IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 25, NO.

2, FEBRUARY 2010 263

Direct Torque Control of Four-Switch Brushless DC

Motor With Non-Sinusoidal Back EMF
Salih Baris Ozturk, Member, IEEE, William C. Alexander, Member, IEEE, and Hamid A. Toliyat, Fellow, IEEE

Abstract—This paper presents a direct torque control (DTC) only 120 electrical degree current conduction. This is due to the
technique for brushless dc (BLDC) motors with non-sinusoidal limited voltage space vectors of the conventional four-switch
back electromotive force (EMF) using a four-switch inverter in scheme. Therefore, in order to use the four-switch inverter topol-
the constant torque region. This approach introduces a two-phase
conduction mode as opposed to the conventional three-phase DTC ogy for the three-phase BLDC motor drive, only two-phase
drives. Unlike conventional six-step current and voltage control conduction voltage space vectors (line-to-line voltage vectors)
schemes, by properly selecting the inverter voltage space vectors should be obtained from the four-switch inverter.
from a simple look-up table at a predefined sampling time, the One of the possible solutions to the limited voltage space
desired quasi-square wave current is obtained. Therefore, a much vector problem is to modify the conventional voltage controlled
faster torque response is achieved compared to conventional cur-
rent and voltage control schemes. In addition, for effective torque PWM strategies, such as space vector PWM technique presented
control, a novel switching pattern incorporating the voltage vector in [4] and [5]. However, in [4] and [5] several proportional and
look-up table is designed and implemented for a four-switch in- integral controllers are needed along with abc to αβ (stationary
verter to produce the desired torque characteristics. Furthermore, reference frame) and αβ to abc transformations for both currents
to eliminate the low-frequency torque oscillations, pre-stored back and voltages. Moreover, the proposed reference current genera-
EMF constant versus position look-up tables are designed and used
in the torque estimation. As a result, it is possible to achieve two- tion scheme requires commutation interval times. These interval
phase conduction DTC of a BLDC motor drive with faster torque times are dependent on several motor parameters such as wind-
response due to the fact that the voltage space vectors are directly ing inductance, dc-link voltage and back electromotive force
controlled. A theoretical concept is developed and the validity and (EMF). Therefore, more complicated and parameter-sensitive
effectiveness of the proposed DTC scheme are verified through the drive system is inevitable.
simulations and experimental results.
In this paper, unlike the methods discussed in [2], [4], [5], a
Index Terms—Brushless dc motor drives, direct torque control, novel direct torque control (DTC) scheme including the actual
fast torque response, four switch inverter, low-frequency torque pre-stored back EMF constants versus electrical rotor position
ripples, non-sinusoidal back EMF, two-phase conduction.
look-up table is proposed for BLDC motor drive with two-
I. INTRODUCTION phase conduction scheme using four-switch inverter. Therefore,
low-frequency torque ripples and torque response time are min-
RUSHLESS dc (BLDC) motors have been used in variable
B speed drives for many years due to their high efficiency,
high power factor, high torque, simple control, and lower main-
imized compared to conventional four-switch PWM current and
voltage controlled BLDC motor drives. This is achieved by prop-
erly selecting the inverter voltage space vectors of the two-phase
tenance [1]. Low cost and high efficiency variable speed motor conduction mode from a simple look-up table at a predefined
drives have had growing interest over the years. Minimizing sampling time.
the switch counts has been proposed in [2]–[6] to replace the The four-switch DTC of a BLDC motor drive operating in
traditional six-switch three-phase inverter. two-phase conduction mode which is similar to [7] is simplified
In [2], Van Der Broeck has demonstrated the possibility to im- to just a torque controlled drive by intentionally keeping the
plement a three-phase ac motor drive system employing the four- stator flux linkage amplitude almost constant by eliminating
switch three-phase inverter. The topology of the four-switch the flux control in the constant torque region. It is shown that in
inverter for induction motors is identical to the BLDC motor. the constant torque region under the two-phase conduction DTC
However, conventional four-switch PWM schemes used for in- scheme using four-switch (or six-switch) inverter, the amplitude
duction motor drives cannot be directly applied to BLDC motor of the stator flux linkage cannot easily be controlled due to the
drive. Three-phase conduction scheme presented in [2] is inher- sharp changes and the curved shape of the flux vector between
ently difficult to use in BLDC motor drive systems incorporating two consecutive commutation points in the stator flux linkage
locus. Since the flux control along with PWM generation is
Manuscript received December 31, 2008; revised June 8, 2009. Current removed, fewer algorithms are required for the proposed control
version published February 12, 2010. Recommended for publication by
Associate Editor F. Blaabjerg.
scheme.
S. B. Ozturk was with the Power Electronics Group, United Technologies Re- Specifically, it is shown that rather than attempting to control
search Center, East Hartford, CT 61108 USA. He is now with the Department the stator flux amplitude in two-phase conduction DTC of BLDC
of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Okan University, 34959 Istanbul,
Turkey (e-mail: salihbaris@gmail.com).
motor drive, only the electromagnetic torque is controlled. In
W. C. Alexander is with Ideal Power Converters, Inc., Austin, TX 78669 the proposed method, a simple two-phase four-switch inverter
USA. voltage space vector look-up table is developed to control the
H. A. Toliyat is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843 USA.
electromagnetic torque. Moreover, to obtain smooth torque char-
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPEL.2009.2028888 acteristics a new switching logic is designed and incorporated
0885-8993/$26.00 © 2010 IEEE

