2004 351k A n n u l IEEE Power Elecrronics Specialists Conference Aarhen, Germany, 2004

Experimental Results of Vector Controlled and Vector Modulated VIENNA I Rectifier

T. Vihanen, H. Tuusa
Tampere University of Technology
Department of Electrical Engineering
Institute of Power Electronics
P.O. Box 692, FIN-33101 Tampere
FINLAND
E-mail: tero.viitanen@tut.fi

Abstrad-This paper presents the practical realisation of a

novel three-level vector modulation method applied to a vector
controlled VIENNA 1 rectifier. The theoretical analysis of the
proposed modulation technique and vector control system are
verified by simulations and laboratory prototype
measurements. The rectifier prototype has been designed to
operate at a nominal DC link output power of IOkW, DC link
voltage of 650V and an applied switching frequency of 5kHz
The L filter is designed so that the total harmonic line current
distortion is 4%. The digital implementation of the control
system and vector modulator are realised with Motorola
MPC555 microcontroller.

I. INTRODUCTION
T'"
The three-level VIENNA 1 rectifier in Fig. la is a very
suitable topology for three-phase rectification when only
unidirectional power flow is needed. It has better efficiency,
smaller AC filter size and only three active switches
compared to the conventional six-switch active PWM full-
bridge rectifier [ I]. In many articles, the VIENNA 1 rectifier
has been designed to operate at a small output power of a Fig. 1. T h e VIENNA I rectifier. a) Main circuit, h) steady-state vector
few kilowatts, while the average switching frequency is diagram of the rectifier operating at a unity displacement power factor in
dozens of kilohertz [2,3,4]. Such applications require very the mains volcagc oriented (synchronous) reference frame.
fast computation for the duty cycle of the switching device
because of the short pulse period. It is therefore reasonable
to implement modulation using analogue techniques.
At higher power levels and lower pulse frequencies, the
digital computation of the duty cycles is easy to implement
e.g. by using a microcontroller or DSP. This allows us to use where is the mains voltage vector, I sis the rectifier
space vector modulation instead of analogue modulation. current vector and ss is the rectifier voltage vector. The
A suitable vector modulation method for VIENNA 1 corresponding steady-state vector diagram of the rectifier in
rectifier is presented in [5] and [6]. This paper reports the Fig. l a operating at a unity displacement power factor is
experimental results of vector controlled and modulated shown in Fig. lh in the synchronous reference frame.
rectifier prototype. The preliminary laboratory tests are The rectifier phase voltages ur(,b.c)M can be presented with
reasonably congruent with the simulation results and thus the help of the switching functions S W ( , ~ , ~which
) determine
verify the functioning of the proposed modulation method. the conduction states of the active switches S(B.b,c). If the
The rectifier prototype has been designed to operate at a voltages of the DC link capacitors are equal in Fig. la, the
nominal DC link output power of 10kW. The DC link rectifier phase voltages are
voltage is set at 650V and the applied switching frequency is
5!dz. The digital control system and vector modulator are ur(a,h,c)M =(l-SW(qb,c))udc I 2 for ir(a.b,c) (2)
implemented with Motorola MPC555 microcontroller.
Ur(a,b,c)M = (Sw(a,b,c) - / 2 for k%b.c) < (3)
11. VECTOR MODULATION [5,6] 1
U<a,b,c)N =*r(a,h,c)M -T(ur&4 +'hM +'rcM)' (4)
The space vector voltage equation of a rectifier with an L
filter in the mains voltage oriented, synchronous (denoted by The switching function is SW(,,~.~) = 1 when the active switch
superscript s) reference frame rotating at Q is s(&b.c) is ON, and SW(,b.cJ = 0 when S(%b.c) is OFF.

0-7803-8399-0/04/$20.00 02004 IEEE. 4631

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2004 35th Annual IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference Aachen, Germany, 2004

