Principle of Pulse-width modulation (PWM) for a four switch DC-DC converter.

This converter is based on the buck-converter and is capable of operating in four quadrants, thus it is sometimes called a four-quadrant chopper
circuit.
The circuit is comprised of four semiconductor switches with anti-parallel diodes across each switch. At any particular time, two switches have
to be switched on. In order to avoid a “shoot-through” fault or short-circuit which could lead to damage of the switches, the switches in each leg
should not be switched on at the same time. Thus, the switches in each leg are controlled so that when one is on, the other one is off. Any oth
combination of switches can be switched on at the same time, apart from the switches in the same leg. This four-quadrant chopper circuit is as
shown in figure 1.
 Figure 1 Four Quadrant Chopper Circuit
The principle of PWM is based on the comparison of two signals. These signals are the carrier signal which has a frequency equal to the
switching frequency, and a constant modulating signal called a control signal. The carrier signal for PWM for a multiple switch converter is a
triangular signal. A switching signal which turns a switch on or off is generated depending on the respective magnitudes of the two signals. The
PWM generator is as shown in figure….
 Figure 2 Block diagram of a Pulse Width Modulation

The switching logic can be simply explained as:

When vc ˃ vtri ; vg is positive and turns on a switch (or a pair of switches)
When vc  vtri ; vg is zero and turns off a switch (or pair of switches)
The schematic diagram of a chopper and its waveforms is as shown in figure 3. The control voltage to its gate is vc . The chopper is on for a time
ton and off for a time toff. The number of times the switch is turned on and off is called its frequency of operation or switching frequency and is
given by
1 1
fs =
t on +t off
= …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..….1
T

where T is the period

The duty cycle is given as
t on
D= ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………….2
T
The average value of the output voltage is given by
 T
1
Vo = ∫ v o dt …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3
T 0

t on
Vo = V = DVin ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4
T ¿
where Vin is the input voltage.

Figure 3 Schematic diagram of a Chopper (a) and Chopper Waveforms (b)

Controlling the full-bridge converter is achieved by comparing a triangular carrier signal at the switching frequency with a constant voltage
signal for PWM of the converter switches. The two PWM strategies used are the Bipolar PWM, where diagonally opposite switches are treated
as a pair and switches in each pair are turned on and off simultaneously and the Unipolar PWM, where the switches in each inverter leg are
controlled independently of the other leg.
Under the Bipolar PWM, a carrier signal which is a triangular signal at the switching frequency is compared with a constant control signal. The
switches are turned on and off in diagonally opposite pairs. Two switch control signals vg1 and vg2 are generated by the PWM module. Each
switch control signal turns a pair of switches on and off. Thus, vg1 controls T1 and T4, and vg2 controls T2 and T3.
The switching logic is:
When vc  vt ; vg1 is high and T1 and T4 are turned on, vg2 is low and T2 and T3 are turned off.
When vc  vt ; vg2 is high and T2 and T3 are turned on, vg1 is low and T1 and T4 are turned off
The PWM signals for the bipolar PWM are as shown in figure 4.
 Figure 4 Signal for Bipolar PWM
The output voltage of the converter is equal to the difference between the voltages at point A and point B with respect to the negative supply rail
N as shown in figure 5. The waveforms for the voltages at point A and B with respect to point N, respectively, the output voltage and the output
current are as shown in figure…
 Figure 5 Wave form of the voltage at point A and B
On the other hand, in unipolar PWM the switches in each leg are controlled independently of the other leg. This is achieved by using two
modulating signals vc and  vc for T1 and T2 and T3 and T4 respectively. Two switch control signals are generated; vg1 and its inverse turn T1 and
T2 on and off in such a way that the two are never on at the same time. Similarly, vg2 and its inverse turn T3 and T4 on and off in such a way that
the two are never on at the same time.
The switching logic is as:
When vc  vt ; vg1 is high and T1 is turned on while T2 is turned off.
When vc  vt ; vg1 is low and T1 is turned off while T2 is turned on.
When  vc  vt ; vg2 is high and T3 is turned on while T4 is turned off.
When  vc  vt ; vg2 is low and T3 is turned off while T4 is turned on.
The generation of the PWM signals for unipolar PWM is as shown in figure 6

Figure 6 Generation of PWM signals for unipolar PWM

The waveforms for the voltages at point A and B with respect to point N, respectively, the output voltage and the output current are as shown in
figure 7.

Figure 7 Waveforms for voltages at point A and B with respect to point N

PART B
The model consists of two input signals which are the modulating signal and the Sawtooth Carrier signal. The modulating signal goes through
the slider gain and then fed to the Unipolar Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Circuit where the signals are then compared. When the control
signal is greater than the carrier signal, the output gate signal (A) is high and turns on the Thyristor switch 1(T1). When the control signal is less
than the carrier signal, the output gate signal (B) is high and turns on the Thyristor switch 2(T2). When the negative control signal is greater than
the carrier signal, the output gate signal (-A) is high and turns on the Thyristor switch 3(T3). When the negative control signal is less than the
carrier signal, the output gate signal (-B) is high and turns on the Thyristor switch 4(T4), and at the same time output gate signal (-A) is low.

