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Modeling of DC Link Capacitor Current Ripple for Electric

Vehicle Traction Converter
Lei Jin
Oregon State University

Julia Zhang
Oregon State University

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Recommended Citation
Julia Zhang and Lei Jin. Modeling of DC link Capacitor Current Ripple for Electric Vehicle Traction Converter. OTREC-SS-634.
Portland, OR: Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC), 2010. https://dx.doi.org/10.15760/trec.40

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 OREGON

OTREC
TRANSPORTATION
RESEARCH AND
EDUCATION CONSORTIUM

FINAL REPORT

A National University Transportation Center sponsored by the U.S. Department of

Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration
MODELING OF DC LINK CAPACITOR CURRENT
RIPPLE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE TRACTION
CONVERTER
Draft Report

OTREC-SS-634
by

Lei Jin
Advisor: Julia Zhang
Oregon State University

for

Oregon Transportation Research

and Education Consortium (OTREC)
P.O. Box 751
Portland, OR 97207

September 2013
Technical Report Documentation Page
1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No.
OTREC-SS-634

4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date

September, 2013
Wider dissemination of household travel survey data using geographical perturbation
methods
6. Performing Organization Code

7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No.

Lei Jin, Julia Zhang

9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)

Oregon State University 11. Contract or Grant No.

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P.O. Box 751
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16. Abstract

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No restrictions. Copies available from OTREC:
www.otrec.us

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Unclassified Unclassified
Modeling of DC Link Capacitor Current
Ripple for Electric Vehicle Traction
Converter

Lei Jin
Advisor: Julia Zhang
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Oregon State University

09/28/2013
 Table of Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 1

2. Space Vector PWM Fundamentals ........................................................... 1

3. Average Value of Inverter Input Current .................................................. 2

4. RMS Value of Inverter Input Current ........................................................ 3

5. RMS Value of DC Link Capacitor Current Ripple........................................ 4

6. Numerical Method of Calculating Instantaneous Capacitor Current Ripple 5

7. Analysis for Non-ideal Voltage Source.................................................... 10

8. Computer Simulations ........................................................................... 12

9. Summary ............................................................................................... 12

10. References ............................................................................................ 13

1. Introduction
Contemporary Full Hybrid Electric Vehicle/Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle/Battery Electric Vehicle
(FHEV/PHEV/BEV) products use one or more DC/AC power converters, also known as traction
inverters, to convert the DC voltage/current provided by the traction battery to the AC
voltage/current to drive the traction motor(s). Large and bulky DC link capacitors are used at the
input of the traction inverter to provide a smooth DC input voltage. Those DC link capacitors,
occupying almost 50% of the space in the whole package, can contribute to more than 20% of
the total cost of the traction inverter. They are generally over designed to assure a large safety
margin during the fast transient operation of the electric machine(s). However, it is not well
understood how the capacitor size reduction affects the electric machine drive system
performance and operation stability. This work presents the numerical method of calculating the
DC link capacitor current ripple of the traction converter for electric vehicle applications. The
effect of internal resistance of the input voltage source is taken into account for the math
modeling. This provides guidance to the minimum boundary of the DC link capacitor size of
traction power inverters for the application of battery electric vehicles.

Figure 1 shows a typical topology of the electric machine drive system for an FHEV/PHEV. The
DC/DC converter, boosting the traction battery voltage to a higher DC voltage, may not exist for
a BEV. The two traction inverters convert the DC voltage to AC voltage to drive electric machines.
A BEV may only have one traction inverter and one electric machine.

