An assessment of resonant converters for induction motor drives applications up to 100 kW

Interest in the application of resonant techniques to converters has spawned a wide variety of novel topologies. Regrettably, most of the published work has concentrated on the mode of operation and supposed advantages of the topology rather than on providing a complete assessment including a discussion of the limitations and possible areas of application. This paper provides a comparative assessment of soft switching topologies for induction motor drives applications in the power range up to 100 kW. Selected topologies are simulated and their performance analysed in terms of number of active and passive devices, device stresses, losses, output waveform fidelity and control complexity. A comparison between hard switching and soft switching converters is presented and conclusions drawn concerning the suitability of the latter for drives applications.