5 24 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. IA-17, NO.

5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1981

Novel Six-Step and Twelve-Step Current-Source Inverters

with DC Side Commutation and Energy Rebound
GYU H. CHO, MEMBER, IEEE, AND SONG B. PARK, MEMBER, IEEE

Abstract-Novel six-step and twelve-step current-source inverters Ld

(CSI) with dc side commutation and energy rebound capability are
presented with detailed explanation of the circuit operation. The
proposed inverters can operate in a very wide range of frequency and
load variation by employing dc side commutation. Also, the energy
rebound makes the use of low voltage silicon controlled rectifiers
(SCR's) possible and increases the inverter efficiency. Unlike the dual
current-source inverter, one auxiliary inverter with a power re-
quirement of about one-half that of the main inverter is simply added
to the six-step CSI in order to obtain a twelve-step CSI. Motor
operation is possible in four quadrants in both six- and twelve-step
inverters. The advantages of the proposed CSI's over conventional
ones are described, and experimental results are given in oscillo-
grams.
(a)
I. INTRODUCTION
THE ADVANTAGES of the current-source inverter (CSI)
over the voltage inverter are well known. The most widely Ld
0w .
Ifl'snn t-,P
p
used CSI is probably the autosequential commutated inverter
1

(ASCI) [1] -[3]. Recently, another type of CSI, namely, the

IT1I rT3 T5 zTp
third harmonic auxiliary commutated inverter (THACI), was
published. Their configurations are shown in Fig. 1(a) and .. i
(b), respectively.
In THACI, which has a simpler configuration than ASCI,
stable operation is secured in both the motoring and the V w-
JT4 !T6 J 2
generating regions by employing the delayed gating method
[4]. However, many factors such as the torque loss, harmonic O
1
* ,i -

power, and spike voltage depend on the amount of delay and
the capacitance value; also, the optimum control of the delay
under various operating conditions seems to be not so simple.
In addition, the allowable range of load variation and its oper-
ating frequency in THACI are about one-third those of ASCI.
In a specific or limited range operation, however, THACI may
be a good choice for its simplicity in configuration.
The wide difference in the operating range between THACI
and ASCI is caused mainly by the difference of the paths of
the dc current flowing through the capacitor during commuta-
tion; namely, this current passes through the load in ASCI
while it bypasses the load in THACI. Therefore, the operating
range becomes narrow in THACI due to the capacitor charging
time in addition to the delayed gating. This may be the com-
mon problem in all circuit configurations where the current
through the commutating capacitor bypasses the load.
Paper IPCSD 80-8, approved by the Static Power Converter Com-
mittee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society for publication in
this TRANSACTIONS. Manuscript released for publication May 19,
1981.
The authors are with the Department of Science, Korea Advanced
Institute of Science, P. 0. Box 150, Chongryangni, Seoul, Korea.
(b)
Fig. 1. Two typical current-source inverters. (a) Autosequential com-
mutated inverter. (b) Third harmonic auxiliary commutated inverter.
In contrast, the current through the commutating capacitor
in ASCI delivers power to the load, which occurs smoothly
even in the consecutive commutation where a new commuta-
tion starts at the end of one. A wide range of operation is
thus possible in ASCI. However, in this case, the operating
range as well as the spike voltage are also functions of load
and capacitance value, since commutation and phase-to-phase
current changes occur at the same time while the commutating
capacitors are discharged and charged by the dc current. These
situations necessitate some compromise in the choice of the
capacitance value among the various factors involved. Another
shortcoming is that it requires a number of commutating
capacitors and high power diodes and/or high voltage silicon
controlled rectifiers (SCR's).
In the inverter scheme proposed in this paper, the operating
range, which is limited in ASCI and THACI for the reason
described above, is extended by employing a different com-
mutating scheme, namely the dc side commutating (dc-sc)

0093-0094/81/0900-0524$00.75 1981 IEEE

CHO AND PARK: CURRENT-SOURCE INVERTERS 5 25

Line

F i e i

Fig. 2. Block diagram of proposed six-step current-source inverter.

