OPERATION OF A 3-PHASE FULLY-CONTROLLED RECTIFIER

CIRCUIT OPERATION
SYNCHRONIZING SIGNALS
MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS
SIMULATION
MATHCAD SIMULATION

CIRCUIT OPERATION
The operation of a 3-phase fully-controlled bridge rectifier circuit is described in this page. A
three-phase fully-controlled bridge rectifier can be constructed using six SCRs as shown below.

The three-phase bridge rectifier circuit has three-legs, each phase connected to one of the three
phase voltages. Alternatively, it can be seen that the bridge circuit has two halves, the positive
half consisting of the SCRs S1, S3 and S5 and the negative half consisting of the SCRs S2,
S4 and S6. At any time, one SCR from each half conducts when there is current flow. If the
phase sequence of the source be RYB, the SCRs are triggered in the sequence S1, S2 , S3 , S4,
S5 , S6 and S1 and so on.

The operation of the circuit is first explained with the assumption that diodes are used in place
of the SCRs. The three-phase voltages vary as shown below.

Let the three-phase voltages be defined as shown below.

It can be seen that the R-phase voltage is the highest of the three-phase voltages when  is in
the range from 30o to 150o. It can also be seen that Y-phase voltage is the highest of the three-
phase voltages when  is in the range from 150o to 270o and that B-phase voltage is the highest
of the three-phase voltages when  is in the range from 270o to 390o or 30o in the next cycle.
We also find that R-phase voltage is the lowest of the three-phase voltages when  is in the
range from 210o to 330o. It can also be seen that Y-phase voltage is the lowest of the three-
phase voltages when  is in the range from 330o to 450o or 90o in the next cycle, and that B-
phase voltage is the lowest when  is in the range from 90o to 210o. If diodes are used, diode
D1 in place of S1 would conduct from 30o to 150o, diode D3 would conduct from 150o to 270o
and diode D5 from 270o to 390o or 30o in the next cycle. In the same way, diode D4 would
conduct from 210o to 330o, diode D6 from 330o to 450o or 90o in the next cycle, and diode
D2 would conduct from 90o to 210o. The positive rail of output voltage of the bridge is
connected to the topmost segments of the envelope of three-phase voltages and the negative rail
of the output voltage to the lowest segments of the envelope.

At any instant barring the change-over periods when current flow gets transferred from diode to
another, only one of the following pairs conducts at any time.

Period, range of  Diode Pair in conduction

30o to 90o D1 and D6
90o to 150o D1 and D2
150o to 210o D2 and D3
210o to 270o D3 and D4
270o to 330o D4 and D5
330o to 360o and 0o to 30o D5 and D6

If SCRs are used, their conduction can be delayed by choosing the desired firing angle. When
the SCRs are fired at 0o firing angle, the output of the bridge rectifier would be the same as that
of the circuit with diodes. For instance, it is seen that D1 starts conducting only after  = 30o.
In fact, it can start conducting only after  = 30o , since it is reverse-biased before = 30o. The
bias across D1 becomes zero when  = 30o and diode D1 starts getting forward-biased only
after  =30o. When vR() = E*Sin (), diode D1 is reverse-biased before  = 30o and it is
forward-biased when  30o. When firing angle to SCRs is zero degree, S1 is triggered
when  = 30o. This means that if a synchronizing signal is needed for triggering S1, that signal
voltage would lag vR() by 30o and if the firing angle is , SCR S1 is triggered when  =  +
30o. Given that the conduction is continuous, the following table presents the SCR pair in
conduction at any instant.

Period, range of  SCR Pair in conduction

 + 30o to  + 90o S1 and S6
 + 90o to  + 150o S1 and S2
 + 150o to  + 210o S2 and S3
 + 210o to  + 270o S3 and S4
 + 270o to  + 330o S4 and S5
 + 330o to  + 360o and  + 0o to  + 30o S5 and S6
The operation of the bridge-rectifier is illustrated with the help of an applet that follows this
paragraph. You can set the firing angle in the range 0o < firing angle < 180o and you can set
the instantaneous angle also. The applet displays the SCR pair in conduction at the chosen
instant. The current flow path is shown in red colour in the circuit diagram. The
instantaneous angle can be either set in its text-field or varied by dragging the scroll-bar
button. The rotating phasor diagram is quite useful to illustrate how the circuit operates. Once
the firing angle is set, the phasor position for firing angle is fixed. Then as the instantaneous
angle changes, the pair that conducts is connected to the thick orange arcs. One way to
visualize is to imagine two brushes which are 120o wide and the device in the phase connected
to the brush conducts. The brush that has "Firing angle " written beside it acts as the brush
connected to the positive rail and the other acts as if it is connected to the negative rail. This
diagram illustrates how the rectifier circuit acts as a commutator and converts ac to dc. The
output voltage is specified with the amplitude of phase voltage being assigned unity value.

SYNCHRONIZING SIGNALS
To vary the output voltage, it is necessary to vary the firing angle. In order to vary the firing
angle, one commonly used technique is to establish a synchronizing signal for each SCR. It
has been seen that zero degree firing angle occurs 30o degrees after the zero-crossing of the
respective phase voltage. If the synchronizing signal is to be a sinusoidal signal, it should lag
the respective phase by 30o and then the circuitry needed to generate a firing signal can be
similar to that described for single-phase. Instead of a single such circuit for a single phase
rectifier, we would need three such circuits.

When the 3-phase source supply connected to the rectifier is star-connected, the line voltages
and the phase voltages have a 30o phase angle difference between them, as shown below.

The line voltage can also be obtained as:

This line voltage lags the R-phase voltage by30o and has an amplitude which is 1.732 times the
amplitude of the phase voltage. The synchronizing signal for SCR S1 can be obtained based
on vRB line voltage. The synchronizing signals for the other SCRs can be obtained in a similar
manner.

To get the synchronizing signals, three control transformers can be used, with the primaries
connected in delta and the secondaries in star, as shown below.

For S1, voltage vS1 is used as the synchronizing signal. Voltage vS2 is used as the
synchronizing signal for SCR S2 and so on. The waveforms presented by the synchronizing
signals are as shown below. The waveforms do not show the effect of turns ratio, since any
instantaneous value has been normalized with respect to its peak value. For example, let the
primary phase voltage be 240 V and then its peak value is 339.4 V. The primary voltage is
normalized with respect to 339. V. If the peak voltage of each half of secondary is 10 V, the
secondary voltage are normalized with respect to 10 V.

MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS
Analysis of this three-phase controlled rectifier is in many ways similar to the analysis of
single-phase bridge rectifier circuit. We are interested in output voltage and the source
current. The average output voltage, the rms output voltage, the ripple content in output
voltage, the total rms line current, the fundamental rms current, THD in line current, the
displacement power factor and the apparent power factor are to be determined. In this
section, the analysis is carried out assuming that the load current is a steady dc value.

AVERAGE OUTPUT VOLTAGE

Before getting an expression for the output voltage, it is preferable to find out how the output
voltage waveform varies as the firing angle is varied. In one cycle of source voltage, six pairs
conduct, each pair for 60o. This means that the period for output waveform is one-sixth of the
period of line voltage. The output waveform repeats itself six times in one cycle of input
voltage. The waveform of output voltage can be determined by considering one pair. It is
seen that when vR() = E* Sin (), SCR S1 and S6 conduct when  varies from 30o+  to
90o +  , where  is the firing angle. Then

The waveform of output can be plotted for different firing angles. The applet below takes in
the firing angle as an input and plots the output. The peak line-to-line voltage is marked as 'U'
and the applet starts with the instant an SCR is fired and displays the output waveform for one
input cycle period.

