Low Switching Frequency Research Articles

Power losses analysis for reduced switch 9-level cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter

This study provides a thorough examination of power losses and total harmonic distortion (THD) in single-phase 9-level cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverters (CHB MLI) at low switching frequencies. The aim is to analyze the efficiency of a single-phase 9-level cascaded CHB MLI using three distinct switch configurations: 16-switch, 11-switch, and proposed 8-switch. The calculated switching angles are optimized using the feed-forward methodology. Two types of load conditions—R load and R-L load—are being examined. The results suggest that the proposed 8-switch design exhibits superior efficiency by limiting power losses compared to other topologies. Regarding THD, the conventional topology yields a somewhat lower value, however, the disparity is less than 1% when compared to both reduced switch topologies.

The Impact of Modulation Techniques on Brushless DC Motor Drive

ABSTRACTThree‐phase brushless DC (BLDC) motors are cost‐effective and are increasingly used in various speed control applications. The phase voltage, DC‐bus utilization, current ripple, and torque ripple are major performance parameters for a BLDC motor drive. Different pulse width modulation (PWM) methods will diversely influence these parameters. This paper presents the phase voltage, current ripple, and DC‐bus utilization analysis of BLDC motor drive for four PWM techniques and provides a comparative analysis. The current ripple of the BLDC drive is evaluated with low and high switching frequency operations. Phase voltage and DC‐bus utilization of a BLDC motor are evaluated using analytical methods and validated experimentally. The investigation provided in this work are significant for PWM selection and implementation for low and high switching frequency operations. Both low‐ and high‐frequency operations are performed by supplying the BLDC drive from a silicon carbide (SiC) based inverter. These PWM techniques are also compared, considering high and low‐speed applications. Experimental results of SiC inverter‐fed BLDC motor drive are provided to substantiate the proposed work.

Synchronous DTC for torque sub-harmonic reduction in low switching frequency induction motor drives

A direct torque control (DTC) algorithm with synchronous modulation for high-power induction motors is presented in this paper. While maintaining the dynamic response and robustness of a PI-based DTC operating in the stationary reference frame, the proposed scheme is able to keep an integer PWM modulation ratio, adjusting the stator flux angle and the switching period at each control step so that the synchronicity condition is always satisfied. In this way, it is possible to achieve an improvement of the very low-frequency harmonic spectrum of the torque, in particular by reducing torque sub-harmonics. These represent one of the main problems associated with low-frequency modulation typical of high-power drives and their reduction allows to avoid drawbacks such as resonance and mechanical stresses. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated with experimental tests on a small-scale test bench.

ISOS-SAB DC/DC Converter for Large-Capacity Offshore Wind Turbine

This study offers a modular isolated grid-connected DC/DC medium-voltage DC aggregation converter to support offshore full DC wind farms’ need for lightweight and highly efficient power aggregation and transmission. The converter can simultaneously have a smaller transformer size and lower switching frequency during operation through the dual-voltage stabilization three-loop control strategy and phase-shift modulation strategy, which greatly reduces the space occupied by the converter and lowers the switching loss, Additionally, the use of a two-level structure at a lower switching frequency has lower loss, which effectively reduces the cost of the power device compared with the commonly used three-level converter. The input series output series connection between the converter sub-modules effectively lowers the voltage stress on each power switching device and facilitates expansion into a multi-module structure, expanding its application in high-voltage and large-capacity environments. This study analyzes the two working modes of the DC/DC converter and its control approach, in addition to providing a detailed introduction to the application scenarios of this converter. Ultimately, the efficacy and practicability of the suggested topology and control scheme are confirmed by simulations and experiments.

Performance Evaluation of the Two-Input Buck Converter as a Visible Light Communication High-Brightness LED Driver Based on Split Power.

