International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE)

ISSN: 2278-3075 (Online), Volume-8 Issue-5, March 2019

A Review on Matrix Converter Topologies for

Adjustable Speed Drives
Maheswari K.T. , Bharanikumar R. , Bhuvaneswari S.

Abstract: A detailed review on matrix converter circuits for The paper [3] explains the progress and growth of this
adjustable speed drive applications has been presented in this
paper. The power converter that is made up of a group of nine
type of power converter with a thorough historic
switches used to link three phase ac source to the load is called background. The most important a control strategies and
AC to AC Matrix Converter. Matrix Converter is capable to modulation methods developed so far, has been discussed
transform input with constant amplitude and frequency to three briefly. The modern methods are developed and employed to
phase output with variable amplitude and variable frequency, as
it is able to produce any frequency at the output as integer resolve the existing commutation problem. The
multiple of input. The attractive characteristics of Direct matrix implementation of arrays of nine switches able to conduct in
converter are intrinsic four quadrant operation, high power both directions, integrated in a single module is being used.
factor at the input side, no intermediate capacitor, high
At last, this paper presents about the problems like
regenerative capability, increased power density, light weight and
reliable. However, some of the striking feature of these protection at high voltage condition, use of filters and fault
converters has been under research for the last few decades. The ride-through capability.In [4]-[5], the concept of three phase
use of various topologies of matrix converter, and its PWM alternating current to alternating current converter system
methods to get desired performance in adjustable speed drives
have been discussed in this paper. has been presented. In this paper a renowned, intermediate
dc link converter system has been presented in order to
Index Terms: Direct matrix Converter, Four Quadrant
Operation, PWM Methods, Regenerative Capability implement ac-ac converter. The Direct matrix converters are
finally controlled with space vector modulation methods. A
I. INTRODUCTION momentary suggestion of AC to AC converter is shown and
In recent years, the application of variable speed drives in a novel unidirectional MC with three level is explained. The
industrial and commercial facilities has been increased proposed converter obviously shows the acquaintances of
greatly. Hence, the need for ac-ac conversion that converts proposed power converter that straightly results in the
three phase input to the three phase load, becomes essential flexibility of the PWM control techniques. A novel type of
in order to get variable frequency, amplitude and phase for power converter topology is presented in [6]-[7]. This
several applications. The ac to ac converters receive power converter is capable of converting input ac supply to output
from the input source and distribute it to the three phase AC power through direct conversion and, it eliminates the
output with desired voltage and frequency. To enrich the usage of any input filters or intermediate DC link capacitors
characteristics, efficiency and the consistency of the except for some small snubber elements. The proposed
systems, various power converter circuits are presented converter requires only insulated gate bipolar transistors in
nowadays. In [1]-[2] the author discussed about the distinction to Matrix converters which in turn is made up of
maximum voltage transformation ratio of direct AC-AC bidirectional switches. The current waveform at the input
pulse-width- modulated converters. An inherent limit, side of the suggested converter topology is equivalent to that
independent of the control strategy, was found. To achieve of the diode rectifier with intermediate dc link inductor and
maximum output capacity with some interesting features, a it has unity input displacement power factor.In [8], the
appropriate innovative converter control algorithm was protection issues related to matrix converter has been
presented. Lastly, the chance to establish control strategy for presented. Conventionally the PWM based voltage source
matrix converter by using feedback methods was inverters are used to control the induction motors. A best
deliberated, and a feedback-based modulation strategy for alternate is the matrix converter, which is made up of nine
the converter was also explained. bidirectional switches. The benefits of this converter include
bidirectional power flow and sinusoidal input current. As
the bidirectional switch is not available, this becomes the
Manuscript published on 30 March 2019. main drawback of the system. The two way conduction
*Correspondence Author(s)
Maheswari K.T., Department of EEE, Bannari Amman Institute of switch can be implemented by linking two power switches
Technology, Sthyamangalam,Tamilnadu,India. along with diodes. A significant matter is the protection of
Bharanikumar R., Department of EEE, Bannari Amman Institute of
Technology, Sthyamangalam,Tamilnadu,India the matrix converter, and this paper presents two novel
Bhuvaneswari S., Department of EEE, Bannari Amman Institute of protection circuits for matrix converters with a reduced
Technology, Sthyamangalam,Tamilnadu,India.
number of components.
© The Authors. Published by Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and
Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the
CC-BY-NC-ND license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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 A Review on Matrix Converter Topologies for Adjustable Speed Drives

