Industrial Engineer · phase 11 of 16 · noun
Torque Control
Operating mode in which motor torque is the primary commanded variable or regulated limit.
The Explain card
- Plain English
- In torque control the drive regulates the force the motor produces rather than its speed. The speed becomes whatever the load allows at that torque.
- Example
- A rewinder holds constant tension on a web by commanding constant torque, and the roll speeds up as its diameter shrinks. A speed limit sits above it so a broken web cannot let the motor run away.
- Why it matters
- Tension, pressing, clamping and load sharing between two motors on one shaft are all torque jobs. Torque mode without a speed limit is dangerous, since with no load the motor accelerates until something stops it.
- Hook
- Push this hard, and let the speed fall where it may.
Word knowledge
How the word is built, where it came from, and what it sits beside in memory.
In a sentence
During VFD commissioning, the technician selects Torque Control and verifies the motor response against the analog torque-reference signal.
Why these words
- torque Latin torquere, to twist names the rotational quantity associated with the motor shaft
- control Medieval Latin contrarotulus, counter-roll or verification register marks the quantity as the focus of regulation
Where it came from
- Origin
- English engineering compound formed from torque, ultimately Latin torquere, and control, through Anglo-French contrerole
- Entered the language
- 20th century
- What changed
- Torque moved from a twisted neck ornament to rotational mechanics, while control moved from checking records to regulating machinery.
How it is spelled
- Pattern
- The final -que in torque represents the consonant sound /k/.
- Pattern
- Control doubles its final l before vowel-led suffixes in controlled, controller, and controlling.
- Breaks the pattern
- The written u in torque is not pronounced as a separate vowel.
Spelled like
- antique
- technique
- controlled
- controller
Broken into chunks
-
torqu
- torque
- torquing
-
control
- controller
- controlling
What it sits beside
Same subject
- torque reference
- current limit
- speed control
- vector control
- motor tuning
Same shape
- speed control
- position control
- voltage control
drive control modes
- torque control
- speed control
- position control
motor feedback quantities
- shaft speed
- motor current
- encoder position
Where it sits in the deck
Phase 11: VFD Control Modes and Tuning
How a drive decides what to send the motor, from plain volts per hertz up to closed loop vector control, and how each mode is tuned.
