Evaluation of model‐free predictive current control in three‐phase permanent magnet synchronous motor drives fed by three‐level neutral‐point‐clamped inverters

This article evaluates the model‐free predictive current control for three‐level inverter‐fed permanent magnet synchronous motor drives based on a full‐update technique of dq‐axes current variations. The proposed method is implemented in three steps. First, the defined feature current variations are calculated relying on the projection relationship between the corresponding voltage vectors and are assigned to obtain the other current variations of the same category to enhance the updating frequency of dq‐axes current variations and the current quality as well. Second, a voltage pre‐selection is conducted in the predictive current control by virtue of the applied voltage vector. In this case, the enumeration of all available vectors is effectively omitted, yielding the reduced computational burden. At last, the unbalanced neutral‐point voltage of three‐level inverter is eliminated to improve the control performance. Experimental and simulated results have been employed to highlight the favorable performance of the proposed control strategy. This paper conceives a model free predictive current control solution for the PMSM fed by 3L‐NPC inverter. The full‐updating technique of LUTs and the voltage vector pre‐selection technique are skillfully aligned together to achieve a high‐quality effect. The proposed method jointly tackles the low updating frequency of LUTs, heavy computation requirements, unbalanced NPV, and the poor current tracking without complicated duty ratio calculation. Simulated and experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed MFPCC.