The average output voltage of the bridge circuit is calculated as follows, with a change in
variable, where  =  + 60o.

In the expression above, U is the peak line-to-line voltage, whereas E is the amplitude of phase
voltage of 3-phase supply.

RMS OUTPUT VOLTAGE

The rms output voltage is calculated as follows:

The ripple factor of the output voltage is then:

The applet below displays the average output voltage, the rms output voltage and the ripple
factor for the case of continuous conduction through the load.

It is seen that the average output voltage is negative when firing angle exceeds 90 o. It means
that power flow is from the dc side to the ac source. When the firing angle is kept in the region
0o <  < 90o, this circuit is said to be operating in the rectifier region. When the firing angle is
kept in the region 90o <  < 180o, this circuit is said to be operating in theinverter region.
When the circuit operates in the rectifier region, the net power flow is from the ac source to the
dc link. In the inverter region, the net power flow is in the reverse direction. To operate in the
inverter region, it is necessary to have a dc source present in the dc link which can provide the
power that is fed back to the ac source.

RMS LINE CURRENT

The rms value of line current is relatively easy to find out if dc link current is ripple-free and
steady. The load current is ripple-free if inductance in the dc link is relatively large. To
maintain load current at any firing angle, it is assumed that the dc link contains a voltage
source. Given that the resistance of the load circuit is zero, the voltage source should equal the
average output voltage of the bridge circuit, if dc link current remains steady at some value.
The waveforms shown below are based on the assumption that these conditions are met. It has
been shown that if vR() = E*Sin (), SCR S1 conducts when  varies from  + 30o to  +
90o and that SCR S4 conducts when  varies from  + 210o to  + 270o. If the amplitude of
dc load current is assigned to be unity, the line current waveform is then a rectangular pulse,
remaining at + 1 from  + 30o to  + 150o, at - 1 from  + 210o to  + 330o, and zero
elsewhere. The amplitude of fundamental in line current is then 3.464/which evaluates to
nearly 0.78) and the amplitude of other odd harmonics is 3.464/n, where n is the odd
harmonic number. When dc load current is steady and has a magnitude of unity, the rms line
current is obtained as shown in equation (5). The rms value of the fundamental is obtained as
shown in equation (6). Equation (6) is based on how trigonometric Fourier coefficients are
defined for waveforms with quarter-wave symmetry. When the line current is a rectangular and
symmetric, the phase current is the same as the line current and the fundamental component of
phase current lags the phase voltage by an angle equal to the firing angle. Hence the
displacement power factor is expressed as shown by equation (7). Since the line current is not
sinusoidal, the apparent power factor, usually referred to just as the power factor in most of the
texts, is less than DPF and is represented by equation (8). Since the line current is not
sinusoidal, the distortion component in the line current has to be computed. This component,
called the THD( Total Harmonic Distortion ), is calculated as shown in equation (9).
SIMULATION
The applet displayed below simulates the circuit in the form of animation. The only parameter
to be set is the firing angle and the program can be run for a single-cycle or stepped through.
You can click on Pause button to pause and view the display.
OPERATION WITH A RESISTIVE LOAD

CIRCUIT OPERATION
MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS
SIMULATION
PSPICE SIMULATION
SUMMARY

CIRCUIT OPERATION

The three-phase fully-controlled bridge rectifier with a purely resistive load is shown above.
With any single-controlled rectifier circuit, the load current is unidirectional. Hence when the
output voltage of the bridge tends to become negative, the load current is zero and conduction
is discontinuous, with the output voltage clamped to zero volts. The operation of this circuit
has been described in detail in the previous page.
MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS
Since the load current tends to be discontinuous, two expressions for the average output voltage
can be derived, one for the continuous mode and the other for the discontinuous mode. In the
continuous mode, the average output voltage is as shown in equation (1). The conduction
becomes discontinuous when the firing angle exceeds 60o and remains less than 120o. Then the
average voltage is obtained as shown in equation (2).
In equations (1) and (2), the amplitude of phase voltage is designated as E and the amplitude of
line voltage is designaed as U.

The rms voltage is computed as follows. When  < 60o, the conduction is continuous and the
expression for the rms voltage is presented in equation (3), whereas equation (4) expresses the
rms voltage obtained when firing angle  > 60o.

The ripple factor can be found out as defined in the previous page.

The line/phase current can be defined as follows. Let R-phase voltage be defined to be

vR() = E*Sin ().

Then the R-phase current iR() is defined as follows, when the conduction is continuous.

When the conduction is discontinuous,

From this definition of phase current, the rms line current, the rms of the fundamental in line
current and its THD can be found out.

The applet below displays the average output voltage, the rms output voltage, its ripple factor,
the rms line current, the fundamental rms content in line current and its THD as a function of
firing angle. The peak average output voltage, (3U/), is taken to be unity and (3U/R) is set
equal to unity, where R is the load resistor.

SIMULATION
The applet shown below displays the source voltage, the output voltage, the current in R-phase
and the voltage across SCR S1. In addition, the relevant statistical details are also displayed.
To run the applet, key-in the firing angle and then click on Start Button.

PSPICE SIMULATION
The Pspice program for simulation of this three-phase rectifier circuit is presented below. The
model used for the SCRs is the same as defined for the single-phase fully-controlled bridge
rectifier. The three-phase brdige rectifier contains six SCRs and it is necessary to define six
pulse sources, one for each SCR. The pulse sources have been defined for a firing angle of
30o and the frequency of the three-phase source is 50 Hz. At any time two SCRs need to
conduct, one from the top half and another bottom half and hence only if one SCR is triggered
at a time, conduction may never get established. To overcome this problem, two SCRs are
triggered at the same time. For example, when SCR S2 is to be triggered, SCR S1is also
triggered. In the same way, when SCR S3 is to be triggered, SCR S2 is also triggered and so
on. In order to effect this in program, one voltage-controlled voltage source is defined for each
SCR. The dependent source defined for SCR S1 is dependent on two sources, the pulse source
that defines when SCR S1 is to be triggered and the pulse source that defines when SCR S2 is to
be triggered.

* Three-phase Full-wave Fully-Controlled Bridge Rectifier

VA 1 0 SIN(0 340V 50Hz)
VB 2 0 SIN(0 340V 50Hz 0 0 -120)
VC 3 0 SIN(0 340V 50Hz 0 0 -240)
XT1 1 4 11 4 SCR
XT3 2 4 13 4 SCR
XT5 3 4 15 4 SCR
XT4 5 1 14 1 SCR
XT6 5 2 16 2 SCR
XT2 5 3 12 3 SCR
RP 4 0 100K
RN 5 0 100K
R1 4 5 10

VP1 21 0 PULSE(0 10 3333.3U 1N 1N 100U 20M)

VP2 22 0 PULSE(0 10 6666.7U 1N 1N 100U 20M)
VP3 23 0 PULSE(0 10 10M 1N 1N 100U 20M)
VP4 24 0 PULSE(0 10 13333.3U 1N 1N 100U 20M)
VP5 25 0 PULSE(0 10 16666.7U 1N 1N 100U 20M)
VP6 26 0 PULSE(0 10 0M 1N 1N 100U 20M)
RP1 21 0 100K
RP2 22 0 100K
RP3 23 0 100K
RP4 24 0 100K
RP5 25 0 100K
RP6 26 0 100K
EP1 11 4 poly(2) (21,0) (22,0) 0 1 1
EP2 12 3 poly(2) (22,0) (23,0) 0 1 1
EP3 13 4 poly(2) (23,0) (24,0) 0 1 1
EP4 14 1 poly(2) (24,0) (25,0) 0 1 1
EP5 15 4 poly(2) (25,0) (26,0) 0 1 1
EP6 16 2 poly(2) (26,0) (21,0) 0 1 1