Figure 1 Electric machine drive topology on FHEV/PHEV/BEV

2. Space Vector PWM Fundamentals

We introduce the space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) fundamentals first. Secondly,
we discuss the numerical method of calculating the root mean square (RMS) value of the
capacitor current ripple. Figure 2 shows a three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI). The load of
the inverter is a back electromotive force (EMF) source in series with an inductor to represent a
three-phase electric machine. For each of the three phases, Status “1” means that the top switch
turns on and vice versa. In Status “0” the bottom switch turns on. Figure 3 shows all eight voltage
vectors that a three-phase VSI may have. They are (100), (110), (010), (011), (001), (101), (111)

1
and (000). Among the eight voltage vectors, six are the active voltage vectors and two are the
zero- voltage vectors (000, 111).
(010) (110)
2 Vm

A 3
1
DC B N θ
(011) (100)
C
(000)
4
(111)
6

(001) (100)
Figure 2 Three-phase voltage source inverter Figure 3 Six active voltage vectors and two zero- voltage vectors

A rotating voltage vector command may be expressed as:

����⃗
𝑉𝑉𝑚𝑚 = 𝑉𝑉𝑚𝑚 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒(𝑗𝑗𝜃𝜃) (1)
𝜃𝜃 = 𝜔𝜔𝜔𝜔 (2)

where 𝑉𝑉𝑚𝑚 is the magnitude of the command voltage vector, 𝜃𝜃 the angle of the voltage vector,
and 𝜔𝜔 the electrical angular velocity of the voltage vector. Various definitions exist for the
modulation index. In our study, we define the modulation index as:
𝑉𝑉𝑚𝑚
𝑀𝑀 = (3)
0.5𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
where 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 is the DC bus voltage. For this definition, the maximum value of the modulation index
is 2⁄√3 when the six-step control is applied to the load.

In Figure 3, the rotating command voltage vector lies in the second sector. In this case, this
command voltage vector will be generated by the four voltage vectors in the second sector: 110,
010, 000 and 111. For the SVPWM algorithm, the duty cycle of each voltage vector may be
written as:
𝑡𝑡(010) √3𝑀𝑀 𝜋𝜋
𝐷𝐷(010) = = sin(𝜃𝜃 − ) (4)
𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠 2 3
𝑡𝑡(110) √3𝑀𝑀 𝜋𝜋
𝐷𝐷(110) = = sin(𝜃𝜃 + ) (5)
𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠 2 3
𝐷𝐷(000) = 𝐷𝐷(111) = 0.5(1 − 𝐷𝐷(010) − 𝐷𝐷(110) ) (6)

where 𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠 is one switching cycle, 𝑡𝑡(010) and 𝑡𝑡(110) are the time durations when vectors 010 and
110 are applied, respectively.
3. Average Value of Inverter Input Current
For the “Y” connection load shown in Figure 1, the sum of the three phase currents is zero:
𝑖𝑖𝑁𝑁,𝐴𝐴 + 𝑖𝑖𝑁𝑁,𝐵𝐵 + 𝑖𝑖𝑁𝑁,𝐶𝐶 ≡ 0 (7)

In the time domain, the three phase currents can be expressed as:
iN,A = 𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜃𝜃 − 𝜑𝜑) (8)
2𝜋𝜋
𝑖𝑖𝑁𝑁,𝐵𝐵 = 𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜃𝜃 − − 𝜑𝜑) (9)
3

2
 2𝜋𝜋
𝑖𝑖𝑁𝑁,𝐶𝐶 = 𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜃𝜃 + − 𝜑𝜑) (10)
3
where 𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚 is the magnitude of phase current, 𝜙𝜙 denotes the angle that the current is lagging the
voltage. The space vector form of the three-phase current is written as:
����⃑
𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚 = 𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒{𝑗𝑗(𝜃𝜃 − 𝜑𝜑)} (11)

Figure 4 shows the inverter input current and the three-phase switching signals in two switching
cycles.

i N,B -i N,C
i

SA

SB

SC
(000) (110)
(010) (111)

T=0 0.5Ts Ts
Figure 4. Inverter input current and three-phase switching signals

Assuming that the instantaneous value of the inverter input current is i, the average value of
the inverter input current in one switching cycle, 𝑖𝑖𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 , can be expressed as:
1
2 2𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠
𝑖𝑖𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = � 𝑖𝑖(𝑡𝑡)𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (12)
𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠 0
𝑖𝑖𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝐷𝐷(010) 𝑖𝑖𝑁𝑁,𝐵𝐵 − 𝐷𝐷(110) 𝑖𝑖𝑁𝑁,𝐶𝐶 (13)