method. In the new dc-sc circuit, not only the polarity of the Complete and In- Voltage Limit and
commutating capacitor reverses at high speed for turning off complete Controlled Energy Rebound Circuit:
the main SCR's and eliminating the time of capacitor recharg- Rectifier
ing, but also the regenerative capability of the inverter is pre-
served. Also employed in the new inverter is a novel energy ~P1 JrlP b zP5 Li *
rebounding method, the main purpose of which is to limit the
peak voltage, making possible the use of low voltage SCR's. 3+ o
Combining the dc-sc and the energy rebound circuits in Line
Power
such a way that their respective functions be kept independ-
ently, a novel six-step CSI is obtained, which allows both rh FP
motoring and regenerating operations. A new and economic
twelve-step CSI will then be presented in which one auxiliary
inverter with a power requirement of about one-half that of (a)
the main inverter is added while the dc-sc circuit and the en- DC- side
ergy rebound (ER) circuit operate for both inverters. Proto- Commutating Circuit nverter Load
types of both six-step and twelve-step inverters have been de-
signed, constructed, and tested; oscillograms of the experimen-
tal results are shown.
II. A NEW SIX-STEP CURRENT SOURCE INVERTER
A. General
It is not a new idea in commutating circuits to reverse a
capacitor voltage at high speed and thereby turn off associated
SCR's; actually this method is employed in the McMurray (b)
inverter, chopper, and other circuits. However, several con-
siderations must be made to apply this scheme to CSI's with- Fig. 3. New six-step current-source inverter circuit. (a) Controlled
rectifiers and energy rebound circuit. (b) DC side commutating cir-
out loss of their advantages. Fig. 2 shows the block diagram of cuit and inverter.
the new six-step CSI, while Fig. 3 shows its complete circuit
diagram. The distinctive features of the new inverter are, as the dc-sc method is applied to CSI's. In order to limit the spike
can be seen from these figures, employment of the dc-sc, and voltage and at the same time increase the inverter efficiency,
addition of the peak voltage limit and ER circuit. The dc-sc the spike energy must be fed back to the source. This and the
method has relative merits and demerits as compared with the connection of free-wheeling diodes have to be done without
branch commutating method [5] -[6]. In the conventional affecting the regenerative mode operation of the motor. For
dc-sc inverters a free-wheeling diode is simply connected back- this purpose a new ER circuit has been devised. With this
to-back to each main SCR. This simple connection may fail circuit and a simple control, it is possible to increase the in-
when applied directly to the CSI, since regenerative capability, verter efficiency using low voltage SCR's.
one of its advantages, will then be lost. However, the free-
wheeling diodes can not be eliminated, since they play a cru- B. Operation
cial role in the commutating transient, during which phase- Fig. 4 shows the sequence of topology modes starting with
to-phase change of the motor current occurs right after the a state where SCR's T1 and T2 are conducting. Typical wave-
main SCR's are blocked by the operation of the commutating forms of voltages across capacitors C1, C2, and C4, as well
circuit. Also, the associated high spike voltage is inevitable. as currents through C2, diode D 1 , and phase currents are
This necessitates some means to limit the spike voltage when shown in Fig. 5, in which the various intervals correspond to
526 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. IA-17, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1981

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e) (f)

(g) (h)

