Open-Circuit Fault Detection in Power Inverters Using Phase and Line Currents in the Time Domain

Abstract

Power inverters are essential components in electric vehicle propulsion systems, as they convert DC into AC to supply induction motors. A significant amount of failures occur in power semiconductor transistors; therefore, detecting open-circuit faults in these components is crucial for preventing degraded operation and potential damage to the load. In this work, a fault detection approach, based on the analysis of phase and line currents using simple arithmetic computations, is utilized to avoid the need for complex algorithms or specialized hardware. Results obtained from different cases of study, demonstrate that the employed method can accurately identify open-circuit faults and the faulty phases for inverters without a neutral-to-ground connection.