A simulation tool for the analysis of AC-side currents in power electronics converters

Detailed simulations weighing up all the parameters of power semiconductor devices involved in the switching process are not essential when the the dominant time constants of the system (converter+load) are much larger than the switching period. This frequent case allows, for many applications, faster and highly convergent simulations without decreasing appreciably the validity of the results. The goal of this work, and its distinction from others, is to present a general and rapidly convergent simulation tool to compute currents generated at the AC side of power electronic converters, i.e., input currents in AC/DC or AC/AC converters, and output AC currents of DC/AC or AC/AC converters. Simulation plots and results from experimental tests of the AC input currents for AC/DC converters feeding DC/DC converters have been compared, resulting in a high accordance. Simulations using this tool have shown to be more than one order of magnitude faster than conventional detailed simulations.