(i)
Fig. 4. Sequence of topology modes of six-step CSI.
CHO AND PARK: CURRENT-SOURCE INVERTERS 527
Specifically, the phase-to-phase current, which has kept
almost constant until the end of interval G, starts changing as
it charges capacitor C4. Thus, the capacitor voltage continues
to rise very slowly, if C4 is sufficiently large, until the phase A
current becomes zero and the phase B current reaches Id.
After the end of the transition state, T3 maintains a constant
conduction current as T2 does; this state continues until the
next commutation begins.
For convenience, S3 is turned on during interval H to sup-
ply any energy loss (from the dc source consisting of D1 6,
D1 7, D1 8, and C3) to capacitor C2 in order to insure stable
and continuous operation. The control sequence for the above
cycle is S1 turned on (interval B); S2 turned on (interval C);
T2 turned on again (interval F); T3 turned on (interval G);
and S3 turned on in any interval G to I.
Figs. 6 and 7 show the sketches and oscillograms, respec-
tively, of the voltage and current waveforms during the com-
plete cycle of operation for the six-step inverter. As is seen
Fig. 5. Voltage and current waveforms for each mode. Intervals A, B, from Fig. 7, the voltage spikes are limited but still relatively
* -, I corresponds to modes (a), (b), , (i) in Fig. 4. high because the experiment was done at low voltage. This
fact will further be examined later in connection with the ER
respective topology modes. (The operation of the ER circuit, circuit operation.
which is included in Fig. 4 as a block, will be described later in
connection with Fig. 8.) C. Distinctive Features of the DC-SC Circuit
The initial state with T1 and T2 conducting is shown as
interval A. Interval B starts with SI turned on. The voltage The dc-sc circuit as described in the above has several
across C2 reverses polarity and SI turns off before the end of advantages over the conventional ones. First, a wide range of
interval B. S2 is turned on at the start of interval C, which operating frequency is possible due to the fact that the com-
places C1 and C2 in series with L1 and S2. When voltage mutating interval is determined mainly by the SCR turn-off
across C1 becomes zero, interval D begins. The new conduc- time and is almost independent of the load current, since the
ting paths from the main and commutating buses are now voltage on C2 reverses at high speed and a small capacitance
formed with diodes D4, D5, D7 -D1 turned on.
0 suffices for C1 .
The forward drops of diodes D7 and D8 determine the Second, a very wide range of load variation is allowed.
cutoff of T1 and T2 which is the start of interval E when all This can be explained as follows. The voltage on C2, which is
diodes D1 to D6 conduct through the commutating bus and necessary for commutation, is determined by the voltage on
D7 and D8. The current flowing through L1 in interval E C3 due to the role of S3. The voltage on C3 is maintained al-
consists of the dc current from the main bus and the current most always at a maximum level, with a slight variation de-
from the commutating bus which contains the load current. pending on the converter output voltage, since it is supplied
Therefore, the commutating circuit must be capable of hand- by the incomplete bridge rectifier consisting of diodes D1 6-
ling twice the dc current. The voltage across C2 becomes posi- D1 8 and SCR's P2, P4, and P6. Thus for simplicity, C3 is re-
tive again by the inductive current through L1, which then de- placed by a dc source in Fig. 4. As a result, stable operation
creases with the commutating bus current. As the bus current is secured even at low voltage and high current such as in the
decreases to the load current, T2 turns on again and interval motor starting. Even in the extreme load conditions, open or
F starts. In interval F, the current through the commutating shorted load, the commutating circuit operates independently,
bus continues to decrease. After it becomes zero, Cl begins and temporary failure such as caused by noise turn-on of the
charging as the L1 current decreases below the load current, main SCR's can be immediately recovered.
when interval G starts. In interval G, T3 is newly turned on The third distinctive feature of the proposed dc-sc circuit
and the sum of the current through C1 and L1 is almost equal is that it does not affect the regenerative operation of the in-
to Id, where the maximum rate of dv/dt is given by Id/Cl. verter. Specifically, the commutating circuit is isolated from
This value can be large as long as it does not exceed the the rest of the system when the motor operates as a generator,
dv/dt rating of the main SCR's at full load. Actually, C1 can since then the voltage polarity of the p side in Fig. 3 becomes
be much smaller than C2 but the value must be determined minus while that of the n side becomes plus. Hence, diodes Dg
considering some other factors involved. When the voltage on and D1 0 are turned off. In other words, by the presence of Dg
Cl equals the voltage on C4, D8 and Dg stop conducting, then and D10, both motoring and generating operations are pos-
D3 and D1 start conducting and charging capacitor C4 in sible; at commutating operation they are conducted to turn
interval H. off the main SCR's, and at regenerative operation they are
 528 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. IA-17, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1981