This work proposes a high-efficiency High-Brightness LED (HB-LED) driver for Visible Light Communication (VLC) based on a Two-Input Buck (TIBuck) DC/DC converter. This solution not only outperforms previous approaches based on Buck DC/DC converters, but also simplifies previous proposals for VLC drivers that use the split power technique with two DC/DC converters: one is in charge of the communication tasks and the other controls the biasing of the HB-LED (i.e., lighting tasks). The real implementation of this scheme requires either two input voltage sources, one of which is isolated, or one DC/DC converter with galvanic isolation. The proposed implementation of splitting the power is based on a TIBuck DC/DC converter that avoids the isolation requirement, overcoming the major drawback of this technique, keeping high-efficiency and high communication capability thanks to the lower voltage stress both across the switches and at the switching node. This fact allows for the operation at very high frequency for communication purposes, minimizing switching power losses, achieving high efficiency and providing lower filtering effort. Moreover, the duty ratio range can also be adapted to the useful voltage range of the HB-LED load to maximize the resolution on the tracking of the output volage. The power is split by means of an auxiliary Buck DC/DC converter operating at low switching frequency, which generates the secondary voltage source needed by the TIBuck DC/DC converter. This defines a natural split of power by only processing the power delivered for communications purposes at high frequency. A 7 W output-power experimental prototype of the proposed VLC driver was built and tested. Based on the experimental results, the prototype achieved 94% efficiency, reproducing a 64-QAM digital modulation scheme and achieving a bit rate of 1.5 Mbps with error in communication of 12%.

The Influence of Switching Frequency on Control in Voltage Source Inverters

This paper aims to show how the switching frequency influences the properties of the digitally controlled voltage source inverter (VSI). The measurements of the Bode plots of the inverter are shown and discussed to present the existing signal delays and power conversion efficiency, depending on the switching/sampling frequency. Two types of controllers are presented, Single-Input–Single-Output (SISO) and Multi-Input–Single-Output (MISO), and adequate prediction units (the Smith Predictor for SISO—Coefficient Diagram Method and the full-state Luenberger Observer for MISO—Passivity Based Control) were used to compensate for the delays. It will be shown by comparing the THD of the VSI output voltage that prediction is useful with low VSI switching frequency (about 10 kHz) but is not important for the middle switching frequencies (about 25 kHz) or the high switching frequency (>50 kHz). This paper shows that increasing the switching frequency simplifies digital control without reasonably decreasing efficiency. The theoretical considerations, the Matlab/Simulink 2021b simulations, the final experimental laboratory verification are presented.

A Sensorless Control Method With Identification of Stator Inductance for IPMSM at Low-Speed Under Low Switching Frequency

A Sensorless Control Method With Identification of Stator Inductance for IPMSM at Low-Speed Under Low Switching Frequency

Comparative Study of E-beam and Optical Probing Approaches in Attacking the ICs

AbstractOptical probing methods through the chip backside have been demonstrated to be powerful attack techniques in the field of electronic security. However, these attacks typically require specific circuit conditions, such as enforcing gate or register switching at certain frequencies or repeating measurements over multiple executions to achieve an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Meeting these requirements can pose challenges, such as low-frequency switching or inaccessibility of the control signals. This study evaluates these requirements for contactless electron- and photon-based probing attacks by performing extensive experiments and discussing the advantages and drawbacks of each approach. Our findings demonstrate that E-beam probing has the potential to outperform optical methods in scenarios involving static or low-frequency circuit activities. Nevertheless, E-beam probing requires the assistance of optical techniques for area localization and requires aggressive thinning and trenching to the STI level.

Research on positioning control strategy of hydraulic support pushing system based on multistage speed control valve

The precise position control of the hydraulic support pushing system in the coal mining face is a key technical support for intelligent coal mining. At present, the hydraulic support pushing system uses the electro-hydraulic directional valve as the control element. However, the electro-hydraulic directional valve has problems such as discrete input values, low switching frequency, delay, inability to adjust flow, and large flow fluctuations during the switching process, which results in relatively low positioning control accuracy of the hydraulic support pushing system. Therefore, this study introduces a multi-stage speed control valve that is suitable for underground coal mine conditions and can achieve flow regulation. At the same time, a segmented control strategy combining Bang-Bang control and online predictive control is proposed. Bang-bang control is used for fast propulsion with large flow rate, large range, and short time. Online predictive control method is used to achieve precise positioning control with small flow rate and small range, thereby solving the problem of low positioning control accuracy caused by the imperfect characteristics of electro-hydraulic directional valves. Finally, this study verified the effectiveness of the proposed scheme through simulation and experiments. The results showed that compared with existing logic positioning control methods based on electro-hydraulic directional valves, the proposed scheme can improve the accuracy of single cylinder positioning control from 62 mm to within 10 mm.

