Analytical method to calculate the DC link current stress in voltage source converters

The dc-link capacitor is one of the critical components, which influences the lifetime of the whole voltage source converter unit. For reliable design, the operating temperature of the dc-link capacitor should be known, which is primarily determined by the ambient temperature and the rms value of the current flowing through the dc-link capacitor. A simple analytical method to calculate the rms value of the dc-link capacitor current is presented in this paper. The effect of the line current ripple on the rms value of the dc-link capacitor current is considered. This yields accurate results, especially for the applications with high line current ripple. The effect of the pulsewidth modulation (PWM) scheme on the rms value of the dc-link current is also studied and the analysis for continuous PWM and discontinuous PWM (DPWM) schemes is presented. The proposed analytical method is also verified experimentally.