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264 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 25, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2010

with the two-phase four-switch voltage space vector look-up

table.
Using DTC technique for the BLDC motor with four-switch
three-phase inverter has some distinct advantages over its six-
switch counterpart: reduced price due to reduction in number
of switches, reduced switching losses due to the absence of the
phase replaced with the split capacitors, reduced chances of de-
stroying the switches due to lesser interaction among switches,
and reduced number of interface circuits to supply logic signals
for the switches [8]. Moreover, it is believed that the direct torque
controlled BLDC motor drive compared to a PWM voltage con-
trolled motor has higher dynamic torque response and does not
rely on tedious calculations and is simpler to implement [9].
The proposed method can be used in applications where fast
(dynamic) torque response, minimum low-frequency torque os-
cillations, simple hardware, simple software, and a reasonably
reduced inverter cost are desired. An example of such an applica-
tion can be the electric or hybrid-electric vehicle. Furthermore,
if controllable switches such as IGBTs are used in the front-end
rectifier, converter can be controlled to draw a sinusoidal input
current at close to unity power factor. In addition, controllable
converter allows bidirectional power flow between the ac input
and the motor via the dc-link. This makes the four-quadrant
operation possible.
Simulated and experimental results are presented to illustrate
Fig. 1. Actual (realistic) phase back EMF, current, and phase torque profiles
the validity and effectiveness of the two-phase four-switch DTC of the three-phase BLDC motor drive with four-switch inverter.
of a BLDC motor drive in the constant torque region.
where ϕsα and ϕsβ are the α- and β-axis stator flux linkages, re-
II. THE PROPOSED FOUR-SWITCH DTC OF BLDC spectively. By using (2), reference stator flux linkage command
MOTOR DRIVE |ϕs (θe )|∗ for DTC of BLDC motor drive in the constant torque
region can be obtained similar to the DTC of a PMSM drive as
A. Principles of the Proposed Four-Switch Inverter Scheme 
The key issue in the proposed four-switch DTC of a BLDC |ϕs (θe )|∗ = |ϕr (θe )| = ϕr α (θe )2 + ϕr β (θe )2 . (3)
motor drive in the constant torque region is to estimate the elec-
Since the electromagnetic torque is proportional to the
tromagnetic torque correctly similar to the six-switch version
product of back EMF and its corresponding current, the phase
given in [7]. For a surface-mounted BLDC motor the back EMF
currents are automatically shaped to obtain the desired elec-
waveform is non-sinusoidal (trapezoidal), irrelevant of conduct-
tromagnetic torque characteristics using (1). When the actual
ing mode (two or three-phase), therefore, (1) that is given in the
stationary reference frame back EMF constant waveforms from
stationary reference frame should be used for the electromag-
the pre-stored look-up table are used in (1), much smoother
netic torque calculation [7], [10], [11].
electromagnetic torque is obtained as shown in Fig. 1.