MEDIUM-POWER DRIVE INSTALLATIONS BASED ON TRIPLE VOLTAGE SOURCE INVERTERS ADJUSTED BY ALGORITHMS OF SYNCHRONOUS MULTI-ZONE PWM

This paper presents short overview of the development and dissemination of specialized schemes and algorithms of space-vector-based synchronous multi-zone pulsewidth modulation (MZ PWM) for control of triple inverters of the medium-power variable speed drives characterized by relatively low switching frequency of inverters. It insures providing synchronization and symmetry of the basic voltage waveforms in triple-inverter-based configurations of drive installations on the base of standard voltage source inverters (VSIs). It assures also minimization of magnitudes of even-order harmonics and undesirable subharmonics in spectra of the basic voltages of drive installations, leading to reducing of losses in the corresponding apparatuses and to increasing of its efficiency. Examples of application of the basic techniques of multi-zone PWM for regulation of three typical structures of triple-VSI-based medium-power motor drives are presented. Modeling and simulations give a behavior of drive installations based on triple inverters adjusted by algorithms of synchronous MZ PWM. References 12, figures 11, table 1.

Rotor speed signature analysis‐based inter‐turn short circuit fault detection for permanent magnet synchronous machines

AbstractA rotor speed signature analysis‐ (RSSA‐)based inter‐turn short circuit (ITSC) fault diagnostic method is proposed, which is robust with regard to speed‐ and current‐loop bandwidths of permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) drive systems. Conventional ITSC fault detection solutions that rely on current signals or extra devices. Thus, an initial step of investigation on the validity of RSSA is taken for residual insulation capacity monitoring of the ITSC fault at the incipient stage. The Vold–Kalman filtering order tracking method is employed for the real‐time extraction of fault features. Besides, the impact of speed‐ and current‐loop controller bandwidths on ITSC fault diagnosis is also analysed and an Adaline estimator is designed to decouple their impacts. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified on a faulty PMSM, which exhibits satisfying results in tracking the degradation of residual insulation, even if the phase currents are significantly distorted due to low switching frequency of the inverter.

Optimal control set expansion method for three‐phase voltage source converter with slip window selection and online parameter modification

AbstractFinite control set model predictive control (FCS‐MPC) has been widely used in the control of three‐phase voltage source converter (VSC), but its control performance declines sharply at low sampling frequencies. This paper proposes an optimal control set expansion method with slip window selection and online parameter modification to improve the performance and robustness of FCS‐MPC. First, the performance of different control set expansion methods is compared. Then, an optimal control set expansion method that carries 12 virtual vectors is proposed. Last, a slip window selection strategy and an online parameter modification algorithm are proposed to reduce the computational burden and improve the controller's robustness respectively. Experimental result show that the proposed method significantly improves the control accuracy and carries good robustness and anti‐disturbance ability. Compared with existing typical MPC strategies, the proposed method obtains better current quality with lower switching frequency and requires less calculation. Moreover, the design of the proposed method is simple and there is no weighting factor to be tuned, which increases the method's practicality.

