Advanced Model Predictive Control of Cascaded H-Bridge-fed Drives for E-Mobility Applications

This work proposes an extended experimental analysis on an IPMSM drive fed by a Cascaded H Bridge converter. Such a converter topology is proposed for e-mobility applications due to its easy integration with the energy storage system. In detail, the first part of the work deals with analyzing well-established modulation and control strategies such as pulse width modulation and field-oriented control impact on the electric drive performance and efficiency. The second part of this work deals with designing novel model predictive control strategies with the aim of minimizing its computational burden, allowing for its implementation on common controllers, and promoting its spread in the industry. Concerning the first part of the work, experimental results shown in chapter two related to performance comparison with traditional inverter topology are noteworthy and strongly encourage the spread of the proposed CHB topology in heavy truck applications. Regarding the design of novel MPC strategies, the vectorial approach is adopted to minimize the computational cost and manage the inverter state redundancies. Such an approach is adopted both for the three-phase drive fed by the CHB converter and for the six phase drive fed by traditional inverter and it is particularly effective.