Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole Research Articles

Piezoelectric deicing system for aeronautics: Extensional mode actuator and power supply

AbstractRecent research shows a growing interest in low‐power avionic deicing systems, in particular, those based on piezoelectric actuators for their energy efficiency. The system generates micrometric vibrations in the structure to delaminate and break the ice with a low power requirement. However, designing the power supply and its control for driving piezoelectric actuators is challenging due to their distinctive capacitive behavior at most frequencies, especially in deicing applications requiring high operational frequency. This contribution addresses the two cross‐dependent parts of the deicing system, that is the piezoelectric actuator designed for breaking any kind of ice on a large area and its power supply made of a 1 kW/200 V/2 MHz auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter (ARCPI). The choice of this converter is based on the specific constraints of the application, such as varying the operating frequency with the actuator working conditions, the long cables and necessary insulation between the actuator and its supply, the soft‐switching operation and reactive energy balancing for a good efficiency. Based on these criteria, the converter was developed and realized in the laboratory. Deicing tests confirmed effective operation with a power input density of 122 mW/cm2, using nine piezoelectric patches per dm2.

A Simple Structure of Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole SiC-Based Soft-Switching Inverter

A Simple Structure of Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole SiC-Based Soft-Switching Inverter

A Novel Midpoint Voltage Balance Control Strategy Based on Resonant Current Adjustment for Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole Inverter

A Novel Midpoint Voltage Balance Control Strategy Based on Resonant Current Adjustment for Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole Inverter

An Efficient Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole Inverter With Components Withstanding Low Voltage and Current

An efficient auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter (ARCPI) is presented with the aim of enhancing the efficiency by the decrease of switching loss. The brief design method is that three sets of identical auxiliary circuits are arranged respectively on each bridge arm in order that switches can achieve soft-switching to reduce switching loss by the resonance among auxiliary devices. When the auxiliary circuit of each phase is involved in commutation process, the higher efficiency will be achieved on condition that the added loss of auxiliary circuits is lower than the reduced switching loss compared with the hard-switching inverter. The brief discusses every working state during a switching cycle. The main experimental results are as follows: Switches achieve soft-switching in a wide load range and the efficiency value of the novel ARCPI reaches 98.1% under the rated condition which is at least 0.3% more than that in other four comparison objects. Consequently, the presented inverter takes an advantage in efficiency over other similar soft-switching inverters.

Derivation of Resonant Period for Soft Switching Considering Nonlinear Characteristics of Output Capacitance in Switching Device

Many soft switching techniques utilize a resonance between an inductor and parasitic output capacitors of switching devices. However, output capacitance has nonlinear characteristics, which obscures the resonant period for soft switching. In this paper, a new method is proposed to derive the resonant period by considering nonlinear characteristics of the output capacitance. The method can be applied to a bridge-type converter which utilizes resonance for soft switching. Other parasitic capacitances which affect the resonant period, are also considered. To verify the proposed method, simulations and experiments were performed with a 3-kVA prototype half bridge auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter.

An Improved Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole Inverter With Low Loss of Energy Recovery

This brief proposes an improved auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter (ARCPI) to optimize the transmission efficiency of the inverter. During the commutation process of the inverter, main switches can acquire zero-voltage switching and auxiliary switches can acquire zero-current switching, bringing about the significant reduction of switching loss. Besides, when the resonant state suspends in each switching cycle, the surplus energy in the resonant inductor will be fed back to the energy-storage capacitor through only one auxiliary diode, making for low loss of energy recovery. This brief illustrates each working state in a switching cycle. The relative experimental waveform indicates that switches acquire soft-switching. The efficiency of the proposed inverter achieves 99.1% at rated output power. Thus, the proposed inverter can have efficiency superiority over other similar inverters.

