See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/320106798

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THREE PHASE VARIABLE VOLTAGE IGBT

INVERTER FOR THE CONTROL OF INDUCTION MACHINES

Article · July 2015

CITATIONS READS

0 1,023

4 authors:

Alex Aligbe Emmanuel Oluwasogo

Air Force Institute of Technology, kaduna, Nigeria. Kyungpook National University
12 PUBLICATIONS   30 CITATIONS    9 PUBLICATIONS   8 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Okakwu Ignatius Abel Airoboman

Olabisi Onabanjo University Nigerian Defence Academy
54 PUBLICATIONS   56 CITATIONS    65 PUBLICATIONS   116 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

electrical machines and control View project

Reliability of Power Systems Network View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Alex Aligbe on 29 September 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

American International Journal of Available online at http://www.iasir.net
Research in Science, Technology,
Engineering & Mathematics
ISSN (Print): 2328-3491, ISSN (Online): 2328-3580, ISSN (CD-ROM): 2328-3629
AIJRSTEM is a refereed, indexed, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary and open access journal published by
International Association of Scientific Innovation and Research (IASIR), USA
(An Association Unifying the Sciences, Engineering, and Applied Research)

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THREE PHASE VARIABLE

VOLTAGE IGBT INVERTER FOR THE CONTROL OF INDUCTION
MACHINES
1
Alex Aligbe, 1Emmanuel Seun Oluwasogo, 2Ignatius kema Okakwu, 3Abel Ehimen Airoboman.
1
Department of Electrical/Electronic Engineering, University of Lagos, Nigeria.
1
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria
2, 3
PhD Scholar Department of Electrical/Electronic Engineering, University of Benin, Nigeria

Abstract: The focus of this project is to design and construct a three- phase, 2KVA,
Microcontroller based, Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) inverter for the control of an
induction motor. The firing pulses were obtained from a PIC16F877A microcontroller. The
microcontroller was chosen as an efficient and easy to build inverter controller for induction machines.
The theory of operation of the inverter-fed induction motor was determined using the three phase inverter
switching sequence. The inverter was used to drive a three phase induction machine with no load, the
variation of voltage and speed with varying modulation were recorded and the phase current obtained
from the induction motor was compared with the theoretical phase current. The waveform from the
theoretical switching sequence of the devices agreed with that obtained in the laboratory. The lower order
harmonics were suppressed by using fewer semi-conductor devices in the power flow path.

Keywords: IGBT; microcontroller; inverter; firing pulses; induction motor; driver circuit

I. Introduction
Induction motors are sized for maximum loads and are operated at a constant full speed, because they are
supplied with power from AC line at a fixed – sinusoidal voltage and fixed frequency. They are being preferred
to their DC motors counterparts because of their low cost maintenance with superior speed-torque characteristic.
Electronic control of power are now increasingly applied to induction motor control as a result of the
development in the world of electronics over decades which have made possible a lot of techniques to meet the
ever increasing demand. Inverters are types of electronic control device that convert direct current (DC) input
voltage to alternating current (AC) output voltage of desired voltage and frequency. Inverters have no moving
parts and hence they are used in a wide range of applications, from small switching power supplies in computer
and electronics, industrial controls to large utility as High-Voltage Direct Current application that transport bulk
power. Inverters are commonly used to supply AC power from rectified AC source voltage or DC source
voltage such as solar panel or batteries. They are used in induction heating which is a method of providing fast,
consistent heat for processing of metals or any other electrically conductive materials. It is also used in traction
systems which have the sole purpose of preventing wheel spin from occurring in traction. Formerly, DC series
motors were preferred for traction applications, as their drive system are relatively simple but nowadays, more
precise digital algorithms, have been developed to control power inverters with the purpose of driving induction
motors, which makes them a far better choice than DC series motor .
Inverters are of many types and are classified variously. It can also be differentiated by the number of phases of
the output: single phase or multi phase which is the most applicable for industrial uses. The main types of
inverter are classified according to their source input - current source inverter (CSI) and the voltage source
inverter (VSI). A CSI inverter is the dual of a six-step voltage source inverter. With a current source inverter,
the DC power supply is configured as a current source rather than a voltage source. The inverter silicon
controlled rectifiers SCRs are switched in a six-step sequence to direct the current to a three- phase AC load as a
stepped current waveform. In the voltage source inverter, the DC voltage is changed when commutation takes
place. The input DC voltage to an inverter may be a rectified AC source or from a battery. The needs for
variable voltage and frequency have made inverter circuit to gain popularity in industrial drives. Some of the
control strategies which made this possible are; Pulse width modulation (PWM), digital simulation switching
techniques, digital signal processor (DSP) based controller, etc [4].Inverter-driven induction machine are now
the prime choice of variable speed drives in a wide field of application due to their low cost, simple and rugged
construction, high reliability, minor maintenance, and well developed control algorithm. In fact with the inverter
as power supply, the induction machine operational conditions are much different from the conventional supply

