D.C.-to-d.c.

thyristor chopper for traction application

W. Farrer, M.Sc., Ph.D., D.I.C., C.Eng., M.I.E.E.

Indexing terms: Choppers (circuits), Controllers, Power control, Thyristor applications, Traction
Abstract
The paper discusses design principles together with a novel firing mode which enables the advantages of the
resonant power controller to be utilised to produce a fixed-frequency chopper circuit, which has complete
control over output power even at low output voltages. The resonant arrangement may be designed such
that resonant currents are less than the peak load current to be commutated with a consequent reduction
of the rating of the semiconductor and wound commutation components.
List of symbols
T
L
C
It
Im
CJ0
20
/0
5
Rm
Lm
Eg
Tp

= thyristor
= resonant circuit inductance
= resonant circuit capacitance
= instantaneous thyristor current
= load current
= natural frequency of resonant circuit, rad/s
= characteristic impedance of resonant circuit
= peak current in unloaded resonant circuit
= ratio of Io to Im
= load resistance
load inductance
back e.m.f. in load circuit
= repetition period

Introduction

To achieve satisfactory control of the standstill tractive

effort of a chopper-fed series-wound d.c. traction motor it is necessary
to control the power delivered by the d.c. chopper down to a very
low level. Many chopper circuits discharge the energy of the commutating capacitors directly into the load (motor) circuit once per cycle,
with the result that large uncontrolled motor currents are established
under standstill conditions. Thus, no control can be exercised over
'jerk' or initial acceleration.
Similarly, under regenerating conditions at high speeds, the motor
will be required to operate under field-weakened conditions, and the
motor field may constitute the only load presented to the d.c. chopper.
It is essential under such conditions to have satisfactory control of
the power delivered to the field and of the field currents that are
established.
Many of the published chopper circuits do not meet these requirements. Some arrangements that purport to do so use circuit configurations that result in severe stress being imposed on the semiconductor
devices. This usually manifests itself as a high rate of change of forward voltage across the thyristors, or as a high rate of growth of
initial current in them.
A number of such chopper circuits use some form of resonant
commutation and, to limit the minimum voltage and power delivered,
use the smallest possible value of commutation capacitance. The
resonant inductance is also made very small as commutation often
depends on the resonant current being several times greater than the
peak load current the circuit is required to commutate. In some cases,
the minimum voltage impressed on the load is determined by the
'ring-round' time of the commutation circuit. The result of such
designs is that the r.m.s. current rating of the commutation components and the auxiliary semiconductor devices is of the same order
as that of the main power devices and a stringent specification is
imposed on all components. This is particularly true of the thyristors
which are often called upon to withstand high di/dt, high dv/dt, have
short turn-off times, and which operate at relatively high frequencies.
While, from an engineering point of view, it may be considered
imprudent to specify devices in which all of the parameter requirements are stringently defined, a more compelling argument against
doing so is the ensuing difficulty in procuring sufficient quantities,
with large enough current ratings, to guarantee a reliable traction
product.
The circuit of this paper, together with the firing mode described,
allows the specification of the thyristors with regard to di/dt, dv/dt,
and turn-off time, to be relaxed, and yet provides control down to
zero voltage and power. This enables the traction requirements to be
met and so facilitates the procurement of larger devices and hence
Paper 7605 P, first received 2nd June and in revised form 14th October 1975
Dr. Farrer is with Brush Electrical Machines Ltd., PO Box 18, Falcon Works,
Loughborough, Leics. LE11 1HJ, England

PROC. IEE, Vol. 123, No. 3, MARCH 1976

more powerful equipments. Additionally, the r.m.s. current rating of

the commutation components and devices may be considerably
reduced, thus making a reduction of chopper weight, volume and
cost possible.
2

