An enhanced current chopping control strategy for SRM drives using Harris
Hawks optimization algorithm
Ameer L. Saleh a,b,*, Fahad Al-Amyal a,c, L´aszl´o Sz´amel a
a Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Department of Electric Power Engineering, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
b Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Misan, Misan 62001, Iraq
c Department of Electronics and Communication, College of Engineering, University of Al-Qadisiyah, Diwaniya, Iraq

A B S T R A C T
This research proposes an Optimized Current chopping Control (CCC) approach for SRM drives. The goal is to
implement a simple SRM drive that can effectively meet electric vehicle requirements, comprising minimized
torque ripple to reduce vibrations and acoustic noises, maximized output torque to enhance vehicle acceleration,
and improved efficiency, which contributes to extending the EV’s battery life. Therefore, an optimization
problem is formulated and solved offline, incorporating a CCC-based SRM drive model. The control variables for
this optimization problem are the switching angles of the SRM. A multi-objective function is chosen to combine
three performance indices: torque ripple, average torque, and efficiency. The Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO)
method is utilized in this paper to solve the optimization problem and find the optimal switching angles based on
the selected objective function. HHO demonstrates a strong search capability that can effectively handle the
nonlinear magnetization characteristics of SRMs. Constraints on the switching angles are also included in the
optimization problem to control the phase current’s RMS value and power consumption. The optimized
switching angles are applied to a current chopping control (CCC) strategy and an asymmetric half-bridge converter
to implement the proposed HHO-based CCC drive. Moreover, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the
proposed HHO-based CCC drive, a comparative analysis based on simulations and experimental measurements is
presented against other CCC approaches for SRM drives, including modified particle swarm algorithm (MPSO)-
based CCC drives and analytical-based CCC drives.