Research on auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter for driving brushless DC motor

The brushless DC motor is generally used in small satellite flywheel systems due to its good control performance and structure robustness. However, its driving inverter still suffers from hard-switching that leads to higher loss and larger heatsink requirement. The resulting low power density and EMI problems have been a great challenge for the space satellite applications. This paper describes a novel auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter (ARCPI) for driving the brushless DC motor. An inserted inductor is controlled to resonant with the buffer capacitor of the inverter’s lower arm switches; a resonant capacitor is paralleled with the inductor branch as well. Zero-current switching and zero-voltage switching conditions are therefore realized for the switches of the entire circuit. The reverse recovery problem of diodes are also avoided by zero current turning-off. The working states of the proposed novel ARCPI inverter are analyzed and the mathematical model for every state is established. Furthermore, the parameter design is discussed to provide soft-switching conditions. Finally, the proposed ARCPI inverter is applied for driving a brushless DC motor. A voltage/current double closed control loop is designed for the motor controller and the system simulation setup is built. The simulation results prove that soft-switching operation is realized for all of the switches; the proposed inverter is effective for driving brushless DC motors. Besides, the motor current fluctuation decreases by 45.7%. The motor torque and the motor speed present with good control performance as well.

Mitigation of Motor Overvoltage in SiC-Based Drives Using Soft-Switching Voltage Slew-Rate ($dv/dt$) Profiling

In silicon carbide (SiC) device based motor drives, the high-voltage slew-rate ( <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dv</i> / <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dt</i> ) associated with the fast-switching transitions results in excessive motor overvoltage, due to the reflected wave phenomenon, which increases the motor winding insulation stress and causes premature failure while raising electromagnetic interference (EMI) problems. This article proposes a soft-switching voltage slew-rate profiling approach to mitigate the motor overvoltage in SiC-based cable-fed drives. The proposed approach optimizes the rise/fall time of the output voltage according to the cable length, without altering the switching speed of the SiC devices. Since increasing the switching rise/fall time using conventional approaches, such as increasing the gate resistance, results in an increased switching power loss, the proposed profiling approach is implemented using a soft-switching inverter. The optimum rise/fall time that can significantly mitigate the overvoltage is derived using frequency- and time-domain analysis. The auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter (ARCPI) is adopted as an example of the soft-switching inverter to experimentally verify the proposed slew-rate profiling approach for the overvoltage mitigation. The analysis and experimental results show that the motor overvoltage is fully mitigated when the output voltage rise/fall time is set as the cable antiresonance period, i.e., four times of the wave transmission time along the cable. Furthermore, the slew-rate profiling approach along with the ARCPI reduces the switching loss and improves the EMI performance at the high-frequency region, compared with the conventional hard-switching converter. Specifically, the maximum efficiency of the ARCPI is about 99%.

A Synchronous Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole Soft-Switching Inverter With Improved Load Adaptability

To realize a soft-switching inverter with small volume and high efficiency, a synchronous auxiliary resonant commutated pole (SARCP) soft-switching inverter with improved load adaptability is proposed, which only contains two auxiliary inductors. In one switching cycle, all commutation processes can be synchronously assisted by an auxiliary inductor. Soft switching is achievable for all switches of the SARCP inverter. Compared with the auxiliary resonant commutated pole (ARCP) inverter, the SARCP inverter has improved load adaptability, especially in the light load current condition, which is beneficial to reduce the total power loss and the dc-link capacitance. The equivalent circuits of the SARCP inverter are given under different operation modes. The operation principle, soft-switching implementation conditions, parameter optimization design methods, and the characteristics of the SARCP inverter are analyzed. Finally, simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the SARCP inverter.