 As can be observed in Fig. 1 that to generate constant elec-
3P eα eβ 3P
Tem = isα + isβ = [kα (θe )isα + kβ (θe )isβ ] tromagnetic torque due to the characteristics of the BLDC mo-
22 ωe ωe 22 tor, such as two-phase conduction, only two of the three-phase
(1)
torque are involved in the total torque equation during every 60
where P is the number of poles, θe is the electrical rotor position,
electrical degrees and the remaining phase torque equals zero
ωe is the electrical rotor speed, and kα (θe ), kβ (θe ), eα , eβ , isα ,
as shown in Table I. The total electromagnetic torque of PMAC
isβ are the stationary reference frame (αβ-axes) back EMF
motors equals the summation of each phase torque which is
constants, motor back EMFs, and stator currents, respectively.
given by
Since the second equation in (1) does not involve the rotor
speed in the denominator there will be no problem estimating Tem = Tea + Teb + Tec . (4)
the torque at zero and near-zero speeds. Therefore, it is used in
It has been observed from the stator flux linkage trajectory
the proposed control system instead of the one on the left in (1).
that when conventional two-phase four-switch PWM current
The αβ-axes rotor flux linkages ϕr α and ϕr β are obtained as
control is used sharp dips occur every 60 electrical degrees.
This is due to the operation of the freewheeling diodes. The
ϕr α = ϕsα − Ls isα same phenomenon has been noticed when the DTC scheme for
(2)
ϕr β = ϕsβ − Ls isβ a BLDC motor is used, as shown in Fig. 2. Due to the sharp dips

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OZTURK et al.: DIRECT TORQUE CONTROL OF FOUR-SWITCH BRUSHLESS DC MOTOR WITH NON-SINUSOIDAL BACK EMF 265

TABLE I straight dotted lines. However, the stator flux locus obtained in
ELECTROMAGNETIC TORQUE EQUATIONS FOR THE OPERATING REGIONS
the actual implementation is shown in Fig. 2 with solid curved
lines. Therefore, in the four-switch DTC of a BLDC motor
drive with two-phase conduction scheme, the flux error ϕ in the
voltage vector selection look-up table is always selected as zero
and only the torque error τ is used depending on the error level
of the actual torque from the reference torque.

