The three-phase inverter supplies the induction machine with three-phase alternating voltage. From the
schematic of three-phase inverter in Fig. 2.4, it is seen that the three-phase inverter is fed by a DC voltage as
the energy input and has three legs, each consisting of two IGBTs and two diodes. It is worth noting that in
Fig. 2.4, each IGBT in three-phase inverter is replaced with an ideal switch. Define the DC-link voltage fed
into the three-phase inverter as Vdc. Take phase A for example. Based on Fig. 2.4, if switch T1 is turned on,
the A-phase voltage relative to ground UAN will be equal to +Vdc
2 ; while if switch T4 is turned on, UAN
will equal −Vdc
2 .
Although in this perspective it seems that the three-phase inverter only can generate two possible voltage
values for phase voltage, +Vdc
2 or −Vdc
2 , Pulse Width Modulation(PWM) makes it possible for the threephase
inverter to convert the DC-link voltage into three-phase alternating voltage by controlling the on-times
and off-times of the IGBTs. By adjusting the proportion of on-time in one PWM switching period for the
IGBTs on the same bridge leg, any value between +Vdc
2 and −Vdc
2 can be obtained as the phase voltage.
The ratio is described as duty cycle [33]. Define the on-time of an IGBT as Ton, the off-time of the IGBT
as Toff and one PWM switching period as TPWM. Duty cycle(D) can be formulated as: