Interleaved Selective Harmonic Elimination PWM

for Single-Phase Rectifiers in Traction Applications

Georgios Konstantinou(1) Vassilios G. Agelidis(1) and Josep Pou(1),(2)
(1)
The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
(2)
Technical University of Catalonia, Catalonia, Spain
email: g.konstantinou@unsw.edu.au vassilios.agelidis@unsw.edu.au j.pou@unsw.edu.au

Abstract—Interleaved four-quadrant, single-phase rectifiers idc

are widely used in traction applications as part of an AC-DC- +
AC conversion system. This paper presents selective harmonic DC/ M
elimination pulse-width modulation (SHE-PWM) patterns for Converter AC ~
single-phase interleaved PWM rectifiers based on both H-bridges HV 1 DC/ M
and full-bridge NPCs (H-NPCs). SHE-PWM waveforms are AC
Vdc ~
defined so that the low-order harmonics of the combined voltage
and input currents on the primary of the supply transformer are iN21
eliminated. The formulation of the problem and the acquisition DC/ M
of solutions becomes more challenging as the number of levels - AC ~

in the voltage waveform increases. Solutions based on reduced vN21

eliminated harmonics are proposed in order to increase the iN1
number of solutions as well as their continuity. It is shown that vN22
the proposed formulation improves the available solution space
with minimal effect to the output. The theoretical analysis are iN22
verified through simulation studies. Converter
Index Terms—Interleaved converters, multilevel converters,
pulse-width modulation (PWM), PWM rectifiers, selective har- 2
monic elimination (SHE), traction applications

I. I NTRODUCTION
Single-phase, four-quadrant PWM rectifiers are widely used
in traction applications due to the requirements for bidirec-
tional power flow as well as frequent acceleration and decel-
eration [1]. These high-power converter topologies typically
operate with low switching frequency in order to reduce the
associated losses. However, their operation should not affect
the supply network significantly with highly distorted input
currents. Furthermore, input current distortion may impact the
signaling and communication systems of a locomotive [2].
Solutions to increase the power of the front-end rectifiers
include multilevel converters [3] and interleaved configurations
[4]. An analysis of the harmonic content for the Chinese
CRH5 Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) was presented in [5]. The
rectification stage utilises two H-bridge converters in parallel
(Fig. 1) with an interleaved configuration. The DC-link, which
supplies the converters on the motor-side, is connected to the
two H-bridges which share both the DC and the AC current.
An asymmetrical modulation scheme for the interleaved
converters of Fig. 1 was proposed in [6] targeting to reduce the
harmonic distortion of the input current. For the same reason, a
modulation technique based on selective harmonic elimination
(SHE) PWM combined with a proportional resonant controller
for improved dynamic operation was presented in [7].
The topology can be further extended with the use of NPC
H-bridges (H-NPCs, Fig. 2). This configuration allows for
higher voltage and power while the multilevel waveforms
Fig. 1. Single-phase interleaved full-bridge converters for traction applica-
tions.
on the grid-side improve the harmonic performance of the
converter [8]. The output of each full-bridge NPCs is a five-
level waveform resulting in a total of nine-levels in the voltage
waveform at the primary of the supply transformer.
SHE-PWM [9]–[12] offers low switching frequency and
improved harmonic performance compared to sample-based
modulation techniques. It is defined through the Fourier de-
composition of the switching voltage waveform and the cal-
culation of the switching instants so the low-order harmonics
are eliminated from the output spectrum. The technique has
significant advantages in three-phase converters where the
triplen harmonics are eliminated in the power circuit and
can be omitted in the theoretical formulation. However, SHE-
PWM requires the solution of transcendental equations with
trigonometrical terms that often exhibit multiple solutions and
increase complexity as the number of switching angles and
voltage levels increases.
This paper presents SHE-PWM patterns for interleaved
single-phase, four-quadrant PWM rectifiers and proposes for-
mulations of SHE-PWM in order to extend the available
solutions.
The paper is structured as follows: Section II presents the

