Comparative Study on Machine Emulation Systems Based on Switching Converters and Linear Power Amplifier Configurations

Power hardware-in-the-loop based motor emulation system is attracting research attention in recent years as it can enhance electric machine and drive testing. This paper analyzes machine emulation systems based on three mainstream hardware technologies to compare their performance and limitations. The first emulator system uses a conventional IGBT based hard switching power converter, the second one uses a high bandwidth soft switching power converter and the last one uses a linear amplifier. Detailed configuration and control descriptions for these three machine emulator systems are first presented. Comparative experimental studies are then conducted based on the emulation of a laboratory induction machine (IM) using these three different emulator systems. Moreover, experimental results obtained from the emulators are compared against the experimental results of the physical IM to verify their emulation performance. Finally, obtained results from these configurations are compared and analyzed in terms of accuracy, total harmonic distortion, and bandwidth.