B. Control of Electromagnetic Torque by Selecting the Proper

Stator Voltage Space Vectors
To obtain the six modes of operation in four-switch DTC of
BLDC motor drive, a simple voltage vector selection look-up
table is designed as shown in Table II. Normally, six-possible
voltage space vectors of four-switch topology are supposed
to be used in Table II as shown in Fig. 3(a)–(f) similar to
the six-switch version, however, two of the voltage vectors
V3 and V6 as shown in Fig. 3 create problems in the torque
control. When they are directly used in the voltage vector se-
lection table (Table II), back EMF of the uncontrolled phase
(phase-c) generates undesired current therefore distortions oc-
cur in each phase torque. As a result, undesired electromagnetic
torque is inevitable. Therefore, when the rotor position is in the
Sector II and V, special switching pattern should be adapted,
as shown in Table III (CCW). At Sectors II and V, phase-a and
-b torque are independently controlled by the hysteresis torque
controllers. Additional two voltage vectors V0 and V7 , which
are used in conventional four-switch PWM scheme are included
in the voltage selection look-up table to obtain smooth torque
production in two-phase conduction four-switch DTC of BLDC
motor drive.
Since the upper and lower switches in a phase leg may both
be simultaneously off, irrespective of the state of the associ-
ated freewheeling diodes in two-phase conduction mode, four
digits are required for the four-switch inverter operation, one
digit for each switch [11]. Therefore, there is a total of eight
Fig. 2. Actual (solid curved line) and ideal (straight dotted line) stator flux useful voltage vectors for the two-phase conduction mode in the
linkage trajectories, representation of the four-switch two-phase voltage space proposed DTC of BLDC motor drive which can be represented
vectors, and placement of the three hall-effect sensors in the stationary αβ-axes
reference frame (V d c lin k = V d c ). as V0,1,2,...,6,7 (SW1 , SW2 , SW3 , SW4 ), as shown in Fig. 2.
The eight possible two-phase four-switch voltage vectors and
current flow are depicted in Fig. 3.
in the stator flux linkage space vector at every commutation (60 The detailed switching sequence and torque regulation are
electrical degrees) and the tendency of the currents to match shown in Fig. 4 for four-switch DTC of BLDC motor drive.
with the flat top portion of the phase back EMF for smooth The overall block diagram of the closed-loop four-switch DTC
torque generation, there is no easy way to control the stator scheme of a BLDC motor drive in the constant torque region is
flux linkage amplitude. On the other hand, rotational speed of represented in Fig. 5. The dotted area represents the stator flux
the stator flux linkage can be easily controlled, therefore fast linkage control part of the scheme used only for comparison
torque response is obtained. The size of the sharp dips is quite purpose. When the two switches in Fig. 5 are changed from
unpredictable and depends on several factors such as sampling state 2 to state 1, flux control is considered in the overall system
time, dc-link voltage, hysteresis bandwidth, motor parameters along with torque control. In the two-phase conduction mode
especially the winding inductance, motor speed, snubber circuit, the shape of stator flux linkage trajectory is ideally expected
and the amount of load torque. The best way to control the to be hexagonal, as illustrated with the straight dotted lines in
stator flux linkage amplitude is to know the exact shape of Fig. 2. However, the influence of the unexcited open-phase back
it, but it is considered too cumbersome in the constant torque EMF causes each straight side of the ideal hexagonal shape of
region. If the effect of unexcited open phase back EMF and the stator flux linkage locus to be curved. Therefore, the actual
the free-wheeling diodes are neglected more hexagonal shape stator flux linkage trajectory tends to be more circular in shape,
of stator flux locus can be obtained as shown in Fig. 2 with as shown in Fig. 2 with solid curved lines [11].

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266 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 25, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2010

TABLE II
TWO-PHASE FOUR-SWITCH VOLTAGE VECTOR SELECTION FOR DTC OF BLDC MOTOR DRIVE (CCW)

Fig. 4. Individual phase-a and -b torque control, T e a and T e b , in Sectors 2

and 5.

The actual values of αβ-axes back EMF constants kα and kβ

versus electrical rotor position θe can be created in the look-up
table, respectively, as described in Section IV. Depending on
the resolution of the position sensor and interpolation used in
the implementation, low-frequency ripple free torque estima-
tion can be obtained using (1). Incremental encoder with 2048
pulses/revolution is used in the control, however instead of an
Fig. 3. Proposed four-switch voltage vector topology for two-phase conduc- encoder, hall-effect sensors can also be used to reduce the overall
tion DTC of BLDC motor drives. (a) V 1 (1000) vector, (b) V 2 (0010) vector, cost (see Fig. 2).
(c) V 3 (0110) vector, (d) V 4 (0100) vector, (e) V 5 (0001) vector, (f) V 6 (1001),
(g) V 7 (0101), and (h) V 0 (1010).
C. Torque Control Strategies of the Uncontrolled Phase-c
TABLE III
VOLTAGE VECTOR SELECTION IN SECTORS II AND V FOR FOUR-SWITCH DTC For DTC, Fig. 3(g) and (h) are not applicable due to the three-
OF BLDC MOTOR DRIVE (CCW)
phase conduction mode instead of a desired two-phase conduc-
tion. Modification in PWM scheme presented in [4] and [5]
could be a solution if not for its tedious computation. If torque
or current is going to be controlled using hysteresis controllers,
then those voltage space vectors cannot be used in two-phase
BLDC motor drive. On the other hand, even though voltage
vectors shown in Fig. 3(c) and (f) are two-phase conductions
through phase-a and -b, there will be always current trying to
flow in phase-c due to its back EMF and the absence of switches

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OZTURK et al.: DIRECT TORQUE CONTROL OF FOUR-SWITCH BRUSHLESS DC MOTOR WITH NON-SINUSOIDAL BACK EMF 267

Fig. 5. Overall block diagram of the four-switch two-phase conduction DTC of a BLDC motor drive in the constant torque region.