* Subcircuit for SCR

.SUBCKT SCR 101 102 103 102
S1 101 105 106 102 SMOD
RG 103 104 50
VX 104 102 DC 0
VY 105 107 DC 0
DT 107 102 DMOD
RT 106 102 1
CT 106 102 10U
F1 102 106 POLY(2) VX VY 0 50 11
.MODEL SMOD VSWITCH(RON=0.0105 ROFF=10E+5 VON=0.5 VOFF=0)
.MODEL DMOD D((IS=2.2E-15 BV=1200 TT=0 CJO=0)
.ENDS SCR
.TRAN 10US 60.0MS 0.0MS 10US
.PROBE
.OPTIONS(ABSTOL=1N RELTOL=.01 VNTOL=1MV)
.END
The responses obtained for a load resistance of 10 are presented below.

The Output Voltage Waveform

The Line Current(phase A) Waveform

The Voltage(SCR S1) Waveform

SUMMARY
This page has described the operation of the three-phase fully-controlled bridge rectifier with a
resistive load. The next page describes how this rectifier functions when the load contains an
inductor also.
OPERATION WITH RL LOAD

CIRCUIT OPERATION
MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS
SIMULATION

PSPICE SIMULATION
MATHCAD SIMULATION
SUMMARY
CIRCUIT OPERATION

The circuit of a three-phase fully-controlled bridge rectifier circuit with an RL load and a
voltage source has been shown above. The purpose of providing a dc source in the dc link is to
illustrate how two-quadrant operation can take place. When the firing angle is held between
0o and 90o, the circuit operates in the rectifier region. When the firing angle is held between
90o and 180o, the circuit can operate in the inverter region if the source E is sufficiently
negative. In the inverter region, power flow is from the dc link to the ac 3-phase source. The
inductor reduces ripple in dc link current.
MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS
When current flow in the dc link is continuous, the average output voltage can be calculated as
outlined in the previous page. It is difficult to estimate what the average output would be if
there is a source present in the dc link and the conduction is discontinuous. If there be no
source in the dc link, the average output voltage for discontinuous conduction is expressed by
equation (1). The analysis of the circuit is along the lines described for the single-phase
controlled rectifier circuit. In order to get an expression for the line/phase current, it is
necessary to get an expression for the load current. The expression for load current is obtained
from the expression for output voltage. The output voltage is described by equation (2).

The differential equation that describes the load current is expressed by equation (3). The
solution is of the form expressed by equation (4). The impedance of load is Z and the load
angle is . They are defined as shown in equation (5).
In the equation above, w is the angular frequency in radians/second corresponding to the
source frequency. When the load current is continuous, equation (6) is valid. Using equation
(6), equation (7) is obtained. Solving for A, we get equation (8). When the conduction is
discontinuous, iL(0) = 0 and then A is evaluated as shown in equation (9).
Once the value of A is known, the load current can be found out. From the load current, an
expression for the line current can be obtained. When SCR S1 is ON, the line current equals
the load current. The line current is the negative of load current when SCR S4 is ON, and it is
zero when neither S1 nor S4 is ON. From the expression of the load current, the rms value of
line current, the rms value of the fundamental component of line current, the THD in line
current, the harmonic spectrum of line current, the DPF and the apparent power factor can be
determined as outlined in the earlier pages.

SIMULATION
The parameters to be keyed in are the firing angle, the value of source in the dc link (between
1.0 and -1.0 preferably) and the ratio of load reactance to load resistance. The load reactance
is wL, where w is the angular frequency in rad/s corresponding to the ac source frequency.
Click on Start Button for the program to respond.

PSPICE SIMULATION
* Three-phase Full-wave Fully-Controlled Bridge Rectifier
VA 1 0 SIN(0 340V 50Hz)
VB 2 0 SIN(0 340V 50Hz 0 0 -120)
VC 3 0 SIN(0 340V 50Hz 0 0 -240)
XT1 1 4 11 4 SCR
XT3 2 4 13 4 SCR
XT5 3 4 15 4 SCR
XT4 5 1 14 1 SCR
XT6 5 2 16 2 SCR
XT2 5 3 12 3 SCR
RP 4 0 100K
RN 5 0 100K
R1 4 6 10
L1 6 5 31.8M

VP1 21 0 PULSE(0 10 3333.3U 1N 1N 100U 20M)

VP2 22 0 PULSE(0 10 6666.7U 1N 1N 100U 20M)
VP3 23 0 PULSE(0 10 10M 1N 1N 100U 20M)
VP4 24 0 PULSE(0 10 13333.3U 1N 1N 100U 20M)
VP5 25 0 PULSE(0 10 16666.7U 1N 1N 100U 20M)
VP6 26 0 PULSE(0 10 0M 1N 1N 100U 20M)
RP1 21 0 100K
RP2 22 0 100K
RP3 23 0 100K
RP4 24 0 100K
RP5 25 0 100K
RP6 26 0 100K
EP1 11 4 poly(2) (21,0) (22,0) 0 1 1
EP2 12 3 poly(2) (22,0) (23,0) 0 1 1
EP3 13 4 poly(2) (23,0) (24,0) 0 1 1
EP4 14 1 poly(2) (24,0) (25,0) 0 1 1
EP5 15 4 poly(2) (25,0) (26,0) 0 1 1
EP6 16 2 poly(2) (26,0) (21,0) 0 1 1

* Subcircuit for SCR

.SUBCKT SCR 101 102 103 102
S1 101 105 106 102 SMOD
RG 103 104 50
VX 104 102 DC 0
VY 105 107 DC 0
DT 107 102 DMOD
RT 106 102 1
CT 106 102 10U
F1 102 106 POLY(2) VX VY 0 50 11
.MODEL SMOD VSWITCH(RON=0.0105 ROFF=10E+5 VON=0.5 VOFF=0)
.MODEL DMOD D((IS=2.2E-15 BV=1200 TT=0 CJO=0)
.ENDS SCR

.TRAN 10US 60.0MS 0.0MS 10US

.PROBE
.FOUR 50 V(4,5) I(VA) I(L1)
.OPTIONS(ABSTOL=1N RELTOL=.01 VNTOL=1MV)
.END
The results of the Fourier series analysis are presented below.

The Fourier Series Spectrum of the output voltage

The Fourier Series Spectrum of the Line Current (Phase A)

The Fourier Series Spectrum of the Load Current

It can be seen that the lowest harmonic frequency in the output voltage is at 300 Hz, the sixth
harmonic, whereas there is hardly any harmonic present in the load current because of the
relatively large inductance in the load circuit. On the other hand, the 5-th and the 7-th
harmonics are visibly high in the line current.
CIRCUIT OPERATION
MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS
SIMULATION
MATHCAD SIMULATION

SIMULATION USING C
SUMMARY

CIRCUIT OPERATION

The circuit of a three-phase fully-controlled bridge rectifier with source inductance is presented
above. The presence of source inductance introduces an additional mode of operation when the
firing angle is less than a certain value. Let us assume that SCRS S1 and S2 are in conduction
when SCR S3 is triggered. Then current from the 3-phase supply does not transfer from S1 to
S3 instantaneously, and the transfer of current, called commutation, takes a while. During this
commutation overlap, both S1 and S3 conduct in addition to S2. SCR S1 continues to conduct till
the current through S3 rises to equal the dc link current.The effects of commutation overlap are:
i. A slight reduction in output voltage,
ii. A notch in the supply voltage to the circuit during commutation overlap.

