Electrical Engineering in Japan, Vol. 124, No.

3, 1998

Translated from Denki Gakkai Ronbunshi, Vol. 117-D, No. 5, May 1997, pp. 565571

Active Cancellation of the Common-Mode Voltage Produced by a Voltage-Source

PWM Inverter
SATOSHI OGASAWARA, HIDEKI AYANO, and HIROFUMI AKAGI
Okayama University, Japan

High-frequency leakage current flowing through

the stray capacitance between power transistors
and heat-dissipation fins [5]
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) of conductive
and emitting nature [68]
Complex deterioration of insulation in motor
windings [9, 10]
Shaft voltage and bearing current in motors [11,
12]

SUMMARY
This paper proposes an active common-mode noise
canceler that is capable of eliminating the common-mode
voltage produced by a voltage source PWM (pulsewidth
modulated) inverter. It generates a compensating voltage
which has the same amplitude as, but the opposite phase to,
the common-mode voltage produced by the PWM inverter.
The compensating voltage is superimposed on the inverter
output by a common-mode transformer. As a result, the
common-mode voltage applied to the load is canceled
completely. The design method of the active commonmode noise canceler is also presented in detail.
A prototype has been constructed and tested to verify
the effectiveness for an induction motor drive system of 3.7
kW using an IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) inverter. Some experimental results show that the proposed
active common-mode noise canceler makes a significant
contribution to eliminating the common-mode current or
the ground current, and it prevents an electric shock from
being received by anyone handling it. 1998 Scripta
Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 124(3): 6472, 1998

Since these problems manifest themselves in the form

of sharp changes in voltage or in current generated at the
time of the inverter switching, they appear to be more
serious with an increase in the switching speed of power
transistor components.
These problems are usually handled by installation of
common-mode chokes and EMI filters. Such devices incorporate reactors and capacitors and they can suppress sharp
fluctuations of voltage and current, although they are not
expected to completely suppress the common-mode voltage which is the main cause of the above-mentioned difficulties. Moreover, it is feared that introduction of such
devices may bring about additional oscillation phenomena.
The authors have already proposed methods of interference suppression based on common-mode transformers
and normal mode filters [8, 13]. Since only passive components are used in these devices, it was difficult to achieve
complete suppression of common-mode voltage. However,
we have demonstrated that they were effective for a complete suppression of high-frequency oscillations generated
by resonance circuits formed by the stray capacitance of the
load and the wiring inductance, as well as for reduction of
EMI.
On the other hand, Ogata and Takahashi reported on
active circuits for compensation of leakage currents [14]
combining transistor-based push-pull amplifiers and CTs.
These circuits are supposed to bypass the current flowing
through the motor stray capacitance at the time of switching

Key words: Common-mode current; active common-mode noise canceler; control of electrical appliances.

1. Introduction
The increase in carrier frequencies of the voltagetype PWM inverters arising from recent developments in
the field of high-speed power transistor components has
encountered a number of new problems, such as the following [114]:
High-frequency leakage current flowing to the
ground through the stray capacitance between the
motor windings and frame [14, 13, 14]

64

CCC0424-7760/98/030064-09
1998 Scripta Technica

Fig. 1. System configuration.

of the distribution panel. The ACC is connected to the

output terminals of the inverter. The ACC consists of a
push-pull emitter follower circuit based on complementary
transistors, a common-mode transformer (1:1), dc side capacitors C0 and capacitors C1 detecting common-mode
voltage.
With every switching of the inverter, the inverter
output voltage changes through the zero phase, that is, it
undergoes the common-mode voltage changes. Therefore,
the common-mode current ic flows to the ground through
the stray capacitance between the motor windings and
frame. The purpose of the ACC is to completely cancel this
common-mode voltage, thereby suppressing the commonmode current.
Figure 2 shows a common-mode equivalent circuit in
which the ACC is used. In this diagram, Cc is the stray
capacitance between the motor windings and frame; Lc,
Rc, are the inductance and ohmic resistance component of
the entire path of the lead wiring [3]. Since the inverter
generates step-shaped common-mode voltage of the magnitude of Ed/3 at every phase switching, it is shown in the
equivalent diagram as a source of step-shaped voltage,
vinv. Emitter follower outputting the same voltage as that
detected by means of capacitor C1 is depicted by a variable
voltage source having a voltage gain equal to 1. In addition,
since the common-mode transformer is connected at a very
short distance, the leakage inductance may be neglected and
the transformer can be represented only by the magnetizing
inductance Lm.