Resonant power controller 1

This is a power-conversion arrangement using one thyristor

where the power is converted from constant voltage direct current to
variable voltage direct current.
One of the principal attractions of the circuit arrangement used in
the resonant power controller is that it allows almost all of the
imperfections of the thyristor to be dealt with simply and with the
minimum of additional components.
These controllers consist of a thyristor and a resonant LC circuit.
Resonance is initiated by the thyristor which is subsequently turned
off by the voltage developed in the resonant circuit. The energy
stored on the capacitor is then allowed to discharge into the load
circuit. The power flow is determined by the repetition rate of the
triggering of the thyristor.
This kind of variable-frequency operation is not recommended2
for the traction application, because the wide spectrum of harmonics
generated are more likely to cause interference in the signalling and
communication equipment than a fixed-frequency chopper would
with its defined line spectrum of harmonics. However, the basic
circuit configuration of the resonant power controller will be
described together with its principal characteristics because, apart
from its general interest, it forms the heart of the fixed-frequency
chopper circuit that is later presented. It also highlights the amount
of power flow that is associated with the repetitive discharging of a
capacitor into a load circuit when moderately high voltages and
frequencies are employed.
2.1

Basic circuit

Consider the basic resonant power controller shown in Fig. 1.

feeding a load that consists of a back e.m.f. and an inductance Lm.
E volts o

0 volts o
Fig. 1
Basic resonant power controller
Let Lm > L and assume an initial load current /, to be flowing
via the flywheel diode D f . When thyristor T is triggered the current It
will grow in L at a rate E/L until It = fm. Thereafter, capacitor C will
charge and the voltage will double to about E volts, in fact
Vc = {l-cos(co 0 Oi

(1)

where coo = 1/(LC)1/2

The thyristor current It is given by
/, = E/Zo sin(co o 0 + An

(2)
12

where Z o = (L/C) '

It will reduce to zero at such time that oj0t = -n + sin"1 (1/5),

239

where 8 = E/(Z0Im) which is the ratio of the resonant component of

the thyristor current / 0 = E/Zo and the peak load current Im. Substitution of this time in eqn. 1 shows that if 5 > 2 then thyristor T will
be reversed biased by at least 0-86 of the direct voltage E at the time
immediately after the current flowing through it ceases. For 5 = 4
this reverse voltage will be 0-97 E. Generally Vc = E{1 + (52 - l)'s/5}
at this time.
When It ceases the load current Im will be drawn from capacitance
C, and Vc will fall such that dVJdt = Im/C volts/second. This rate
determines the amount of reverse-bias time applied to thyristor T.
The time for C to fully discharge will therefore be approximately
2EC/Im seconds.
When the capacitor voltage falls to zero the load current will
continue to flow via the flywheel diode D f . If the load is passive then
the current will decay at a rate Lm/Rm until the power controller is
again triggered. If the load consists principally of inductance and a
back e.m.f. Eg, as might be experienced from a d.c. shunt excited
motor, then the load current will decay at a rate Eg/Lm until the
controller is retriggered. If, with an active load, the load current
reduces to zero, then the load terminal will rise to the active load
potential and the diode Ds will become reversed biased. The necessary
charge condition of Cis thus preserved ready for the next firing period
of the controller. The series diode Ds is not required if the load is
passive.
Energy transfer
For the condition that the load inductance is very much greater
than the resonant inductance then the capacitor voltage will rise to
practically twice the direct supply voltage E. If 5 is greater than 2,
say 4, then the capacitor will very nearly be at a voltage 2E when the
current through the thyristor ceases. Hence, the energy stored at this
time is 2CE2 . As the capacitor discharges to zero voltage this energy
will be transferred to the load. From Fig. 2 it is seen that the total
period of the resonant and discharge cycle is Tp - (n + 25)/CJ 0 for
the above conditions. Therefore, the cycle may be repeated fm
\/Tp = coo/(n + 25) times per second.

and

(L/QU2 = E/SIm)
therefore
L = E/(8Im){fm(ir + 28)Yl
C = 8IjE{fm(iT + 25)}'1

(9)
(10)
(11)

For a d.c. supply of 500 V and a maximum mean load current of

25 A then with a pulse repetition rate of 500 pulse/s maximum and
using a design factor 5 = 4 the resonant component values would be
L = 900/iH; and

C = 36/^F

The power delivered would be = EIm = 12-5 kW (16-8 horsepower)

