A New Switching Strategy for Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Power Converters

Abstract

This paper presents a new switching strategy for pulse width modulation (PWM) power converters. Since the proposed strategy uses independent on/off switching action of the upper or lower arm according to the polarity of the current, the dead time is not needed except instant of current polarity change. Therefore, it is not necessary to compensate the dead time effect and the possibility of arm short is strongly eliminated. The current control of PWM power converters can easily adopt the proposed switching strategy by using the polarity information of the reference current instead of the real current, thus eliminating the problems that commonly arise from real current detection. In order to confirm the usefulness of the proposed switching strategy, experimental tests were done using a single-phase inverter with passive loads, a three-phase inverter for induction motor drives, a three-phase ac/dc PWM converter, a three-phase active power filter, and a class-D amplifier, the results of which are presented in this paper