Unit 12 Pulse Width Modulation Techniques

12.1 Introduction of PWM techniques

What is PWM?

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is a modulation technique that the

width of the pulse, or the duty ratio of a pulse signal, is controlled by
input modulation signal.

A PWM signal consists of two main components that define its

behavior: a duty cycle and a frequency.

What is the duty cycle of PWM ?

The duty cycle describes the amount of time that the signal is in a
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high state tH as a percentage of the total time of it takes to complete
one cycle T.
tH
D=
Duty cycle: T .
A low duty cycle corresponds to low power, because the power is off
for most of the time. Duty cycle D is expressed in percent, 100%
being fully on.

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What is the frequency of PWM ?
The frequency f is the number of cycles per second, which determines
how fast the PWM completes a cycle (i.e. 1000 Hz would be 1000
cycles per second), and therefore how fast it switches between high
state and low state.

What is the period of PWM?

The period of PWM T means the total time of PWM takes to complete
one cycle.
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T=
The period: f .

How PWM works?

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If we consider a pulse waveform f (t ) , with period T, logic low
value ymin, a logic high value ymax and a duty cycle D, the average
value of the waveform is given by:
1 T
y = ∫ f (t )dt
T 0
As f (t ) is a pulse wave, its value is
 ymax 0 < t < D ⋅T
f (t ) = 
 ymin D ⋅T < t < T .

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The above expression then becomes:
1 DT
T 0
( T
y = ∫ y max dt + ∫ y min dt
DT
)
D ⋅ T ⋅ y max + (1 − D ) ⋅ T ⋅ y min
=
T
= D ⋅ y max + (1 − D ) ⋅ y min
y = D ⋅ y max + (1 − D ) ⋅ y min
If y min = 0 , y = D ⋅ y max .

From this, it is obvious that the average value of the signal ( y ) is

directly dependent on the duty cycle D.

Example: To create a 3V signal given a digital source that can be

either logic high at 5V or logic low at 0V, you can use PWM with a
duty cycle of 60% to create this 3 V signal:
y = D ⋅ y max + (1 − D ) ⋅ y min = 60% × 5V + (1 − 60%) × 0 = 3V
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 If the digital signal is cycled fast enough, then the voltage seen at
the output appears to be the average voltage.
 If the digital low is 0V (which is usually the case) then the average
voltage can be calculated by taking the digital high voltage
multiplied by the duty cycle, or y = D ⋅ y max = 0.6 × 5 = 3V .
 Selecting a duty cycle of 80% would yield 0.8 × 5 = 4V , 20% would
yield 0.2 × 5 = 1V , and so on.

How to control the duty cycle and generate a PWM waveform?

HIGH: red > triangle

Low: red < triangle

 First you generate a triangle waveform as shown in the diagram

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 above. We compare it with a 'demand' voltage, which you adjust to
control the ratio of "on" to "off" time that you require. When the
'demand' voltage is above the triangle waveform, the output goes
high. When the demand voltage is below the triangle waveform, the
output goes low.

 The triangle waveform, which has approximately equal rise and fall
slopes, is one of the commonest used, but you can also use a saw-
tooth (where the voltage rises slowly and falls quickly).

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 There is an integrated circuit called a comparator to generate PWM
signal.

PWM using a saw-tooth generator and a voltage comparator.

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12.2 PWM in AC motor control
 Because of the advances in solid state power devices and
microprocessors, switching power converters are used in
industrial applications to convert and deliver their required energy
to motors or other loads.
 The voltage of power supply of an AC machine needs a dominant
fundamental sine-wave component and small harmonic
components.
 PWM signals are pulse trains with fixed switching frequency and
magnitude and variable pulse width.
 PWM is to use pulse width to generate
suitable voltage for load. A large number
of pulses per cycle are used in order to
synthesize a voltage wave.

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Disadvantages of PWM:
1. Increase of switching losses due to high PWM frequency.
2. Reduction of available voltage.
3. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) problem due to high-order
harmonics.
for motor drive, about 1-2kHz. but switching freq for
switch mode power sypply is 50kHA,

Main objectives of PWM:

SMPS: resistive
Motor: inductive, braking inductive circuit is difficult.

1. Control of inverter output AC voltage.

and inductive stores energy.