to an active circuit, thus suppressing the leakage current

flowing to the ground.
In this paper, we propose an active common-mode
noise canceler* that can completely cancel common-mode
voltage generated by voltage PWM inverters. The canceler
functions by superimposing a common-mode voltage of the
same amplitude as the common-mode voltage generated by
the inverter but of opposite phase to the inverter output, thus
completely canceling common-mode voltage applied to the
load. Below, we will discuss in detail the configuration and
methods of designing of such active common-mode noise
cancelers (below, ACC).
An experimental ACC for a vector-controlled inductance motor drive system (3.7 kW) was constructed using
an IGBT inverter, and shown to effectively suppress common-mode voltage and current. In addition, we have experimentally demonstrated that these common-mode cancelers
are also efficient for prevention of electric shocks during
handling electric appliances with nongrounded loads.
2. System Configuration
Figure 1 shows an IGBT inverter-driven vector-controlled induction machine system (3.7 kW) used in the
experiments. The IGBT inverter is connected to the induction motor by a three-phase cable, and the motor frame is
connected by the grounding wire to the grounding terminal
*It was named common-mode canceler because it can completely
suppress both common-mode voltage and common-mode current.

65

In the ACC, the inverter common-mode voltage vinv

is detected and common-mode vc of the same magnitude
but of opposite direction is superimposed on the inverter
output through the common-mode transformer. As a result,
it is possible not only to cancel the common-mode voltage
applied to the motor, thus keeping it at all times at zero level,
but also to completely suppress the common-mode current,
that is, the leakage current.
The variable voltage source used in the ACC must
have fast response characteristics so that it can output a
common-mode voltage of the IGBT inverter changing step
waveform with each switching and it also must have a low
output impedance. A variable voltage source satisfying
such conditions can be implemented in the form of a
push-pull emitter follower using high withstand voltage
complementary transistors.
On the other hand, the common-mode voltage of the
inverter is detected as the neutral point potential of capacitors C1 connected to the output terminals in a Y-configuration. If electrostatic capacitance of these capacitors is high,
there is a danger that switching components can be exposed
to excessively high current pulses flowing through them. In
order to solve this problem, we use capacitors of approximately the same capacity (180 pF 3) as the output electrostatic capacitance of the power transistors used in the
inverter. Since the input impedance of the emitter follower
is sufficiently high, the common-mode voltage of the inverter can be detected with an adequate accuracy even with
these low-capacitance capacitors. And because the output
impedance of the emitter follower is sufficiently low, the
magnetizing current im of the common-mode transformer
comes only from the emitter follower.

3. ACC Design
3.1 Collector losses
The ACC used in these experiments was constructed
as a push-pull emitter follower on complementary transistors (2SA1772, 2SC4615). Specifications of the transistors
are shown in Table 1. In designing the ACC it is necessary
to take into account losses in transistor collectors due to
magnetizing current provided by the transformer.
Figure 3 shows variations in common-mode voltage
and magnetizing current. Maximum collector losses occur
when the switching takes place simultaneously in all three
phases. Since in such a case the common-mode voltage
waveform is square, the magnetizing current waveform is
triangular. This magnetizing current im(t) for a time 0 < t <
T/4 can be expressed as
(1)
where Im is the peak value of magnetizing current.
In regions II, III where magnetizing current is positive, the current flows through Tr1 but not through Tr2.
Similarly, in regions I, IV where the magnetizing current is
negative, the current flows through Tr2 but not through Tr1.
Since in region I common-mode voltage is Ed/2, voltage
between Tr2 emitter and collector is -Ed, thus resulting in
collector losses. However, in region IV where commonmode voltage is Ed/2, the emittercollector voltage is 0
resulting in absence of losses even if the current flows
through the collector. Therefore, Tr2 has collector losses
during the period T only in region 1. Since the PWM period
of the inverter used in this experiment T = 100 ms, and the
inverter dc voltage Ed = 282 V, the average collector losses
Pc of transistor Tr2 are:
(2)

Table 1. Specifications of complementary transistors

used for experiments
Type

Fig. 2. Common-mode equivalent circuit.