2.2

Current and voltage waveforms

A single cycle of the circuit may be divided into four distinct

well defined periods as depicted by Fig. 2. These are
(i) time tx = ImL/E = 1/(5w0); which is the time for the thyristor
current to increase from zero to the load current value Im.
(ii) time t2 = n(LC)1/2 = 7T/CJ0 ; which is the time for one half cycle
of the natural resonance ofL and C.
(iii) time / 3 = l/w 0 sin"1 (1/5); which is the time for the thyristor
current to decay from the load current value fm to zero,
(iv) time t4 = {1 + (52 - l)' s /5}C// m = {5 + (5 2 - l)'s}/co0;
which is the time for the capacitor to discharge to zero while
supplying load current Im.
The total period Tp is thus
Tp = 1/CO0{1/5 +n + sin"1 (1/5) + 5 + (52 - I) 0 5 }

(12)

If 5 = 4 then we may approximate this to

Tp = 1/CO0(TT + 25)
2.3

(13)

D.C. supply smoothing

With the circuit shown in Fig. 1 the capacitor is charged via

inductance L from the d.c. supply in a very short period at high
currents. It would therefore be necessary to have low transient source
impedance to limit regulation. This would entail using a capacitor
with a capacitance many times greater than that of the resonant
capacitor Cin shunt with the d.c. supply lines. However, a preferred
arrangement is shown in Fig. 3 where the resonant capacitor is in
shunt with the series combination of the thyristor and the resonant
inductance. In this arrangement, the peak current from the d.c. supply
is equal to the peak load current and so much less smoothing of the
d.c. supply is required. The output waveform and energy per cycle
to the load is still the same as in the previous arrangement.

thyristor current It

E volts o-

Fig. 2
Thyristor current and output voltage of resonant power controller
However, energy is also supplied to the load during the resonant
halfcycle. This energy is EImny/LC.
The total energy supplied to the load during one complete cycle
of the resonant power controller is thus
energy/cycle = EIm n(LQU2

+ 2CE2

noting that 5 = lo/Im = (E/Z0)/Im =

(3)

O volts o
Fig. 3
Preferred capacitor arrangement for resonant power controller

(4)

(6)

If the circuit is triggered for full output the direct current is

continuous and equal to the load current. For the resonant portion
of the cycle this current flows to the load via the thyristor and
inductor while during the run-down period it is supplied via the
capacitor.
As virtually no power is lost in the resonant circuit it is apparent
that the maximum power supplied to the load is the product of load
current and the direct voltage E.

(7)

2.4

l/2

E(C/L) /Im

l/2

and wo = \l(LQ

energy/cycle = EIm (n + 25)/u>0

(5)

But co0/(7r + 25) is the maximum repetition rate for maximum

load current and hence
maximum power = energy/cycle x maximum repetition rate
= 7m(7r + 25)/w0 wo/Or+ 26)
maximum power = EIm

Resonant component values

If/m is the maximum designed repetition for maximum mean load
current Im at a supply voltage E; then, as/ m = coo/C^ + 25) we may
write

(LQi/2 = \fm(n + 28)Yl

240

(8)

General properties of the resonant power circuit

(i) The thyristor is always turned on into inductance L which has

no current flowing in it. Therefore di/dt is strictly controlled,
(ii) The thyristor ceases to conduct when current in it decays sinusoidally to zero and therefore gets no vicious hole-storage reverse
current.
PROC. IEE, Vol. 123, No. 3, MARCH 1976

(iii) The thyristor only sees E volt maximum in both forward and
reverse
(iv) The rate of rise of forward voltage is strictly controlled by the
discharge of capacitor Cby the load current Imdv/dt InjC.
(v) The diode Df allows reactive load current to fly-wheel when
the thyristor is off and capacitor C is discharged,
(vi) The diode Ds allows the motor back e.m.f. to assert itself, when
fly-wheel current ceases, without disturbing the discharged
condition of capacitor C.
(vii) The maximum mean voltage on load is E volt,
(viii) It is necessary to ensure that the series load inductance is much
greater than that of the resonant inductor L. (In practice, the
motor inductance of d.c. machines will often be sufficient.)

Many chopper circuits use resonant circuits as the commutating

means. In most of them, it is necessary that the peak current in the
resonant circuit be several times that of the peak current to be
commutated in the main thyristor. Indeed, it is on this principle that
the basic resonant power controller operates. However, it does so
without generating the severe di/dt and dv/dt problems which most
of the published fixed-frequency chopper circuits produce.
An arrangement of a modified resonant-power-controller circuit
used in conjunction with a parallel main thyristor will now be
described. This circuit retains the principal advantages of the resonant
power controller without being called upon to handle excessive
currents.
3.1

2.5

Parallel operation

The parallel operation of thyristors in the resonant power

controller is straightforward and well defined. This is indicated in
Fig. 4. Let T,L and Cbe the thyristor, inductance and capacitance
values used in a single unit designed for a maximum frequency fm .
By paralleling n similar units as shown in Fig. 4 the effective total
capacitance is nC and the effective inductance when all thyristors
are conducting is L/n. Then the conduction period (function of the
product LC) is the same as for a single unit, but the current-carrying
capacity (function of C/L) has been increased by n times. Hence, the
maximum power output is also increased by n times. Correct sharing
of the parallel units is strictly defined by the parallel inductors and
absolute synchronism is not such an essential requirement.

Control of low power

Consider the resonant power controller of Fig. 5 in which

the series diode Ds has been replaced by the thyristor T s . An additional 'ring-down' circuit formed by the inductor LR and the diode
DR has also been introduced. LR may be many times greater than L.
E volts

E volts

0 volts
o

Fig. 5

Modified resonant power controller

0 volts
o

Fig. 4

Parallel operation
2.6

Practical applications using resonant power controllers

Resonant power controllers have been used industrially as

field regulators in the position control servoloops of 'differential speed
regulators',3 as automatic voltage regulators (field control) of selfexcited main and standby generators, and for the armature voltage/
current control of d.c. motors.
The resonant power controller is essentially a power controller and
as such the output voltage waveshape is almost completely determined
by the load current. Because output power is approximately proportional to frequency, the range of frequency control required is a
function of the product of the mean voltage range required and the
load current range. The situation is not quite as bad as the foregoing
might suggest, because as the load current tends to zero the capacitor
will discharge as a cosine function whose period is 2ii(LmC)l/2.
Nevertheless, the circuit is more suited to applications where both
the output voltage and current ranges are restricted. However, if the
direct voltage which supplies the resonant power controller is varied
in approximate sympathy with the output requirement then the
frequency range is considerably reduced. This fact may be made use
of for a self-excited voltage-regulated generator application where the
armature voltage provides the direct supply voltage of a resonant
power controller which, in turn, controls the field current of the
generator.

When Ts is triggered Cwill charge via the load to supply voltage

and then Ts will be starved of current and will turn off. Any load
current present will continue to flow via Df in the usual manner.
If Ti is now triggered then the capacitor Cwill commence to ring
with L and point 'A' will finally reach a voltage of almost twice that
of the supply voltage E. Shortly after this time of approximately
n(LQx /2 thyristor T! will extinguish and the capacitor will continue
to ring back with inductance LR via diode D R . Point 'A' will thus
move from a potential of almost 2E to almost zero voltage in a time
n(LRC)l/2 . At any instant during this ring-down period it is permissible to trigger Ts and discharge the remaining capacitor-stored
energy to the load circuit. Thus, it is possible to have complete control
of the energy that is delivered to the load circuit. Fig. 6 shows the
voltage developed at point 'A' in the circuit and also the load voltage
when Ts is triggered at some intermediate point when current Im is
flowing in the inductive-load circuit.
fire

fire

fire

2E

Evoltsl

\-JdtT c

Fig. 6

Fixed-frequency thyristor choppers

In many practical thyristor switches which comprise more

than one thyristor, the design is often a compromise between satisfying the two conflicting requirements of rate of change of initial
current and rate of change of forward voltage that are imposed on the
thyristors at the times of switch on and commutation. Any attempt
to alleviate one of these stress conditions invariably results in exacerbation of the other at the same or another thyristor in the switch
arrangement.
PROC. IEE, Vol. 123, No. 3, MARCH 1976

Voltage at point 'A ' in circuit of Fig. 5 and output voltage for delayed
firing of thyristor Ts
Several important points are worth noting:
(a) Thyristor T! turns on into an inductance-carrying zero current.
Hence di/dt is strictly controlled.
(b) The rate of change of the forward voltage applied to thyristor Ts
(point 'A') is strictly controlled by the LC ring.
241

