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Miniaturization and low cost contribute to the development and popularization of wireless power transfer (WPT). Reducing the number of power conversion stages can reduce the volume and cost of the WPT converter, and even make it possible to improve the efficiency. A single-stage WPT converter with constant current (CC) and constant voltage (CV) output and its asymmetric modulation method are proposed in this paper. A direct AC-AC converter is applied to the primary side of the WPT converter to directly convert line-frequency AC to high-frequency AC. The applied direct AC-AC converter that can replace the commonly used multi-stage primary converter reduces the number of circuit devices, thereby reducing the volume and cost of primary converter. The proposed WPT converter can realize zero voltage switching (ZVS) and power factor correction (PFC). In order to achieve CC and CV output, a switchable hybrid compensation topology is applied to the proposed WPT converter. A 720-W experimental prototype was manufactured to verify the rationality of the proposed WPT converter and the correctness of the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a current-fed single-phase inverter without constant intermediate DC link. It eliminates electrolytic capacitor from the DC-link and introduces an intermediate pulsating DC bus. The proposed topology is modular with three full-bridges making it scalable for high-power applications. New pulsating-DC-modulation for back-end pulsating DC-link inverter and secondary modulation (SM) for front-end DC-to-pulsating DC converter is proposed. Soft-switching and device voltage clamping of both primary side and secondary side devices of front-end current-fed full-bridge converter is realized. A rotating partial hybrid pulsewidth modulation has been introduced. One leg of inverter is commutated at a low switching frequency, while the other leg is operated at a high switching frequency for partial period of a line frequency cycle. Thus, switching losses of the back-end inverter are considerably reduced. Rotating mechanism is used to equalize the switching losses of four switches of the inverter. This paper presents detailed operation and analysis of the topology with a proposed modulation scheme. Simulation and experimental results validate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed modulation scheme as well as soft-switching and performance of the converter. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Some electrified vehicles, for example the Toyota Prius, integrate a dc–dc converter between the battery pack and the traction inverter to increase the powertrain efficiency. However, adding this extra converter adversely affects the cost and power density of the powertrain due to the additional components, such as the switches and the inductor, that are expensive and heavy in high-power converters. The concept of the multi-source inverter was previously introduced as an alternative solution to reduce the power rating of the dc–dc converter while keeping similar powertrain performance. In this paper, the implementation of the multi-source inverter in a hybrid power-split powertrain is discussed. The operating modes during both dc–ac and ac–dc conversions are detailed and a prototype is experimentally tested with a load. New control strategies of the proposed powertrain show that three out of five operating modes bring new opportunities in terms of battery charging and power rating reduction of the dc–dc converter. A vehicle-level simulation model is developed in MATLAB/Simulink to quantify the benefits of the proposed topology. Simulations are performed for four drive cycles to compare the power profile of the dc–dc converter of the suggested powertrain with the Toyota Prius. The average power transferred by the dc–dc converter can be reduced by up to 25 $\%$ in most drive cycles tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 12-V motor drive system using an onboard battery is promising in vehicle applications, e.g., to rotate an air pump to adjust its air delivery to the burner, thereby providing autonomous exhaust temperature control for the conventional diesel engine vehicle. The 12-V/1-kW motor drive system proposed in this paper consists of a series-resonant LLC MOSFET full-bridge converter, which provides high-efficiency power transfer by implementing zero voltage switching and boosts the dc bus to $\sim$300 V, and an insulated-gate bipolar transistor inverter, which provides the high-side phase currents to a 1-kW/6000-r/min brushless dc motor (BLDC). This design secures the high efficiency, low cost, and low volume. Meanwhile, with the variable output voltage of this dc/dc converter, this paper realizes a commutation torque-ripple reduction method, which will minimize the mechanical vibration. Experimental results on this prototype system demonstrate that: 1) the LLC dc/dc part efficiency is 97.6% with 92% of the inverter efficiency; and 2) the motor commutation torque ripple is reduced close to zero. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates the inverter nonlinearities in a drive system based on silicon carbide metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (SiC-mosfets) and compares its performance with that of an equivalent silicon insulated-gate bipolar transistor (Si-IGBT) system. Initially, a novel comprehensive analytical model of the inverter voltage distortion is developed. Not only voltage drops, dead time, and output capacitance, but also switching delay times and voltage overshoot of the power devices are taken into account in the model. Such a model yields a more accurate prediction of the inverter's output voltage distortion, and is validated by experimentation. Due to inherent shortcomings of the commonly used double pulse test, the switching characteristics of both SiC-mosfets and Si-IGBTs in the pulse width modulation inverter are tested instead, such that the actual performances of the SiC and Si devices in the motor drive system are examined. Then, the switching performance is incorporated into the physical model to quantify the distorted voltages of both the SiC-based and Si-based systems. The results show that, despite its existing nonlinearities, the SiC-based drive has lower voltage distortion compared to the conventional Si-based drive as a result of its shorter switching times and smaller voltage drop, as well as a higher efficiency. Finally, the overriding operational advantages of the SiC-based drive over its Si-based counterpart is fully demonstrated by comprehensive performance comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Inductive power transfer (IPT) technology has been approved to be convenient and reliable interface for charging and discharging the electric vehicles (EVs). Precise model for such system can help designers