When the source has inductance, other loads connected to this source along with the controlled
rectifier are supplied voltages with notches in them and some of these loads can be sensitive to
these notches and they may operate improperly. Hence in order to reduce the magnitude of
notches, it is mandatory in some countries for the rectifier to be provided with an inductance in
series with each of its three-phase input lines. If these inductors are much larger than the source
inductance, the notch voltages are absorbed by these inductances and the other loads connected
to the same 3-phase source are not supplied with distorted voltages. The internal inductances
connected in series with the source are sometimes referred to as 4% inductances. If the inductor
is such that the voltage drop across it is about 4% of the phase voltage at rated current, it is
normally sufficient to reduce the notches at the source terminals to an acceptable level.

MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS
When there is an inductor in series with each input line, it is necessary to find out its effect. We
need to find out:

a. The reduction in output voltage.

b. The duration of commutation overlap.
c. The relationship between the firing angle and the commutation overlap.

REDUCTION IN OUTPUT VOLTAGE

Calculations by hand are carried out assuming that the dc link current remains steady without
any ripple. The source voltages at its terminals and the output voltage appear as shown below,
assuming that the inductances belong to the source.

It is seen that there are six notches in one input cycle. The reduction in average output voltage
can be found out as follows. Let SCR S1 be in conduction and let S3 be triggered. Let current
through the dc link be IDC. Then current through Y-phase has to rise from zero to IDC, whereas
current through R-phase has to fall from IDC to zero. On the other hand, loop current
iLOOP marked in the sketch below has to rise from zero to IDC. This means that during
commutation current through Y-phase would rise from zero to IDC and the volt-second area the
output misses out is L2IDC, that absorbed by the inductor in the Y-phase.
From the volt-seconds lost per commutation, we can find the total volt-seconds lost in one
input cycle. Since there are six commutations per cycle, the total volt-seconds lost per cycle is
expressed as shown by equation (1). Dividing this area by the time corresponding to one cycle,
we get the average voltage reduction in output. The time corresponding to one input cycle is
1/f, where f is the line frequency. Then the average reduction in output voltage is obtained as
shown in equation (2). In equation (2), we make use of the relation that the angular frequency,
w = 2f. It is to be noted that commutation overlap occurs only when there is continuous
conduction through the load and the average output voltage is expressed by equation (3). In
equation (3), U is the peak line-to-line voltage and  is the firing angle.

COMMUTATION OVERLAP ANGLE

The commutation of commutation overlap depends on:

a. the firing angle,
b. the dc link current and
c. the source inductance or the inductance in series with each phase.

To find out the commutation overlap, it is sufficient to analyse one commutation. Let SCR
S5 be in conduction and let SCR S1 be triggered at a firing angle of . As seen earlier, the loop
current iLOOP builds up from zero to IDC. This means that the current in the inductance in R-
phase builds up to IDC, whereas it decreases to zero in the inductance in the B-phase. Let the
commutation last for an angle . Then during commutation, the voltage across the source
inductance is expressed as shown in equation (4). It is assumed that the three phase voltages are
defined as follows:

vR = E. Sin (), vY = E. Sin (), and vB = E. Sin ().

The amplitude of phase voltage is denoted by 'E' and the amplitude of line voltage is denoted
by 'U'. In equation (4), the loop current is denoted as ‘i’. Since  = wt, the equation for
commutation overlap can be represented as shown in equation (5). During this interval, the
loop current changes from zero to IDC. Hence equation (6) defines how current in R phase
changes.

The solution of equation (6) is presented in equation (7). Equation (7) can be re-arranged and
presented as shown in equation (8). Solving for , we obtain equation (9).
It is seen that overlap angle  increases

a. as the firing angle moves closer to either 0o or 180o ,

b. as the dc link current becomes larger, and
c. as the source inductance gets larger.

The above equation has been obtained based on the assumption that the dc link current remains
steady, which happens only when the dc link inductance is relatively large. In practice, it is not
true and hence the above equation yields only an approximate result.

The rest of mathematical analysis follows the familiar route. The items of interest are:

a. RMS output voltage of bridge circuit,

b. Average output voltage of bridge circuit,
c. Ripple Factor of output voltage of the bridge,
d. RMS output voltage/voltage across load resistor,
e. Average output voltage (across load resistor),
f. Ripple factor of output voltage (across load resistor),
g. RMS line current,
h. RMS value of fundamental component in line current,
i. THD in line current,
j. Displacement power factor,
k. Apparent power factor and
l. Harmonic analysis.

In order to simulate it is necessary to have an expression for line current and load current. Let
us consider one output cycle, starting from the instant SCR S1 is triggered till SCR S2 is
triggered. During this period, the R-phase voltage is defined as shown in equation (10). When
SCR S1 is triggered, we have commutation overlap till the load current is transferred from SCR
S5 to SCR S1 and let the commutation overlap angle be . During commutation overlap, the
current through SCR S1 rises from zero to load current. At the end of commutation overlap, line
current is obtained from the expression in equation (11). During the period of commuation
overlap, the voltage source that is seen by the dc link circuit is described as shown in equation
(12), where vOL represents the source during overlap period.

On simplifying equation (12), we get equation (13). During this period, the source appears to
have a source inductance equalling 1.5L2 , as viewed from the load. We get this value because
the path through SCR S6 contains L2 whereas the path through both S1 and S5 appears to have
an equivalent inductance of value equal to 0.5L2. The current through the load at the instant
when SCR S1 is triggered can be expressed as shown in equation (14).. The values of Z
and in equation (14) are expressed in equation (15).

The constant A in equation (14) is to be evaluated and 2 = tan (). At the end of commutation,
this current would be equal to the line current. Hence we obtain equation (16). The terms used
in equation (17) are defined in equation (18).
Equation (16) is the first of the three equations we need in order to obtain a solution and this
equation equates the line current to the load current at the end of commutation. Equation (17)
expresses the load current at the end of commutation, using another constant B and B is also to
be evaluated. Another equation can be formed as shown in equation (19), which equates the
line current at the end of commuation to the load current. Unlike equation (16), equation (19)
makes use of constant B. Equations (16) and (19) are two of the three equations required to
solve for A, B and . The third equation is obtained as follows. The load current at the instant
when  =  /3 can be computed in two ways, one from equation (16) and the other from
equation (19) and these two expressions can be equated to yield equation (20).

From these three equations, the three unknowns, A, B and , can be obtained. These equations
have been used in the program written for simulation.

SIMULATION
Three applets are presented in this section. The first applet animates the circuit. The only
purpose is to illustrate the sequence of operation of this circuit. It does not take in any
parameter. To run it, click on the RUN button. The SINGLE STEP button allows the user to
step through, the PAUSE button allows the user to stop the program and the RESETbutton
allows the user to view the simulation once more. To view the simulation once more, click on
the RESET button and then click on the RUN button. During the simulation, the user can ask
the program to pause for a while, then step through for a while and allow it to run through to
the end of its cycle.