AIJRSTEM 15-510; © 2015, AIJRSTEM All Rights Reserved Page 37

Alex et al., American International Journal of Research in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, 11(1), June-August, 2015, pp.
37-46

with fixed voltage and frequency, which implies that the design of induction machines should be reconsidered to
make them more suitable for inverter-driven variable speed drive.
The rest of this paper work is sectioned as; system modeling and analysis, results and discussions, and
conclusion.
II. Selection of Power Semi-Conductor Device for the Inverter
With the radical converter technology, it is conspicuous that the speed control of an induction motor can be
achieved by the power semi-conductor (switching) circuits. The choice of switching device for the variable
inverter is a momentous part in circuit design consideration. The common switching elements are either the
thyristor or the transistor. Transistor switches does not require commutating technique like the thyristor. As a
result of improvement going on; for instance MOSFET inverter can now handle high voltage in the KVA
range. GTO has a faster switching speed than the regular thyristor and can withstand higher current than the
transistor or MOSFET. The insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) tends to combine the features of both the
bipolar junction transistor (BJT) with that of MOSFET and is now popularly used in the industries. The IGBT
is suitable for many applications in power electronics, especially in Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) servo and
three-phase drives requiring high dynamic range control and low noise. Hence, it was chosen for this project
work.
III. System Modeling and Analysis
Many researchers have worked on inverter controllers under pure resistive R and R-L load to obtain load current
and rms output voltage characteristics. This can be extended to induction motor by reducing the equivalent
circuit of the induction motor to equivalent impedance.
A. R-L Modeling of a Three-Phase Induction Motor
Considering the equivalent circuit of a controlled three phase induction motor as shown in figure 1, the crrent
flowing through the induction motor is obtained by divided the phase voltage by the total impedance.

Rs jXs jX`r R`r /s

ia
Van
jXm

Figure 1: The RMS equivalent circuit of the induction motor.

If X m2  Rs2  X s2 , then the magnetizing reactance X m may be moved to the stator winding to simplify
further; this is shown in figure 2

Rs jXs jX`r R`r /s

+
ia

Van jXm

_
Figure 2: approximate per-phase equivalent circuit.

The input impedance per-phase of the motor becomes

AIJRSTEM 15-510; © 2015, AIJRSTEM All Rights Reserved Page 38

Alex et al., American International Journal of Research in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, 11(1), June-August, 2015, pp.
37-46

 
R' 
jX m  Rs  r   j X s  X r' 
s
 
  
Z eq 

 Rs 
Rr' 
s 

 j X s  X r  jX m
'


This can be simplified further to equivalent; resistance Req , inductance X eq and load angle φ as shown in
Z eq  Req  jX eq
Where Req , X eq and load angle ϕ are defined as;
 R' 
X m X T  Rs  r
s  X m  1
Req   
2
 R '