controlling its current. As a result, there will be a distorted cur- phase in two-phase conduction four-switch DTC of a BLDC
rent in phase-c as well as in phase-a and -b. Therefore, voltage motor drive.
space vectors of phase-a and -b conduction can be difficult to The direction of the rotor is important to define the specific
implement for BLDC motor drive unless some modifications switching pattern. If the rotor direction is clock-wise (CW), then
are applied to overcome the back EMF effect of the phase-c in the above claims are reversed, such as in Sector 2 to increase the
these conditions. Selecting the right switching pattern to control phase-a torque Tea S1 is “1” and S2 is “0” and vice versa for
the torque on phase-a and -b independently will reduce the dis- decrementing the Tea . The same is true for the phase-b torque
torted currents on those phases and result in a smoother overall Teb .
electromagnetic torque production, which is shown in the simu- Another problem to overcome is eliminating the high torque
lations. Solution to the above phenomenon is explained in detail ripples in Mode II and IV where full dc-link is applied to the
as given below. motor terminals compared to the other sectors where only half
For BLDC motor with two-phase conduction, one of the phase and one-third of the dc-link voltage is used. During Sectors 2
torque should be zero as shown in Table I. This can be achieved and 5 where the individual torque control is performed, band-
in Sectors 1, 3, 4, and 6 whereas in Sectors 2 and 5 phase-c torque width of the hysteresis torque controllers are chosen less than
Tec is uncontrollable due to the split capacitors. In Sectors 2 and the value used in Sectors 1, 3, 4, and 6. The amount of reduction
5, voltage vectors V3 and V6 cannot be directly used, instead can be chosen in the order of ten to hundred times or even thou-
phase torque Tea and Teb should be individually controlled by sand times, depending on the machine (winding inductance),
properly selecting the S1, S2, S3, and S4 switches, such as if the torque hysteresis bandwidth used in Sectors 1, 3, 4, and 6,
the rotor position resides in Sector 2 and the rotor rotates in size of the voltage space vectors, and sampling time. Therefore,
counter-clockwise (CCW) direction then to increase the phase- ripples in the current and eventually in the torque are equalized
a torque Tea S1 should be “0” and S2 is “1” and vice versa to during the entire electrical cycle.
decrease the Tea . To increase the phase-b torque Teb S3 should From the equivalent circuit given in Fig. 4, if phase-a and
be “0” and S4 should be “1” and vice versa to decrease the Teb . -b torque are individually controlled as explained above, the
Reference torque value for those phase torque should be half of influence of the back EMF of the phase-c can be blocked,
the desired total reference torque Tearef = Tebref = Tref /2. This there is no current flow in phase-c, therefore its torque (Tec )
special torque control phenomenon can be explained with the will be almost zero. As a result, in Sectors 2 and 5, phase-
aid of the simplified equivalent circuit in Fig. 4. Consequently, a and -b torque should be controlled independently, in other
in Mode II and V only phase-a and -b torque are controlled words switching signals at S1 (or S2) and S4 (or S3) should
independently and, therefore, the Tec is tried to be kept at zero be created individually making additional voltage vectors V0
value. This will eliminate the distorted torque problem on each and V7 which act as a zero-voltage vector at Sectors 2 and 5 in

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268 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 25, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2010

Fig. 6. Simulated open-loop stator flux linkage trajectory under the four- Fig. 7. Simulated electromagnetic torque when just torque is controlled with-
switch two-phase conduction DTC of a BLDC motor drive at 1.2835 N·m load out flux control under 0.5 N·m load using actual back EMFs (reference torque
torque (speed + torque control). is 0.51 N·m).

four-switch DTC of a BLDC motor drive scheme using two-

phase conduction mode. Additional voltage vectors and their
logic depending on the errors of phase-a and -b torque are de-
picted in Table III.
At Sectors 2 and 5, complementary switches in both phase-a
and -b legs cannot be turned off at the same time as in V4 and
V5 ; therefore inverse logic is applied in Fig. 4.

