Control of an AC dynamometer for dynamic emulation of mechanical loads with stiff and flexible shafts

This paper addresses the emulation of linear and nonlinear loads using a vector-controller dynamometer for the position control of mechanical loads. The emulation strategy allows an electrical machine (dynamometer) to be controlled, so as to emulate both the static and dynamic characteristics of a load with a certain bandwidth. The. approach can be used for the experimental validation and testing of the electrical drives and motion-control techniques. The dynamic structure of the emulated load is always preserved. High-order systems such as loads with flexible shafts and nonlinear effects can be emulated accurately. This paper presents the dynamometer-control design, its practical implementation, and experimental results for the position control of the linear and nonlinear emulated loads. Systems with stiff and flexible shafts are considered. Finally, the experimental results are compared with the corresponding simulated loads to validate the emulation strategy.