The second applet takes in these parameters:

a. the firing angle in degrees,

b. the ratio of load reactance to load resistance (load reactance evaluated at line frequency),

c. the ratio of source reactance to load resistance(preferably below 0.1 p.u), and

d. the value of dc link source.

The program allows you to view either the waveforms or the statistics. The values of load and
line reactance are to be entered in per unit. For example, if the line reactance is entered as 0.05
p.u., rated load current would cause a drop of 4% of phase voltage across the line reactance.

An example is presented now to explain how the per unit values can be set. Let a 3 phase, 415
V, 50 Hz source supply power to the converter. Then the maximum average voltage that can be
obtained is obtained as shown below. Let the nominal rated dc link current be 100 A. Then the
nominal load resistance or the base impedance for the system is computed as shown below. It
is also shown how the line reactance can be obtained, if its value in p.u. is known. Given that
the current through the load is free of ripple, the rated RMS line current is obtained as
illustrated below. From the total rms line current, inclusive of both the fundamental component
and the harmonic components, the fundamental rms component is obtained as illustrated
below.
Given that the line inductance is 1 mH, its p.u. value is obtained as shown below.
Given that the dc link inductance is 10 mH, its p.u. value is computed as illustrated below.
Usually the line inductance is called as the 4% reactor, implying that when the line current is at
its rated value, the rms value of the fundamental component of voltage across the line reactor is
4% of the phase voltage. For example, if the rms phase voltage is 240 V, the drop across 4%
reactor at rated current would be 9.6 V. When the line voltage is 415 V, the phase voltage is
calculated as shown below.The drop across the line inductor can now be stated as a fraction of
the phase voltage as given below.

This means that if the drop across the line inductor is to be 4% of phase voltage, the inductance
should be 0.4 mH and not 1 mH.

The third applet takes in these parameters:

a. the ratio of load reactance to load resistance (load reactance evaluated at line frequency),
b. the ratio of source reactance to load resistance(preferably below 0.1 p.u), and
c. the value of dc link source.

Within the program the firing angle is varied and the plots of rms bridge output voltage, the
average bridge output voltage, its RF, the rms line current, the fundamental rms component of
line current, the THD in line current, the average output current, its RF and the overlap angle as
a function of firing angle are displayed. The value of dc source in the dc link is assigned to be
zero in this applet.

MATHCAD SIMULATION
The MathCad file can be downloaded by clicking on the image below.
SIMULATION USING C
A C-program called, ss_resp.cpp, can be downloaded by clicking on the image below. It can
be compiled as a C program and executed.

The program was run with the following values:

Time constant of the Link inductor in radians: 1.00
Time constant of the Source Inductance in radians : 0.03
Firing Angle = 30o.

The results obtained are presented below.

Another C-program called, harm3ph.cpp, can be downloaded by clicking on the image below.
It can be compiled as a C program and executed.

The results obtained for the same parameters are presented below.

harmNo LoadCur OutVolt harmNo LineCur

 0 1.6874 1.6872 1 0.93105
2 2.69E-08 1.16E-08 3 2.31E-08
4 2.75E-08 2.94E-08 5 0.19975
6 0.029517 0.1743 7 0.1142
8 2.85E-08 2.82E-08 9 1.85E-08
10 2.85E-08 3.00E-08 11 0.080921
12 0.00639 0.074642 13 0.061509
14 2.87E-08 2.90E-08 15 1.82E-08
16 2.86E-08 2.97E-08 17 0.048484
18 0.0023099 0.040382 19 0.040233
20 2.87E-08 2.91E-08 21 1.84E-08
22 2.87E-08 2.94E-08 23 0.032741
24 0.0009234 0.021504 25 0.02832

LoadIAvg 0.84371
LoadIRMS 0.84398
RFCur 0.021433
VoAvg 0.84362
VoRMS 0.85546
RFVolt 0.14184

ILineAvg 0.56248
ILineRMS 0.68481
THD 0.684811
OverLapAngle 0.085085

SUMMARY
This page has explained how source inductance leads to commutation overlap and how it
affects the output voltage. Next page how a DC power supply can be built using the 3-phase
fully-controlled bridge rectifier.
AN APPLICATION: A DC POWER SUPPLY
CIRCUIT OPERATION
MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS
SIMULATION
CIRCUIT OPERATION
A three-phase fully-controlled bridge circuit is a much more suitable circuit to be used for
generating a variable dc output voltage than the single-phase fully-controlled bridge circuit, on
account of two reasons, which are:
a. reduced ripple content in its output and
b. much higher ripple frequency.
Both these factors lead to an LC filter which is relatively small and economical. This page
describes how such a power supply can be built and controlled.

An inductor in the dc link reduces ripple in the output current of the bridge circuit, whereas the
capacitor absorbs the ripple in output voltage. The inductor has to be designed such that it does
not saturate even when it carries the maximum current. This means that it should have an
airgap in the path of flux. The ripple current through the capacitor can also be significant.
Hence it needs to be checked from the datasheet that the capacitor chosen has the required
ripple current rating. For such an application, an electrolytic capacitor is normally chosen and
its voltage rating should also be adequate.
We can have a block diagram to describe the operation of this dc power supply obtained using
a three-phase fully-controlled bridge rectifier. The output voltage Vo is varied by varying the
firing angle . The firing angle in turn is controlled by voltage VC, which is the output of a PI
controller. The inputs to the PI controller are a voltage named Vref representing the desired
output voltage and the output voltage Vo of the bridge circuit. If Vo is less than the desired
output voltage, the resultant error causes the output, V C, to increase, which in turns should
advance firing angle. As the firing angle is advanced, the output voltage of the bridge circuit
increases. The next section describes how the block diagram can be analysed, leading to
simulation of the system.
MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS
The simulation program is based on the pseudo-code displayed below.

Start block:
Set the values of load reactance, line reactance, capacitor, load fraction.
Set the desired output voltage, PI controller parameters
Set the current firing angle to be 120o.
Set base reference angle to 60o.
Set Commute = 0. ( Indicates no commutation overlap exists at start. )
Go to Loop Routine.
Set theta to zero.

Loop Routine
Call Compute routine.
Increment theta.
If {(theta + base reference angle) = (next firing angle) }
[
current firing angle = next firing angle.
base reference angle = next firing angle - 60o.
 Set Commute = 1 . ( Indicates next SCR is triggered)
]
Execute Loop Routine

Compute Routine:
If (Commute == 0)
[
compute next value of link inductor current.
]
else
[
compute next value of triggered SCR current.
compute next value of link inductor current.
if (SCR current link inductor current) Reset Commute to 0.
]
Compute next value of capacitor voltage.
Compute next value of PI controller's output.
Compute next firing angle.

The equations used in the Compute Routine are obtained as follows.

When there is commutation overlap, the output voltage behind the source inductance is
expressed by equation (1). In equation (1),  is the overlap angle and U is the amplitude of
line voltage. If the output voltage be vo() during this period, the differential equation for the
current through the dc link inductance is presented as equation (2). During commutation
overlap, the current in the SCR just triggered on is described by equation (3). The
commutation overlap ends when the current through this SCR equals the dc link inductor
current. When there is no overlap, the bridge output voltage is described by equation (4).
The differential equation that describes the dc link inductor current is then described by
equation (5). The differential equation for the capacitor voltage is easily obtained and it is
expressed as equation (6). Next the equations relating to closed-loop control are described. Let
the output of PI controller be vC() and it is expressed by equation (7). In equation (7), A is a
constant to be evaluated, K is the proportional gain of the controller and T is its time constant.
The above equation is represented as equation (8) , which is more convenient for use in
simulation. In equation (8), Vref is the desired output voltage. The output of the controller is
normally checked to ensure that it is within the set limits. From the output of the controller,
the firing angle,  can be obtained. The maximum output voltage of the controller should
correspond to zero degree firing angle and the minimum to 120o firing angle. Hence we get the
following equation for firing angle. This means that the range for vC() is from 0 to VCmax.
The simulation program uses the above equations and displays the results in a graphical
format.