Auxiliary resonant commutated pole soft-switching inverter with simple topology

Auxiliary resonant commutated pole soft-switching inverter with simple topology

Hybrid SVPWM Modulation Strategy for Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole Inverter

Although the auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter (ARCPI) can achieve soft-switching for main switches, the auxiliary commutation circuit (ACC) itself has a loss, especially under high frequency. To reduce the loss of ACC and optimize the efficiency of the ARCPI, this article proposes a hybrid space vector pulsewidth modulation (SVPWM) strategy. It can not only compensate for the influence of dead time but also reduce the operation times of the ACCs. First, the operation principles of an ARCPI are briefly analyzed. The topology can achieve soft-switching reliably for all switches with simplified ACCs. Then, appropriate zero vectors are designed for the hybrid SVPWM modulation strategy, which can guarantee that unnecessary switching actions are eliminated, and the switches in each bridge leg conduct symmetrically. Furthermore, the trigger pulse generation method for ACCs based on only one main switch is designed. Finally, the simulation and experimental results are given to demonstrate the validity of the proposed strategy.

Experimental Evaluation of SiC Mosfets in Comparison to Si IGBTs in a Soft-Switching Converter

Silicon-carbide (SiC) mosfet s have shown superior characteristics to Si IGBTs, bringing in significant performance improvement such as enabling more compact, higher efficiency converters that are not feasible with conventional Si IGBTs. Currently, there is a lack of systematic and conclusive investigation into soft-switching inverters using SiC mosfet s in comparison to Si IGBTs. This article, therefore, presents a comparative evaluation of a soft-switching inverter, i.e., the auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter (ARCPI) using SiC mosfet s or Si IGBTs. The switching transition, switching device current stress, neutral point ripple current, electromagnetic interference (EMI), efficiency, and cost are compared on identical ARCPI setups, i.e., with the same printed circuit boards and under identical driving conditions (gate drivers). Experimental results show that the ARCPI using SiC mosfet s has better performance than that using Si IGBTs due to its faster switching speed. First, the ARCPI using SiC mosfet s performs full zero-voltage switching and the switching transition behavior is more predictable. Unlike Si IGBTs, SiC mosfet s have no turn- off tail current and forward voltage drop during switching transitions. Second, the ARCPI using SiC mosfet s endures less current stress and smaller ripple current in dc-link capacitors. Third, the ARCPI using SiC mosfet s exhibits better EMI performance and higher efficiency. Specifically, a maximum 20 dB μ V harmonic reduction can be achieved around 800 kHz and a 3.1% improvement in efficiency can be achieved at 6 kW.

Adapted Auxiliary-Resonant Commutated Pole in the Dual-Active Bridge

In this paper, a dual-active bridge direct current (dc)–dc converter with an adapted auxiliary-resonant commutated pole (ARCP) concept is presented. First, the classic ARCP is reviewed and subsequently, the adapted concept is explained. The adaptions guarantee a zero-voltage switching without applying an additional boost current as needed in the classic ARCP approach. Thus, the complexity of the resonant commutations is reduced and reliability can be increased. To obtain the optimal auxiliary switch, various power-electronic devices are compared in view of controllability, speed, and conduction losses in the second part. Possible auxiliary switch configurations for a high-power application are discussed, and measurement results are illustrated. Here, integrated gate-commutated thyristors, thyristors, and insulated-gate bipolar transistors in combination with SiC diodes are compared, and differences in the switching behavior are presented. Finally, experimental test results of the converter at low voltages are presented.

Modified Double Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole Inverter and its Modulation Strategy

In order to overcome the complexity of the double auxiliary commutation circuit (DACC) and the coupling of the resonance process of the double auxiliary resonant commutated pole (DARCP) inverter, a modified DARCP inverter topology and its modulation strategy are proposed. The modified topology not only retains the advantage of reliable zero voltage switching (ZVS) turn-off of auxiliary switches and so on, but also realizes the simplification of the DACC and the decoupling of the resonance process. The cost of the inverter and the system oscillation caused by coupling resonance are reduced, and the performance and practicability of the inverter are improved. According to the equivalent circuits of different operation modes under the proposed modulation strategy, the operation principle, the soft-switching implementation condition, and the parameter design method are analyzed. Finally, a 10-kW, 16-kHz soft-switching inverter prototype is built. Experimental results are given to demonstrate the validity of the proposed inverter.