Substituting Eqs. (3) to (6) and Eqs. (8) to (10) into Eq. (13), the average inverter input current
may be rewritten as:
√3𝑀𝑀 𝜋𝜋 2𝜋𝜋 √3𝑀𝑀 𝜋𝜋 2𝜋𝜋
𝑖𝑖𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = sin(𝜃𝜃 − ) ∙ 𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚 cos �𝜃𝜃 − − 𝜑𝜑� − sin(𝜃𝜃 + ) ∙ 𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚 cos �𝜃𝜃 + − 𝜑𝜑� (14)
2 3 3 2 3 3

The above equation may be further simplified as:

3
𝑖𝑖𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝐼𝐼𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚 𝑀𝑀cos 𝜑𝜑 (15)
4
It can be seen that the average value of the inverter input current is a function of the phase
current magnitude, modulation index and the angle between the current and voltage vectors - in
other words, the power factor.
4. RMS Value of Inverter Input Current
The RMS value of the inverter input current in one switching cycle 𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠 can be expressed as:
1
2 2𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠
2
𝑖𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = � 𝑖𝑖 2 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (16)
𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠 0

3
Substituting Eqs. (3) to (6) and Eqs. (8) to (10) into Eq. (16), the RMS inverter input current may
be rewritten as,
2 2 2
𝑖𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = 𝐷𝐷(010) 𝑖𝑖𝑁𝑁,𝐵𝐵 + 𝐷𝐷(110) 𝑖𝑖𝑁𝑁,𝐶𝐶 (17)
The lowest harmonic in the inverter input current is six times the fundamental frequency of the
phase current, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Inverter input current for pure resistive load

The RMS value of the inverter input current can be written as:
2𝜋𝜋
3 3 2
2
𝐼𝐼𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = � 𝑖𝑖 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (18)
𝜋𝜋 𝜋𝜋 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟
3

Substituting Eqs. (3) to (6) and Eqs. (8) to (10) into Eq. (18), the RMS value of the inverter input
current 𝐼𝐼𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 can be written as:
2𝜋𝜋
3 3 2 2
2
𝐼𝐼𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = � (𝐷𝐷(010) 𝑖𝑖𝑁𝑁,𝐵𝐵 + 𝐷𝐷(110) 𝑖𝑖𝑁𝑁,𝐶𝐶 )𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (19)
𝜋𝜋 𝜋𝜋
3
2𝜋𝜋 2 2
3 3 √3𝑀𝑀 𝜋𝜋 2𝜋𝜋 √3𝑀𝑀 𝜋𝜋 2𝜋𝜋
2
𝐼𝐼𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = � � 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠(𝜃𝜃 − ) �𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐(𝜃𝜃 − − 𝜑𝜑)� + 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠(𝜃𝜃 + ) �𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐(𝜃𝜃 + − 𝜑𝜑)� � 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (20)
𝜋𝜋 𝜋𝜋 2 3 3 2 3 3
3

𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚
2√3 1 (21)
𝐼𝐼𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = �
𝑀𝑀 � + cos2 𝜑𝜑�
√2 𝜋𝜋 4
where I m is the peak value of the phase current, M the modulation index, φ the angle between
the current vector and the voltage vector.

5. RMS Value of DC Link Capacitor Current Ripple

The input inverter current, i, is composed of the AC and DC component:
𝑖𝑖 = 𝑖𝑖𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 + 𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝑖𝑖𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 + 𝑖𝑖𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 (20)
The DC component is equal to the average value obtained in Eq. (15). The RMS value of the
inverter input current can be expressed as:
2 2 2 2 2
𝐼𝐼𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = 𝐼𝐼𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎,𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 + 𝐼𝐼𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝐼𝐼𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎,𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 + 𝐼𝐼𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 (21)
Let us assume the AC component is absorbed by the DC link capacitor completely.
2 2
𝐼𝐼𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎,𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = 𝐼𝐼𝐶𝐶,𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 (22)
The RMS value of the capacitor current may be written as:
2 2 2
𝐼𝐼𝐶𝐶,𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = 𝐼𝐼𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 − 𝐼𝐼𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 (23)