66

2SA1772 (Sanyo) 2SC4615 (Sanyo)

VCBO [V]

400

400

VCEO [V]

400

400

IC(dc) [A]

PC [W]

15

15

Table 2. Specifications of ferrite core

Type

Fig. 3. Variation of magnetizing current.

HID T60 20 36 (TDK)

Ae

235

mm2

le

144

mm

AL

13.2 25%

mH/N2

Weight

Wt

172

Saturation magnetic flux density

Bs

430 (at 25C)

mT

260 (at 100C)

mT

Effective cross section

Effective length of
the magnetic path
AL value

In these experiments, we used four cores for safety

reasons and the number of turns N was 22. In such a case,
the transformer magnetizing inductance Lm derived from
the magnitude of AL to satisfy Eq. (4) is:

Average collector losses of transistor Tr1 can be calculated

by the same method. Since, as can be seen from Table 1, the
absolute maximum rating for collector losses per transistor
is 15 W, the peak value of magnetizing current Im should
satisfy the following condition:

(7)

(3)

Therefore, the maximum magnetic flux density Bmax is 170

mT, which is below the saturation magnetic flux density Bs.
Figure 4 shows waveforms of magnetizing current and
common-mode voltage obtained by measurements on the
common-mode transformer designed based on the above
considerations. The peak magnitude of the magnetizing
current

3.2 Transformer design

Design of the common-mode transformer is based on
the assumptions that the magnetizing current should not
exceed its peak value Im, and that no magnetic saturation
should take place. From Eq. (3), the magnetizing inductance of the transformer should satisfy the following condition:

(8)
is almost the same as the calculated value.

(4)
Specifications of the ferrite core used in the commonmode transformer are shown in Table 2. The core used in
the transformer is of a toroidal configuration having outside
diameter 60 mm, thickness 20 mm, and inside diameter 36
mm; winding is made of a polyvinyl formal insulated
copper wire having a cross section of 2 mm2. If the number
of cores is k, then the maximum magnetic flux density Bmax
can be expressed as:
(5)
which must be lower than the saturation magnetic flux
density Bs = 260 mT. Therefore, the product of the number
of cores k and the number of turns N should be:
(6)

Fig. 4. Magnetizing current waveform.

67

3.3 Suppression of magnetic distortions by

direct current
If dc components are present in the output voltage of
the emitter follower, magnetic distortions caused by direct
current can produce excessively strong current flowing
through the common-mode transformer which can result in
damage to the transistors. In order to prevent such magnetic
distortions, dc components are eliminated by means of
capacitors C0 shown in Fig. 1.
Since the electrostatic capacitance of capacitors C0 is
small, fluctuations of the neutral point potential V0 produced by magnetizing current are large. These voltage
fluctuations are superimposed on the common-mode transformer and they manifest themselves as aberrations in the
common-mode voltage. If such fluctuations are too great,
it may be impossible to completely cancel common-mode
voltage. Therefore, it is necessary to select capacitors C0 of
such an electrostatic capacitance that fluctuations of the
neutral point potential V0 are sufficiently suppressed. In this
experiment, electrostatic capacitance of capacitors C0 was
1.2 mF so that the amplitude of fluctuations of the neutral
point potential, that is, the range of voltage aberrations, was
maintained within 1.5%, that is, within 4.2 V at the dc
voltage of 282 V.

Fig. 6. Common-mode current waveform in case of

connecting ACC.

rent not only cannot be simply neglected in comparison

with the rated current of the system of 21 A, but also can
disrupt the functioning of the leakage current breaker and
generate EMI [8].
Figure 6 shows waveforms of common-mode current
when the ACC is used. As can be seen, when the ACC is
used, common-mode current ic is almost completely suppressed. At the time of the inverter switching, only a slight
oscillation is produced and it may cause an insignificant
delay in the transistor response. However, both the peak
value and the effective value of the common-mode current
are very low, thus proving the effectiveness of the ACC in
reducing the common-mode current.

