Efficient Snubbers for Voltage-Source GTO Inverters

The two gate turn-off thyristors in the phase leg of a voltage-source inverter are provided with a series center-tapped inductance snubber and shunt capacitor snubbers having a single discharge resistor and only two auxiliary diodes. This arrangement minimizes the number of components and allows reduction of capacitor size, thereby reducing the snubber losses. The resistor may be replaced by a transformer which conserves a substantial part of the energy trapped in both the series and shunt snubbers.