New PWM strategy for three-phase multilevel inverter

The paper evolves a three-phase structure for a multilevel inverter (MLI) to extract a variable voltage for the operation of a three-phase induction motor. The series parallel switched nature of the configuration favours to reach the desired level of the output voltage with reduced switch count. The focus corners to exploit the effective regions of the reference wave and travel to accrue the benefits of a different pulse width modulation (PWM) strategy to improve the output voltage harmonic spectrum and minimise its total harmonic distortion (THD). It facilitates the choice of a desired target voltage and there from the preferred speed for the motor in tune with the requirements of different applications. The MATLAB based simulation response reveals the merits of the topology and up heaves the intricacies in the modulation mechanism to claim its suitability. The experimental results obtained from a prototype validate the formulation and forges to create fresh areas of use for MLI driven induction motor drives. © Copyright 2015 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.