Switching-function-based simulation model for three-phase voltage source inverter taking dead-time effects into account

In this paper, a switching-function-based simulation model for a three-phase two-level voltage source inverter is developed. A novelty of this paper is the description how dead-time effects, caused by the necessary blanking-time, can be taken into account in the switching-function-based model. The proposed method makes it possible to study how the dead-time effects affect the behavior of the system without using simulation models constructed from ideal or detailed device models. Dead-time effects are taken into account by introducing a virtual gating signal that represents the time intervals during which both the upper and lower gating signals are off. The switching function during the blanking-time is then obtained by multiplying the virtual gating signal with the sign of the phase current. The simulation results from a single inverter system and a parallel inverter system are shown and compared with the simulation results obtained from the ideal device models to verify the validity of the developed models.