SIMULATION
The applet below can be run with the default parameters. To set any parameter, click on the
arrow pointing downwards beside the Peak Source Voltage, a menu would appear. The default
value of the parameter highlighted appears in the textfield for Set Value. To change the
parameter, select the parameter and then click within the editable textfield for Set Value. In
order to change this parameter, you must click on Set Value button. You can set the desired
response to be one of three responses.

An example is presented now to explain how the per unit values can be set. Let a 3 phase, 415
V, 50 Hz source supply power to the converter. Then the maximum average voltage that can be
obtained is presented in equation (10). Let the nominal rated dc link current be 100 A. Then
the nominal load resistance or the base impedance for the system is assigned as shown by
equation (11). Given that the current through the load is free of ripple, the rms line current is
obtained according to equation (12) and this value includes both the fundamental component
and the harmonic components. The fundamental rms component is obtained as illustrated by
equation (13). Given that the dc link inductance is 10 mH, its p.u. value is obtained as shown
by equation (14).
Given that the line inductance is 1 mH, its p.u. value is obtained as shown by equation (16).
Usually the line inductance is called as the 4% reactor, implying that when the line current is at
its rated value, the rms value of the fundamental component of voltage across the line reactor is
4% of the phase voltage. For example, if the rms phase voltage is 240 V, the drop across 4%
reactor at rated current would be 9.6 V. When the line voltage is 415 V, the phase voltage is
obtained as shown by equation (16). The drop across the line inductor can now be stated as a
fraction of the phase voltage as given by equation (17).This means that if the drop across the
line inductor is to be 4% of phase voltage, the inductance should be 0.4 mH and not 1 mH.

It is possible to set the load resistance to a value other than its nominal value. The nominal
value of load resistance is 5.6 . If the load resistance is to be 10 , then set Load Fractionas
shown by equation (18).
Some explanation is offered here to indicate how the values for different parameters can be set
in the applet shown below. The rated dc output voltage corresponds to 1 per unit. If the rated
dc output voltage is 400 V, the peak voltage of 415 V, 3 phase, 50 Hz supply is 1.467 p.u.. Let
the nominal load current through the load resistor be 100 A. Then Rnom is 4 . If the dc link
inductance is 10 mH, its time constant in radians is (2fLLink/Rnom) . Given that frequency is 50
Hz, it works out to be 0.7854 radians or p.u., since it expresses the ratio of the reactance over
the base impedance. The per cunit value to be set for the line reactance is also obtained
similarly. Given the value of the filter capacitance, its per unit value is obtained as
(1/2fCRnom). The applet allows the dc output voltage to be set to a value other than unity
and the load fraction can also be varied.
INTRODUCTION
CIRCUIT OPERATION
CURRENT LOOP
THE PER UNIT NOTATION
SPEED LOOP
PARAMETERS IN PER UNIT NOTATION
CURRENT CONTROLLER DESIGN
SPEED CONTROLLER DESIGN
FIELD CONTROLLER DESIGN
LOGIC FOR FOUR-QUADRANT OPERATION
SWITCH-OVER OF CONTROL FROM ARMATURE TO
FIELD
SIMULATION OF THE FOUR-QUADRANT DRIVE
SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION
This page describes how a separately-excited dc shunt motor can be operated in either direction
in either of the two modes, the two modes being the motoring mode and the regenerating mode.
It can be seen that the motor can operate in any of the four quadrants and the armature of the dc
motor in a fast four-quadrant drive is usually supplied power through a dual converter. The
dual converter can be operated with either circulating current or without circulating current. If
both the converters conduct at the same time, there would be circulating current and the level
of circulating current is restricted by an inductor. It is possible to operate only one converter at
any instant, but switching from one converter to the other would be carried out after a small
delay. This page describes the operation of a dual converter operating without circulating
current.

As shown in Fig. 1, the motor is operated such that it can deliver maximum torque below its
base speed and maximum power above its base speed. To control the speed below its base
speed, the voltage applied to the armature of motor is varied with the field voltage held at its
nominal value. To control the speed above its base speed, the armature is supplied with its rated
voltage and the field is weakened. It means that an additional single-phase controlled rectifier
circuit is needed for field control. Closed-loop control in the field-weakening mode tends to be
difficult because of the relatively large time constant of the field.

The power circuit of the dual-converter dc drive is shown in Fig. 2.

Each converter has six SCRs. The converter that conducts for forward motoring is called the
positive converter and the other converter is called the negative converter. Instead of naming
the converters as positive converter and negative converter, the names could have been forward
and reverse converters. The field is also connected to a controlled-bridge in order to bring
about field weakening.

The circuit shown above can be re-drawn as shown in Fig. 3. Usually an inductor is inserted in
each line as shown in Fig. 3 and this inductor reduces the impact of notches on line voltages
that occur during commutation overlap.

CIRCUIT OPERATION
The operation of the circuit in the circulating-current free mode is not very much different from
that described in the previous pages. In order to drive the motor in the forward direction, the
positive converter is controlled. To control the motor in the reverse direction, the negative
converter is controlled. When the speed of motor is to be changed fast from a high value to a
low value in the forward direction, the conduction has to switch from the positive converter to
the negative converter. Then the direction of current flow changes in the motor and it
regenerates, feeding power back to the source. When the speed is to be reduced in the reverse
direction, the conduction has to switch from the negative converter to the positive converter. It
is seen that conduction has to switch from one converter to the other when the direction of
motor rotation is to change, so that regeneration can occur. During regeneration, the direction
torque developed by motor is opposite to that of the motoring torque. Thus the regenerating
torque acts as the breaking torque and the motor decelerates fast.

At the instant when the switch from one converter to the other is to occur, it would be
preferable to ensure that the average output voltage of either converter is the same. Let the
firing angle of the positive converter be P, and the firing angle of the negative converter
be N . If the peak line voltage be U, then equation (1) should apply. Equation (1) leads to
equation (2). Then the sum of firing angles of the two converters is , as shown in equation (3).

In a dual-converter, the firing angles for the converter are changed according to equation (3).
But it needs to be emphasized that only one converter operates at any instant.

When the speed of the motor is to be increased above its base speed, the voltage applied to the
armature is kept at its nominal value and the phase-angle of the single phase bridge is varied
such that the field current is set to a value below its nominal value. If the nominal speed of the
motor is 1500 rpm, then the maximum speed at which it can run cannot exceed a certain value,
say 2000 rpm. Above this speed, the rotational stresses can affect the commutator and the
motor can get damaged.

Next it is shown how the operation of motor can be represented by means of a block diagram.
This approach can be helpful in designing the closed-loop system.

CURRENT LOOP
Let the field excitation be assumed to remain constant at its nominal level. Let the voltage
applied to armature be va volts, the back e.m.f. eb volts and rotor speed wr rad/s. The back emf
is expressed by equation (4), where Km is the coefficient relating speed of motor to its back
emf. If Ra be the resistance of armature and La its inductance, then the applied armature voltage
equals the sum of the motor back e.m.f, the drop across its armature resistance and the drop
across the armature inductance, as shown in equation (5). In equation (5), v a is the voltage
applied to the armature and ia is the current though the armature. The above equation can be
represented in terms of Laplace transform, leading to equation (6).
The block diagram shown in Fig. 4 represents equation (6).