When the voltages of the DC link capacitors are equal,

the rectifier can produce 19 different voltage vectors. These
vectors are shown in Fig. 2. The lengths of the vectors are
~ I ~ : IVOI/ ...1~061:U&
2Ud3, I V I ~ ~ . . . I VU&3,
[vII...Iv~~:
The vector modulation of the three-level converter is
based on time averaging of the reference vector .within a
modulation period Tmd = TJ2 = U(&), where jiWis the
switching frequency. The reference vector can be presented
as a sum of three weighted voltage vectors

where gl...% are the nearest voltage vectors and al...aJare

the corresponding relative ON times. To make the analysis
easier, each main sector, I-VI in Fig. 2, is divided into four 1
sub-sectors as in Fig. 3. Now, if the tip of the reference
vector lies in sub-sector 2 in Fig. 3, the vectors g l . . . ~used Fig. 2. Voltage vcctors o f a thrce-lcvcl rcctificr
in (5) are vol. v12and v I .The sub-sector and the relative ON
times of the appropriate vectors can be determined by
assuming equal DC link capacitor voltages. First, the
glancing projections Y. and vy in Fig. 3 have to be
calculated. These are then related to U&/3 to get a, and q;

When applying (6)-(9) for a reference vector lying in main

Fig. 3. Glancing projections (ux, v,) ofthc rcfcrcnce vector 5 6
sectors 11-VI, the reference vector has to he transformed to
lie virtually in the main sector 1. From (8) and (9),the sub-
sectors can be determined TABLE 1.
TIME AVERAGING OF THE REFERENCE VECTOR IN MAIN SECTOR I.
IF(& 2 1) + sub = 2 VARIABLEVALUES NEEDEDIN (5) ARE PRESENTED.
(10) Eq.(5) 1
Sub I Sub 2 Sub 3 Sub 4
IF(%> 1) + sub = 4
IF((&< l ) A N D ( q < I ) A N D ( a , + q < l ) ) + s u b = I
IF((&< I)AND(q< I ) A N D ( a , + q t I))+sub=3.

By using (5) and the geometric relations in expressing the

real and imaginary parts of the reference vector, the relative
ON times in any sub-sector can be determined as presented
in Table 1.
The voltage vectors v o l . . . v w are of special interest
because each of them can be generated by two alternative
switching combinations of the three active power switches
sw = ( S W . J ~ J W , ) . For example, if -71/6<p31/6. the two
alternative switching combinations for the vector voI are
swol+= (100) and SWOI. = (011). The combination swal+=
(100) results in a positive current iM (Fig. la) flow from
phase A to DC link neutral point M, while the combination
swol. = (01 I) results in an opposite current flow from M to
phases B and C. The positive iM charges the lower DC link
capacitor C2 while the negative i~ charges the upper
capacitor CI. By varying the relative ON times of swa1+and
swol., the partial DC link voltages can be controlled. This
can be done with a weighting coefficient r, which is
obtained from the partial capacitor voltage control system.
a n x + = ( l + r ) a o x / 2-,1 5 r S 1 (11)
aox~=(l-r)aox/2 - I, < r s I , (12)
where a,,is the total relative ON time of the vector vox.
U+,+ is the weighted ON time of the positive iM producing
switching combination and U& is the weighted ON time of
the negative iMproducing switching combination.
When regarding the switching pattern of the active
switches, the two switching combinations for each v o I . . . v w
are situated within a switching sequence such that only one

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 2004 351h Annual IEEE Power Elecrrunics Specialists Conference Aachen. Germany, 2W4

TABLE 11.
VECTOR AND SWITCHING SEOUENCE OF THE RECTIFIER
(~&&~CIL~~)OR(~&&'~~Z~~),O~~~T.~,
Reference in I Vector sequence Switrhina seguenee
Sub I.: a,...r < d 6 vac - vo - v m - VOI+ (01 I)- (III)- ( I IO) - (100)
sub I; ni6 s &)rr vi - vo,. ii
iooi j - iot I j - IIj - i i ioj
Sub 2 "o,.- v , i - "I - "0,- (01 I)- (010) - (000) -(loo)
Sub 3; %+ d6 VOL.- VIZ- vm+- vow (01 I)- (010) -(I I O ) -(loo)
Sub 3; n/6< q&? v 0 ~ . - - y o ~ ~ - v-Lva+
I (OOl)-(Ol l ) - ( O l O ) - ( l IO)
Sub 4 ",*
"a*. - "* - - "ai+ (001) - (000)- (010)- ( I IO)
switch has to change its state when changing from one
vector to another. This minimises the switching transitions
when continuous modulation is used. If & and g,efare in the
main sector I and the angles are either (q& & ~f < n16) or
(G & 2 d 6 ) , the resulting vector and switching
sequences are listed in Table 11. Only the sequence of the
first half of the switching period i",,& = 1/(2J;J is presented.
Pm
The sequence is reversed during the other half. Similar
sequences can he determined for all main sectors.
The input voltage generation of the VIENNA I rectifier is
dependent on the directions of the input currents because of
the diodes DI...D6 in the main circuit Fig. la. In the middle
of each main sector, e.g. at the angle of 7d6 in sector I, one Re
of the phase currents changes its polarity. This has to he
taken into account when generating the pulse patterns. If the b)