Fig. 8 shows the sequence of topology modes of operations

for the ER circuit. A large capacitor C4 is used for temporary
storage of the excess energy, which is connected to the com-
mutating system through D, 1. The behavior of C4 was de-
scribed previously in connection with interval H of Fig. 4. In
the following we will examine the operation of the ER circuit
(a) in more detail, referring to the topology modes.
In interval Xl, the capacitors are charged with the polarities
shown. When the voltage on C4 becomes sufficiently high, S4
and S5 are turned on simultaneously, which reverses the volt-
ages on C5 and C6 very rapidly through L3 and L4, respec-
tively (interval X2). As the sum of the voltages on C4, C5, and
(b)
C6 exceeds the source voltage, interval X3 begins conducting
through Dl 4 and DI s, feeding back the excess energy to the

) .A.. source while discharging C4. The turn-off time of 54 and SS is

made sufficiently long by using an inductance Lr (=L,l +
Lr2) much larger than L3 (=L4). When C5 and C6 are charged
in the same direction as in interval Xl and each of their volt-
ages reaches that of C4, the magnetic energy stored in inductor
Lr, which has not been discharged fully, recharges C4 through
D1 2 and DI 3; in this way rebounding continues (interval X4).
(c) After all the stored energy in L4 has been discharged, the cycle
Fig. 6. Current and voltage waveform sketches for new six-step in- is in the state of interval XI and the process repeats. Again in
verter. (a) Phase currents. (b) Line-to-line current. (c) Line-to-line interval Xl,
voltage. DI14 and D1 5 are blocked, preventing the dis-
charge of C5 and C6 for the continuation of stable operation
of the next cycle. Faster energy rebounding can be carried out,
if necessary, by turning on S4 and S5 before the current
through Lr becomes zero in interval X4, in which case, how-
ever, turn-off of the SCR's must be taken into consideration.
Energy rebounding occurs discretely, and the voltage drop
of C4 per pumping depends on its voltage and the size of C5
and C6. A possible control reference voltage Vref to limit the
spikes is shown in Fig. 9, where Vi-f changes linearly from VI
to V2 (Vl < Vyn < V2; Vm = maximum source voltage) in
the full range of the source voltage V8. For a given source
voltage V81, if the instantaneous voltage on C4 exceeds Vrj,
Fig. 7. Oscillograms of line-to-line voltage (top) and phase current S5 and S6 are fired; otherwise not.
(bottom). Vertical: 50 V/div (top), 5 A/div (bottom). Horizontal: VI, the reference voltage
10 Ms/div (Load: Induction motor of S hp, 15 A, 220 V (34, 60 Hz), for V8 = 0, should be high enough, say above 50 V, in order
17S0 r/min). to get a sharp rise and fall in the load current waveform during
the commutation transient at low source voltage. This results
blocked to isolate the commutating circuit from the rest of in a relative amplitude of the spike voltages being high at low
the system. source voltage, while low at high source voltage. In this simple
control there is no need of taking the motor operating condi-
III. VOLTAGE LIMIT AND ENERGY REBOUND CIRCUIT tion into consideration. Fig. 10 shows the oscillogram of the
A. Operation experimental ER circuit. We see that the start of energy re-
bounding and rapid inversion of the voltage on C6 (and C5)
In the proposed system, the phase currents do not change occur simultaneously as soon as the voltage on C4 exceeds a
appreciably until interval G; they change only after the turn- reference voltage due to the entering of the load current at
off of the main SCR's. A desirable situation in this case is each commutating instant. We also aware that the voltage on
that the line-to-line voltage reaches a high value in as short a C4 discharges through the source without accompaning any
time as possible, and at the same time the peak voltage be current spikes.
limited to an appropriate value in relation to the input voltage
in order to make a rapid and safe phase-to-phase current B. Distinctive Features
change. The purpose of the ER circuit is to store temporarily As mentioned earlier, the ER circuit is essential in the pro-
and then feed back to the source, the excess energy resulting posed system in order to obtain a wide range of operations
from the peak voltage limiting action at each commutation. by having commutation and phase-to-phase changes of the
This feedback loop is initiated by an excess voltage level, load current occur in different intervals. The addition of the
therefore the circuit 'provides voltage limiting as well as energy ER circuit, however, does not increase the overall system cost;
feedback. it may actually reduce it. First, the main SCR's, which are
CHO AND PARK: CURRENT-SOURCE INVERTERS 529
always charged with the same polarity. However, some special
considerations must be taken for full load and high frequency
operation when the ripple current flowing through the capaci-
tor becomes quite high. Finally, gating control of the SCR's
in the energy rebound circuit is achieved in a simple manner
as stated earlier. All this accounts for the overall economy of
the proposed system.
(XI) (X3) The regenerative mode of operation is made possible by
merely interrupting the firing of S4 and Ss, in which case C5
and C6 play an excellent role as the snubbers with a stable
blocking condition of SCR's being secured. The mode change
~ ~ ~ (
between motoring and regenerating operations occurs very
@,< <) - >+ C~~~~~~~~~_4 e rapidly and smoothly.
IV. NOVEL TWELVE-STEP CURRENT SOURCE
INVERTER
(X2) (X4}