 Rs  r s   X T2
 
2
 R' 
 Rs  r s  X m   X m X T 
2

X eq   
2
 R' 
 Rs  r s   X T
2

 
Or
X eq
Leq 
2f
Therefore the load angle ϕ is expressed as:
 2

  Rs  Rr   X m  X T 2
'

 s  
  tan 1   
 X T  Rs  Rr  X m  1
 '

  s  
 
Where:
X T  X s  X r'
The expression for instantaneous energy current per phase at every 60o interval is given by:
v ph 
1  e  
t
i
Z ph  
Leq
Where;   Time Constant
Req
An equivalent circuit of a star connected three-phase induction machine load connected to a three-phase inverter
operating at 120-degree conduction is shown in figure 3.
Q1 Q3 Q5

A B C a

Ra

E La

Ra

n La

c
Ra

La
b

a b c
(a)
Q4 Q6 Q2

AIJRSTEM 15-510; © 2015, AIJRSTEM All Rights Reserved Page 39

Alex et al., American International Journal of Research in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, 11(1), June-August, 2015, pp.
37-46

ig1

ig2

ig3

ig4 IGBT Firing Period

ig5

ig6
E
E/2
Vab
Load Line Voltage

E/2R
ia

ib
Load Line Current

ic

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6

Q6 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5
(b)
Figure 3 Three-phase bridge inverter with 120degree conduction (a) circuit (b) waveforms.

The IGBT switches are assumed to be ideal switches. The DC source is switched in six steps to synthesis the
three-phase output. The table 1 below shows the switch state for a three-phase voltage source inverter.
Assuming that the inverter has a three-phase balanced load as shown in figure 3, this is:
Van  Vbn  Vcn  0

Table 1: Conduction Switching Sequence of a Three-Phase Inverter

Mode Phase Voltages Turn on upper switch Turn on lower switch
Van Vbn Vcn
1 0 Q1 Q6
E -E
2 2
2 0 Q1 Q2
E -E
2 2
3 0 Q3 Q2
E -E
2 2
4 0 Q3 Q2
-E E
2 2
5 0 Q5 Q4
-E E
2 2
6 0 Q5 Q6
-E E
2 2
The system equivalent circuit for Mode 1-6 at their respective time intervals are shown below in figure 4

AIJRSTEM 15-510; © 2015, AIJRSTEM All Rights Reserved Page 40

Alex et al., American International Journal of Research in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, 11(1), June-August, 2015, pp.
37-46

Figure 4: The system equivalent circuit for Mode 1-6

Sample Motor Data
The operating characteristics parameters of the three-phase induction motor from the laboratory are shown in
below:
Table 2: Sample Motor Data
Quantity Symbol In Actual Unit
Voltage Rating Vs 220V
Operating Frequency F 50Hz
Number of Poles P 4
Stator Winding Resistance Rs 19.5Ω
Rotor Referred Resistance R’r 6.7Ω
Stator Winding Reactance Xs 18.2Ω
Rotor Referred Reactance X’r 18.2Ω
Magnetizing Reactance Xm 201Ω
Rated speed N 1440rpm
Winding Connection Type Star
Calculated Slip Speed Ns 1500rmp

The parameters and expressions above were used to evaluate theoretical motor stator phase currents at different
inverter voltage levels which were compared with the laboratory values as shown in table
IV. Design and Implementation
A. The PIC16F877A Microcontroller
A PIC16FF877A is a computer control system on a single chip. It has many electronic circuits built into it. The
microcontroller will then step through these instructions and execute them one by one. The list of these
instructions given to the microcontroller is called a program. Inside the microcontroller the written program is
stored in an area called EPROM (Electrical Programmable Read Only Memory), this memory is non-volatile
and is remembered when the power is switched off. The program was written in assembly language and
compiled using MPLAB, the compiled file is transferred to the chip using a PICSTART PROGRAMMER.
A +5VDC was used to bias the microcontroller and it was connected to pin 1, 2, 3 as shown on the IC pin
configuration. A crystal oscillator was connected on pin 13 and 14. Resistors R1-R3 is used to pull the input
pins to ground to avoid the circuit generating false control commands. Three control switches were provided for
special purposes as indicated in figure 5 below; S1 is to start the program in the microcontroller, S2 and S3 are
used to decreases and increases the gate pulse width respectively, which were connected to pin 2, 3and 4. The
outputs of the six pulses were taken from pin 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38.