reference vector is in suh-sector 3 (t&t < d6) and the Fig. 4. Averaging of the refcrcnce vector. a) Erroneous average (dashcd
current of the phase B temporarily changes its direction, line) due to thc zcm cmssing of the current in phase B without clamping,
then the switching combination (IOO), which should produce which CBUSCS sw = (100) to pmducc v2, instead of vol.. b) Corrcct average
with clamping method.
vector vol. now produces vector vZ3.This leads to error both
in the amplitude and angle of the modulated average y as
shown by the dashed line in Fig. 4a. Errors due to the zero
crossings of the currents can he avoided by using a special
clamping method, in which the polarity changing phase is
connected to the neutral point M for a certain time period. In
practice this means that r, in ( I 1) and (12), is either 1 or -1,
depending on the main and sub-sectors of the reference
vector. The resulting vector sequence during the clamping
interval is shown in Fig. 4b. Clamping takes only a few
modulation periods so the modulation can be considered to
remain continuous.

111. VECTOR CONTROL SYSTEM Fig. 5. StrucrUrc of the cantrailed rectifier system.
A . Overview
The structure of the controlled rectifier system is
presented in Fig. 5. The simplified block diagram of the
control system is presented in Fig. 6 . The converter control
system has four measured variables: two phase currents are
needed for current control (im + ih + ,i = 0) and both DC
link capacitor voltages are needed for overall and partial DC
link voltage control. In this first evaluation of the control
system we do not measure the mains voltages for control
purposes, but assume it to be ideal. The single phase voltage
measurement in Fig. 5 is needed for synchronisation.
The current control is realised in the synchronous, mains
voltage oriented reference &ame rotating at a,The space 4
vector voltage equation ( I ) of the L filter can be divided into
components (14)-(16), where L = L(.,b,c). Because ideal Fig. 6. The simplified block diagram of the control system and modulator.
mains is assumed, the mains voltage components ud and uSq

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2004 35rh Annual IEEE Power Elecrronics Specialisrs Conference Aachen. Gemmny, 2004

did
uSd=U,,, +R,i, + L - - o , L i ,
dt
di
U
w = U - + R , i , + L dt
~ + W , L ~ , ~

U: = uSd+ ju,, US =urd + ju, . (16)

have constant values. The currents have been transformed to

the synchronous reference fiame and only the resulting d
and q components of the current vector are shown in Fig. 6.
DC link voltage and the partial DC link voltages are
controlled by discrete PI controllers F(z) and G ( z ) while
discrete PID controllers C(z) are used for current control.
The DC link voltage controller gives the d-current reference
value imLd while ief,q is zero for unity displacement power
factor. The voltage drops (ohmic and Ldildt) across the filter
a)
inductors L(&) are approximated with the current
controllers giving uBltn(d,q).
The cross-coupling dq terms due
to the reference frame transformation (the & components in
(14) and (15)) are compensated, so the resulting d and q
voltage references of the rectifier are

Uref.d = 'sd - %lter,d + wsLiref,q (17)

b)
-
'1ef.q - 'sq - UIilter~ - w$Liref,d (18)
Fig. 1. The reclificr systcm a) prototype, b) IXYS VUM 25-05Emcdulc.

