Sliding-Mode Control Strategies for PMSM: Benchmarking and Comparative Simulation Study

TL;DR

This work addresses robust PMSM speed control under nonlinearities and disturbances by providing a reproducible benchmarking framework for six sliding-mode controllers (CSMC, ISMC, TSMC, FOSMC, ASMC, STSMC). Using a standardized SPMSM plant and identical disturbance scenarios, it conducts quantitative and qualitative comparisons via integral error indices and control effort, highlighting STSMC and ASMC as offering the best robustness-smoothness-computation trade-offs, with FOSMC providing fast transients and a small bias. The study delivers practical tuning guidelines, complexity analyses, and implementation insights to guide real-time embedded PMSM drives and sets a foundation for future adaptive, fractional-order, and learning-enhanced SMC developments. The framework and findings are intended to aid researchers and engineers in selecting and refining low-chatter, high-performance SMC strategies for high-speed PMSM applications.

Abstract

Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSMs) are widely employed in high-performance drive systems owing to their high efficiency and power density. However, nonlinear dynamics, parameter uncertainties, and load disturbances complicate their control. Sliding-Mode Control (SMC) offers strong robustness but exists in numerous variants with unstandardized evaluation criteria. This paper presents a unified simulation benchmark and comparative analysis of six representative SMC techniques for PMSM speed regulation: conventional, integral, terminal, fractional-order, adaptive, and super-twisting. A standardized PMSM model, disturbance profile, and tuning protocol are adopted to ensure fair comparison across all methods. Performance is assessed through time-domain responses, integral error indices (ISE, IAE, ITSE, ITAE), and control-effort profiles, while also examining computational complexity and implementation feasibility. Results demonstrate that adaptive and higher-order SMCs, particularly the super-twisting and adaptive variants, achieve the most balanced trade-off between robustness, smoothness, and computational cost. The study provides a reproducible benchmarking framework, parameter-selection guidelines, and practical insights for designing efficient, low-chatter SMC-based PMSM drives suitable for real-time embedded implementation.

Figures (14)

• Figure 1: Clarke Park axes
• Figure 2: Reaching Phase and Sliding Phase
• Figure 3: Closed-loop PMSM speed control system with SMC variant, ESO/DOB compensation, inverter, PMSM plant, load torque disturbance, and explicit feedback path. Distances are increased to maintain clarity and prevent overlaps.
• Figure 4: Compact unified benchmarking pipeline: identical plant, parameters, and disturbance applied to six SMC variants, with shared metrics and Visualization.
• Figure 5: Rotor-speed response under Conventional SMC..