Motor drive technologies for the Power-By-Wire (PBW) program: options, trends and tradeoffs. II. Power electronic converters and devices

This is the second of two papers on the motor drive technology options for the Power-By-Wire (PBW). The organization of this paper is based on the four components of the electrical actuator (EA) system and the options available to suit the PBW program as given in the PBW studies. The first paper [l] discussed the options available for the motor and the controller parts of a drive. This paper discusses the power electronic converter and device options. The power converter options are divided into hard-, snubbered- and soft-switching converters. The power device options are the MOSFET, the Insulated Gate Transistor (IGT), the gate turn-off thyristor (GTO) and the MOS Controlled Thyristor (MCT). Each of the converter and device options is discussed, pointing out the trends and tradeoffs available and the potential for application in the PBW program.