The rectifier voltage reference is then transformed into polar
coordinates in the stationary reference frame. The vector
modulator (SVM) in Fig. 6 has five inputs; the DC link
voltage (Udc = U,, + U,,), the reference vector amplitude
(LA) and angle the rectifier current angle (w) and the
weighting coefficient r. The resulting switching functions
sw,, swb and sw, are obtained from the modulator logic
circuit.
E. Microcontroller implementation
The control system and the modulator are digitally
implemented with Motorola MPC555 microcontroller (f,,,x
= 40MHz). The inbuilt IObit AD converters together with
the connections for current and voltage measuring result in
IOOmA and 450mV resolution.
Because the switching frequency is set at 51;Hz, the
modulation frequency is IOkHz. The current control
algorithm is executed at I O O p intervals, while the DC
voltage and the partial capacitor voltage control algorithms
are executed at 6 0 0 p intervals. The modulator algorithm is
executed at I O O p intervals. It calculates the relative ON
times of the switches on the basis of (6)-(IO) and Table I. To
make arbitrary pulse patterns possible, the final switching
functions are generated with TPU channels and logic circuit.
The protection circuiby (both sofhvare and hardware)
prevents the modulator operation in case of overcurrent
(OC) or overvoltage (OVCl.OVC2). If failure occurs,
SW(,~.~) is set at 0 and the rectifier operates as six-pulse diode
bridge.
The angle of the synchronous reference frame, qbpc = at,
is obtained from the zero crossings of the phase A voltage
with a phase locked loop.
1V. PROTOTYPE REALISATION
The laboratory prototype of the VIENNA I rectifier
system is shown in Fig. 7a. It is designed to operate at a
nominal lOkW output power and 650V DC voltage. The AC
filter is chosen so that the total harmonic line current
distortion (THD) is about 4%.
The main circuit is constructed from three IXYS VUM
25-058 modules shown in Fig. 7b [7], two 680pF(3.4p.u.)
450V electrolytic capacitors and 2200pH(4.3%p.u.) three-
phase AC inductor. Components are connected with copper
bus bars and wires. The two phase currents are measured
with LEM LA 55-P current transducers. The auxiliary power
supplies and the drivers for MOSFETs are located under the
shield of the MPC555 card in Fig. 7a.
V. SIMULATED AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The steady-state operation of the rectifier is examined at
nominal operating point Po,,= 10.4kW and U& = 650V.
The simulation model of the rectifier is such that the
control system and modulator run in Matlab Simulink while
the main circuit model runs in Simplorer [6]. Passive
component models are non-ideal, while semiconductor
models are ideal. The mains phase voltage total harmonic
distortion used in simulations is 1.1%
The prototype mains voltage THD =1.2%. The current
measurement is done with Tektronix TCPA3000 current
probe, while voltages are measured with Tektronix P5200
HV differential probes. All signals are transferred to Matlah
through a LeCroy LT364L digital oscilloscope. Figs. 8 and 9
show both simulated and measured waveforms.

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 2004 351h A n n u l IEEE Power E/eclronics Specialisrs Conference Aarhen, Germany, 2004

......

...... ...... .... ..... ......

...... .....

> 1 b II 50 ,I I. I6 (8
T , W W

,I:;.: ,
.................j .........................
............
.
~
. .........................
. .. ~

. . .
,
........
. ., , ..... :..........,........
.. I
;.. .....;............. ;............. :
I~~~~~ .....:........... i

. . . .
......

il

........ .......... :~~.... ........... ...../..........I

j)

Fig. 8. Stcady-state waveforms.

a) Mains phase voltage N.U (SIM)
b) Rectificr phase voltage U+ (SIM)
c) DC link voltage (SIM)
d) Mains phase voltage ".pi (MEAS)
e) Rectificr phase voltageU.U (MEAS)
0 DC link voltagc (MEAS)
g) Line current. i (SIM)
h) Current spcehum, THDirHl= I.3% (SIM)
i) Currcnt spectrum, THD,mw, = 3.9% (SIM)
j) Line current i,. (MEAS)
k) Current spcchum, T H D ~ L=H2.8%
~ (MEAS)
I) Current spccmim, THDimut,=5.3% (MEAS)
m) Partial DC capacitor voltages (SIM)
n) Partial DC capacitor voltages (ADC, MPC555)
m)

464 1
 2004 35rh Annual IEEE Power Eiecrronics Specialists Conference Aachen. Germany. 2004

= :. :. :. .! .I .! .: .: .:
, ..... :....... :....... :.. . .~;
.......:.......:....... :....... .......:......
.. .. .. .. 2

8 : :
..... 1....... , ...... +, ...... ,>... .;~
: : : : : . ..
:
.....................
. ... .,
. ... ...
,,.
~ ~
.
.. .. .. .. .. ..
5n ,;
; i Q ;T,Wrn./ 2; 1: >; ;1

a)

b)
: . ! . ! . I . : .. , .: . .: "; : l " ' " " " l
...... ..:...... :........ I.. .... ..;~~
_
..............
. >........ .L ...... .:...... ... ... ... ... ...
,........./... ....... ... ... . .
~ .j....,

.. .. .. .. ..
.................................
... ... ... ... ...
.. .. .. .. .

