An Approach to Suppressing Both Shaft Voltage and Leakage Current in an AC Motor Driven by a Voltage-Source PWM Inverter

—A Passive EMI Filter Making Use of the Motor Neutral Line—

Abstract

This paper proposes a practical approach to suppressing both shaft voltage and leakage current in an ac motor driven by a voltage-source PWM inverter. This approach is characterized by using a neutral line of the ac motor. A common-mode inductor is connected between the inverter and the motor. Moreover, a resistor and a capacitor are connected in series between the motor neutral point and the inverter negative dc bus. This unique circuit configuration makes the common-mode inductor effective in reducing the common-mode voltage appearing at the motor terminals. As a result, both shaft voltage and ground current are significantly suppressed with low cost. Over-voltages at the end of a cable can be suppressed by a normal-mode inductor and a resistor which are connected in parallel. The validity and effectiveness of the new approach are verified by experimental results from a 5-kVA laboratory system.