STABILITY ANALYSIS METHODOLOGIES FOR DC POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

Power electronics based zonal dc power distribution systems are being considered for future Navy ships. The stability of dc power electronics based power distribution systems, and in particular dc systems, is a significant design consideration because of the potential for negative impedance induced instabilities. In this paper, methodologies for analyzing the stability of these systems are reviewed. In particular, tools including timedomain simulation, generalized immittance analysis, and polytopic analysis are considered. The use of both time-domain simulation and generalized immittance analysis for a three-zone hardware test system, the Naval Combat Survivability DC Distribution Testbed, is set forth. The predictions of both of these methods are shown to be in agreement with the observed behavior of the system. Polytopic analysis is then considered as a possible future tool for exploring stability properties. The results of each of these analyses as well as the respective advantages and disadvantages of each of the methods are compared.