Fig. 8. Sequence of topology modes of energy rebound circuit. Each A. General

figure corresponds to a distinctive interval of operation.
We have described a six-step CSI designed with a new
approach. One disadvantage of such a single current-source
inverter (SCSI) is that it is rich in harmonics. One method for
harmonics reduction is to synthesize a twelve-step waveform
by a phase-shifted addition of the output currents of two
inverters. The inverter using this method is called a dual cur-
rent-source inverter (DCSI). We will introduce a new twelve-
step CSI, which does not employ such a DCSI method.
Fig. 11 shows two typical DCSI's [7] -[8]. In both, the
output currents of two complete SCSI's, such as ASCI's are
Vsi Vm shifted in phase by 30 and added in order to obtain a twelve-
Fig. 9. One scheme of the capacitor (C4) voltage reference with re- step waveform. In this scheme, reactors with considerably
spect to source voltage for limiting voltage spikes effectively. large inductance must be inserted between the two inverters
in order to suppress the circulating current generated by the
motor electromotive force (EMF). In Fig. ll(a), two pairs of
independent reactors are inserted, each between the controlled
rectifier and one of the inverters. The reactor size can be con-
siderably reduced in Fig. I l(b) by using two current balancing
inductors. The balancing inductor, which has two identical
windings wound on the same core with no air gap, may be of
G
a small size and yet is very effective in suppressing the circulat-
N ing current, since the fluxes generated by the bisected dc
current components flowing through inverters I and II cancel
each other while it exhibits a large impedance for the circulat-
Fig. 10. Oscillograms of voltage on C4 (top) and C6 (bottom). Vertical: ing current component. These systems may be useful for large
20 V/div (top), 50 V/div (bottom). Horizontal: 0.5 gs/div (Lr = 40
mH, C4 = 80,uF, and Cs = C6 = 1.5 ,uF). power applications, but are expensive because two independ-
ent inverters are used, each having its own commutating capa-
perhaps the most expensive components of the system, can bility.
have low voltage ratings since the peak voltages across them In the following we present a novel twelve-step CSI in
are always limited to a predetermined level irrespective of the which the size of current balancing inductors is further re-
load condition, full load or no load. Second, the ER circuit duced and which is obtained by adding one auxiliary inverter
can be built with low-power components, since the power to to the proposed six-step CSI described in the foregoing sec-
be handled in this circuit is estimated to be less than 10 per- tions. Fig. 12 shows the block diagram of the proposed twelve-
cent of the total input power of the system. Specifically, a step CSI, from which we see that one auxiliary inverter is
small size inductor sufficies for 4, since the current flowing added, and only one commutating circuit is used effectively in
through it is small; also S4, Ss, and all diodes in this circuit common for the main and auxiliary inverters.
may have very small ratings compared with the main SCR's.
C4 is the only exception; it should have a relatively large B. Operation
capacitance. A high ripple electrolytic capacitor (or paral- Fig. 13 shows the detailed circuit diagram of the proposed
lel connection of several such capacitors), which is of twelve-step CSI; only the inverter part is shown since the
relatively small size and low cost, can be used for C4 since it is front part in the block is identical to that in Fig. 3. The in-
5 30 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATILONS, VOL. IA-17, NO. 5, SEPT[EMBER/OCTOBER 1981
31'
AC -
(a)
3,
AC
Fig. 11. Two typical configurations of twelve-step CSI.
Fig. 12. Block diagram of new twelve-step CSI.
verter part consists of a main inverter, which has the same con-
figuration as in the six-step CSI, and an auxiliary inverter,
which has quite a different configuration. Fig. 14 shows the
firing sequence of the proposed twelve-step CSI, from which
we see that the main SCR's and the auxiliary SCR's are turned
on and off altemately and a half-current step is formed in the
line current in the conducting state of each auxiliary SCR.