AIJRSTEM 15-510; © 2015, AIJRSTEM All Rights Reserved Page 41

 The driver isolate the low voltage circuit from the high voltage side, also use to step-up the pulse voltage from

connected on pin 9. Pin 1 is the low level output, pin 5 is the ground and pin 7 is the high level output as shown
the microcontroller to +10VDC . The output from PIC16F877A was connected to pin 10 and 12 of the IR2110
Alex et al., American International Journal of Research in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, 11(1), June-August, 2015, pp.

IC. Two separate power supply was use to bias the IC, +12VDC was connected on pin 3 and +5VDC was

Page 42
220V or 415V

Figure 5 IGBT Driver Circuits (A) Circuit Layout. (B) Components on a Vero Board
R11

PIC16F877A
R5 +5V
U2 10k
+5V
Q1 Q2 Q3
1K
8
VOUT V-
7 C2 R13 IRG4BC20UD IRG4BC20UD IRG4BC20UD
R6 9 6
10k
V+ NULL
X1 1K 10uF
U1 R7 10
RFS RC
5
13 33
+5V OSC1/CLKIN RB0/INT +12v
14 34 11 4
OSC2/CLKOUT RB1 1K IFS IC
CRYSTAL
1
MCLR/Vpp/THV RB2
35
R8 D3 R21
S1 RB3/PGM
36 12
VFS VC
3 18TQ045 R17 10k R22
2 37 10k 10k
RA0/AN0 RB4 1K C1
3 38 13 2
4
RA1/AN1 RB5
39
R9 FB2 FB1 L1
S2 5
RA2/AN2/VREF- RB6/PGC
40 14 1
R15
RA3/AN3/VREF+ RB7/PGD R10
10k IN2 IN1

S3
6 100nf phase A
RA4/T0CKI 10k
7 15
S3 RA5/AN4/SS RC0/T1OSO/T1CKI
16
1K
IR2110
RC1/T1OSI/CCP2 U3
8 17
RE0/AN5/RD RC2/CCP1 +5V L2
9 18

Figure A

Figure B
RE1/AN6/WR RC3/SCK/SCL
10 23 8 7
RE2/AN7/CS RC4/SDI/SDA VOUT V- C4
37-46

24 phase B
RC5/SDO
25 9 6
RC6/TX/CK V+ NULL
RC7/RX/DT
26 R4
10 5 10uf

S2
10k RFS RC
19
RD0/PSP0 +12v L3
R1 R2 R3 20 11 4

AIJRSTEM 15-510; © 2015, AIJRSTEM All Rights Reserved

B. DESIGN OF THE IGBT DRIVER (IR2110)

RD1/PSP1 IFS IC
1K 1K 1K 21
RD2/PSP2
RD3/PSP3
22 12
VFS VC
3 D2 phase C
27 18TQ045
RD4/PSP4
RD5/PSP5
28 D4 13
FB2 FB1
2
C3
29 DIODE-LED
RD6/PSP6
30 14 1
RD7/PSP7 IN2 IN1
PIC16F877 100nf R19
IR2110 Q4 Q5
10k R12 IRG4BC20UD IRG4BC20UD Q6
IRG4BC20UD
+5V U4 10k

S1
C6 R14 R18 R20
8 7 10k 10k
VOUT V-
10k
9 6
V+ NULL
10uF
+12V
10
RFS RC
5 D1
18TQ045
11 4
IFS IC C5
12 3 R16
VFS VC
13 2 100nf 10k
FB2 FB1
14 1
IN2 IN1

in figure 5.
IR2110
Alex et al., American International Journal of Research in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, 11(1), June-August, 2015, pp.
37-46

C. Complete Variable Voltage Inverter Circuit.

Complete circuit of the variable voltage inverter is shown in figure 6. It comprises the microcontroller, IGBT
driver and the inverter circuit. The microcontroller was programmed so as to generate six pulses which are 60o
out of phase from each other which is in agreement with figure 3. The width of the pulses can be increased or
decreased so as to vary the output voltage of the inverter. S1 is used to start the program, S2 is used to increase
the width of the pulse and S3 is use to decrease the width of the pulse as shown in figure 5.2. The pulses were
connected to IGBT driver, it act as an isolator also use to increase the pulse voltage which is use to trigger the
IGBTs. The switching of the IGBTs produces a three phase AC voltage for controlling three phase induction
motor.