(c) Forward dv/dt on thyristor Tt is strictly controlled by the rate of

discharge of Cby the load current Im, i.e.dv/dt = Im/C.
(rf)The sum of the ring times n\/(LC)1'2 and ir\/(LRC)1 n must be
less than the repetition period Tp.
(e) The power delivered to the load circuit may be varied from zero
to 2CE2fr (where fr = l/Tp) as the point of triggering of Ts is
varied from ir\/(LC)i/2 + ny/(LRC)112 later than the triggering of
T, to n\/(LC)in later than the triggering of T,.
(j) It is not essential that the current in the resonant circuit be greater
than load current.
3.2

Main power control

When the maximum capacitive energy is being delivered to

the load, that is when Ts is triggered n\/(LC)U2 later than Ti, then
the voltage that exists on capacitor Cat that time may be utilised to
commutate any additional thyristor which may also be conducting
to the load circuit. Thus, we have the final power circuit as shown
in Fig. 7.

DR

In such a practical realisation of the circuit described it is essential

to limit the initial di/dt that occurs when either thyristor Ts or T2
is turned on, and also to limit the reverse di/dt in both T2 and Df
when they are called upon to turn 'off. This is accomplished by
inserting small inductances in the leads of T2 and Df. The effect of
these inductances can be seen in the oscillograms of Fig. 8. When T2
turns 'on' then the output terminal voltage rises to a level determined
by the potential division of the two small inductances connected
across the supply voltage E. This situation continues until the load
current that had been flowing in diode D{ reduces to zero and the
hole-storage requirement of this device has been satisfied. At this
time the output potential will rise to that of the direct supply voltage.
A second beneficial effect of the inductance in the flywheel diode
path may also be noted in all of the oscillograms. This is that as the
capacitor C is discharged by the load current following a commutation
then the output terminal voltage transiently goes to a negative
potential. Such an overcharge on C is necessary for load current to be
established in the flywheel diode and associated inductance. The benefits of this are twofold. First, the ensuing reverse voltage that is
established across Ts, as its current ceases, reduces the time taken for
it to achieve its full forward voltage blocking capability. Secondly, the
amount of overcharge voltage on capacitor C is current dependent.
This means that greater commutation capability will be available for
increased load current, or, alternatively this overcharge can be considered to compensate for the regulation of the supply voltage that
will occur under heavy current conditions.
As stated previously, the insertion of components to alleviate one
stress condition invariably results in the creation of another. The sizes
of the inductances used to limit di/dt will dictate the values of the
'snubber' components which must be connected across the various
semiconductor devices to limit reverse voltage and damp the subsequent transient.
3.3

Fig. 7

Final power circuit of resonant power controlled (r.p.c.) chopper

For greater powers than 2CE2fr then T2 is triggered to apply the
direct voltage to the load circuit. Thyristor Ti is fired ir(LC)112 before
commutation of T2 is required at which time Ts is triggered to achieve
this commutation. Fig. 8 shows oscillograms of various levels of output
when such a chopper is used to power a high-performance seriestraction motor, of type TMC 3842, manufactured by Brush
Electrical Machines Ltd. For powers less than that of the resonant
power controller alone the triggering of T2 is inhibited and the circuit
behaves as that shown in Fig. 5.

capacitor
voltage
- 0 volts
output
voltage

Rating of components

Both thyristor T2 and the flywheel diode Df must be rated

for the peak continuous load current. Capacitor Cis selected to
determine the reverse-bias time of T2 when peak load current is
flowing. It is to be noted that as complete control of the capacitor
energy that is discharged to the load is possible then this capacitor
may be oversized such that devices with more easily available turn-off
times may be used for T2.
Thyristor Ts must be capable of transiently supplying peak load
current while the capacitor is discharging to the load circuit. It must
also be capable of supporting twice the direct supply voltage, although
this is applied in a relatively slow and controlled manner.
The inductances/- and LR are only called upon to handle the
respective resonant currents. The inductance LR is, of course, only
required to handle the ring-down current when the chopper output is
practically zero, hence its duty is intermittent and light. The current
in L is of constant peak amplitude, form, and duration; it is also
independent of the output duty cycle of the chopper. Thyristor Ti
is required to handle the same current as inductance L and will be
called upon to support the supply voltage in both forward and reverse
polarity. The peak resonant current handled by Tj and L may be less
than the current flowing in the load circuit.