2. Reduction of harmonics.

Replacing a square waveform (the harmonics contained are 1, 3,

5, ...2k ± 1 etc) with a staircase waveform (the harmonics contained
are 1, 5 & 7, 11 & 13, ...6k ± 1 etc), the harmonics can be reduced.
3 phase
A phase: Vmax *sin(wt)
B phase: Vmax *sin(wt-2pi/3)
C phase: Vmax *sin(wt+2pi/3)
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 Six-step Inverter: this type of inverter, can't control voltage

By applying Fourier series:

2 3  1 
v AB = Vd sin(ωt + π / 6) + sin(5ωt + π / 6) + 
π  5 
2  1 
v AN = Vd sin ωt + sin 5ωt + 
π  5 
The rms fundamental phase voltage is
2
V1 = Vd
π , which needs additional voltage
control by a dc-dc converter or
controlled rectifier.
only 6 switching, so switching losses is fewer.
This method can only control the freq, Vmax is cons (sqr2/pi*Vd), so
const V/f cannot be made doesn't look like sinusodial, high harmonics 11
 have triplen (multiple of 3 )
harmonics here

the problem with this configuration is more harmonics

If we need to further reduce the high-order harmonics to produce a
more sinusoidal signal, we should reduce the time intervals.

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12.3 Basic principles of PWM

The equal-area (volt-seconds) theorem:

 The sampling control theory has an important conclusion: If the
impulses are equal, the effects of narrow pulses with different
shapes are basically the same.
 Impulse means the area of the narrow pulse. The result basically
the same means the outputs are basically the same.
 Responses tend to be identical when input signals have the same
area.
freq of Vtri = fpwn = PWM freq
freq of Vcontrol = fundamental freq of Vout
peak value of Vcontrol = amplitude of Vout

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Application of equal-area (volt-seconds) theorem:

This conclusion gives an important theoretical foundation for PWM.

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One leg of single-phase inverter

Inverter output voltage:

When vcontrol > vtri, VA0 = Vdc/2

When vcontrol < vtri, VA0 = -Vdc/2

High -> wider square

Low -> narrower square
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Single-phase inverter

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Three-phase inverter

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Waveforms of three-phase sin PWM inverter

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Characteristics of PWM

because tri period = period of PWM (includes +ve

and -ve ), so tri freq = PWM freq
normal power system
freq: 50hz
normal switching freq, 50Khz

• PWM frequency fpwm is the same as the frequency of

carrier vtri (switching frequency).
• Amplitude of the output voltage is controlled by the peak
value of vcontrol.
• Fundamental frequency of the output voltage is
controlled by the frequency of vcontrol (modulation
frequency).
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Amplitude modulation ratio (M)

Peak amplitude of vcontrol Peak value of (VA0 )1

M= =
Amplitude of vtri Vdc 2

where, (VA0)1: the fundamental-frequency component of VA0.

Frequency modulation ratio (p)

PWM frequency f tri
p= =
fundamental frequency f control

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Characteristics of PWM
 The higher the switching frequency, the better will be the
quality of the sine wave.
Phase voltage:
switching freq or carrier
freq = PWM freq

Phase current:

most of the time in practical use

P >50

p=5 p=33
you can still see some ripples 21
 The switching frequency is called the carrier frequency or PWM
frequency.

 The control fundamental frequency is also called the modulation

frequency.

 If the ratio of the carrier frequency to the fundamental sine wave

p is high, the harmonics in the voltage, current and magnetic field
will be small.

 Example: For 50 Hz required fundamental frequency, if the

carrier frequency (PWM frequency) is 12 kHz, this gives
p=12 kHz / 50 Hz =240
which could have a very low harmonic waveform. but also much larger
switching loss
resonant freq: means boundary freq
LPF, after resonant freq, gain smaller 22
HPF, before resonant freq, gain smaller
 XL= 2pi*f*L; XC=1/(2pi*f*C) ;
PWM Inverter vs 6-Step Inverter: lower freq, lower XL higher Xc, so
Vout (Xc/(Xc+XL)*Vin) higher
The drawbacks of 6-step
inverters are eliminated:
• Because of the low-
frequency harmonics, the motor
losses are increased causing
derating of the motor.
• Torque pulsations are present
at low speeds owing to the lower
order harmonics.
• The L-C filter using to
suppress the DC voltage ripple slows down the transient response.
so don't just say use stronger LC filter, because it will slow down the response

There are many schemes of PWM, which use the same power circuit
as that of the 6-step inverter.
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References:

[1] G.R.Slemon, Electric Machines and Drives, Addison Wesley, 1992

[2] B.K.Bose, Power Electronics and AC Drives, Prentice-Hall, 1986
[3] G.K.Dubey, Power Semiconductor controlled drives, Prentice Hall,
1989.
[4] http://www.hassockshog.co.uk/motor_controller_description.htm
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation
[6]
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/294E67623752656686256DB80050
8989
[7] http://users.wpi.edu/~goulet/Matlab/overlap/efs.html

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