Given that the excitation of the motor is constant and that the effects of armature reaction are
negligible either due to interpoles or series compensation winding, the torque output Mecan be
expressed as shown in equation (7). If the load torque be ML N-m, the combined polar moment
of inertia of motor and load be J kg.m2 and its friction coefficient be B N-m/rad/sec, then the
torque output of motor equals the expression on the right-hand side of equation (8). Equation
(8) can be represented in terms of Laplace transform, as shown in equation (9), where the
Laplace transform of w, the motor speed, is assigned to be (s). A block diagram, as shown in
Fig. 5, can now be drawn based on equations (4), (6), (7) and (9). It can be seen that unit for
Km is N-m/A.
With the load torque set to zero, a transfer function linking current I a(s) and the input voltage
Va(s) can be obtained. It is expressed in equation (10).

The reason for obtaining this transfer function is to facilitate the design of a controller for
controlling the armature current. The two output parameters of interest are the torque and the
speed. The armature current is selected as one of the state-variables to be controlled in closed-
loop, since the torque output varies linearly with it. It is preferable that the variable to be
controlled by negative feedback is a variable that reflects some energy stored in a system. Here
the armature current reflects the energy stored in the inductance in the armature circuit. If the
motor has a compensating winding and/or a compound winding, the inductance of this winding
should be added to La. In some drives, an additional inductor is used in series with the armature
and this value should also be added to La. Let G1(s) reflect the transfer function in equation
(10) and equation (11) shows the expression for G1(s). The part of the closed-loop system that
is usually used for controlling the armature current is shown in Fig. 6.
The block diagram in Fig. 6 is now described. If the armature current is to be controlled in
closed-loop, it is necessary to have a current reference signal, marked as IR(s) in Fig. 6. This
signal is internally generated, most often as the output of the controller for speed and it is
shown later how that is achieved.

It is possible to use a controller other than a proportional plus gain(PI) controller. A PDF
controller(a pseudo-derivative controller) or a PID-controller can be used. But a PI controller is
often sufficient, since the integrating part of the PI controller leads to zero steady-state error for
a step input and the proportional gain can be adjusted to yield fast response and stability. The
output of the current controller is often a voltage which sets the firing angle for the fully-
controlled bridge circuit. Since the gain KB() is negative, the sign of both the proportional
gain KI and the integrating time-constant TI should be negative in order to keep the loop-gain
of the system represented by block diagram in Fig. 6 as negative.

A variation in the output of the current controller does not change the firing angle
instantaneously since the SCRs in the bridge are triggered in a sequence at an interval of 60 o on
the average and there is a delay before the change in the output of the current controller has an
effect on the firing angle. This delay can be classified as a transportation lag and it can be
approximated by a first-order transfer function, as shown in equation (12). In equation
(12), y has been used in place of sTD.

For a system with 50 Hz input source, one-sixth of a cycle is about 3.3 ms and then the delay
TD can be set to be half of that value, that is 1.67 ms. What is carried out is an approximation to
facilitate the design of current controller.
As the firing angle  increases, the instant of triggering of each SCR is delayed more and more
from its reference point corresponding to 0o firing angle. When the current flow in the dc link is
continuous, the average output voltage of the bridge changes from its positive maximum
average value to its negative maximum average value, as  is allowed to very from 0o to 180o.
In order to ensure that the loop gain is negative, it is necessary that the gain due to controlled
rectifier circuit is inverted. It is explained later how it can be brought about for practical
realization.

Another point to be noted is that the gain of the controlled rectifier is not constant and it varies
with firing angle. Let the maximum average output voltage be Vom. Then equation (13) shows
how the average output voltage at any firing angle, is obtained. The actual gain of the
controlled rectifier is defined by equation (14). If the rated armature voltage, V RA, is assigned
to be the base voltage, then the gain of the controlled rectifier in per unit notation can be
defined as in equation (15).

In equation (15), KA defines the ratio of maximum average output voltage of the bridge to the
rated armature voltage. It is seen that the gain varies and hence the controller has to be
designed such that it operates properly over this range of variation.

THE PER UNIT NOTATION

It is better to design the current loop first before the outer loop design is attempted. But it is
necessary to describe the per unit notation that is adopted here. Let the rated armature voltage
VRA be the base voltage. Then equation (16) is valid. As shown in equation (17), the rated
armature current IRA is chosen to be the base current.

Per Unit Value of Rated Armature Voltage = 1 (16)

Per Unit Value of Rated Armature Current = 1 (17)

Then the base impedance for the armature circuit is obtained as shown in equations(18)
whereas equation (19) shows how the per unit value of armature resistance can be obtained if it
is ra . Given that the inductance present in the armature circuit is La H, the voltage across it is
obtained as shown in equation (20). Equation (21) is obtained by dividing both sides of
equation (20) by VRA. Equation (21) uses symbol a, representing the time constant of the
armature circuit and it is defined by equation (22).

For a 3-phase controlled-bridge rectifier circuit, the maximum average output voltage that can
be obtained at 0o firing angle is shown in equation (23). Then the amplitude of line voltage of
3-ph supply is described by equation (24). The per unit value of the peak line voltage is
obtained from equation (25).
We have seen so far how voltages, currents and impedances related to armature circuit can be
expressed in per unit values. Next, it is shown how the torque developed, moment of inertia J
and friction coefficient B can be expressed in per unit values. Let the torque developed by
motor be Me N-m. Then when the motor is operating with the nominal or the rated flux, the
torque developed by motor is defined by equation (26), where ia is the armature current. Also,
let wr be the armature shaft speed in rad/s. Then the per unit value of the torque developed is
expressed as shown in equation (27), where IRA is the rated armature current.

The per unit value of moment of inertia is obtained as follows. Let R be the rated shaft speed
in rad/s, and the moment of inertia of motor and the coupled load be J kg-m2. Let the torque
required to accelerate this moment of inertia be MJ. Then equation (28) can be used to relate J
and MJ. Dividing both sides of equation (28) by the rated torque, we get equation (29). From
equation (29), it is seen how the per unit value of the moment of inertia can be obtained.
Similarly, we can get an expression for friction coefficient, as shown by equation (30).

It is necessary to state how the parameters for the current controller should be specified. The
gain, KI , is just a ratio whereas the time constant, TI , should be specified in seconds.
SPEED LOOP
Before the design of speed loop is to be attempted, the current loop should be approximated by
a suitable transfer function. The block diagram in Fig. 6 can be expressed by a transfer
function, say G2(s). Then G2(s) = Ia(s)/IR(s). Using G2(s), the speed loop can be represented as
shown in Fig. 7. Again a PI controller is used and it may be necessary to provide a filter in the
path of speed feedback signal. The time constants are to be specified in seconds. In per unit
notation, the value of KM marked in Fig. 7 would be 1.

PARAMETERS IN PER UNIT NOTATION

At first, typical per unit values are obtained from the datasheet of a dc motor. Then it is shown
how the current loop can be designed. Next, the design is verified by simulation. Finally, the
speed loop design is illustrated.