The paper is organized as follows: section II presents the partial frequency of supply voltage at the input side. Hence,
classification of Matrix converter, section III presents the the advantages of cycloconverter could be the robustness of
topologies of Matrix Converter; section IV gives the thyristors and low losses. After considering all the above
fundamental operation and Mathematical equations of mentioned factors above, because of its limited output
Matrix Converter, section V shows the applications of frequencies and deprived harmonic performance, the chance
Matrix Converter and section VI gives the conclusion. of using cycloconverters for low and medium power level
converters becomes very less. However, cycloconverter can
II. CLASSIFICATION OF MATRIX CONVERTER be seen as an ideal solution for high power levels due to the
Among all power electronics converters, the two level low losses and robustness. The converters used in electrical
diode rectifiers followed by voltage source inverters are drives can be classified as shown in Fig.2.
most prevalent recently. A power converter that converts
the dc input voltage into ac output voltage is called Voltage
Source Inverter (VSI). In 1920, the concept of direct
frequency conversion was initially presented. Generally,
direct three phase ac to ac converters can be categorized in
two different clusters. The Power Electronic circuits
having input supply frequency higher than the functional
output frequencies can be combined in the first group.

Fig.2 Classification of converters used in Electrical Drives.

III. MATRIX CONVERTER TOPOLOGIES

The matrix converters are categorized as two types [10]
such as the direct matrix converter and indirect matrix
converter that include intermediate dc link modules in
between the input and output ac voltages.
A. Direct Matrix Converter
The additional direct ac power converters are the matrix
converter (MC). The conventional matrix converter is
Fig.1 3 Phase to 3 Phase Cycloconverter made up of nine switches that connect each input phase
This variety of circuit was termed cycloconverter. The to each output phases. With proper switching pattern, the
function of the cycloconverter is to convert the incoming output voltage control, current, phase angle and input
alternating current voltage waveform to the output voltage power factor can be obtained. Fig. 3 shows the
waveform with low frequency. The first cycloconverter elementary circuit of direct matrix converter.
with semiconductor was established in 1960s, after the The most promising characteristics of MC are that it
invention of thyristor. The 3 phase to 3 phase thyristor does not have any limitations on the output frequencies
based cycloconverter is shown in Fig.1. These types of [11]. The input power from the input voltage source to the
converters are frequently used in three phase ac-ac output three phase loads can be transferred directly, with
conversions. the elimination of inductors and capacitors at the dc link
In utmost applications of power systems, the as shown in Fig.3.4. Thus, it affords three phase ac to
cycloconverters are generally used to convert the voltage at three phase ac single stage conversion. Furthermore, the
the input side with fixed voltage and frequency into the size and volume of the converter can be mostly lessened
output waveform with variable voltage and frequency. The by using direct matrix converter.
output voltage and current of cyclo-converter are very much
distorted and also power factor of the input v o l t a g e is
low. However, if the number of switching devices is
increased, t h e quality of the output voltage waveforms
can also be enhanced. Furthermore, as the normal loads
unable to bear the distorted output voltage waveform
generated due to maximum input to output frequency ratios
[9], its frequency at the output is also ordinarily restricted to
Published By:
Retrieval Number: D2855028419/19©BEIESP Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
Journal Website: www.ijitee.org and Sciences Publication (BEIESP)
54 © Copyright: All rights reserved.
 International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE)
ISSN: 2278-3075 (Online), Volume-8 Issue-5, March 2019

techniques, efficiency and complexity, they also afford

similar characteristics such as sinusoidal input as well as
output currents and power flow at both directions with the
similar number of power semiconductor switches.

IV. FUNDAMENTAL OPERATION OF DIRECT

MATRIX CONVERTER
The matrix converter is an array of a x b power switches
which are bidirectional, that connects input source to the
output load. In general, the direct matrix converter is fed by
conventional VSI and hence, there is no possibility to allow
short circuit for input terminals. Also, due to the inductive
nature of the load, the output phase would not be open
circuited [13]. Fig. 5 presents the pulse pattern of Matrix
converters,
The switching function in Eq (1) and Eq (2) can be
defined as follows,

Fig.3 Basic DMC circuit

Thus, this type of converters can be preferred in (1)
applications which do not require more number of passive The above constraint can be given as,
components.
B. Indirect Matrix Converter
Fig.4 shows the basic taditional matrix converters. The
improved topology called Indirect Matrix converter is (2)
established on the concept of virtual direct current link With these constraints, 27 possible switching states are
which is used to control the Matrix Converter. Hence, allowed in 3x 3 matrix converter.
there is no energy storing element between the input and
output side. The advantages of Indirect Matrix Converter
compared to direct Matrix Converter is that the
commutation problem of power switches was solved and
all the switches are switched ON and OFF at zero current
[12].

Fig.5 Switching pattern of Matrix Converter

The correlation between load and input voltage can be
given as,
Va (t )  S Aa (t ) S Ba (t ) S Ca (t ) V A (t )
V (t ) =  S (t ) S (t ) S (t ) V (t ) 
 b   Ab Bb Cb  B 
Vc (t )   S Ac (t ) S Bc (t ) S Cc (t )  VC (t ) 

(3)

Fig. 4 Basic Conventional Indirect Matrix converter.

