SBIR/STTR Award attributes
During the Phase 1 effort, there were several achievements toward the design of grounding systems for MVDC architectures. For one, the common-mode equivalent circuit (CMEC) modeling approach that was derived at Purdue under ESRDC funding, was validated in a reduced-scale hardware setup at Purdue. The system studied consisted of a single generator, active rectifier, inverter, and propulsion machine. The CMEC enables the study of the influence that parasitics, circuit topology, switching strategy, and grounding has on common-mode current in MVDC systems. In addition to the CMEC, analysis of alternative grounding techniques was performed to understand differences between AC and DC grounding, determine the basis of existing standards related to grounding, and view how the introduction of power electronics changes underlying assumptions used in prior analysis of ground system design.
