Cycloconverter Drive System for Fault Diagnosis Study:

Real Time Model, Simulation and Construction

J. Pontt, IEEE Senior Member IEEE, J. Rodríguez, IEEE Senior Member IEEE, E. Cáceres, I. Illanes and C. Silva

Department of Electronics
Universidad Federico Santa Maria
Casilla 110-V, Valparaíso, CHILE.
Phone:+56-32-654280 and 654203
Fax: +565-32-797469
E-mail: jpo@elo.utfsm.cl, jrp@elo.utfsm.cl, erar2@elo.utfsm.cl,ian@elo.utfsm.cl,cesar.silva@elo.utfsm.cl

Abstract— This paper presents a study of a monitoring system for fault detection algorithm implemented, and Section IV shows
a cycloconverter, based on a real time reference model, for experimental results of the system behaviour under fault
monitoring the electric behavior of a cycloconverter. For this conditions. Finally, the fault detection algorithm performance
purpose, a complete three-phase, 6-pulse cycloconverter system, is shown.
operating from a 50 Hz input, was simulated and constructed. In
addition, a real time reference model that works in parallel with
the cycloconverter control was implemented. The main II. CYCLOCONVERTER DRIVE SYSTEM : CONSTRUCTION
advantage of this system over the conventional fault diagnosis AND SIMULATION
systems is the reduction number of required measured signals.
The fault detection algorithm is based on a real-time error signal This section describes the construction of the implemented
obtained between the real-time reference model output and the system and the review of its normal operation with
sensed cycloconverter output voltage. The fault detection method experimental and simulation results. Without loss of
was implemented and tested on a laboratory scale prototype generality, a 6-pulse CCV topology with a balanced three-
cycloconverter drive system. phase RL load was considered in order to simplify the system
analysis under normal and different fault conditions.
Keywords: Reference model, cicloconverter drive system, fault
detection, reliability, availability.
A. Power Circuit
I. INTRODUCTION In order to have an experimental platform for developing
new procedures and methods for improving knowledge and
AVAILABILITY and Reliability of power electronics
engineering design of high-power CCV-fed drives, a prototype
was constructed. At the input, a transformer supplies a three-
systems are of paramount importance in mining applications, phase 6-pulse cycloconverter, which provides a variable
that’s why the knowledge about the fault mode behavior of an frequency voltage to a RL load, as depicted in Fig.1.
AC drive system is extremely important from the standpoint of
improved system design, operation. protection, and fault The main parameters of the system are detailed in Table I.
tolerant control. In this context, the detection of incipient
failures and the replacement of the components just before a TABLE I
PARAMETERS OF THE CYCLOCONVERTER DRIVE SYSTEM
failure can occur, reduce the risk and consequences of
Parameter Description Value
unexpected equipment failures and consequently the reduction
S Transformer Power 5.4 kVA
of maintenance and downtimes of critical equipments, like
Dyyy1 Transformer Connection
high-power Cycloconverter-fed Drive Systems.
Vl-l-p Transformer Primary Voltage 380Vrms
This paper shows the construction of a system for study the Vl-l-s Transformer Secondary Voltage 130Vrms
cycloconverter drive behaviour as a way to find and detect Ip Transformer Primary Rated Current 8.2 Arms
different kinds of faults that can appear during the drive Is Transformer Secondary Rated Current 8 Arms
operation, in order to improve the performance of the IRMS Max. RMS On-state SCR Current 20 A
cycloconverter with better procedures and instrumentation VRRM/VDR Max. Repetitive peak and off-state SCR voltage 1600 V
system for the real time surveillance [3], for trouble shooting, dv/dt Max. Rate of Rise of off-state SCR Voltage 500 V/µs
fault detection and recognition of abnormal operating di/dt Max. Rate of Rise of turned-on SCR Current 150 A/µs
conditions [4]. Rload Load resistance 10 Ohm
Lload Load Inductance 50 mH
Section II presents the description of the cycloconverter
drive system; Section III describes the model reference and the
 voltage remains equal to the reference voltage, determined
from the analog reference signal [5]. This occurs since any
variation in the amplitude of the cosine timing waves, caused
by a corresponding amplitude variation of the input supply
voltages, results in a shift of the firing instant so that maintain
an average mean output equal to the wanted reference output.
Another property of this method is that it produces the
theoretically minimum possible overall rms harmonic
distortion [5].