240VAC
240/12V

TR1
1N1190A
D2

1N1190A
D1

240VAC
1N1190A
D4

1N1190A
D3
470000nf
C1

1N1190A
D2

1N1190A
D1
1
7805
7805
VI
2
GND

1N1190A
D4

1N1190A
D3
VO
3

470000nf
C1

470000nf
C2
240VDC
S3

S2

S1
1K
R1 R2 R3

CRYSTAL

X1
1K 1K

10

14
13
9
8

7
6
5
4
3
2

1
PIC16F877

U1
RE2/AN7/CS
RE1/AN6/WR
RE0/AN5/RD

RA5/AN4/SS
RA4/T0CKI
RA3/AN3/VREF+
RA2/AN2/VREF-
RA1/AN1
RA0/AN0

MCLR/Vpp/THV
OSC2/CLKOUT
OSC1/CLKIN
RC0/T1OSO/T1CKI
RC1/T1OSI/CCP2
RC3/SCK/SCL
RC4/SDI/SDA
RC7/RX/DT
RC6/TX/CK

RC2/CCP1
RD7/PSP7
RD6/PSP6
RD5/PSP5
RD4/PSP4
RD3/PSP3
RD2/PSP2
RD1/PSP1
RD0/PSP0

RB3/PGM
RC5/SDO

RB7/PGD
RB6/PGC

RB0/INT
RB5
RB4

RB2
RB1
30
29
28
27
22
21
20
19

26
25
24
23
18
17
16
15

40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
1K

10kR10

R9
1K

R8

1K

R6
1K

R5
10k
R4

1K

R7
DIODE-LED
D4
14

13

12

10
11

14

13

12

10
11

8
IR2110

U3
14

13

12

10
11

IN2

FB2

VFS

IFS

RFS

V+

VOUT
9

IR2110

U2
IN2

FB2

VFS

IFS

RFS

V+

VOUT
IR2110

U4
IN2

FB2

VFS

IFS

RFS

V+

VOUT

NULL
FB1
IN1

RC
VC

NULL
IC

V-

FB1
IN1

RC
VC
NULL

IC

V-
FB1
IN1

RC
VC

IC

V-

7
1

10uf

C4

10uF

C2
100nf

C3

100nf

C1
10uF

C6
100nf

C5

18TQ045
D2

18TQ045
D3
10k

R19

10k

R11
18TQ045
D1

10k
R13
10k

R12
10k

R16

10k

R15
10k

R14

IRG4BC20UD
Q4

IRG4BC20UD
Q1
10k
R18

10k
R17
IRG4BC20UD
Q5

IRG4BC20UD
Q2
10k
R21
10k
R22
10k
R20

IRG4BC20UD
Q6

IRG4BC20UD
Q3
phase C

phase B

phase A
L3

L2

L1

(A)

(B)
Figure 6 Complete Circuit of the Variable Voltage Inverter on a Vero Board.

AIJRSTEM 15-510; © 2015, AIJRSTEM All Rights Reserved Page 43

Alex et al., American International Journal of Research in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, 11(1), June-August, 2015, pp.
37-46

V. Results and Discussins

The performance characteristics resulting from the three-phase inverter voltage controller as seen on the
oscilloscope are shown in Fig. (8) to (13).

Figure 7 Test Rig with Controlled 3-Phase Induction Machine and the Inverter Controllers

Figure 8 Firing pulses obtained from the Control Circuit.

Figure 9 AC Output Voltage Waveform of Line AB

Figure 10 AC Output Voltage Waveform of Line BC.