978-1-4799-0224-8/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE 930

 idc ranging between 0 and 1. Practically, because of the single-
+ phase configuration, the maximum attainable M is limited to
DC/
Converter
M
AC ~
π/4. The amplitude of the fundamental frequency component
HV 1 DC/
is
4M
M
AC ~ Vˆ1 = Vdc . (3)
Vdc π
iN21 In the case of two interleaved H-bridges (Fig. 1), the wave-
forms for the second bridge in a generalized form are
DC/ M
AC ~ 2N
vN21 -
X
iN1 (−1)i−N −1 cos(αi ) = M and (4)
vN22 i=N +1
2N
X
iN22 (−1)i−N −1 cos(nαi ) = 0, (5)
i=N +1
Converter
where i ∈ [N + 1, N + 2, . . . , 2N ] and n ∈ [3, 5, 7, . . .]
2
B. Five-Level Waveforms
The equations of multilevel waveforms are not uniform
throughout the modulation index range. In lower modulation
indices, the number of levels in the waveform are reduced
Fig. 2. Single-phase interleaved full-bridge, three-level NPC converters. to three and the formulation of the previous section applies.
At higher modulation indices, the equations depend on the
distribution of angles to the different levels [11]. Maintaining
formulation of SHE-PWM for single-phase, three-level and the assumptions of quarter-wave symmetry and N switching
five-level waveforms. It also discusses the application of the angles per quarter-period, the fundamental component and
technique to interleaved single-phase converters (Figs. 1 and 2 higher order harmonics of the five-level waveform for the first
respectively). Multiple solutions to both the three-level and the bridge are
five-level problem are provided in Section III. A method for Pk i−1
extending the number of solutions as well as their continuity i=1 (−1) cos(αi )
PN i−1+k
through a reduction in the number of eliminated harmonics is + i=k+1 (−1) cos(αi ) = M and (6)
also proposed. Simulations results from the application of the Pk i−1
i=1 (−1) cos(nαi )
techniques to PWM rectifiers are provided in Section IV and PN i−1+k
the conclusions of the work are summarized in Section V. + i=k+1 (−1) cos(nαi ) = 0, (7)
where i ∈ [1, 2, . . . , N ] and n ∈ [3, 5, 7, . . .]. k is the number
II. S INGLE -P HASE SHE-PWM
of switching transitions between the zero and the first level
This section presents the equations for three-level and five- of the five level waveform and is considered an odd number.
level SHE-PWM waveforms as well as the formulation of For the second bridge, the fundamental component and higher
the problem for interleaved topologies. The derivation of the order harmonics are
equations is similar to [9]–[12]. PN +k i−N −1
i=N +1 (−1) cos(αi ) +
P2N i−N −1+k
A. Three-Level Waveforms
i=N +k+1 (−1) cos(αi ) = M and (8)
The three-level SHE-PWM waveform is defined by a single PN +k i−N −1
i=N +1 (−1) cos(nαi ) +
equation for the whole range of modulation indices. Assuming P2N i−N −1+k
a quarter-wave symmetrical waveform and N switching angles i=N +k+1 (−1) cos(nαi ) = 0, (9)
per quarter-period of the waveform, the equations describing where i ∈ [N +1, N +2, . . . , 2N ]. In both cases the restriction
SHE-PWM are for the modulation index M is
N
X 0 ≤ M ≤ 2, (10)
(−1)i−1 cos(αi ) = M and (1)
i=1 the fundamental frequency defined by (3) and the switching
N
X angles α1 , α2 , . . . , α2N restricted by
(−1)i−1 cos(nαi ) = 0, (2) π
0 < α1 < α2 < . . . < αN < (11)
i=1 2
for the fundamental frequency component and higher or- for the first bridge, and
der harmonics respectively, where i ∈ [1, 2, . . . , N ], n ∈ π
0 < αN +1 < αN +2 < . . . < α2N < (12)
[3, 5, 7, . . .] as the single-phase configuration requires elim- 2
ination of all odd harmonics and the modulation index M for the second bridge.

931
C. Problem Formulation π/2
In both configurations, the problem can be defined so the 3π/8

Angles (rad)
calculated solutions for the waveforms of the two bridges
provide the required operating point (in terms of modulation π/4
index M ) and eliminate the required higher order harmonics.
π/8
The combination of the two waveforms provides 2N switching
angles. The control of the fundamental frequency component is 0
independent for each bridge (requiring one variable from each 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
set of equations) so up to 2N − 2 higher order harmonics can Modulation Index, M
be eliminated. (a)
The primary current is affected by the combination of π/2
the two individual waveforms and in this case the problem
3π/8