Even though both matrix converters shows
dissimilarities in circuit configuration, modulation
Published By:
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Journal Website: www.ijitee.org and Sciences Publication (BEIESP)
55 © Copyright: All rights reserved.
 A Review on Matrix Converter Topologies for Adjustable Speed Drives

In the same manner, the following correlations is valid for VI. APPLICATIONS OF MATRIX
input and output currents, CONVERTER
i A (t )   S Aa (t ) S Ba (t ) SCa (t ) ia (t ) The direct matrix converter is a most important
     converter topology with characteristics such as simple and
iB (t )  =  S Ab (t ) S Bb (t ) SCb (t ) ib (t )  compressed power circuit, able to generate output voltage
iC (t )  S Ac (t ) S Bc (t ) SCc (t )  ic (t )  with variable amplitude and frequency, elimination of dc
  link capacitor, regeneration ability and sinusoidal source
(4) and load currents. The important applications of ac-ac
Matrix Converter include field oriented control, wind
I. MODULATION METHODS FOR MATRIX
CONVERTER energy conversion system with SCIG and doubly- fed
induction generator. Several researches are going on to use
To control the Matrix Converter very significant solution, auxiliary drive system in diesel locomotives. Currently,
could obtained by using PWM control strategies, which is
many papers are exploring the application of MC in
conventionally used for voltage source inverters. The two
important modulation methods developed so far for Matrix aircrafts. Already, the problems in implementing a matrix
Converter are conventional carrier modulation and modified converter have been solved and the step towards the
space vector PWM techniques [14]. The carrier based PWM commercialization has also been initiated. However, when
is the easiest method whereas very elegant method is the compared to VSIs, the characteristics and equations of
space vector PWM modulation. Matrix converter need to be improved more to exhibit good
A. Carrier PWM Method performance.
The main advantage of PWM based control strategies is
that it maintains power factor as one at the input side so as to VII. CONCLUSION
normalize the output voltage. Furthermore to produce the In this paper a review on different topologies of matrix
required pulses for the power switches, the CBPWM converter for adjustable speed drives has been done.
technique which is a sinusoidal PWM technique, is used Comparative analysis has been carried out among the
where high frequency triangle carrier signals are associated diverse literature available in the field of matrix converter.
with the reference signal. In this technique, from the logical The review concludes that there is an extensive development
table the switching pulses are generated. If the limitations of of Matrix Converter in terms of topology, modulation
Table I, are not fulfilled, the value assigned for the logical methods and applications to enhance the characteristics of
variable is 0. However, PWM method explained so far is MC for various applications. The topology with specific
limited to unity power Factor operation. characteristics can be chosen for particular applications from
TABLE I Input Voltage States of PWM Methods analyzing the results of the paper. Hence, it has been
Condition Value concluded from the review that the matrix converter
topologies is applicable to vast applications inorder to obtain
VA>VB XA=1 desire amplitude and frequency from three phase input.
VB>VC XB=1
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Journal Website: www.ijitee.org and Sciences Publication (BEIESP)
56 © Copyright: All rights reserved.
 International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE)
ISSN: 2278-3075 (Online), Volume-8 Issue-5, March 2019

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AUTHORS PROFILE
Maheswari .K.T was born in
Tamilnadu India, on Dec 20, 1980. She received
her B.E Degree in Electrical and Electronics
Engineering from Erode Sengunthar Engineering
College, Erode, Bharathiyar University. She
received her M.E Power Electronics and Drives
from Bannari Amman Institute of Technology,
affiliated to Anna University, Chennai in 2010.
She has 9 yrs of teaching experience. Currently
she is working as Assistant Professor in EEE
department, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology,
Sathya mangalam, TamilNadu, India. Her field of
interest includes Power Converters for
Renewable Energy Sources.

Bharanikumar.R was born in Tamilnadu, India, on May 30, 1977.

He received the B.E degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
from Bharathiar University, in 1998. He received his M.E Power
Electronics and Drives from College of Engineering Guindy Anna
University in 2002. He has 19 yrs of teaching experience. Currently he is
working as Professor in EEE department, Bannari Amman Institute of
Technology, Sathyamangalam, TamilNadu, India. Currently he is doing
research in the field of power converter for special machines; vector
controlled based synchronous machine drives, converters for wind energy
conversion systems.

Bhuvaneswari .S was born in Tamilnadu

India, on Aug, 1985. She received her B.E
Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
from V.L.B Janakiammal college of Engineering
and Technology, Kovaipudur, Anna University
and She received her M.E Degree in Electrical
Machines from PSG college of Technology,
Coimbatore, Anna University. Currently she is
pursuing PhD in Electrical Engineering at
Bannari Amman Institute
of Technology. Her field of interest includes
Electrical Machines and Renewable Energy Sources.

Published By:
Retrieval Number: D2855028419/19©BEIESP Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering
Journal Website: www.ijitee.org and Sciences Publication (BEIESP)
57 © Copyright: All rights reserved.