern electric driving systems can meet these demands and provide significant technical and economic enhancements over traditional mechanical, hydraulic, or pneumatic systems. Due to the high reliability of Switched Reluctance Motors (SRMs), it can be used for aircraft electromechanical actuators to replace the conventional actuators. This paper presents Model Predictive Control (MPC) for the actuators system to drive flight control surfaces in modern civil aircraft. In this study, the actuators system with nonlinear SRM is modeled, simulated, and controlled using a predictive control technique. The predictive control algorithm is applied for a three-phase controlled rectifier to provides a fixed DC voltage for actuators supply bus, and for SRM's symmetrical power converter to drive the surface of the actuator. The performance of the proposed system is tested using a simulation model in PSIM software, and the controller is programmed using C language. Obtained results confirm the effectiveness of the suggested system to drive aircraft electromechanical actuators satisfactorily for either tracking demanded motor speed or desired actuator deflection angle.