Optimizing Control of Railway Traction Motor Performance with a Hardware-in-the-Loop Method

Abstract

This study investigates the implementation of an advanced control strategy, field-oriented control (FOC), to optimize the performance of a railway traction motor within a hardware-in-the Loop (HIL) environment. The HIL setup, facilitated by the Texas Instrument (TI) C2000 micro controller unit (MCU) and Plecs RT Box 3 simulator, serves as a robust testing ground that allows real-time simulation and validation of the proposed FOC algorithm under varying loads and dynamic conditions. The methodology involves integrating the FOC algorithm into the MCU and models of the three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) and traction motor into the RT Box 3 simulator. With a 1000V DC supply and a 1 kHz switching frequency suitable for rail vehicle systems, an effective and quite precise torque control was achieved with a peak-to-peak deviation of 10% from the reference torque value on the alternating current (AC) induction motor, which is one of the most preferred motor types in trains. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.