4
Substituting Eqs. (15) and (21) into Eq. (23), the RMS value of capacitor current ripple can be
written as:
2
2√3 1 3 (24)
𝐼𝐼𝐶𝐶,𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = �𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁,𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟
2
𝑀𝑀 � + 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 2 𝜑𝜑� − � 𝐼𝐼𝑚𝑚 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀 𝜑𝜑�
𝜋𝜋 4 4

√3 √3 9
𝐼𝐼𝐶𝐶,𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = 𝐼𝐼𝑁𝑁,𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 �2𝑀𝑀 � + cos 2 𝜑𝜑 � − 𝑀𝑀�� (25)
4𝜋𝜋 𝜋𝜋 16

Figure 6 shows the capacitor current ripple constant versus various power factor and modulation
index. It can be seen that the maximum modulation index does not necessarily yield the highest
capacitor current ripple.

M
𝟇

Figure 6. Capacitor current ripple constant vs. power factor and modulation index

6. Numerical Method of Calculating Instantaneous Capacitor Current Ripple

First, we calculate the instantaneous three-phase current using a pure inductance load. Figure 7
shows six switching patterns. The “green” power switches are the switches which are conducting
current.
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

L L L
A
(Vdc)
A
(0v)
A
(0v)

Vdc B N Vdc B N Vdc B N

(0v) (1/3Vdc) (Vdc) (1/3Vdc) (0v) (1/3Vdc)

C
(0v)
C
(0v)
C
(Vdc)

1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1

L L L
A
(Vdc)
A
(0v)
A
(Vdc)

Vdc B N Vdc B N Vdc B N

(Vdc) (2/3Vdc) (Vdc) (2/3Vdc) (0v) (2/3Vdc)

C
(0v)
C
(Vdc)
C
(Vdc)

Figure 7. Six switching patterns (L load)

5
The current change in one switching cycle is given by Eqs. (26) to (31) to the above six switching
patterns. When either one of the two zero-voltage vectors (000 and 111) is applied, the three-
phase current maintains unchanged in one switching cycle.
2𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
⎧ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 = ∆𝑡𝑡 ⎧∆𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 = − ∆𝑡𝑡 ⎧∆𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 = − ∆𝑡𝑡
⎪ 3𝐿𝐿 ⎪ 3𝐿𝐿 ⎪ 3𝐿𝐿
𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 2𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
∆𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 = − ∆𝑡𝑡 (26) ∆𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 = ∆𝑡𝑡 (27) ∆𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 = − ∆𝑡𝑡 (28)
⎨ 3𝐿𝐿 ⎨ 3𝐿𝐿 ⎨ 3𝐿𝐿
⎪ 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 ⎪ 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 ⎪ 2𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
⎩∆𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 = − 3𝐿𝐿 ∆𝑡𝑡 ⎩∆𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 = − 3𝐿𝐿 ∆𝑡𝑡 ⎩ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 = 3𝐿𝐿 ∆𝑡𝑡
𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 2𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
⎧ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 = ∆𝑡𝑡 ⎧∆𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 = − ∆𝑡𝑡 ⎧ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 = ∆𝑡𝑡
⎪ 3𝐿𝐿 ⎪ 3𝐿𝐿 ⎪ 3𝐿𝐿
𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 2𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
∆𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 = ∆𝑡𝑡 (29) ∆𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 = ∆𝑡𝑡 (30) ∆𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 = − ∆𝑡𝑡 (31)
⎨ 3𝐿𝐿 ⎨ 3𝐿𝐿 ⎨ 3𝐿𝐿
⎪ 2𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 ⎪ 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 ⎪ 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
⎩∆𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 = − 3𝐿𝐿 ∆𝑡𝑡 ⎩ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 = 3𝐿𝐿 ∆𝑡𝑡 ⎩ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 = 3𝐿𝐿 ∆𝑡𝑡
where L is the inductance of the load.

