A Novel Switching Table for a Modified Three-Level Inverter-Fed DTC Drive with Torque and Flux Ripple Minimization

Abstract

The use of a direct torque control (DTC) drive is a well-known control strategy that is applied frequently to induction motors. Although torque and stator flux ripples are major disadvantages of this approach, using a higher-level inverter helps to overcome these issues. In this paper, we propose a novel switching table with a modified control strategy for a three-level inverter to achieve ripple minimization, as well as smooth switching and neutral point balance; the latter features are generally ignored in many works. The proposed model is compared with a conventional DTC and an improved three-level inverter-fed voltage vector synthesis model in the Matlab/Simulink® environment with low, normal, and high-speed operation under load torque disturbances. The performance indexes and the comparative results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed model in reducing the torque and stator flux ripples by up to 70% and 78%, respectively, generating a lower total harmonic distortion (THD%) in all scenarios, in addition to maintaining the neutral point balance and preventing voltage jumps across the switches of the inverter.