0 volts
3.4

capacitor
voltage
-0 volts I
output
voltage
]L0 volts
Fig. 8

Oscillograms showing commutation on capacitor voltage at various

output voltage conditions, with respect to the zero voltage supply
rail, for the resonant power controlled chopper (r.p.c.c.) supplying
a Brush type TMC 38-42 series traction motor
scales:

voltage 200 V/div

time 0-5 ms/div
a Low output voltage, main thyristor T2 not triggered
t> Maximum CV* condition, main thyristor T3 not triggered
Intermediate voltage, main thyristor T2 triggered
c
d High output voltage

242

Operating frequency

The choice of operating frequency for a chopper used in a

railway application must be made with great care. It is important that
close liaison is achieved between the manufacturer and the signalling
and communication personnel of the particular railway administration
concerned to ensure that the operation of the signalling and communication circuits is not affected. In principle, it is desirable to choose the
chopping frequency as high as possible as this enables the size and
weight of the input d.c. line-filter components to be minimal. Unfortunately, the higher the frequency the greater is the requirement for
semiconductor components with better dynamic characteristics.
For chopper circuits which do not have complete control of the
commutation capacitor energy that is discharged to the load the
operating frequency is severely limited by the necessity to achieve
acceptable control for shunting operation. To achieve a higher
operating frequency it is often proposed that two separate chopper
circuits should be run, feeding two separate motor strings, phase
displaced so that the effective ripple frequency at the supply source
is double that of a single chopper. Care should be taken with this
approach because if the two chopper loads are not identical then
ripple at the frequency of a single chopper will be present in the
supply source. The weighted interference level of this component may
constitute a potential hazard.
PROC. IEE, Vol. 123, No. 3, MARCH 1976

The chopper circuit described in this paper allows the full period
between pulses to be used to advantage to alleviate the dynamic
requirements of the thyristors. Thus, it is possible to operate at somewhat higher frequencies than are usually adopted. Obviously, the
possibility of multiplexing more than one chopper circuit can, as
before, be considered to raise the ripple frequency at the source even
higher.
3.5

Ripple requirements of the d.c. smoothing capacitor

Fig. 9a shows a diagramatic representation of the chopperfed traction motor together with the input d.c. filter components
Ls and Cs. The voltage impressed at the motor terminals is shown in
Fig. 9b where Tp is the repetition period and t is the 'on' time of the
chopper. The ripple voltage which will occur on the smoothing
capacitor Cs due to this discontinuous current flow is shown in Fig. 9c
where 8 V represents the peak-to-peak voltage ripple.

Cs is of squarewave form and is half the amplitude of the maximum

load current Im . If high-grade electrolytic capacitors are used for this
duty the final installed capacitance is likely to be dictated by the
acceptable ripple current rather than by the acceptable ripple voltage.
In practice, the series inductance Ls will be finite and the current
in it (/s) will not be constant. This will result in a reduction of the
current-ripple requirements of Cs, but it will allow current variations
in the source at the chopper frequency. The design of this input choke
thus becomes a compromise between acceptable current ripple, and
harmonics, and acceptable size and weight. The benefits of operating
at as high a frequency as possible enable the size and weight of this
input filter to be reduced for a given level of interference currents
generated in the supply source by the chopper. However, if the direct
line voltage is generated by polyphase rectification at the substations
then it will contain ripple voltages which, in turn, will set up ripple
currents that will flow via the line filter components, Ls and Cs.
To contain these source-generated ripple currents to an acceptable
level a minimum value of Ls may be dictated. The size and weight of
this inductance may thus become independent of the chopping
frequency.
3.6

chopper

'Ic
Cs

0 o-

Regeneration

This may be carried out in the usual way by reversal of the

motor series field connections and the reconnection of the armature
circuit. This facility is shown in Fig. 10 where Sm is the power/brake
changeover switch. With this switch open and the field connections
reversed the motor may be short-circuited by the chopper via the
braking diode D b . This allows the motor current to increase. When the
chopper is turned off the motor current will continue to flow via Df
and D b , and thus return energy to the d.c. line.
During regeneration at high speeds it is possible for the motor e.m.f.
to exceed the supply voltage. The positive feedback arrangement of the
field and armature for this condition is prevented by including the
shunting, or suicide, diode Ds. This diode thus enables the chopper to
control the field current independently of the armature current and so
introduce field weakening during high-speed braking. As the only load
presented to the chopper under these conditions is the low-loss passive
field element it is essential to have adequate control of the low-power
requirements. As complete control over the capacitive energy that is
discharged to the load is available with this chopper this requirement
is met in full. No additional dissipative components are required in the
load circuit to achieve this.

