Robust Design Optimization of Switched Reluctance Motor Drive Systems Based on System-Level Sequential Taguchi Method

In this paper, a new system-level sequential Taguchi method (SLSTM) is proposed to achieve the optimal solution with high robustness for switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive systems. An SRM drive system consisting of a segmented-rotor SRM and the angle position controller is investigated as a case study. In the implementation, the optimization function contains torque, loss, and torque ripple. The control factors of the system are selected according to the sensitivity analysis results. Manufacturing tolerances are considered to guarantee that the optimal solution features low sensitiveness to uncertainties. The process of defining the design levels of all the control factors and noise factor is illustrated and the orthogonal array is established. The optimization of the SLSTM is carried out sequentially until the certain convergence condition is satisfied. Finally, the component-level sequential Taguchi method (CLSTM) is carried out for comparison. It appears that the proposed SLSTM is efficient in searching for the robust optimal solution for the SRM drive system. Besides, it can achieve better output performance, such as higher average torque and lower torque ripple, and a higher level of robustness compared with the initial design and CLSTM.