Drive circuit-based torque-ripple suppression method for single-phase BLDC fan motors to reduce acoustic noise

• Published in: IET electric power applications Vol. 13; no. 7; pp. 881 - 888
• Main Authors: Hu, Hong-Jin, Cao, Guang-Zhong, Huang, Su-Dan, Wu, Chao, Peng, Ye-Ping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Institution of Engineering and Technology 01.07.2019
• Subjects: acoustic noise; brushless DC motors; conventional drive circuits; direct current fan motors; drive circuit‐based torque‐ripple suppression method; fans; finite element analysis; machine control; proposed drive circuits; Research Article; single‐phase BLDC fan motors; single‐phase BLDC motor; torque; torque ripple; direct current fan motors; machine control; drive circuit-based torque-ripple suppression method; single-phase BLDC motor; torque; finite element analysis; conventional drive circuits; fans; proposed drive circuits; single-phase BLDC fan motors; torque ripple; brushless DC motors; acoustic noise
• ISSN: 1751-8660; 1751-8679; 1751-8679
• DOI: 10.1049/iet-epa.2018.5234

This paper proposes a drive circuit for single-phase brushless direct current (BLDC) fan motors to reduce their acoustic noise. First, the torque ripple of a single-phase BLDC motor is analysed theoretically. Then, a drive circuit that is capable of regulating the DC-link voltage during commutation to weaken the negative effect of current lag is proposed to reduce the acoustic noise of single-phase BLDC fan motors. Furthermore, the characteristics of the proposed drive circuit are discussed theoretically using a deduced analytical model of the proposed drive circuit. Additionally, simulations based on the finite element method and experiments are performed. The torque ripple and acoustic noise generated by the conventional and proposed drive circuits are compared. The simulation results show that the torque ripple is reduced by 16.1% when the proposed drive circuit is used, and the experimental results illustrate that the acoustic noise generated by the second harmonic of the torque ripple is reduced by 7.3%. Ultimately, the effectiveness of the proposed drive circuit is verified.