Sensorless speed controller of an induction motor with MRAS-based model predictive control

Speed sensors play critical role in induction motor (IM) control systems. However, the use of these sensors cause several drawbacks such as increasing the overall cost, decreased reliability on control and increased noise problems in data acquisition. The sensorless control methods also have been proposed in control systems of IM to increase the overall performance. On the other hand, model predictive controllers (MPCs) which is one of the most recently used controller methods require the speed measurement to perform speed and torque control of an IM. In addition to control method, the topology of voltage source inverter (VSI) affects the overall efficiency of the IM drive because of its losses and total harmonic distortion (THD) ratios delivered by the topology. The main proposal of this study is to implement an IM drive built with a three-level active neutral point clamped (3L-ANPC) voltage source inverter (VSI) and to propose an MPC that eliminates sensor requirement in speed control of IM. The proposed IM drive takes benefits of multilevel inverter topology, which reduces the torque ripple, enables low switching frequency and provides decreased harmonic distortion. The switching pulses of ANPC VSI are generated by the proposed sensorless MPC method for controlling the torque of IM. The modelling and experimental verification of the ANPC based IM drive have been carried out and the sensorless MPC controller has been validated in this study. There two types of model reference adaptive system (MRAS) have been proposed to ensure precise estimation of IM speed that should be supplied to MPC controller. These MRAS methods are titled as the rotor flux based model reference adaptive system (MRASF), and the stator current based model reference adaptive system (MRASCC) according to estimation references. The proposed MPC-based IM drive has been analyzed under variable speed and torque circumstances to detect the efficiency and reliability of MRASF and MRASCC algorithms. The efficiency indicators such as flux and torque responses, and speed control of the suggested MPC IM drive are validated with experimental analysis. The results of revealed that the IM effectively tracks the reference speed and produces the required torque depending to the precise control of proposed MPC algorithm.

Investigation of a dexterous actuator integrated with magnetorheological bearings towards high switching frequency and fast response

Actuators are pivotal for empowering robots to execute a wide array of tasks and adapt to diverse surroundings. However, conventional actuators with a low switching frequency and a prolonged response time significantly comprise the adaptability of robots, restricting them to single operation conditions. This paper presents a solution to this issue by introducing a dexterous actuator integrated with magnetorheological bearings (referred to as MR actuator) for real-time controllable damping. Compared to conventional actuators, the MR actuator boasts exceptional dexterity, featuring a significantly-elevated switching frequency and swifter response time. To validate the remarkable dexterity of this MR actuator, rapid commutation tests and transient response experiments were conducted. Impressively, the MR actuator achieved a stable switching frequency of up to 10 Hz, surpassing that of conventional actuators (2 Hz). Moreover, it demonstrated a reduced response time and a heightened energy efficiency. Beyond robotics, applications of MR actuators are also found in areas requiring an improved machinery precision and production efficiency.

An improved predictive power control with disturbance rejection for three-phase AC/DC converters at low switching frequency for grid operation

An improved predictive power control with disturbance rejection for three-phase AC/DC converters at low switching frequency for grid operation

Fast Stator Flux Trajectory Control for PMSM Operating Under Low Switching Frequency

In rail transit traction field, the traction motor needs to operate at a very low switching frequency to decrease the switching loss. Hybrid pulse-width modulation scheme is usually applied for decreasing switching frequency and providing good harmonic performance. However, when the transition between different modulation schemes occurs or the voltage command steps, the stator flux would deviate from the expected trajectory, which would lead to current/torque shock even overcurrent. This paper proposes a method which can provide more flexible choice of voltage vector and can fast eliminate the stator flux deviation. Compared with the previous method, the proposed one can provide better dynamic performance (less oscillation in current/torque and less settling time), especially when the pulse number is relatively low, like square-wave mode, and is easy to implement. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the simulation and experimental results.

Review of Multilevel Level Inverter Using Different Topologies

This paper provides a concise overview of various multilevel inverter (mli) topologies. The conventional two-level voltage source inverter (vsi) necessitates a filter to generate sinusoidal output waveforms, which can be challenging at high frequencies due to switching losses. To address this issue, multilevel inverters offer lower switching frequencies and reduced total harmonic distortion (thd), eliminating the need for filters and large transformers. Moreover, a few advantages of mli inverters are reduced switching losses, better performance at high switching frequencies, and higher power quality (almost pure sinusoidal). Nevertheless, adding to the complexity of the system is the requirement for each switch to have its own gate driver in order to perform mli. Thus, it's imperative to decrease the mli's number of switches. In order to reduce the number of switches needed, this paper reviews some of the various current topologies. Applications such as voltage regulation, var compensation, harmonic filtering in power systems, and user interface for renewable energy have led to the development of cascaded h-bridge multilevel inverters. For solar applications, a modified cascaded h-bridge multilevel inverter (mli) is used. Cascaded h-bridge topology multilevel inverter will aid in reducing the number of switches. Comparing this concept to other multilevel inverters, the switching complexity is reduced.

A new single modulating and single carrier signal based control technique for symmetrical and asymmetrical multilevel inverter topology

Abstract In literature, to generate gate pulses for any inverter topology, most of the authors are using a single modulating signal with (level-1) or (level-1)/2 carrier-based pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques and single carrier (SC) signal with (level-1)/2 modulating signal based PWM techniques. Then, while going to higher-level inverter topologies, the complexity of the PWM control approach in both cases can increase. To reduce the control complexity, few authors have reported a single modulating signal with single carrier-based PWM techniques. However, these techniques need more mathematical equations and if-else loops. This article proposes a new single-modulating and single-carrier signal-based generalized PWM control approach using floor function (FF). This technique has been verified by considering one of the single-phase conventional symmetrical and asymmetrical multilevel inverter (MLI) topologies. Generally, FF rounds the value to the nearest integer towards the negative infinity. The proposed PWM control implementation process is very simple and suitable for both high switching frequency (HSF) and low switching frequency (LSF) operations. The proposed control technique (PCT) has been experimentally verified with different steady-state and transient-state studies of results under standalone operation.

Improving Low-Frequency Digital Control in the Voltage Source Inverter for the UPS System

Today voltage source inverters (VSIs) operate with high switching frequencies (let us assume higher than 50 kHz) owing to the fast Si (Silicon) or SiC (Silicon Carbide) switching transistors. However, there are some applications, e.g., with slower switches (e.g., IGBT—Isolated Gate Bipolar Transistor) or when lower dynamic power losses are required when the switching frequency is low (let us assume about 10 kHz). The resonant frequency of the output filter is usually below 1 kHz. The measurements of Bode plots of the measurement traces of various microprocessor-controlled VSIs show that in this frequency range, the characteristics of these channels can be simply approximated through two or three switching periods delay. For the high switching frequency, it is not noticeable, but for the low frequency it can cause some oscillations in the output voltage. One of the solutions can be to use the predictor of the measured state variables based on the full-state Luenberger observer or the linear Kalman filter. Both solutions will be simulated in MATLAB/Simulink and the chosen one will be tested in the experimental VSI. The research aims to omit delays in the measurement channels for the low switching frequency by using the predictions for the measured state variables and finally increasing the gains of the controller to decrease the output voltage distortions.

A Switched-Capacitor Multilevel Inverter With Modified Pulsewidth Modulation and Active DC-Link Capacitor Voltage Balancing

Although switched-capacitor (SC) multilevel inverters (MLIs) offer self-voltage balancing of flying capacitors and voltage gain higher than unity, the advantages come at the cost of high current stress and power loss in the SC circuit and DC source. Moreover, the voltage balancing is often restricted to a limited range of modulation index. Another problem of MLIs with neutral-point clamped (NPC) front end is with DC-link capacitor voltage balancing under unbalanced load conditions, imploring sensor-based closed-loop control. This paper proposes a unity gain five-level active-NPC SC-MLI with inrush charging current attenuation and actively balanced DC-link capacitor voltages under all load conditions and over the entire range of modulation index and power factor. The modified pulse-width modulation results in most switches operating at a low switching frequency, minimizing switching losses in the SC circuit. The proposed MLI attains a maximum efficiency of 98.04% at an output power of 510 W. Experiments on a 2 kVA laboratory prototype validate the theoretical analysis. Results from transformerless grid-connected solar PV system show that the proposed MLI can inject power into the grid with a unity power factor under conditions of varying irradiance and provide the grid with reactive power as well.