Effects of modulation index on harmonics of SP-PWM inverter supplying universal motor

Abstract

This manuscript presents the effects of changing modulation indices on current and voltage harmonics of universal motor when it is supplied by single phase PWM (SP-PWM) inverter, the effect has been analyzed with simulation and experimental setup. For variable speed applications universal motor can be controlled either by phase angle control drive or by SP-PWM inverter drive. SP-PWM inverter-fed drive is common technique that is used to adjust the voltage applied to motor, so that variable speed can be obtained. With the application of SP-PWM inverter-fed drive, harmonics are generated because of power electronic devices. According to the IEEE standard 519, the total harmonic distortion (THD) must be within 5%. In this paper, the effect of modulation index (MI) is used to analyze THD content, and its variation alters the harmonic content. However, the effects are also analyzed through experimental setup in order to validate the system performance. In future work, keeping modulation index constant, different PWM strategies can be employed in order to decrease harmonics.