Series-End Winding Power Electronics Converter: Principles and Applications

The series-end winding power electronics converter is an emerging technology for power conversion in motion control. This article provides an overview of the principles and applications of this novel technology. The development of the series-end winding converter can be traced back to open-end winding motor drives (OWMDs) based on the leg-sharing principle. By optimizing the winding sequence, the maximum amplitude of the phase voltage can reach the full dc-link voltage, which nearly doubles that of conventional voltage-source inverters (VSIs) with Y-connected motors by integrating only one additional leg. The series-end winding converter employs a carrier-based pulse width modulation (CBPWM) that leverages the correlation between leg voltage and phase voltage with
${\text{N}} + {1}$
legs for N-phase windings, providing a simpler alternative to space vector modulation. It presents a range of advantages and can be effectively applied in motor drives and active magnetic bearing (AMB) drives, offering a wider speed range and enhanced dynamic control capability. Furthermore, given the flexible topology variation, the series-end winding converter can operate in different modes. With a fault-tolerant capability, it is suitable for electromagnetic actuators that utilize both the Lorentz force and Maxwell force. This article gives a general introduction to this emerging technology in the field of motion control electronics.