is defined as an independent control of each fundamental
frequency component as given by (6) and (8) and elimination
of the combined harmonics as
Pk i−1
PN
i=1 (−1) cos(nαi ) + i=k+1 (−1)i−1+k cos(nαi )
Pk
+ i=N +1 (−1)i−N −1 cos(nαi )
PN
+ i=N +k+1 (−1)i−N −1+k cos(nαi ) = 0 (13)
where n ∈ [3, 5, . . . , 4(N − 1) + 1]. The angle restrictions of
(11) and (12) are still applicable.
Unlike formulations for single converters, here the problem
does not define elimination of individual harmonics in the
waveforms but the elimination of the combined harmonics.
As demonstrated later, low order harmonics are present in the
voltage waveform of each individual bridge (VN 211 and VN 22 )
but eliminated in the summed waveform VN 11 +VN 22 . Another
assumption is that the converters operate with the same angle
distribution for the same operation point. The problem can
be formulated with different angle distributions for the same
operating point but based on the solutions of a single five-level
waveform, such an approach does not provide any particular
advantages and is not considered in this work.
III. SHE-PWM S OLUTIONS
The SHE-PWM problem containing trigonometrical terms
exhibits multiple solutions [11]. The acquisition of solutions
is based on an iterative minimization algorithm with biased
initial values [12].Considering two three-level waveforms, the
multiple solutions for the case of five switching angles per
quarter period (N = 5) are given in Fig. 3(a) and (b). The
solid lines represent the switching instants for Converter 1
while the dotted lines are the switching instants of Converter 2.
It is also evident that the patterns can be applied arbitrarily
to the converters and a rotation of the patterns every period is
also possible. The three set of solutions for (N = 7) switching
angles per quarter-period are shown in Fig. 4(a)-(c).
When the five-level waveforms of (6) and (7) are considered,
solutions are also affected by the distribution of angles to
the levels (k). SHE-PWM solutions are limited in range for
single converters with the continuity reducing as the number
of levels increases [12]. In the case of five-level interleaved
converters with N = 6 angles per quarter-period, solutions are
only feasible for the 3/3 distribution and only for a limited
range of M , as shown in Fig. 5.
Angles (rad)
π/4
π/8
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Modulation Index, M
(b)
Fig. 3. Solution trajectories for interleaved SHE-PWM in three-level
waveforms with five switching transitions per quarter-period, (a) Set 1, (b)
Set 2.
Solutions that cover significant part of the operating points
(M ) and with increased continuity are essential for feasible
applications of SHE-PWM. One possible way to achieve both
is through minimization of %THD [13] rather than elimination
of the selected low-order harmonics. In that case, the output
waveform provides low harmonic distortion but low-order
harmonics are present in the output. In this paper, a method
to increase the solutions through a reduction of eliminated
harmonics, hence relaxing the restrictions in the formulation,
is proposed. Returning to the case of N = 6, the number of
eliminated harmonics is reduced from 10 to 9 (2N − 3) while
maintaining the number of transitions constant. The different
solution trajectories are shown in Fig. 6 where the black lines
represent a 5/1 angle distribution, the blue a 3/3 and the red
a 1/5 pattern.
The proposed method reduces the range of eliminated
harmonics n is [3, 5, . . . , 4(N − 1) − 1]. Hence, the amplitude
of the 4(N − 1) + 1 harmonic becomes an interesting quantity
as it defines the first harmonic in the spectrum. Fig. 7 shows
the normalized amplitude of the first non-eliminated harmonic
for N = 6 and for the different angle distributions of Fig. 6. As
observed, the non-eliminated harmonic does not have a negli-
gible amplitude, however, it is not large enough to significantly
affect the operation and the harmonic performance of the
converter configuration. Furthermore, the gain in the number
of solutions, continuity and range of modulation index as seen
between Fig. 5 and 6 is quite important when considering the
value of the technique.

932
 π/2 π/2

3π/8
Angles (rad)

3π/8

Angles (rad)
π/4 π/4
π/8
π/8
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0
0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Modulation Index, M
Modulation Index, M
(a)
π/2 Fig. 6. Solution trajectories for interleaved SHE-PWM in five-level wave-
forms with six switching angles per quarter-period and 1 less harmonic
3π/8
Angles (rad)

eliminated. Black: 5/1 angle distribution, Blue: 3/3 angle distribution and
Red: 1/5 angle distribution.
π/4

Normalized 21st harmonic

π/8 1
0 0.75
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Modulation Index, M 0.5

(b) 0.25
π/2
0
0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
3π/8
Angles (rad)

Modulation Index, M
π/4
Fig. 7. Normalized amplitude of the 21st (non-eliminated) harmonic when
π/8 the number of eliminated harmonics is reduced to 2N − 3.

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
them. Synchronization to the grid is achieved through a single-
Modulation Index, M
phase phase-locked loop (PLL) [14].
(c) The effect of interleaving on the input current is demon-
Fig. 4. Solution trajectories for interleaved SHE-PWM in three-level strated in Figs. 9 and 10 for the H-bridges and the H-NPCs,
waveforms with seven switching angles per quarter-period, (a) Set 1, (b) Set 2, respectively. It is evident that low-order harmonics are present
(c) Set 3.
in each of the input currents but they are eliminated in the
combined current seen by the primary of the transformer.
π/2
Interleaving between the two converters and elimination of
3π/8 harmonics through the proposed technique improve the pri-
Angles (rad)

mary current of the converter.