M , , , ,
0 10 D 80 m ~ r n ~,I I (a, I- ,
im D)
, ,
h.Irn.l

T"",.,

d) d)
Fig. 9. Transient waveforms, Pw,: 3.4kW + I0.4kW. Fig. 10. Low load wavcfonn, P , = IkW.
a) DC link voltagc (SIM) a) Line current i. (SIM)
b) Line current (SIM) ~ 24.5% (SIM)
b) Line currenl spectrum, T H D I =
c) DC link voltage (MEAS) c) Line current i. (MEAS)
d) Line c ~ m e n (MEAS)
t d) Line cunrnt spcctrum, T H D I w =
~ 26.4% (MEAS)

Fig. 8 shows the steady-state waveforms at the nominal obtained directly from the MPC555.
operating point. The test results are reasonably congruent When there is a 7kW step change in load power from
with simulations, although various delays and dynamics not 3.4kW to 10.4kW. the experimental transient behaviour of
modelled cause some differences. The simulated line current the rectifier system is quite similar to that of the simulation
distortion values are T H D ~ x=H 1.3%
~ and T H D I ~=~3.9%~ ~ z model, as shown in Fig. 9.
while the corresponding measured values are TIIDz~H,= The rectifier operation in low load condition is also
2.8% and THDlWkHz = 5.3%. The partial capacitor voltages examined. Fig. 10 shows the simulated and measured line
in Fig. 8n are AD converted and digitally filtered values current waveforms in case of IkW (10%) output power. The

4642
 2004 351h Annual IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference
relative harmonic current distortion increases as the
fundamental current component decreases with lower output
power. The DC link voltage control and the partial capacitor
voltage balancing operate normally, so the voltage
waveforms are like those in Fig. 8. Again, the experimental
results correspond to the simulations.
The efficiency and power factor of the rectifier was
measured at several loads with LEM NORMA D6000
widehand power analyzer system. Table 111 summarises the
results. The efficiency of 97.5% at nominal 10.5kW load is
close to that simulated in [SI (98.2% at IOkW). Only the
different switch configuration (cf. Figs. la and 5 ) itself
causes ca. 0.4 percentage unit difference in the simulated
efficiencies (at 650V,IOkW and 5kHz).
TABLE 111.
MEASURED EFFICIENCY AND POWER FACTOR
Output Power lkWl Efticiency [%I Power Factor
2.6 97.0 0.9831 cap
2.9 97.2 0.9862 cap
7.6 91.6 0.9978 cap
10.5 97.5 0.9986 cap
VI. CONCLUSION
A three-level vector modulation method for the
unidirectional VIENNA I rectifier was presented in this
paper. The principle algorithm operation, basic assumptions
and restrictions due to the main circuit were considered. The
vector modulation method was applied to a vector controlled
VIENNA I rectifier. The digital implementation of the
modulator and control system was realised with a
microcontroller.
The theoretical analysis and the operation of the rectifier
system were verified by simulations and experimental
laboratory tests. The experimental results are reasonably
congruent with the simulation results and thus verify the
functioning of the proposed modulation method.
Further development of the control system together with
the rectifier operation under distorted and unbalanced mains
voltages are now OUT main research interests.
4643
Aarhert, German>,,2W4
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[ I ] T. Viitancn, H. Tuusa, “A steady-statc power loss consideration of the
50kW VIENNA I and P W full-bridgc three-phase rectifiers,” Powcr
Elcctronics Specialists Conference, 2002. PESC 02. IEEE 33rd
Annual. Volume: 2 , 2 0 0 2 pp. 915-920.
[2] F. Stogerer, J. Minibock, I.W. Kolar, “Implementation of a novel
control concept for reliable operation of a VIENNA rectifier under
hcavily unbalanced mains voltage conditions,” Power Electronics
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[3] J.W. Kalar, F. Stogerer, J. Minibock, H. Enl, “A new concept for
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PWM (VIENNA) rectifier based on neuUaI point current
measurement,” Power Electronics Specialists Conference, 2000. PESC
00.20001EEE31‘AnnuaL Valume:l,pp. 13S146.
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Intcmational, 1997pp. 413418.
[5] T. Viitanen, H. Tuuusa, ”Space vector modulation and control of a
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n?. AC filter”, Power Electronics Specialists Conference, PESC
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[6] T. Viitancn. H. Tuusa, ’Three-Level space vector modulation - an
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[8] T. Viitanen, 1. Hautamaki, H. Tuusa, *’ A steady-state cornpansan of
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