PWM Carrier Displacement in Multi-N-Phase Drives: An Additional Degree of Freedom to Reduce the DC-Link Stress

The paper presents a particular Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) strategy to reduce the (Direct Current) DC-link capacitor stress for multi-n-phase drives. A multi-n-phase drive is composed of multiple independent systems of n inverter supplying a multi-n-phase electric machine. The paper focused on the investigation of the best phase shifting between carriers for a triple-3-phase drive compared to the 3-phase counterpart in order to reduce the capacitor bench design point. Simulation and experimental results show as the control technique proposed is able to reduce the value of the DC-link capacitor current in any operating condition including fault case. In this sense, the PWM carrier displacement appears like an additional degree of freedom that can be exploited in multi-n-phase drives but also in multi-motor application.