Comparison of Inverter Topologies for High-Speed Motor Drive Applications

Abstract

This paper investigates and compares the performance of three-phase inverters and sets of single-phase full-bridge inverters for motor drive applications. Comparisons are made for a given semiconductor device area and equal rms phase current ripple and the regions of the design space in which each topology is advantageous are identified. It is found that separate full-bridge inverters are preferable for designs in which switching losses are dominant, whereas three-phase inverters are preferable for designs in which conduction losses are dominant. This result suggests that individual phase drive is desirable in applications requiring high switching frequencies, as in highspeed, low-inductance machines.