Performance of a three-to-five matrix converter fed five-phase induction motor under open-circuit switch faults

Multiphase machines are conventionally fed from voltage source inverters (VSIs) with bulky dc-link capacitors, which represent a technical drawback in high power medium voltage applications. Alternatively, multiphase matrix converters can offer a direct 3-phase to n-phase conversion without the need for this bulky storage element. Most of the available literature investigates multiphase matrix converter under healthy conditions. This paper introduces the performance of a five-phase induction motor fed by a three-to five-phase matrix converter (3×5 MC) under fault conditions. The indirect space vector modulation (ISVM) technique is employed to modulate the converter switches and the entire system is controlled using open-loop Volts/Hz control. The given study is limited to open-circuit switch faults due to gate failures with different bidirectional switch arrangements employed. A simulation case study using Matlab/Simulink is carried out to investigate the performance of the whole system under different fault scenarios, and results are compared with the healthy case.