Modified Auxiliary-Resonant Commutated Pole Applied in a Three-Phase Dual-Active Bridge DC/DC Converter

The purpose of this study is to present the concept and properties of a dual-active bridge dc–dc converter with a modified auxiliary-resonant commutated (MARC) pole concept, and to discuss preliminary test results of a high-power setup. In this approach, the dual-active bridge based on IGCT is considered. First, the soft-switching boundaries for the converter with lossless snubbers and high switching delays are introduced. Second, the MARC pole is presented to overcome this border to receive full soft-switching capability in the entire operation range of the dc–dc converter. This is of crucial importance since IGCTs will be destroyed in case of a snubber dump. The advantage of the modified circuit is the guaranteed switching under zero-voltage conditions without applying an additional boost current as needed in the classic auxiliary-resonant commutated pole (ARCP) approach. Thus, complexity is reduced and reliability is increased. Measurement results of the MARC are presented from a mega-watt dc–dc converter where the concepts are fully implemented. The results of large-scale systems impressively show how the ARCP reduced the impact of parasitic elements, which would normally affect the switching transitions tremendously.

Control Techniques of the Auxiliary-Resonant Commutated Pole With Special Regards on the Dual-Active Bridge DC-DC Converter

Control Techniques of the Auxiliary-Resonant Commutated Pole With Special Regards on the Dual-Active Bridge DC-DC Converter

An improved topology for high power soft-switched power converters

The push to higher switching frequencies and a desire for lower losses in high power converters requires that switching losses be significantly reduced. Resonant, soft-switching technologies such as the ARCP (Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole) attempt to minimize power converter losses by switching the semiconductors at zero voltage or zero current. Deficiencies, however, exist in current ARCP topologies. A novel configuration has been demonstrated that achieves better performance than a conventional ARCP while maintaining essentially the same efficiency and nearly the same power density. This paper describes our new approach and gives simulation and experimental results. A 10 kW, 3-phase inverter, used primarily for driving induction motors, has been constructed and used to experimentally verify the concept.

Methods for Suppressing Spike Voltage of ARCPI Auxiliary Switch

The Auxiliary Resonant Commutated Pole Inverter which is a kind three phase soft inverter. It is very suitable for AC driving. During the developing process, the spike voltage was produced between the auxiliary switch. Research shows that the diode in the auxiliary resonant circuit has a reverse-recovery phenomenon. Aim at this phenomenon, the methods of using clamping diode, double RCD snubber and saturable inductance are adopted. Experiments approve that all the methods can suppress the spike voltage between the auxiliary switch effectively. The method using saturable inductance has the advantage of simple circuit , low power-loss and low effect on ARCPI.

Three‐phase double auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter topology and analysis of its working principle

This study presents a double auxiliary resonant commutated pole (ARCP) inverter topology and modulation strategy. In the proposed inverter, the zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) turn-off of auxiliary switches influenced by parasitic circuit elements from the wiring process can be avoided. It is assured that the auxiliary switches achieve ZVS turn-off reliably. Hence, the reliability of the ARCP inverter is improved, especially in high-power application. According to the equivalent circuits in different operation modes under the proposed modulation strategy, the working principle, soft-switching implementation condition, and parameter design procedure of the proposed inverter are analysed successively in this study. Finally, a 10 kW, 16 kHz double ARCP inverter prototype is built. Experimental results are given to demonstrate the validity of the proposed inverter.

Advanced control and design methods of the auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter

Abstract This paper presents several methods that enable the reduction of power loss in the auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter - ARCP. Presented methods can be divided into static and dynamic ones. The static methods are related to an appropriate design of the inverter, whereas dynamic ones to advanced control of the power transistors. A variety of design and control methods are presented together with their advantages and disadvantages. The new control method of the current in the resonant branch is described. The main benefits of the proposed extended control method and their constrains are shown