III. SIMULATION RESULTS

The drive system shown in Fig. 5 has been simulated for
various cases with and without stator flux control, switch states
1 and 2, respectively, in order to demonstrate the validity of the
proposed four-switch DTC of a BLDC motor drive scheme with Fig. 8. Simulated stator flux linkage locus whose reference is chosen from (3)
under full load (speed + torque + flux control).
two-phase conduction.
The magnitudes of the torque hysteresis band used in Sectors
1, 3, 4, and 6 τ1,3,4,6 , and flux hysteresis band are 0.08 N·m and DTC of a PMSM drive. Unlike BLDC motor, in PMSM since
0.001 Wb, respectively. Torque hysteresis bandwidth in Sectors both α- and β-axes motor back EMFs are in sinusoidal shape,
2 and 5 τ2,5 is chosen as 0.08/1000 N·m to equalize the size constant stator flux linkage amplitude is obtained. However,
of high frequency current and torque ripple in one complete for BLDC motor, unexcited open-phase back EMF effect on
electrical cycle. the flux locus and more importantly the size of the sharp dips
Fig. 6 shows the simulation results of the uncontrolled open- cannot easily be predicted to achieve a good stator flux reference
loop stator flux linkage locus when 1.2835 N·m load torque is in two-phase conduction mode. Fig. 8 represents the steady-
applied to the BLDC motor with actual back EMF waveforms, state estimated stator flux locus whose reference obtained in
respectively. Steady-state speed control is performed with an (3) when back EMF is not ideally a trapezoidal under full-load
inner-loop torque control without flux control. In Fig. 6, when (1.2835 N·m). The simulation time for this case is 3 s. The motor
the load torque level increases, more deep sharp changes are speed is 30 mechanical rad/s. Due to the distorted voltage and
observed which increase the difficulty of the flux control if it is current, the estimation of stator flux locus goes unstable as can
used in the control scheme. be seen in Fig. 8.
Fig. 7 shows electromagnetic torque under only torque con- There should be exact flux amplitude to be given as a reference
trol when the actual phase back EMFs are considered in the flux value including sharp changes at every commutation point
simulation. The torque ripples of phase-c as a consequence of and curved shape between those commutation points, then ap-
individual torque control scheme are not large enough to distort propriate flux control can be obtained without losing the torque
the torque estimation as illustrated with grey circle in Fig. 7. control. However, to predict all these circumstances to generate
The size of the torque hysteresis bandwidth in Sectors 2 and 5 a flux reference is a cumbersome work, which is unnecessary in
τ2,5 is still kept as τ1,3,4,6 /1000 N·m. In Fig. 7, reference torque the constant torque region.
is 0.51 N·m and the load torque is 0.5 N·m, thereby steady-state
speed is kept around 30 mechanical rad/s for a better circular
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
flux locus similar to Fig. 6.
Using the actual αβ-axes rotor flux linkages in (3) looks like The feasibility and practical features of the proposed four-
the best solution for a good stator flux reference similar to the switch DTC of a BLDC motor drive scheme have been evaluated

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OZTURK et al.: DIRECT TORQUE CONTROL OF FOUR-SWITCH BRUSHLESS DC MOTOR WITH NON-SINUSOIDAL BACK EMF 269