4. Effect with Respect to Common-Mode Current

Figure 5 shows waveforms of common-mode current. Here, common-mode voltage vinv is represented by the
potential of the neutral point of capacitors connected to the
inverter dc output terminals in a Y-configuration. From Fig.
5 one can see that at every switching of the inverter, common-mode current of a peak value of 0.4 A and 290 kHz
oscillation frequency is generated. This common-mode cur-

5. Effect in Prevention of Electric Shocks in

Nongrounded Appliances
Measures safeguarding against electric shocks from
exposed parts of electric machines are governed by safety
standards. Figure 7 shows a measurement circuit based on
Technical Standards on Methods of Handling Electrical
Appliances (Attached Table 8,1(2) f (c)). For the test purposes, we used the same vector-controlled induction motor
system. The measurement circuit was connected between
the motor frame and the grounding terminal, and potential
difference was measured between output terminals 1 and
2.* According to said regulations, an appliance is considered safe with respect to electric shock if potential difference on output terminals 1 and 2 of the measurement circuit
does not exceed 1 V.
*The motor used in measurements is not covered by regulations concerning handling electrical appliances, and there is no danger of electric shock
if the motor frame is grounded.

Fig. 5. Common-mode current waveform.

68

Fig. 7. Measurement circuit.

Fig. 9. Simulation circuit.

5.1 Measurements without protective devices

Figure 8 shows waveforms of common-mode current, of voltage on terminals, and of common-mode voltage
when no protective devices are connected. In Fig. 8, the
effective value of voltage on terminals v12 for a PWM period
is 3.54 V. Since it exceeds the rated value of 1 V, the motor
frame is considered as a potential source of electric shock.
We investigated the situation by simulating the terminal voltage waveform. Figure 9 shows the simulation circuit. Here, Cc is stray capacitance between the motor
windings and frame with the constant value being measured
by an LCR meter. Inductance and active resistance of the
entire path are substantially lower than those of the measurement circuit impedance and can be neglected, and common-mode voltage is the step voltage taken for only
one-phase switching equal to 280/3 V.
Figures 10 and 11 show expanded waveforms and
results of simulation, respectively. From expanded waveforms shown in Fig. 10, one can see that common-mode
current ic and terminal voltage v12 undergo identical
changes with every phase switching. Results of simulation
depicted in Fig. 11 show that expanded waveforms are
equivalent to waveforms produced at the time of one phase

switching. Comparison of these waveforms reveals a very

close resemblance between waveforms of the commonmode current ic and the terminal voltage v12 even for cases
when only stray capacitance Cc of the tested motor is
simulated. Especially good simulation results were obtained for the terminal voltage v12 showing sharp decrease
a few microseconds after application of the step voltage
followed by subsequent slow decrease. As can be seen from
Figs. 10 and 11, the magnitude of discontinuous voltage
appearing in the terminal voltage waveform at the time of
switching is R3(R2 + R3) @ 0.055 times of the step voltage,
that is, it is 0.055 Ed/3 @ 5.1 V. As depicted in Figs. 10 and
11, the magnitude of residual terminal voltage after the
decrease is approximately 2 V.
Immediately after the application of the step voltage,
the time constant of the decrease in terminal voltage CcR1
= 3.0 ms, and, at a later time, the time constant becomes
C2R2 @ 0.12 ms and does not depend on stray capacitance
Cc of the motor. However, since the residual voltage becomes proportional to the stray capacitance Cc of the motor
at the end of the transient process having the time constant
CcR1, the effective value of the terminal voltage is increased

Fig. 8. Measured waveforms (without protective

devices).

Fig. 10. Expanded measured waveforms.

69

connection of common-mode transformer, the slope of the

common-mode voltage applied to the motor at the time of
switching becomes less steep. However, since connection
of the common-mode transformer provides almost no effect
on the amplitude of common-mode voltage, terminal voltage v12 is practically not suppressed. In such a case, the
effective value of terminal voltage v12 becomes 3.46 V per
PWM pulse, thus exceeding the rated value of 1 V allowable
for electrical appliances. Therefore, common-mode transformer can suppress common-mode current, but its effect
with respect to protection from electric shock in nongrounded electrical appliances is only marginal. These facts
suggest that suppression of sharp fluctuations in the inverter
output voltage by soft switching techniques is not a very
effective method for prevention of electric shock.