Fig. 15 shows the conducting state at the positive half-
current step for one branch of the auxiliary inverter. Each
branch of the auxiliary inverter consists of a set of bridge
diodes and a pair of inductors. As can be seen from Fig. 15,
the role of the bridge diodes is twofold; it makes a current
path through B2 I and B22 when A1 is ON and through B2 3
and B24 when A4 is ON, while is isolates points A and B,
causing no magnetization of L2 1 and L2 2, when both AI and
A4 are OFF. In this way L21 and L22 play the same role as
the current balancing inductor in Fig. 11 (b) when one of the
auxiliary SCR's is ON. L21 and L22 are wound on the same
core with no air gap, as are (L1 1, L 2) and (L31 ,L32). Thus
one more core is required compared with Fig. 1 1(b). However,
the core size can be considerably reduced, since in Fig. 14
current flows through the current balancing inductor during
only one-sixth of the period, while in Fig. 1 l(b) current flow
continues through the whole period. The three sets of induc-
tors can even be wound on the same core due to the actioni of
the bridge diodes, as described above.
Both the main and the auxiliary SCR's, which have been
in the conducting state, are turned off simultanieously by the
operation of tlhe commutatinig circuit. Diodes Da1-DDa6 can
be of a very small capacity, since they are used only to secure
stable turn-off of the auxiliary SCR's. They do this by forming
a demagnetizing current path during the commutating initerval
for the current balancing inductor, which has been nmagnetized
by the motor EMF during the operation of the auxiliary in-
verter. Also, the power rating required for the auxiliary SCR's
is about one-half that for the main SCR's, since as can be seen
from Fig. 14, the ratio of conduction intervals is one to three,
while the conduction current magnitudes are the same in the
two sets of SCR's. Finally, the power rating required for the
bridge diodes is one-half that for the auxiliary SCR's, since the
current through the auxiliary SCR is bisected in the bridge
arms. Fig. 16 shows the oscillograms of the phase voltage and
the line current obtained with an experimental twelve-step
CsI.
C. Distinctive Features
The auxiliary inverter, which is added to the six-step CSI
in order to obtain a twelve-step waveform, does not require
a separate commutating circuit; one dc side commutating cir-
cuit controls simultaneously both the main and the auxiliary
inverters. The current balancing inductor in the auxiliary in-
verter can be of a very small size compared with the one of
DSCI. Power rating required for the auxiliary SCR's is about
one-half that for the main SCR's, and that for the bridge
diodes is further reduced. Furthermore, all components can
be low voltage devices due to the particular peak voltage
limit and energy rebound method employed. Firing control of
the SCR's in the proposed twelve-step CSI is simple, since only
the alternating ON time durations for the main and auxiliary
SCR's need to be considered in timing the firing pulses. This
is different from the situation in DCSI where a rather elabo-
rate firing control is needed, taking into account the difference
of the power delivered by two CSI's.
In all, the proposed twelve-step CSI has an economic ad-
vantage and can be used for low and medium power appli-
cations as well as for higher power applications, where the
harmonics content is the main concern.
By slightly modifying the firing sequence, namely, by send-
ing the gating pulses only to the main inverters, the twelve-step
CSI can be smoothly converted to a six-step CSI. This is ad-
vantageous at high frequency operation of the motor, since
the commutation frequency is halved. Fig. 17 shows smooth
transition of twelve-step to six-step conversion and vice versa.
V. CONCLUSION
Novel six-step and twelve-step inverters with dc side com-
mutation and energy rebound features were designed, con-
structed, and tested in the laboratory with the expected
results obtained. The proposed inverters have improved re-
liability and capability of very wide range operations in terms
of load variation and operating frequency, and they can be im-
plemented with low voltage SCR's and hence at a lower over-
CHO AND PARK: CURRENT-SOURCE INVERTERS 53