Figure 8 shows six switching patterns with an electric machine load. The electric machine load is
represented by an RL load in series with a back EMF voltage source. The current change in one
switching cycle is given by Eqs. (32) to (37).
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

R L Back-
EMF R L Back-
EMF R L Back-
EMF

A
(Vdc)
A
(0v)
A
(0v)

Vdc B N Vdc B N Vdc B N

(0v) (1/3Vdc) (Vdc) (1/3Vdc) (0v) (1/3Vdc)

C
(0v)
C
(0v)
C
(Vdc)

1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1

R L Back-
EMF R L Back-
EMF R L Back-
EMF

A A A
(Vdc)
(Vdc) (0v)

Vdc B N Vdc B N Vdc B N

(Vdc) (2/3Vdc) (Vdc) (2/3Vdc) (0v) (2/3Vdc)

C
(0v)
C
(Vdc)
C
(Vdc)

Figure 8. Six switching patterns (electric machine load)

6
 100 2𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴0
⎧ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 = ∆𝑡𝑡
⎪ 3𝐿𝐿
−𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑 − 2𝜋𝜋⁄3) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵0
∆𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 = ∆𝑡𝑡 (32)
⎨ 3𝐿𝐿
⎪ −𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑 + 2𝜋𝜋⁄3) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶0
⎩ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 = 3𝐿𝐿
∆𝑡𝑡
110 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴0
⎧ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 = ∆𝑡𝑡
⎪ 3𝐿𝐿
𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑 − 2𝜋𝜋⁄3) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵0
∆𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 = ∆𝑡𝑡 (33)
⎨ 3𝐿𝐿
⎪ −2𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑 + 2𝜋𝜋⁄3) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶0
⎩∆𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 = 3𝐿𝐿
∆𝑡𝑡
010 −𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴0
⎧ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 = ∆𝑡𝑡
⎪ 3𝐿𝐿
2𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑 − 2𝜋𝜋⁄3) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵0
∆𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 = ∆𝑡𝑡 (34)
⎨ 3𝐿𝐿
⎪ −𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑 + 2𝜋𝜋⁄3) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶0
⎩∆𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 = 3𝐿𝐿
∆𝑡𝑡
011 −2𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴0
⎧ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 = ∆𝑡𝑡
⎪ 3𝐿𝐿
𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑 − 2𝜋𝜋⁄3) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵0
∆𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 = ∆𝑡𝑡 (35)
⎨ 3𝐿𝐿
⎪ 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑 + 2𝜋𝜋⁄3) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶0
⎩ ∆𝑖𝑖 𝐶𝐶 = ∆𝑡𝑡
3𝐿𝐿
001 −𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴0
⎧ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 = ∆𝑡𝑡
⎪ 3𝐿𝐿
−𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑 − 2𝜋𝜋⁄3) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵0
∆𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 = ∆𝑡𝑡 (36)
⎨ 3𝐿𝐿
⎪ 2𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑 + 2𝜋𝜋⁄3) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶0
⎩ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 = 3𝐿𝐿
∆𝑡𝑡
101 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴0
⎧ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 = ∆𝑡𝑡
⎪ 3𝐿𝐿
−2𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑 − 2𝜋𝜋⁄3) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵0
∆𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 = ∆𝑡𝑡 (37)
⎨ 3𝐿𝐿
⎪ 𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 − 3𝐸𝐸𝑚𝑚 cos(𝜔𝜔𝑡𝑡0 + 𝜑𝜑 + 2𝜋𝜋⁄3) − 3𝑅𝑅𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶0
⎩ ∆𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 = 3𝐿𝐿
∆𝑡𝑡
where R is the electric machine winding resistance, L the inductance, E m the back EMF, i A0 , i B0
and i C0 are the initial value of the three-phase current at the beginning of one switching cycle.

Figure 9 shows the flow chart of the numerical method of calculating the instantaneous three-
phase current, inverter input current and capacitor current. Figures 10-12 show the three-phase
current, inverter input current and capacitor voltage ripple for three different types of load using
the numerical method.