C. The circulating current-free mode of operation

In the circulating current-free mode of operation, each 2-
quadrant converter generates a voltage waveform at its output
terminals, and it conducts only during its associated load
current half cycle. During the ‘idle’ half-cycle, the converter is
completely blocked. Blocking of the idle converter was
achieved removing completely the firing pulses.
Figure 1. Six-pulse cycloconverter system feeding a three phase RL load
Fig.3 shows a simplified diagram of the control scheme
used for the free circulating current cycloconverter.
B. Firing Pulse Generator
In order to control the output voltage of the cycloconverter,
the phase-angle control is needed for commanding the
thyristor firing pulses. The firing control algorithm and the
real time reference model were based on the Cosine Wave Positive Negative
Crossing Method [5], [6], [7]. The basic principle is to Converter Current Converter
Transducer
determine the firing point for each thyristor from the
“crossing” point of an associated “cosine time wave” with the Firing Pulses
Iload Firing Pulses

analog reference voltage. The cosine time wave is derived Gate P PE NE Gate N
Logic Current Logic
from, and synchronized to, the converter a-c input voltage. Zero - Crossing
The synchronization was made using a Phase-Locked-Loop Detector
method (PLL); this method provides a suitable solution within ZCP ZCN
a wide frequency range following the reference frequency [8], Positive Negative
Converter Selector
[9]. Firing Pulse
PE and NE
Firing Pulse
Generator Generator
Dead Time
CWM CWM
Generator

Figure 3. Diagrammatic representation of a simple control scheme for a

circulating current-free dual-converter

The function of each firing pulse generators is to supply

Figure 2. Six-pulse cycloconverter system feeding a three-phase RL load
The cosine wave crossing control principle is illustrated by
the waveforms of Fig.2. Each firing pulse starts at the point at
which the associated cosine timing waves become equal to the
reference voltage. That is,
VT cos θi = vR
A natural feature of the cosine wave crossing timing
method is the automatic compensation of the output voltage,
with respect to the supply voltages changes, such that output
gate signals for every thyristors of the associated converter.
The phase of the gates signals is controlled by the control
voltage, Vcontrol, wich in practice, can come from a “error
signal” derived from a feedback control loop.
The ZCP and ZCN input signal to the converter selector
block are obtained from the output of the current zero-crosing
detector circuit. The purpose of this latter block is to provide a
pulse at its outputs ZCP when the current is larger or equal
(1) than zero, and a pulse at ZCN when the current is less or equal
than zero. These signals are used to synchronize the dead-
time generator and to produce the pseudo-complementary
outputs PE and NE of the converter selector block, wich are
from an AND between the “dead time pin” DT and the ZCP
and ZCN signals (Fig.4).
Figure 4. Diagrammatic representation of a simple control scheme for a
circulating current free dual-converter
D. Operation under normal conditions
In order to simulate and to detect faults conditions of the
cycloconverter is necessary to know and understand the normal
behavior of the cycloconverter drive system. For this purpose, a
controlled three-phase, six-pulse cycloconverter system,
operating from a 50 Hz input, fed a RL load, was simulated.
Fig.5 presents simulation results. The voltage and current
waveforms corresponds to a 6-pulse cycloconverter operating
at 10 Hz output frequency.
Fig.6 presents experimental results obtained from the
constructed cycloconverter drive system. It can be observed
that simulation and experimental results agree very well.
Figure 5. Load current (upper), load voltage (middle) and cycloconverter
input current under normal operation conditions (Simulation)
Figure 6. Load voltage (upper), load current (middle) and cycloconverter
input current under normal operation conditions (Field measure)
III. CYCLOCONVERTER REFERENCE MODEL AND FAULT
DETECTION METHOD
A. Reference Model
For fault detection purposes in cycloconverter abnormal
operation, based on an error signal between sensed load
voltage and a cycloconverter reference waveform, it is
necessary the use of a reference model that allows obtaining a
real-time theoretical output waveform of the converter, and
thus generating the error signal
The cycloconverter output voltage can be determined, at
each k sample time, as
Vmod[k] = H[k] · Vs[k] (2)
where Vmod[k] and Vs[k] are 3x1 matrix and represent the 3-
phase output and input voltages, respectively. H[k] is the
transfer function 3x3 matrix for the converter and represents
the six possible states of a 6-pulse phase controlled converter
and the six line voltages that can be applied to the load. To
model these six possible states, each row of the transfer
function must be [3]
H1= [1 -1 0] H2= [1 0 -0] H1= [0 1 -1]
H4= [-1 1 0] H5= [-1 0 1] H6= [0 -1 1]
At each sample time, the transfer function choice is made
based on the information about firing pulses signals given by
the modulation method used, in this case cosine wave crossing
control. In order to simplify the analysis, let us consider the
firing pulses p1…p6 for the positive bridge thyristors T1…T6
that generate a-phase load voltage, shown in Fig.1. For
example, if the modulation method shows that firing pulses p3
and p4 for thyristors T3 and T4 are active, means that the
cycloconverter will apply Vba line voltage to the load,
therefore the reference model must choose H4 for the first row
of the transfer function H[k]. In a general way, if firing pulses
pn-1 and pn for thyristors Tn-1 and Tn are active, the transfer
function row that models the cycloconverter output is Hn, ∀n
∈ [1,…,6].
B. Fault Detection Method
Fault detection method use the sensed output voltage of the
cycloconverter and the reference model output waveform to
generate an error signal. This error is computed on line at each
sampling time and stored into a N-length circular buffer to
calculate the area under error signal EAk, this value is
compared with a threshold level, defined by the tolerance
allowed in the converter. If the EAk exceeds the threshold
level, a fault detection signal is activated and the
semiconductor who presents a fault is reported.
The error area, at a k-sampling time, is calculated in a real
Figure 8. The experimental implementation scheme.
time operation using the N latest values of the computed error

