Hybrid Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel-Inverter Induction-Motor-Drive Direct Torque Control for Automotive Applications

This paper presents a hybrid cascaded H-bridge multilevel motor drive direct torque control (DTC) scheme for electric vehicles (EVs) or hybrid EVs. The control method is based on DTC operating principles. The stator voltage vector reference is computed from the stator flux and torque errors imposed by the flux and torque controllers. This voltage reference is then generated using a hybrid cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter, where each phase of the inverter can be implemented using a dc source, which would be available from fuel cells, batteries, or ultracapacitors. This inverter provides nearly sinusoidal voltages with very low distortion, even without filtering, using fewer switching devices. In addition, the multilevel inverter can generate a high and fixed switching frequency output voltage with fewer switching losses, since only the small power cells of the inverter operate at a high switching rate. Therefore, a high performance and also efficient torque and flux controllers are obtained, enabling a DTC solution for multilevel-inverter-powered motor drives.