π/4 Although the end result is similar, the application of SHE-
π/8
PWM for the two configurations is different due to the
five-level waveform of the H-NPC configuration. For three-
0 level SHE-PWM, the switching instants of both converters
0.9 0.95 1 1.05 1.1
are defined directly by the controller (Fig. 8) through the
Modulation Index, M modulation index. However, for the five-level SHE waveforms
the operating point firstly defines the angle distribution (in this
Fig. 5. Solution trajectories for interleaved SHE-PWM in five-level wave- case either 5/1, 3/3 or 1/5) and then the switching instants
forms with six switching angles per quarter-period and 3/3 angle distribution.
generating the gating signals of each converter. Further rotation
of the switching operations among the two converters in
order to ensure equal power and loss distribution can also be
IV. S IMULATION R ESULTS
included at this stage distribution.
The control structure of the interleaved converter configura- The operation of interleaved SHE-PWM for the H-NPCs
tion is shown in Fig. 8. A proportional-integral (PI) controller can be further clarified by observing the voltage waveforms
is used to regulate the dc-link voltage to the reference value of each NPC converter and the combined waveform of the two.
∗
(Vdc ) and proportional-resonant controllers are used to control For a particular operating point and considering the switching
the current of the converters which is shared equally among patterns of Fig. 5 the voltage waveforms of the Converter

933
 i1* Gating 150
0.5 +- PR PWM
Vh1
* Signals 100
i1
Bridge 1
Vdc* PI

Current (A)
+-
50
Vdc i2
Vh2
* Gating 0
θ -
PLL sin 0.5
i2*
+ PR PWM Signals IN 21
−50
Bridge 2 IN 22
−100
IN 1
Fig. 8. Control structure of the interleaved single-phase converters. −150
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
150 time, (s)
100
Fig. 10. Primary current of the transformer IN 1 and currents for the two
Current (A)

50 bridges IN 21 and IN 22
0
IN 21 2,000
−50

Voltage (V)
IN 22 1,000
−100
IN 1 0
−150
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 −1,000 VN 21
time, (s) −2,000 VN 22

Fig. 9. Primary current of the transformer IN 1 and currents for the two 4,000
bridges IN 21 and IN 22 3,000
2,000
Voltage (V)
1,000
0
1 (VN 21 ) and Converter 2 (VN 22 ) are given in Fig. 11. The −1,000
combined nine-level waveform is also given in Fig. 11. The −2,000
harmonic analysis of all waveforms, provided in Fig. 12, shows −3,000
−4,000
that although the individual harmonics of each bridge are not
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
equal to zero, they are canceled out in the combined waveform
to the 4(N -1)+1 order (in this case the 21st harmonic). This is time (s)
also a further indication of the complexity in the formulation
Fig. 11. 2N −2 harmonics eliminated. Voltage of each NPC H-bridge VN 21
of the SHE-PWM problem compared to the single multilevel and VN 22 and combined voltage at the transformer primary (VN 21 + VN 22 )
PWM waveforms of [12]. for M = 1.
The full-bridge H-NPC voltages and the nine-level com-
bined voltage waveform for the solutions with the reduced
number of harmonics eliminated (Fig. 6) are shown in Fig. 13. N switching angles per bridge controlling the fundamental
The corresponding harmonic spectra of the two full-bridge frequency component of each bridge to the required level
NPC voltages and that of the combined voltage are shown in and eliminating 2N -2 low-order harmonics from the output
Fig. 14. All harmonics up to the 19th are eliminated from the spectrum of the combined waveform.
output voltage spectrum. Similarly to the previous results, the The transcendental equations with trigonometrical terms
harmonics produced by each bridge are not equal to zero. A offer multiple solutions. However, increasing the number of
comparison of the proposed SHE technique against SPWM levels in the waveforms and switching angles reduces the
for the same switching frequency is also shown in Fig. 14. modulation index range and the continuity of the acquired
Although the reduction in the number of eliminated harmonics solutions. In order to address this issue, a reduction of elim-
results in the appearance of the 4(N -1)+1 harmonic, SHE- inated harmonics from the output spectrum is also proposed.
PWM still provides elimination of more low-order harmonics, The harmonic performance of the output waveforms is affected
compared to SPWM. as less harmonics are eliminated from the output. However, the
increase in the number of solutions and the increased operating
V. C ONCLUSION range of the converter compensate for the effect on the har-
monic performance. Multiple solutions and simulation results
Interleaved single-phase, four-quadrant PWM rectifiers are
confirm the effectiveness of the proposed interleaved SHE-
capable of handling higher power and with better harmonic
PWM as an alternative modulation technique for interleaved
performance compared to single converters and are of particu-
rectifiers in traction applications.
lar interest in traction applications. Low switching frequencies
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934
 1,500 1,500
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Voltage (V)
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