Mechanical Factors Affecting Electrical Drive Performance

High-performance dc drive systems are often affected by mechanical characteristics such as torsional vibrations, backlash, and disturbances generated by misalignment, unbalance, or pulsating loads. The seriousness of the effect and the means available to reduce it are dependent on the responsiveness of the drive system. In general, the system must be made either responsive enough to counteract the mechanical characteristic or sluggish enough to ignore it. If this modification of the system response is impractical, the mechanical characteristics and/or the drive characteristics must be modified until an acceptable compromise can be achieved.