Fig. 9

Chopper-fed motor system

a Circuit diagram
b Chopper output voltage
c Ripple voltage on Cs

If the ratio of mark to period is n, i.e. n = t/Tp, then, as virtually

no power loss occurs in the chopper, we may write
E/Vo = I In
= n;
where Vo is the mean voltage applied to the motor terminals, and / s
and Im are the mean currents in the source and load, respectively.
The worst-case ripple duty imposed on Cs will be if Is is assumed
to be constant during the chopping period. With this assumption of
high source inductance, and also with the assumption that the ripple
voltage on Cs is small compared with the supply voltage E, then during
period t capacitor Cs will discharge at a rate Ic/C, where Ic = Im Is =
Im(\ n). Therefore, the ripple voltage is given by

8V = IJCsxnTp =

ImTpn(\-n)/Cs

or expressed in fractional form

Thus, the maximum ripple will occur when n = 1/2, i.e.

8V]

= v;

and

C, =

n=l/2

The values of Im and E will be dictated by the application, while the

designer will select the operating frequency (llTp) and the maximum
fractional ripple voltage v that he can tolerate. The linear dependence
of the size of the smoothing capacitance on the repetition period for
a given fractional ripple voltage can be observed.
It will be noted that at this worst-case operating point of n = 111
the alternating ripple current handled by the smoothing capacitor
PROC. IEE, Vol. 123, No. 3, MARCH 1976

armature

0
Fig. 10

Circuit diagram of chopper with regeneration facility

Auxilliary chopper provides rheostatic braking when line is nonreceptive

If the supply line is nonreceptive then electric braking may be

achieved by rheostatic means. This may best be achieved by an
independent chopper feeding a brake resistor directly from the d.c.
supply line. The firing of the main thyristor of this auxilliary chopper
would be controlled by the voltage of the d.c. line, while the commutation would be provided in sympathy with that of the main
chopper. This mode of control ensures that only energy which cannot
be accepted by the line is dissipated in the brake resistor.
4

Conclusions

The basic design considerations of the variable frequency

resonant power controller have been described. A modified version of
this simple d.c. power controller has been demonstrated to be capable
of controlling the power delivered to the load down to very low levels,
even though operation is maintained at fixed frequency. By the
addition of a parallel thyristor the resulting chopper circuit will control
motor voltage from virtually zero to full line voltage. The characteristics
243

of this new chopper and firing mode make it particularly suitable for
traction-motor control.
The principles adopted in the design enable the current rating of
the auxiliary commutation components to be reduced with the
possibility of reducing the overall weight, volume and cost of the
chopper equipment. In addition, the dynamic requirements of the
semiconductors are reduced compared with most known chopper
circuits thus facilitating the procurement of such devices. This in
itself, apart from its technical advantages, could lead to a more rapid
use of such equipments in traction schemes, as quantity availability

and 2nd-source considerations are of great importance to such an

industry.

References

1 FARRER, W.: 'The evolution of a 'quasi-sine-wave' inverter for driving

induction motors', Ph.D. thesis University of London, Jan. 1974
2 'Application of thyristors in railway technology: consequences and remedies'
in 'Chopper control systems', ORE report no. 7, April 1973
3 'The Harland differential speed regulator' The Holland Engineering Co. Ltd.,
Publication LI 00/2

Erratum
KIDD, W.L.: 'Development, design and use of ripple control',
Proc.IEE, 1975, 121 ,(10R), pp. 993-1008
The author wishes to make the following corrections to his review
paper:
At the end of the first paragraph of Section 1:
kWL should read kWh.
In the notes below Fig. 1:
(iii) should read 'Direct . . . "
(b) and (c) should read Landis & Gyr.
In line 7 of the first paragraph of Section 7.6:
'starage' should read 'storage'.
ETC23 P

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PROC. IEE, Vol. 123, No. 3, MARCH 1976