Electrical Power-Hardware-In-The-Loop simulation for the early validation of power amplifiers used in Active Vibration Control

Early stage Hardware-In-The-Loop (HIL) testing is becoming an increasingly important tool during the development of complex and highly interacting mechatronic systems. In the case of a power amplifier under test, an early HIL investigation allows for an evaluation of the required electrical power, the suitability of the power amplifier to drive a variety of different actuators and an investigation of defined fault states. In this paper, we highlight the development of an electrical Power-HIL interface for the test of a power amplifier for an electrodynamic voice coil actuator. In this context, the electrical Power-HIL interface represents a voltage controlled current source which is realized by means of a current controlled MOSFET H-bridge amplifier. The bidirectional load current in the test power amplifier is adjusted as a function of its driving voltage and a higher-level real-time simulation process. The real-time simulation includes a numerical simulation model of the electrodynamic voice coil actuator and an attached mechanical structure. This paper presents the derivation of general design parameters for an electrical Power-HIL interface from a preliminary numerical investigation and the results of initial tests with a common audio amplifier attached to the electrical Power-HIL interface.