Open-circuit fault detection of five-phase voltage source inverters

This paper proposes an approach to detect the open-circuit faults in a five-phase voltage source inverter. The inverter is modulated with space vector PWM. However, the proposed approach is independent of the modulation technique. The open-circuit faults under study are single transistor open-circuit, single inverter switch open-circuit, double-transistors open-circuit, double-switches open-circuit, and inverter leg/legs open-circuit. The proposed approach is based on measuring the terminal voltages of the inverter and compares it with the output voltages of the analytical model. These measurements require one cycle from the output voltage to detect the fault and to identify the fault location. Simulation and experimental results of common open-circuit faults occurred in the five-phase voltage source inverter are given. Results and analysis lead to extract rules for different fault conditions. These rules help for both fault detection and localization.