Inverters

Dr John Fletcher
Basics
Inverters are DC to AC converters

We can use inverters to generate

• A dc supply
• Single-phase AC supply
• Three-phase AC supply
from a single dc source.

The basic building block is the

inverter ‘leg’.

An inverter leg is shown. Vdc is

the input, Vout the output.
 Inverter switching
• T1 and T2 are NEVER turned on
together. Why?

• T1 and T2 are switched using PWM in a

complementary manner (T2 ON, T1 OFF)

• Vout is then a switched waveform, just

like the basic step-down converter earlier.

t1,on
Vout  Vdc
Ts
Pulse-width Modulation

Carrier
Modulating τsw waveform
waveform

1
f sw 
 sw

ton

ton  sw

T1,on
T2,on
Current Paths
• Two switches with freewheel
diodes provides uni-directional
voltage and bi-directional
current control.

• Only when T1 is ON is energy

supplied from the source.

• When T2 ON, a zero voltage

loop is applied.

• With positive current flow →

Current path if T2 ON, or T1 and T2 OFF

Current path if T1 ON
Current Paths
• When T1 is ON (or T1 and T2
OFF) energy has to be
absorbed by the source.

• When T2 ON, a zero voltage

loop is applied.

• With negative current flow →

Current path if T2 ON

Current path if T1 ON, or T1 and T2 OFF

Bridge Leg V-I graph
The basic bridge leg can operate in two quadrants of the VI graph.

V
Average Output Voltage
A single inverter leg produces an average output voltage:
t1,on
Vout  Vdc
Ts
Define a duty cycle or modulation index

t1,on
m
Hence Ts

Vout  mVdc

m must be between 0 and 1.

We can make m vary in time therefore we can produce any voltage and any
frequency we desire (within the bounds fixed by the switching
frequency and Vdc).
Switching Frequency
• Switch frequency (1/Ts) of the pulse-width modulated (PWM) signal is
usually chosen as high as possible to reduce current ripple in the load.

• Max switching frequency is limited by losses and the ability to manage

those device losses (remember lecture 2?)

• In low power circuits, switching frequency can be as high as ~1 MHz

• High power circuits (say >500kW) may use frequencies of 1kHz or less.
Single-phase H-bridge
• Two inverter legs connected in parallel.
Single-phase H-bridge
• From previous discussion on inverter legs
Vao  maVdc
Vbo  mbVdc

• So the average output voltage

applied to the load
Vload  Vao  Vbo
 ma  mb Vdc (1)

• For a sinusoidal output (ma-mb) must vary sinusoidally.

 m sin t  (2)

1
ma 
2
mb   m sin t  (3)
1
2
Single-phase H-bridge
• The modulation indices of both inverter legs vary sinusoidally in time with a
modulation depth, m (0<m<0.5) and an offset. If we apply (2) and (3) to (1)
we get

1 1 
Vload    m sin t     m sin t  Vdc
2 2 
 2mVdc sin t 

• That is, the modulation depth, m, sets the magnitude of the ac output
voltage and ωt sets the frequency.

• Notice that the dc offset in the modulation indices is co-phasal and does
not appear in the output voltage.

• We can control the magnitude and frequency.

H-Bridge V-I graph
• The H-bridge can operate in all four quadrants of the VI graph.
• It can generate both polarities of voltage and control both polarities of
current.
I

V
PWM Generation
Ts Carrier waveform
• Modulation indices of each
leg are compared with a
triangular carrier m1
waveform.
m2
• Intersects define the turn-
on and turn-off instant of
each bridge leg. Leg 1 output
t1
• With this scheme load sees Leg 2 output
two output voltage pulses t2
per switching cycle. Vload

• Harmonic spectrum of the 0

applied voltage has Ts/2 (t1-t2)/2
components around
multiples of the switching
frequency.
Three-phase inverters
 m sin t 
1
Now if: ma 
2
Vab  ma  mb Vdc
Vao  maVdc
Vbo  mbVdc Vbc  mb  mc Vdc
(1)
(2)
1
2

mb   m sin t  2
3

Vco  mcVdc Vca  mc  ma Vdc (3)
1
2

mc   m sin t  2
3

Three-phase inverters
Inserting modulation indices into (1-3) gives:
 
Vab  3mVdc sin  t  
 6
 5 
Vbc  3mVdc sin  t  
 6 
 
Vca  3mVdc sin  t  
 2
Three-phase output voltages

• The circuit is a pulse-width modulated voltage source inverter

(VSI).
 Six-step Operation
• The previous section looked at pulse-width modulated VSIs.
• PWM VSIs can be used at all but very high power drives.
• For high-power drives, often the switches are turned ON and OFF once
during one fundamental cycle rather than many 100s of times with PWM.
• The output voltage waveform is then ‘square wave’.

VAO

D D3 D5 S 1 on S 1 on 1 /2Vd
+ 1 240 300
S1 S3 S 0 60 120 360
0
t
5 S 4 on S 4 on
(a )
Vd VBO
o
S 3 on 1 /2Vd S 3 on
- S S S2
4 6 t
D4 D6 D2 S 6 on S 6 on
(b )
VCO

S 5 on 1 /2Vd S 5 on
A B C t
S 2 on S 2 on
(c )
VA B =
VAO _VBO Vd

t
(d )
 S 1 on S 1 on 1 /2Vd
240 300
0 60 120 360
0
t
S 4 on S 4 on
(a )
VBO

S 3 on 1 /2Vd S 3 on
t
S 6 on S 6 on
(b )
VCO

Six-step Line Voltages S 2 on

S 5 on 1 /2Vd

S 2 on
S 5 on
t
(c )
VA B =
VAO _VBO Vd
• Line voltages are t
stepped (d )

V =
BC
VBO _VCO
• Fourier analysis of
output voltages gives t
(e )

4 Vd  1 1 
VAO  sin t  3 sin 3t  5 sin 5t  ......
VC A =
.
 2 VCO _VAO

• and line voltages ( f)

sw itch ni g
2 3  1 1 1  sequen ce
VAB  Vd sin t - sin 5t - sin 7t  sin 11t  .......
  5 7 11  S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S1 S2 S3
t
(g )

• and phase voltage

2Vd  1 1 
sin t  sin 5t  sin 7t  ......
  5 7 
Six-step Inverter Currents
V
AB

• Inverter currents are obviously

180 300
non-sinusoidal. (Note: this load is 0 120 360 deg ree s  t

inductive) Ai B

1i 2i

• Result from the harmonic voltages 1i

 t
i 2i
in the output line voltage. BC
1i 2i

• Harmonic currents causes i

1i
2i
 t
CA
additional loss components. 2i 1i

1i  t
ii
• And also torque ripple if the load i
A
2
= iAB
is a machine. - Ci A

 t