A Unified Switching Model for VSC Validated by IGCTs and IGBTs

With the continuous improvement of reliability requirements, studying the power switches´ characteristics is of great significance in high-power electrical device. This paper presents a unified switching model suitable for the simulation of switching process with many kinds of switches in a large class of voltage sourced converter (VSC) systems. The model has many advantages such as simulating many switching dynamics states synchronously with less calculation, high simulation speed and easy parameter extraction from datasheets or measured waveforms. The model is also useful in selecting power switches, designing RCD snubbers, evaluating power loss, determining dead time and etc. The accuracy of the model is validated by comparing the experimental results with simulation ones for an IGCT-based VSC and an IGBT-based VSC.