Figure : Unipolar PWM model

The figure shows the four quadrant circuit and the arrangement of the signals
 Figure Four quadrant Chopper Circuit

The complete unipolar PWM four quadrant chopper controlled drive (open loop drive) DC drive model is shown in figure below
 Figure 10 Model of a Unipolar PWM for a Full-bridge DC to DC converter in an Open Loop Drive

The following are the waveforms obtained for a duty cycle 0f 0.5 and 0.8
Figure 11 Waveforms of the Drive for a Duty cycle of 0.5
 Figure 12 Waveforms of the Drive for a Duty Cycle of 0.8

The following shows figure how the speed, armature current and electrical torque are affected when the motor is started on no-load and a load of
20 Nm is applied at t = 1 s. applying a torque at t=1 led to a decrease in speed and an increase in armature current and electrical torque.
 Figure o Speed, Armature Current and Torque for No-Load and a Load of 20Nm

From figure 14 the motor is started on no load and a load of 1000Nm is added at 1s. Before the load is added the speed is positive showing that
the motor runs, when a large load torque is added at 1s and a negative speed is obtained in the results, this means that the motor is overloaded
and cannot run. The armature current is increased to 800 amperes (A), when the load torque is applied at 1s and the electrical torque also
increases to 1000 Newton-meter (Nm).
 Figure 14 Graphs of Speed, Armature Current and Electrical Torque for No-Load and a load of 1000Nm

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

There is no current limiting in the control system as observed by the high armature current when starting. In practice this is unacceptable because
it would lead to damage of the MOSFET due to the excessive current.
The speed is determined by the duty cycle of the converter and the load torque, and thus cannot be controlled accurately.
Such a drive is not suitable in applications where accurate (or precise) speed control is required. In such applications a closed-loop drive will be
more suitable.
PART C

Figure 15 Model of a Closed loop cascaded control system

The two input signals are the reference speed signal (Ꞷ_ref) (which is acting as the control signal for the speed controller circuit) and Measured
speed of DC motor (ω m). The speed controller and current controller in figure…… and figure….. is of the discrete time (or digital) PI type. ZOH
and ZOH1 are zero-order holds which convert the measured and reference speed into digital signals. The ZOH represents the analogue-to-digital
converter (ADC) used in a practical drive. A current limiter limits the current to 50 A but the current controller has no limiter. The current
limiter ensures that the armature current will not go beyond the rated capacity of the converter, but it slows down the acceleration of the motor
when starting. The output of the speed controller is the reference armature current (current_ref).
The figure…… shows the shows how the signals are being compared in the Bipolar Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Circuit. From the figure….
When the control signal is greater than the carrier signal, the output gate signal (A) is high, turns on the Thyristor switch 1(T1) and turns on the
Thyristor switch 3(T3), and the output gate signal (B) is low. When the control signal is less than the carrier signal, the output gate signal (B) is
high, turns on the Thyristor switch 2(T2) and turns on the Thyristor switch 4(T4), and at the same time output gate signal(A) is low. The four
quadrant circuit and how the signals are arranged to give the desired output voltage.
The output voltage is used to drive a 5 hp, 1750 rpm, 240 V DC motor with a rated field voltage of 150 V (a preset model in SimPowerSystems)
as shown in the figure….
Starting of the motor.
The waveforms obtained from the drive are shown in Figure… for a reference speed of 100 rad/s. The measured speed reaches steady state speed
of 100 rad/s following the reference speed W_ref from the Figure…., and the measured armature current is limited to 50 A (though with some
spikes) during the start-up of the motor and after 0.4s it’s goes steady state current. The measured electrical torque is limited due to the limiting
of the armature current (though with some spikes) during the start-up of the motor and after 0.4s it goes steady state electrical torque.
The performance of the speed controller and the current controller can be determined from the waveforms of the reference speed and reference
current, the measured speed and measured current and the respective error for each controller. The waveforms for the speed controller and
current controller are shown in Figure…. and Figure….. respectively. From the waveforms in the figure… the measured speed becomes equal to
the reference speed after the starting transient and the error settles down at a value of 0 (the desired error in any control system). From the
waveforms in the figure… the measured armature current becomes settles down and reaches steady state after the starting transient and the error
settles down at a value of 0 (the desired error in any control system)
Changing speed reference.
The waveforms of motor speed, armature current and electrical torque in the figure…. shows a changing speed reference from 90 rad/s to 180
rad/s. The speed at t = 1s is increased from 90 rad/s to 180 rad/s, while the armature current and electrical torque also increase to facilitate the
acceleration of the motor. When the speed reaches its new steady state value, the armature current and the electrical torque reduced to their first
steady state values because the load torque on the motor has not altered, therefore the electrical torque required to drive the load was the same as
it was before.
The waveforms for the speed controller are shown in Figure……. the measured speed followed the reference speed, and when the reference
speed is increased, the measured speed also increases. The measured speed cannot change instantaneously due to the inertia of the motor and the
attached load, and it increases at a rate determined by the electrical torque.
The waveforms for the current controller are shown in Figure…... At moment when the motor started and the speed reference is increased, the
current reference increased and is only limited by the current limiter because the motor requires more torque to accelerate up to the new
reference speed. From the figure…The measured current followed the reference current accurately at all times even when the reference current
changed very fast because the current controller has got much faster dynamics than the speed controller and when properly tuned is able to
respond very fast to changes in the reference current.
Changing load torque.
The motor speed, armature current and electrical torque waveforms in figure … shows when there is an increase in load torque from 15 Nm to
30 Nm with a reference speed of 150 rad/s. From the results in the figure…the armature current and electrical torque increased when the load
torque increased at t = 1 s. However, the speed remains constant at 150 rad/s after a brief transient. The ability to maintain a constant speed at
different mechanical loads is one of the main advantages of a closed-loop drive.