A Stable and Fast-Transient Performance Switched-Mode Power Amplifier for a Power Hardware in the Loop (PHIL) System

Abstract

Power Hardware in the Loop (PHIL) systems are used to test a power system with the help of combined software and hardware. Generally, to construct a PHIL system, a switched-mode power amplifier that has a stable performance is used, because of their large, linear signal control-to-output characteristics. However, the fundamental limitations of a switch-mode power amplifier (PA) are the dynamic performance and output bandwidth. In this paper, a compound controller has been used for the rectifier part of a PA, which can ensure the stability of a PA under transient or fault operating conditions. Moreover, a compound controller, which involves a feed-forward controller, a proportional controller and a repetitive controller, is proposed in the inverter part of a PA, and it can be used for PHIL applications. Experimental results are obtained under various operating conditions, such as transient responses under load step change, and output voltage bandwidth testing for a PHIL system, it is concluded that a proposed switched-mode power amplifier is useful for the PHIL system.

Keywords

• power hardware-in-the-loop
• power amplifier
• compound controller
• dynamic performance