7
 Start

Set the circuit

parameters, Determined the
Initialize the circuit time section in the
Initialization state, define indexes Determine the scale of one
for later use current time section switching cycle(T7-
T2-T1-T0)

Calculate 200 steps

Set the during the
Calculate the three
simulation and 100
simulation steps represent a
phases winding
current, DC bus
The main part of this
simulation
fundamental cycle
loop current, capacitor
voltage ripple

Divide the
fundamental cycle
Calculate the into 6 sections Point+1
position of the and find the two
command voltage Automatically
conducted basic
vector completed by the
vector
loop function ‘for’

YES
Point<=200
The time lengths for
Calculate the the each 4 vectors
time which act in this
section(T7-T2-T1-T0) NO
Procedure

Step+1
Automatically
completed by the
Determined the Derived from the loop function ‘for’
coefficients of the section 2.2.1
function of DC bus
current case by case YES
Step<=200

NO
Set a loop for Calculate 200 points Plot the waveform
calculating one during one step of three-phase
step Plot the current, DC-bus
current ripple and
result capacitor voltage
ripple

End
Figure 9. Numerical method of reconstructing instantaneous three-phase current

8
Figure 10. Instantaneous waveforms with L load

Figure 11. Instantaneous waveforms with RL load

9
 Figure 12. Instantaneous waveforms with electric machine model

7. Analysis for Non-ideal Voltage Source

In the previous analysis, we have assumed that the input voltage source is an ideal source without
any internal resistance. In the real-world application, the input voltage source always has a small
internal resistance. That is also why a large DC link capacitor is needed to provide smooth input
voltage to the three-phase inverter. For the following analysis, we will take into account the
effect of the voltage source internal resistance. In Figure 13, the input voltage source is
represented by an ideal voltage source in series with an internal resistance.

is idc

S1 S3 S5
ic
Rs
Vdc
C
Vsrc

S4 S6 S2

Figure 13. Model of non-ideal input voltage source

For the system shown in Figure 12, Eq. (38) exists:

𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝑖𝑖𝑠𝑠 − 𝑖𝑖𝑐𝑐
𝑑𝑑𝑉𝑉
� 𝑖𝑖𝑐𝑐 = 𝐶𝐶 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (38)
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑉𝑉𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝑉𝑉𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 − 𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑖𝑠𝑠

where C is the capacitance of the DC link capacitor, R s is the internal resistance of the input
voltage source. In Eq. (25), we assume the input voltage V src , its internal resistance R s and the

10
capacitance C are known. In addition, the inverter input current i dc can be calculated by Eq.
(39), regarded as a known variable.
𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = 𝑖𝑖𝐴𝐴 𝑆𝑆𝐴𝐴 + 𝑖𝑖𝐵𝐵 𝑆𝑆𝐵𝐵 + 𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 𝑆𝑆𝐶𝐶 (38)

where i A , i B and i C are the three-phase current, S A , S B and S C are the three-phase switching
function. The three-phase current may be obtained using the numerical method presented in
the previous part. Therefore, the capacitor current and the voltage source current may be
written as:
𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑐𝑐 𝑖𝑖𝑐𝑐 𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
+ + =0 (39)
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑅𝑅𝑠𝑠 𝐶𝐶 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

𝑖𝑖𝑠𝑠 = 𝑖𝑖𝐶𝐶 + 𝑖𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 (40)

Eqs. (39) and (40) are later used to calculate the instantaneous capacitor current and the source
current in Matlab. Figure 14 shows the results of the voltage source current, capacitor voltage
and current using the numerical method. Figure 15 shows the flow chart of the Matlab script.

