Theoretical prediction and experimental verification of light-load instability in a 11-kW open-loop induction motor drive

This paper presents the small-signal stability analysis of an 11-kW open-loop inverter-fed induction motor drive, including the effect of inverter dead-time. The analysis is carried out using an improved small-signal model of the drive that has been reported in literature recently, and is used to demonstrate small-signal instability in a higher-power-level motor. Through small-signal stability analysis, the region of oscillatory behaviour is identified on the voltage versus frequency plane (V–f plane), considering no-load. These predictions using the improved model are also compared against predictions of a standard model of an inverter-fed induction motor including dead-time effect. The oscillatory behaviour of the 11-kW motor drive is also studied through extensive time-domain numerical simulations and actual measurements over wide ranges of operating conditions. Both the simulation and experimental results confirm the validity of the predictions by the improved analytical model. Further, these results establish that the analysis is valid for both sine-triangle pulse-width modulation (PWM) and conventional space vector PWM.