Fig. 9. Experimental test-bed. (a) Four-switch inverter and DSP control

unit. (b) BLDC motor coupled to dynamometer and position encoder (2048
pulse/rev).
Fig. 10. (a) Phase-a and -b and (b) α- and β-axes back EMF constants versus
electrical rotor position.
using an experimental test-bed, shown in Fig. 9. In this section,
transient and steady-state torque and current responses of the
proposed four-switch two-phase conduction DTC scheme of 120 electrical degrees of each phase back EMF constant
a BLDC motor drive are demonstrated experimentally under can be used as a look-up table. Therefore, for phase back
0.5 N·m load torque condition. EMF constant, 270 degrees are discarded in the look-up
The look-up tables used in the DSP implementations are ob- table. By doing so, the look-up table with 252 data is
tained as given below. reduced to only 84 data. Since the top and bottom 120
First, phase back EMFs versus Time are obtained using gen- electrical degree sections of each phase back EMF con-
erator test from an oscilloscope at a reasonable fix speed. Then, stant are almost the same, only the top 120 degree portion
the following procedures are applied to get the phase-a, phase- of phase-a back EMF constant is selected to be used in
b, α- and β-axes back EMF constants versus electrical rotor the look-up table for torque control in Sectiors 2 and 5, as
position θe . shown in Fig. 10(a) with a dotted rectangle. Considering
1) Phase-a back EMF can be expressed as Ea = ka (θe )ωe that the phase back EMFs are identical as illustrated in
where ka (θe ) = Ea /ωe = Et/(2π) and t is the total time in Fig. 10(a), the same look-up table is used for phase-b
one electrical cycle. The corresponding electrical position back EMF constant by incorporating a phase shifting
for ka is θe = 2πTs /t where Ts is the sampling time. method. For the negative 120 degree portions, the look-up
Therefore, phase-a back EMF constant versus electrical table is multiplied by ‘−1’ and a phase shifting method is
rotor position ka (θe ) can be obtained. Similarly, the same adapted.
method can be applied for kb (θe ) as well. 4) Finally, using Clarke transformation for phase back EMF
2) Using MATLAB/Simulink, 26143 data for back EMF con- constants (abc to αβ), α- and β-axes back EMF con-
stants and electrical rotor position obtained from oscil- stants versus electrical rotor position are derived as shown
loscope are down-sampled to 252 data using interpola- in Fig. 10(b). Since the α- and β-axes currents are the
tion/extrapolation feature in the Simulink look-up table combination of six step and quasi-square wave shapes, α-
blocks. and β-axes back EMF constants versus half the complete
3) Since quasi-square wave two-phase 120 electrical degrees electrical cycle are used as two 126 data look-up tables as
current conduction is used in the control, only the value of shown in Fig. 10(b) with dotted rectangular area.

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270 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 25, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2010

low-frequency torque oscillations caused by the non-ideal trape-

zoidal shape of the actual back EMF waveform of the BLDC mo-
tor, pre-stored back EMF versus electrical rotor position look-up
tables are designed and used in the torque estimation.
Compared to the three-phase DTC technique, this approach
eliminates the flux control and only torque was considered in the
overall control system. Three reasons are given for eliminating
the flux control. First, since the line-to-line back EMF including
the small voltage drops is less than the dc-link voltage in the
constant torque region there is no need to control the flux am-
plitude. Second, with the two-phase conduction mode sudden
sharp dips in the stator flux linkage locus occur that complicate
the control scheme. The size of these sharp dips is unpredictable.
Third, regardless of the stator flux linkage amplitude, the phase
currents tend to match with the flat top portion of the corre-
sponding trapezoidal back EMF to generate constant torque.
The simulation and experimental results show that it is possible
Fig. 11. Steady-state and transient experimental electromagnetic torque under to achieve two-phase conduction DTC of a BLDC motor drive
0.5 N·m load torque (0.5 N·m/div) (top) . Steady-state and transient experimental using four-switch inverter.
abc frame phase currents (2 A/div) and time base: 16.07 ms/div (bottom).