Figure 14. Voltage source ripple and capacitor current ripple using numerical method

11
 Start

Set the circuit

parameters, Determined the
Initialize the circuit time section in the
Initialization state, define indexes Determine the scale of one
for later use current time section switching cycle(T7-
T2-T1-T0)

Calculate 200 steps

Set the during the
simulation and 100 The main functional
simulation steps represent a
Calculate the voltage
source current, part of this
fundamental cycle
loop capacitor voltage and
capacitor current ripple
simulation

Divide the
fundamental cycle
Calculate the
into 6 sections
position of the
command voltage
and find the two Point+1
conducted basic
vector
vectors Automatically
completed by the
loop function ‘for’
YES
The time lengths for Point<=200
Calculate the the each 4 vectors
time which act in this
section(T7-T2-T1-T0)
Procedure NO

Step+1

Determined the Automatically

Derived from the
coefficients of the completed by the
section 2.2.1
function of DC bus loop function ‘for’
current case by case
YES
Step<=200

Set a loop for Calculate 200 points NO

calculating one during one step Plot the waveform
step of three-phase
Plot the current, DC-bus
current ripple and
result capacitor voltage
ripple

End
Figure 15. Flow chart of calculating capacitor current and voltage source current for non-ideal voltage source

8. Summary
This report first reviews the challenges that the bulky DC link capacitor of the electric vehicle
traction inverter presents to further power density increase and cost reduction. Then this work
presents the numerical method of calculating the DC link capacitor current ripple of the traction
converter for electric vehicle applications. The effect of internal resistance of the input voltage
source is taken into account for the math modeling.

12
9. References
[1] J. Kolar and S. Round, “Analytical calculation of the RMS current stress on the DC-link
capacitor of voltage-PWM converter systems,” IEE Proceedings of Electric Power
Applications, Vol. 153, No. 4, July 2006.
[2] F. Kieferndorf, M. Förster and T. Lipo, “Reduction of DC-Bus Capacitor Ripple Current with
PAM/PWM Converter,” IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 40, No. 2,
March/April 2004.
[3] J. Zhu and A. Pratt, “Capacitor Ripple Current in an Interleaved PFC Converter,” IEEE
Transaction on Power Electronics, Vol. 24, No. 6, June 2009.
[4] T.-P Chen, “Common-Mode Ripple Current Estimator for Parallel Three-Phase Inverters,”
IEEE Transaction on Power Electronics, Vol. 24, No. 5, May 2009.
[5] K. Ramachandrasekhar and S. Srinivas, “Discontinuous Decoupled PWMs for Reduced
Current Ripple in a Dual Two-Level Inverter Fed Open-End Winding Induction Motor
Drive,” IEEE Transaction on Power Electronics, Vol. 28, No. 5, May 2013.
[6] H. van der Broeck, H. C. Skudelny and G. Stanke, “Analysis and Realization of a Pulsewidth
Modulator Based on Voltage Space Vectors,” IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications,
Vol. 24, No. 1, January/February 1988.
[7] J. Kolar, H. Ertl and F. Zach, “Calculation of the Passive and Active Component Stress Of
Three Phase PWM Converter Systems with High Pulse Rate,” 3rd European Conference
on Power Electronics and Applications, pp. 1303-1311, October 1989.
[8] G. Su and L. Tang, “A segmented traction drive system with a small dc bus capacitor,”
Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, pp. 2847-2853, September 2012
[9] A. Hava, R. Kerkman and T. Lipo, “Simple Analytical and Graphical Methods for Carrier-
Based PWM-VSI Drives,” IEEE Transaction on Power Electronics, Vol. 14, No. 1, January
1999
[10] S. Kim, Y. Yoon and S. Sul, “Pulsewidth Modulation Method of Matrix Converter for
Reducing Output Current Ripple,” IEEE Transaction on Power Electronics, Vol. 25, No. 10,
October 2010
[11] B. Vafakhah, J. Salmon and A. Knight, “A New Space-Vector PWM With Optimal Switching
Selection for Multilevel Coupled Inductor Inverters,” IEEE Transaction on Industrial
Electronics, Vol. 57, No. 7, July 2010
[12] M. Gasperi, “Life Prediction Modeling of Bus Capacitors in AC Variable-Frequency
Drives,” IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 41, No. 6, November/December
2005.

13
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