Observer-based adaptive threshold diagnosis method for open-switch faults of voltage source inverters

In this paper, the problem of open-switch faults of a voltage source inverter system is investigated. A new fault diagnosis method based on an observer and an adaptive threshold is proposed. This method only needs to utilize the signals existing in a system without the need for extra hardware circuits. First, an observer is designed on a model of a three-phase voltage source inverter system to estimate currents. Then, an adaptive threshold is designed on fault residuals, dynamics of the currents and variations of the system operating state. Moreover, the dead time and switching delay time are also included in the threshold to consider practical applications. Furthermore, to achieve on-line real-time diagnosis and to improve the reliability of the proposed method, the averages of the current residuals in a current fundamental period are defined as diagnostic variables. Finally, the reliability and effectiveness of the proposed method are verified by simulation and experiment results.