In the experiment, linear interpolation is used between two ACKNOWLEDGMENT

known data in the look-up tables.
Fig. 11 illustrates the experimental results of the torque and The first author would like to thank A. Toliyat of the Univer-
abc frame phase currents when only torque control is performed sity of Texas at Austin for his assistance in editing the paper.
using (1). In Fig. 11, the reference torque is suddenly increased
25 percent from 0.51 to 0.6375 N·m at 0.05 s under 0.5 N·m
load torque. The sampling time is chosen as 25 µs, hysteresis REFERENCES
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OZTURK et al.: DIRECT TORQUE CONTROL OF FOUR-SWITCH BRUSHLESS DC MOTOR WITH NON-SINUSOIDAL BACK EMF
Salih Baris Ozturk (S’02–M’08) received the B.S.
(Hons.) degree from Istanbul Technical University,
Istanbul, Turkey, in 2000, and the M.S. and Ph.D.
degrees from Texas A&M University, College Sta-
tion, in 2005 and 2008, respectively, all in electrical
engineering.
During 2004, he was with the Whirlpool R&D
Center, Benton Harbor, MI. In 2008, he joined the
Power Electronics Group, United Technologies Re-
search Center, East Hartford, CT, as a Senior Re-
search Engineer. Since 2009, he has been an Assistant
Professor with the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Okan
University, Istanbul, Turkey. His current research interests include power elec-
tronics, fault diagnosis of electric machines, and digital signal processor-based
advanced control of ac drives, in particular sensorless and direct torque control
of permanent magnet-assisted synchronous reluctance, and permanent magnet
synchronous and brushless dc motors.
Dr. Ozturk received the 2008 IEEE Industrial Electronics Society Best Paper
Second Prize Award by the Electrical Machine Technical Committee for his
paper on the Sensorless Direct Torque and Indirect Flux Control of Brushless
DC Motor with Non-Sinusoidal Back EMF presented at the 2008 IEEE Indus-
trial Electronics Conference (IECON ’08) in Miami, FL. He is also one of
the recipients of the 2008 Outstanding Achievement Award (highest award) at
United Technologies Research Center for his participation to achieve successful
demonstration of the World’s First Fuel Cell Powered Rotorcraft Flight. He is
one of the contributing authors of the book “DSP-Based Electromagnetic Mo-
tion Control” (Boca Raton, FL: CRC, 2003).
William C. Alexander (M’xx) received the Bachelor’s and Master’s de-
grees in engineering from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1976 and 1979,
respectively.
Currently, he is the President and Co-Founder of Ideal Power Converters,
Inc., Austin, a company formed to develop the soft-switched ac link power
converter for motor drive, wind power, and solar inverter applications.
Mr. Alexander has over 25 years experience in engineering including me-
chanical, electrical, electronic, and embedded software and HDL engineering,
and is a registered Professional Engineer.
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271
Hamid A. Toliyat (S’87–M’91–SM’96–F’08) re-
ceived the B.S. degree from Sharif University of
Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 1982, the M. S. degree
from West Virginia University, Morgantown, in 1986,
and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Wiscon-
sin, Madison, in 1991, all in electrical engineering.
After completing the Ph.D. degree, he joined
the faculty of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad,
Mashhad, Iran, as an Assistant Professor of Electrical
Engineering. In March 1994, he joined the Depart-
ment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas
A&M University, Austin, where he is currently the Raytheon Endowed Profes-
sor of electrical engineering. His main research interests and experience include
analysis and design of electrical machines, variable speed drives for traction
and propulsion applications, fault diagnosis of electric machinery, and sensor-
less variable speed drives.
Dr. Toliyat is an Editor of IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION,
and was an Associate Editor of IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS.
He is also Chair of the IEEE-IAS Industrial Power Conversion Systems Depart-
ment of IEEE-IAS, and is a member of Sigma Xi. He is a fellow of the Power
Engineering, Industrial Applications, Industrial Electronics, and Power Elec-
tronics Societies of the IEEE, and the recipient of the 2008 Industrial Electronics
Society Electric Machines Committee Second Best Paper Award, 1996 and 2006
IEEE Power Engineering Society Prize Paper Awards and 2006 IEEE Industry
Applications Society Transactions Third Prize Paper Award. He has supervised
more than 35 graduate students, is the author of more than 335 technical papers,
where over 100 papers are in IEEE TRANSACTIONS, presented more than 50
invited lectures all over the world, and has ten issued and pending US patents.
He is the author of the Book DSP-Based Electromechanical Motion Control
(Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2003), and the Co-Editor of Handbook of Electric
Motors, 2nd ed. (New York: Marcel Dekker, 2004). He was the General Chair
of the 2005 IEEE International Electric Machines and Drives Conference in
San Antonio, Texas. He is a Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. He
has received the prestigious Cyrill Veinott Award in Electromechanical Energy
Conversion from the IEEE Power Engineering Society in 2004, the Patent and
Innovation Award from Texas A&M University System Office of Technology
Commercialization’s in 2007, the TEES Faculty Fellow Award in 2006, dis-
tinguished Teaching Award in 2003, the E. D. Brockett Professorship Award
in 2002, the Eugene Webb Faculty Fellow Award in 2000, and Texas A&M
Select Young Investigator Award, in 1999 from Texas A&M University. He has
also received the Space Act Award from NASA in 1999, and the Schlumberger
Foundation Technical Awards in 2000 and 2001.