Assessment of Overmodulation Strategies for AC Drives Considering Harmonics Content and Switching Losses

This paper performs a comparative analysis of overmodulation methods for AC electric drives. Criteria for the analysis considers three aspects: output vs. commanded modulation index (i.e., linearity); harmonic content; and the number of commutations (i.e., switching losses). The analysis focuses on existing methods reported in the literature. Improvements for the existing methods will be proposed as a result of the analysis. The analysis is experimentally validated on a three-phase three-level Neutral-Point-Clamped (NPC) inverter.

Automated summary

This paper conducts a comparative analysis of overmodulation methods for AC electric drives, focusing on linearity, harmonic content, and switching losses. Improvements to existing methods are proposed based on the analysis, which is experimentally validated on a three-phase three-level NPC inverter.