Design and implementation of an FPGA-based real-time simulator for a dual three-phase induction motor drive

Abstract

This paper presents a digital hardware implementation of a real-time simulator for a multiphase drive using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device. The simulator was developed with a modular and hierarchical design using very high-speed integrated circuit hardware description language (VHDL). Hence, this simulator is flexible and portable. A state-space representation model suitable for FPGA implementations was proposed for a dual three-phase induction machine (DTPIM). The simulator also models a two-level 12-pulse insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)-based voltage-source converter (VSC), a pulse-width modulation scheme, and a measurement system. Real-time simulation outputs (stator currents and rotor speed) were validated under steady-state and transient conditions using as reference an experimental test bench based on a DTPIM with 15 kW-rated power. The accuracy of the proposed digital hardware implementation was evaluated according to the simulation and experimental results. Finally, statistical performance parameters were provided to analyze the efficiency of the proposed DTPIM hardware implementation method.