In the per-unit calculations, a per unit value of 1 is assigned to the rated armature voltage, the
rated motor speed and the rated armature current. From the values of the rated armature voltage
and the rated motor speed, obtain Km, the coefficient for the motor. Then other per unit values
can be obtained as outlined earlier. The applet displayed below computes the per unit values
given the actual values. The textfields contain default values and the applet computes and
displays the per unit values when the Compute Button is clicked.

CURRENT CONTROLLER DESIGN

The transfer function G1(s) expressed as equation (11) can expressed in terms of per unit values
and then Va(s) and Ia(s) marked in Fig. 6 would be values in per unit notation. Conversion of
equation (11) such that it conforms to the per unit notation is explained below.

Both the numerator and the denominator of expression in equation (11) can be divided by BR a.
The ratio of J/B can be represented as the mechanical time constant, m. The resulting
expression for G1(s) presented as equation (31). Then equations (32) and (33) explain how
equation (31) can be converted such that it is in per unit notation.

The block diagram shown in Fig. 6 conforms to per unit notation. Here G1(s) is expressed by
equation (34) and Va(s) and Ia(s) marked in Fig. 6 are values in per unit notation. Using (34),
the transfer function, G2(s) representing the block diagram in Fig. 6 can be represented as
shown below. In this case, the controlled-rectifier is assigned to have its highest gain, KA. It is
logical to do so, because the system designed for stability at gain KA would be stable at lower
gains too.
The second applet in this page finds the location of the poles and zeros of the closed-loop
system in Fig. 6, given the necessary data. It is seen for a wide range of controller parameters,
the zeros are located such that they cancel almost two poles. The other two poles are located
away from the origin. It is seen that the design of current controller is fairly easy.

SPEED CONTROLLER DESIGN

It is necessary to design the speed controller next. To design the speed controller, it is
necessary to represent the transfer function G2(s) suitably. It is found that for a wide range of
values, two of the zeros of G2(s) are located near two of the poles and the other two poles are
away from the origin. Hence while designing the speed loop, G2(s) is set equal to unity. The
simulation of the drive presented later would show whether this simplification is justified.

The design of the speed controller is carried out based on the assumption that the motor is on
no load. A variable drive system tends to exhibit oscillatory behaviour under no load conditions
and hence the design based on no load condition is assumed to be justified. Here the output of
the speed controller is not clamped, whereas there would be limits on the output of speed
controller. The output of speed controller corresponds to armature current and it is necessary to
limit the peak value of speed controller in order to protect the SCRs used in the bridge. The
applet presented later for simulating the drive has limits imposed on the output of the speed
controller.

FIELD CONTROLLER DESIGN

The block diagram for closed-loop operation with the field controller in action turns out to be
somewhat complex. The interaction that occurs within a separately-excited DC motor is first
presented in Fig. 8.

The block diagram in Fig.8 is now described. The field current, marked as I F, produces
magnetic flux in the motor and the back e.m.f of the motor is then proportional to the product
of the field current and the speed of the motor. This statement is based on the assumption that
the field flux in the motor is not saturated and that the field flux varies linearly with the field
current. If the field current is in per unit notation, where the field current corresponding to the
rated current equals unity, then the back emf can be shown to be equal to K m × iF × wR, where
both Km and wR are also in per unit representing the motor coefficient and the speed of the
motor. Once the back e.m.f and the applied voltage are known, the armature current can be
obtained as shown in Fig. 8. From the values of armature current and field current, the torque
output of motor is obtained and the speed of the motor changes as shown.

For design of field controller, the block diagram in Fig. 8 is too complex. The design is carried
out using a simplified or a simplistic block diagram and the performance of the controller is
evaluated using the final simulation program, which uses a model that is reasonably close to
real system.

The design of field controller is based on the block diagram shown in Fig. 9.

It is easy to represent the block diagram in Fig. 9 in per unit notation. The gain of the
controlled bridge for the field circuit is KF. Its value equals the ratio of the maximum rate of
bridge output voltage to the rated voltage of the field circuit and normally the value of K F is
likely to be near 1.2. The delay due to firing circuit is again approximated by T D2, and it is set
equal to (1/4f), where f is the frequency of the ac source. Then the field current is obtained in
per unit value and it can be made equal to the torque, assuming that the armature circuit has
comparatively a small time constant and that the armature current stays at the rated value. The
friction coefficient, the mechanical time constant and the time constant of the filter in the speed
feedback signal are the same signals used for design of the speed controller. The applet below
can be used to design the field controller. This applet runs somewhat slowly. The poles and
zeros are calculated for the block diagram shown in Fig.9, whereas the step response is
obtained using the block diagram in Fig. 10.
The design of field controller is somewhat difficult because both the field circuit time constant
and the mechanical time constant are relatively large.

The applet displayed below shows step response of the drive with the field controller.

LOGIC FOR FOUR-QUADRANT OPERATION

For four-quadrant operation, the scheme outlined in this page makes use of two converters,
called the positive converter and the negative converter. It has also been shown that the sum of
the firing angles of the two converters should be  radians. Hence the synchronizing signals for
the SCRs in both converters can be obtained as shown in Fig. 11.

It is also necessary to find out when the switch from the positive converter to the negative
converter or vice-versa can be made. One possible method is outlined in Fig. 12. Based on the
polarity of current reference signal, a logic signal, called W can be developed. A comparator
can be designed to yield an output of 1 (W =1 ) when the current reference signal is positive
and an output of 0 (W =0 ) when the current reference signal is negative. Along with W,
another signal can be derived based on the armature current. A signal, called Enable, can be
produced such that Enable is 1 when the armature current is zero. When Enable is 1, the output
of a flip-flop can be set. Output Q takes on the polarity of W signal. When both W and Q are at
logic 1, the positive converter is allowed to be triggered. When both W and Q are at logic 0, the
negative converter is allowed to be triggered.
The rest of the control arrangement for generating the firing signals is shown in Fig. 13. The
block diagram shows that there are active limits on the firing angle. The voltage output of the
bridge can be sensed and when it is at about 1.05 times the rated armature voltage, the firing
angle may not be allowed to become any smaller.
The variation of firing angle towards either 0o or 180o can be blocked, avoiding further rise in
the output voltage. It is better to have a provision that would allow for varying the limiting
values to accommodate changes in source voltages. It would not be difficult to implement such
a scheme for a micro-controller based control system.

SWITCH-OVER OF CONTROL FROM ARMATURE TO FIELD

Field control is necessary above the base speed of the motor and the field current has to vary
only over a limited range, say from 0.6 pu to 1 pu. The signal that sets the active limits on the
firing angle for armature control can be used also for field control. The block diagram related
to field control is shown in Fig. 14.

When the active limit is not set, the firing angle of the field controller is set such that the field
current remains at the nominal value. When the active limits are applied to the armature control
circuit, the firing angle is varied such that the field current gets adjusted to the value required
for the speed reference set.

SIMULATION OF THE FOUR-QUADRANT DRIVE

Before selecting the type of response, set the value of the selected parameter. When you select
a parameter, the textfield shows the default value set inside the program. Change the parameter
value if you want to and then you must click on the SET VALUE button for the change to take
effect. You can go from one type of response to another after the present calculations are
carried out. When you have selected a new type of response, you must click on Click to Start.
If you click on Reset button, initializing routine is carried out and the motor speed is set to
zero, and the other values are also reset. It is possible to see the effect of step changes in speed
or load or unbalance in source or unbalance in firing circuit.

SUMMARY
This page has illustrated how a four-quadrant DC drive operates. The next section shows how
semi-controlled bridge rectifiers operate.