DC Link AC to AC Converters In a dc link type AC to AC converter the ac source is first converted into a dc voltage or a dc current source by a diode rectifier

circuit. The dc source is then converted into an ac source of the desired specifications: amplitude, frequency, and phase. The intermediate dc stage is called the dc link or the dc bus. The output voltage in the dc link converter may have a different amplitude, a different frequency and a different number of phases than the input voltage source, as illustrated in Figure 1. The output frequency need not be an integer multiple or a fraction of the source frequency, and it can be higher or lower than the source frequency. 1- or 3- ac supply Figure 1. Block diagram of an ac-to-ac converter The input energy in the dc-link converter is collected at one frequency and delivered to the load at a different frequency. Hence, the ac components of power at the input and the output may not be the same. An inductor, a capacitor or their combination (a resonant tank), placed in the dc link stores the instantaneous difference between the input and output energies. In the following sections, we will discuss two basic types of ac-ac converters, namely, the voltage-link and the current-link ac-ac converters. 1. DC current-link ac-to-ac converter A dc current-link converter is shown in Figure 2. A large inductor is the intermediate storage element. The ac-dc converter at the front end sees a large inductive load. The dcac inverter at the load end sees a current source. The load is an ac source or an ac sink vo, which may represent an induction motor, a synchronous motor, or another ac source connected as part of an ac source in a dc transmission bus. The control parameter in the ac-dc converter and the inverter are the delay angle and pulse width , respectively. The dc output voltage v o1 of the ac-to-dc converter is
v o1 = 2Vs cos

AC-DC Converter

DC link

DC-AC Converter

1- or 3- ac load

1- or 3- ac supply

DC-link inductance AC-DC Converter DC-AC Converter 1- or 3- ac load

Figure 2. DC current-link converter. 2. DC voltage-link ac-ac converter The dc voltage-link Ac-ac converter is shown in Figure 3. A large capacitor is the intermediate storage element. The ac-dc converter sees a large capacitive load. The dc-ac converter sees a voltage source. The load is an ac source or sink v o in series with an inductor. The ac source or sink may represent an induction motor or a synchronous motor. The dc voltage output v o1 is
v o1 = 2Vs cos

1- or 3- ac supply

DC-link capacitor AC-DC Converter AC-DC Converter 1- or 3- ac load

Figure 3. DC current-link converter.