Load
Fig. 13. Circuit diagram of new twelve-step CSI.

FE I/I// A/

(a)

Fig. 14. Firing sequence of new twelve-step CSI.

all system cost. The twelve-step inverter is obtained simply

by adding an auxiliary inverter with a power requirement
smaller than that of the main inverter to the new six-step CSI.
Also, both inverters are capable of regenerative operation.
On the other hand, there are some minor disadvantages of
the new CSI's. Due to the presence of dc side commutation
and energy rebound circuits, firing control is rather compli-
cate compared with ASCI, but comparable to other inverters.
Some redundant commutating loss occurs in the proposed
inverters at light load, since the commutating circuit is de-
signed considering the full load condition. Also, the torque
loss is expected to be considerable at higher frequencies, as
the commutation interval becomes a major part of the period.
This is due to the reduction of the root-mean-square (rms)
current supplied to the motor, since the voltage on the ER
circuit is higher than the controlled rectifier output.
In conclusion, the new six- and twelve-step inverters may be
excellent candidates for many ac adjustable speed drives due
to their many advantages. Detailed quantitive analyses and
extensive experimental results will be published elsewhere in
the near future.
(b)
Fig. 15. One branch of auxiliary inverter. (a) 'IdI2 step. (b) -IdI2
step.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to thank Mr. W. C. Song for helping the
design of the control part and experimental works, and Dr.
J. D. Cumming, Visiting Professor from University of Cali-
fornia, Berkeley, for careful reading of the manuscript and
helpful comments.
REFERENCES
[11 K. Phillips, "Current source converter for AC motor drives,"
IEEE Trans. Ind. Appi., vol. IA-8, Nov./Dec. 1972.
532 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY
Fig. 16. Oscillograms of line-to-line voltage (top) and phase current
(bottom) for new twelve-step CSI. Vertical: 50 V/div (top), 5 A/div
(bottom). Horizontal: 10 ,s/div.
Fig. 17. Oscillogram of waveform resulting from periodical switching
between twelve-step and six-step. Vertical: 50 V/div (top), 5 A/div
(bottom). Horizontal: 10 jLs/div.
[2] W. Farrer and J. D. Miskin, "Quasi-sine wave fully regenerative
inverter," Proc. IEEE, vol. 120, Sept. 1973.
[3] R. H. Nelson and T. A. Radomski, "Design methods for current
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WXXfj.} Gyu H. Cho (S'76-S'78-M'80) was born in
Korea on April 19,
1953. He received the M.S.
Xl and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from
the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and
Technology, Seoul, in 1977 and 1981, respec-
Since 1977, he has been working as a Research
and Teaching Assistant in the Department of
Electrical Engineering of the Korea Advanced
X d l ld| Institute of Science and Technology. His current
research area of interest is solid-state power
electronics, including switching power converters, inverters, and
uninterruptible power supplies. In particular, he has been engaged in the
development of variable frequency ac motor drives.
Dr. Cho holds two patents and has four patents pending.
Song B. Park (S'66-M'68) was born in
g mthe
Chongjin, Korea, on May 18, 1924. He received
M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University
oMinnesota, Minneapolis, MN, in 1962 and
1968, respectively.
From 1965 to 1968 he was engaged in research
and teaching in circuits and systems at Oregon
State University, Corvallis, OR, and then joined
the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and
Technology, Seoul, where he is currently a Vice
President and Professor at the Department of
Electrical Engineering. His research areas of interest include computer-
aided circuit design, power electronics, and microprocessor applications.