N −1 A. Firing Pulse Failure

EAk = ∑ e[i ]∆TS
i =0
where ∆Ts is the sampling period. The method uses the area
under the error signal instead of error, due to the intrinsic
advantage of filtering error spikes that can be produced by
electrical transients.
The interaction between the reference model and the fault
detection method is presented in Fig.7.
N
(3) A common fault in phase-controlled converters is the loss
of a firing pulse signal used to control the thyristor turn-on,
and therefore the absence of firing signal that produce the
required gate current. When this failure occurs, a thyristor
doesn’t turn on and the commutation process with its adjacent
thyristor is lost. Its consequence is the lost of the quality
control of the load current, causing a big current error, due to a
wrong voltage waveform generated by converter. When this
failure happens while the converter is in the inverter-mode of
operation with an active load built by a synchronous motor, a
short-circuit fault is produced, because the thyristor which is
in On-state does not receive the needed negative voltage for
going to the Off-state.
This fault with RL load was simulated and forced in the
cycloconverter drive system disabling the firing pulse for
thyristor 1.3 (see Fig 9) on positive a phase rectifier. As
shown in Fig.9, if firing pulse for thyristor 1.3 is lost, this
semiconductor will not turn on and thyristor 1.1 will continue
conducting the load current due to absence of commutation
conditions. Important is to emphasize that the same

∑ consequences in load voltage waveform can be generated by

k =0
another failures, like commutation failure during the inverter
mode operation or turn-on failure.
Load currents and voltages behaviour under faulty
conditions and fault detection algorithm output signal are
Figure 7. Block diagram of fault detection algorithm depicted in Fig 10 y 11, for simulation and real
implementation.

IV. CYCLOCONVERTER FAULTS AND EXPERIMENTAL

RESULTS
To probe the fault detection strategy and the behavior of
converter reference model, previously mentioned, the study of
abnormal conditions in cycloconverter drive system was
mainly focused on two faulty conditions: Firing Pulses Failure
and Thyristor with loss of Blocking Capability.
The experimental implementation scheme, using
TMS320F2812 DSP platform for signal processing, is
illustrated in Fig.8. Figure 9. Loss of Firing Pulse Signal for Thyristor T(1.3).
 1.3
1.1

1.5

Load
1.4

1.6

1.2
Figure 12. Loss of Blocking Capability in Thyristor T(1.3)

Figure 10. Current (upper) and Voltage (lower) Waveforms Under Firing
Pulses Failure (Simulation)

Figure 13. Current (upper), Voltage (middle) and Secondary Transformer

Windings Currents (lower) Waveforms Under the Loss of
Blocking Capability in Thyristor T(1.3) (Simulation)

Figure 11. Voltage (upper) and Current (middle) Waveforms and Fault
Detection Signal (lower) Under Firing Pulses Failure
(Experimental)

B. Loss of blocking capability

Another abnormal operation occurs when a semiconductor
losses its blocking capability. It happens in the way that it
becomes conductive in both directions and cannot block
voltages of any polarity. This fault commonly occurs in the
commutation process between two thyristors. In this process,
the thyristor in conduction state cannot change to an open
circuit state, although its anode-cathode voltage be negative,
while another thyristor change to a conduction state. In Fig 12
is shown the fault of thyristor T(1.3). Originally, T(1.3) and
T(1.4) are conducting the load current, and when T(1.5)
receives its gate pulse, starting the commutation process
between T(1.3) and T (1.5), thyristor T(1.3) fails and does not Figure 14. Voltage (upper), Current (middle-up), Secondary Transformer
stop the current conduction. Windings Currents (middle-down) Waveforms and Fault Detection
When thyristor T (1.3) fails, load current and voltage are Signal (lower) Under the Loss of Blocking Capability in Thyristor
T(1.3) (Experimental)
distorted, the secondary windings of transformer T1 are short-
circuited, originating large currents only limited by the
commutating impedance, that could damage the converter
semiconductors and transformer. Simulation and laboratory
experiment results are presented in Fig.13 y 14.
 V. CONCLUSION
This paper was mainly focused on the 6-pulse
Cycloconverter prototype construction as a way to validate the
simulated and proposed real-time converter model-based
method.
The advantage of the proposed method is the considerable
reduction of sensed variables needed for the fault detection
purposes. This method only needs to sense the generated
cycloconverter output voltage, which is based on reference
signals, to determinate which semiconductor is under failure
condition, and it does not need to be sensing all the
semiconductors that compose the converter.
Another characteristic of the proposed fault detection
method is the fact that it is integrated with the control system of
the converter, which improves the robustness of the fault
detection, because model-reference signals, actual measured
variables and control signals are kown.
The developed system can be employed for improving or
designing new monitoring and diagnostic systems, in order to
enhance the performance of the cycloconverter with better
procedures and instrumentation system for the real time
surveillance [3], for trouble shooting, fault detection and
recognition of abnormal operating conditions [4].
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by
Millennium Nucleus in Industrial Electronics and
Mechatronics granted by Mideplan-Chile and the support
given by Fundación Andes and the Technical University
Federico Santa Maria
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