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

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.