Fig. 11. Simulated waveforms.

5.3 Use of the ACC

Figure 13 shows waveforms of common-mode current, terminal voltage, and common-mode voltage generated by the inverter. Comparison of waveforms in Figs. 8
and 13 shows that in the case when ACC is connected,
practically no common-mode current ic or terminal voltage
v12 is produced. In such a case, the effective value v12 per
PWM period is less than 0. 1 V which is considerably lower
than the rated value (1 V) recommended by regulations on
handling electrical appliances, thus eliminating the danger
of electric shock. Therefore, the use of ACC not only makes
it possible to suppress common-mode current but also
provides for an extremely effective method of protection
from electric shock in nongrounded electrical machines.

with an increase in Cc. Therefore, it is important to reduce

the stray capacitance Cc in nongrounded motors.
5.2 Use of common-mode transformer
In a previously reported case of the use of a commonmode transformer [13] we have observed waveforms of
common-mode current, terminal voltage, and commonmode voltage as those shown in Fig. 12. In this case, a
1-kohm resistor was connected to the secondary winding of
the common-mode transformer.
Comparison of waveforms shown in Figs. 8 and 12
indicates that the connection of common-mode transformer
results in suppression of sharp fluctuations in both the
common-mode current waveform and the terminal voltage
at the time of switching. This happens because, due to the

Fig. 12. Measured waveforms in case of connecting

common-mode transformer.

Fig. 13. Measured waveforms in case of connecting

ACC.

70

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6. Conclusion
In this paper, an active common-mode noise canceler
(ACC) which is capable of completely eliminating common-mode voltage produced by voltage-type PWM inverters was proposed. Experiments conducted using a
prototype ACC in conjunction with a vector-controlled
system (3.7 kW) comprising an IGBT inverter and an
induction motor also demonstrated that common-mode current (leakage current) generated by common-mode voltage
can be almost entirely suppressed.
The study also covered the ACC effect in the area of
electric shock prevention for nongrounded electrical appliances pursuant to standard safety regulations. The use of
nongrounded motors with high stray capacitance represents
a danger of electric shock from common-mode voltage.
However, it was demonstrated that, as a result of elimination of the common-mode voltage by means of ACC, it is
possible to completely eliminate the danger of electric
shock in nongrounded electrical machines. Since the proposed ACC makes it possible to completely cancel common-mode voltage generated by PWM inverters, it can be
used as an effective means for the suppression of various
interferences produced by high-speed switching.
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AUTHORS (from left to right)

Satoshi Ogasawara (member) completed the M.S. course at Nagaoka Technology University in 1981 and joined the
Engineering Department as a tutor in electrical systems. In 1992, he became an assistant in the Electrical and Electronics
Engineering Section of the Engineering Department of Okayama University, and has been an assistant professor there since
1993. His research interests are in power electronics. In 1996 he received an IEEE/IAS Committee Prize Award.
Hideki Ayano (student member) graduated from Okayama University in 1995 and completed the M.S. course in 1997.
He then joined Hitachi, Ltd. During his studies, his research interests were inverter-generated EMI. In 1996 he received an
IEEE/IAS Committee Prize Award.
Hirofumi Akagi (member) received his D.S. degree in electrical engineering from Tokyo University of Technology in
1979. He became an assistant at Okayama Engineering University in 1979, and an assistant professor in 1984. He was a visiting
researcher at MIT during 1987. He has been a professor at Okayama University since 1991. He was a visiting professor at
Wisconsin University and MIT during 1996. His research interests include motor drives, active filters for power applications,
and high-frequency inverters. He received paper awards from the Electrical Engineering Association of Japan in 1985 and 1991;
1980, 1983, 1990, 1995, and 1996 IEEE/IAS Committee Prize Paper Award; 1991 IEEE/IAS Society Prize Paper Award; 1996
IEEE/IAS Fellow.

72