and researchers to anticipate, optimize, and evaluate its behavior amid the development. Thus, this paper presents a physics-based co-simulation platform for the bidirectional IPT system (BIPTS) in EVs’ applications. The platform is established through the coupling between finite element and circuit analysis. The power electronic converters and controllers are developed in Simulink; and the power pads are modeled in Magnet environment. The two parts are lined together through the compatible Simulink plug-in tool. In addition, a state-space dynamic mathematical model for the same BIPTS is derived and implemented in MATLAB environment. A 1.2 kW BIPTS is analyzed under different dynamics by both models and the results are compared. The effect of the nonlinearities and the magnetic material characteristics on the BIPTS's performance is assessed, in terms of errors and harmonics analysis. The analysis considered both the full and light loading operating conditions in the system. Finally, a small-scale prototype for a BIPTS is built, tested, and compared with the co-simulation results for verification purposes. The proposed co-simulation could provide accurate prediction for the system's dynamics, during both charging and discharging operation. The scheme is generic and can be easily expanded to different pad structures, compensation networks, and converter topologies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DC-link voltage fluctuation, originated from the single-phase power supply, has a significant impact on the railway traction drive system. Instead of employing a large LC filter to suppress the fluctuation, software solutions are of more interests, since they do not add additional components to the system. A state-of-the-art feedforward strategy predicts the dc-link voltage pattern based on its repetitive nature and directly modifies the duty cycle fed to the inverter to eliminate the impact of the fluctuation. Yet this strategy requires a symmetrical and consistent pulse pattern. In this paper, a compensation approach for synchronous space vector modulation with multiple pulse patterns is proposed. It utilizes the prediction of the dc-link voltage pattern and, based on the volt–second balancing principle, modifies the switching instants corresponding to different pulse patterns. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method can significantly eliminate the impact of the fluctuation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper deals with a control method that adapts the dc bus voltage of electric traction systems using permanent-magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) fed by bidirectional $Z$-source inverter (ZSI) or other improved topologies. This control allows reducing both the overestimation of the dc bus voltage and losses in the inverter. The sliding-mode control (SMC) method is used to control the $Z$-source converter, whereas flatness-based control is proposed to drive the actuator and generate the peak dc bus voltage reference. Flatness-based control is chosen because the actuator transients are well mastered. Extra shoot-through zero inverter states are inserted by means of implemented algorithm on a space-vector-modulation (SVM) scheme. Different short-circuit strategies are studied and compared according to constraint criteria. Both simulation and experimental results are presented and discussed to validate the proposed voltage adaptation strategy and the improvement on global efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a six-phase current reconstruction scheme for dual traction inverters in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) with a single dc-link current sensor. During the phase current reconstruction, one of the inverters is proposed to operate using active vectors, whereas the other inverter operates using nonactive vectors. An advanced phase-shift scheme for all pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) signals based on the sequence of duty cycles is implemented. PWM signals are considered in three types: large, medium, and small duty cycles. Then, the minimum phase-shift scheme is applied to each type of PWM signal to ensure the minimum duration of the active vector for stable current reconstruction. With this proposed phase-shift scheme, the maximum allowable modulation index and dc-link voltage utilization are improved. In addition, the relationship between the minimum required time for stable phase current reconstruction and the maximum allowable modulation index is derived theoretically. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by both simulation and experimental results. With this scheme, cost and volume of dual inverters in HEVs are reduced, considering the lower number of current sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper deals with a synthesis of space-vector pulsewidth modulation (SVPWM) control methods applied for an H-bridge inverter feeding a three-phase permanent-magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) in electric-vehicle (EV) applications. First, a short survey of existing architectures of power converters, particularly those adapted to degraded operating modes, is presented. Standard SVPWM control methods are compared with three innovative methods using EV drive specifications in the normal operating mode. Then, a rigorous analysis of the margins left in the control strategy is presented for a semiconductor switch failure to fulfill degraded operating modes. Finally, both classic and innovative strategies are implemented in numerical simulation; their results are analyzed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Cell voltage equalizers are necessary to ensure years of operation for series-connected supercapacitors (SCs) by eliminating cell voltage imbalance. Conventional equalizers require numerous switches and/or magnetic components; hence, the circuit complexity and size tend to increase. In this paper, a double-switch single-transformer equalizer, which is based on the combination of a half-bridge inverter and a voltage multiplier, is proposed. The operation of the proposed equalizer is analyzed in detail, and a dc equivalent circuit is mathematically derived. Experimental equalization tests were performed for eight SCs connected in series under a voltage-imbalanced condition. The energy of the series-connected SCs was preferentially redistributed to SCs with low voltages, and eventually, the voltage imbalance was eliminated, demonstrating the equalization performance. Simulation-based equalizations using the derived dc equivalent circuit were also performed under the same condition as the experiments. The experimental and simulation results were in good agreement, indicating that the derived dc equivalent circuit can adequately express real equalization profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]