AIJRSTEM 15-510; © 2015, AIJRSTEM All Rights Reserved Page 44

Alex et al., American International Journal of Research in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, 11(1), June-August, 2015, pp.
37-46

Figure 11 Current Waveform of Phase A

Table 3: Result of the Test Carried out On Induction Motor

Voltage Speed Measured Current Calculated
(V) (rpm) Current
(A) (A)
Ia Ib Ic I
75 0 0 0 0 0
100 830 0.47 0.46 0.48 0.4557
110 830 0.47 0.44 0.48 0.5012
143 960 0.64 0.62 0.66 0.6516
183 1280 0.72 0.7 0.74 0.8339
198 1250 0.77 0.75 0.78 0.9022
210 1350 0.82 0.8 0.84 0.9569
226 1425 0.86 0.84 0.87 1.0298
240 1440 0.97 0.92 0.99 1.0936
250 1460 1.09 0.99 1.1 1.1392

Figure 12 Graph of Stator Voltage against Rotor Speed

AIJRSTEM 15-510; © 2015, AIJRSTEM All Rights Reserved Page 45

 Alex et al., American International Journal of Research in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics, 11(1), June-August, 2015, pp.
37-46

Figure 13 Graph of Stator Current versus Rotor Speed

VI. Conclusion
This work primarily focuses on proposing an efficient and portable inverter controller for an induction
motor at a low cost implication. A three phase variable voltage inverter was designed and built for the control
of an induction machine. The power inverter has six switches (IGBTs) that are controlled in order to generate
AC output from the DC input. The microcontroller controls these six switches of which two switches will be ON
at a time, when the switches are ON, current flows from the DC bus to the motor winding. Because the motor
windings are highly inductive in nature, they hold electric energy in the form of current. This current needs to be
dissipated while switches are off. Diodes connected across the switches give a path for the current to dissipate
when the switches are off. Waveforms were obtained which are in agreement with the theoretical waveforms
and the stator phase voltages obtain from the induction motor.

References
[1] CYRIL . W . LANDER, "Power Electronics", Mc Graw-Hill, 2nd Edition. page 191-194
[2] M . A . LATIF ET AL/ International Journal of Engineering and Technology (IJET).
[3] DVEHEE LEE, "Design and construction of three-phase inverter using a TMS320F, 2812 Digital signal processor", university of
Texas at Austin, 2009.
[4] KHARAGPUR, "Power semiconductor devices", version 2EEIIT.
[5] A . DRAPER, "Electrical machine", electrical engineering series, Longman, 2nd edition.
[6] D. W. SMITH, "PIC in practice", A project-Based approach. Page 11-13
[7] TERRY BARTELT, "Industrial control electronics", 3rd edition.
[8] PROF. C . C. OKORO, "Energy conversion principles and systems for power Engineering". Page 390-392.
[9] P . J . LAWRENSON and J . M . STEPHENSON, Note on induction machine performance with a variable-frequency supply.
[10] OLIVER RICH, Three-Level PWM DC/AC Inverter using a microcontroller, MQP Term A-B-C 2011-2012. http://www.wpi.edu.
[11] Fitzgerald, A. E. 1990. Electric machinery. 5th Edition. McGraw-Hill Inc., New York.
[12] Control of voltage source inverter for adjustable speed drive, A study report. http://www.indjsrt.com.
[13] Speed control of three-phase induction motor usingPIC18 microcontrollers. http://www.microchip.com
[14] Controlling three-phase AC induction motors using the PIC18F4431, 2000 microchip technology inc.
http://www.microchip.com/...../en/....00900a
[15] Muhammad H. Rashid, "Power Electronics", Second Edition, Pearson Education, 1993.
[16] PIC16F87XA Data Sheet, 2001 Microchip Technology inc. http://www.microchip.com
[17] Abidoye Abdulmujeeb Abiola, " Design and Implementation of a 6KVA, three Phase, Fixed Frequency, Power MOSFET Inverter
for Control of Induction Machine", M.Sc project, University of Lagos, 2012.

AIJRSTEM 15-510; © 2015, AIJRSTEM All Rights Reserved Page 46

View publication stats