Research Progress and Prospects of Multi-Level Converters

A special issue of Machines (ISSN 2075-1702).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 773

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
College of Electric Power and Electrical Engineering, Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology, Luoyang, China
Interests: topology of multi-level converters; control strategies of multi-level converters and fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control

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Guest Editor
The Faculty of Engineering and Science Electric Power Systems and Microgrids, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
Interests: multi-level converters applied in rail transit and electric vehicles

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Guest Editor
School of Electrical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China
Interests: monitoring and reliability evaluation of traction drive system

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

We invite researchers and engineers to contribute original research and review articles to this timely Special Issue, dedicated to advancing the frontiers of Multi-level Converters (MLCs). This collection seeks high-impact studies addressing critical challenges and innovations across three core pillars:

1. Topology of Multi-level Converters (novel architectures and configurations);
2. Control strategies of Multi-level Converters (advanced modulation, stability, and dynamic performance);
3. Fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control (resilience under adverse conditions).

Dr. Pengcheng Han
Dr. Xiangchen Zhu
Dr. Huimin Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Machines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • multi-level converters
  • control strategies
  • fault diagnosis
  • fault-tolerant control

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 2785 KB  
Article
The DC Voltage Balance Strategy Based on Model Predictive Control with a Smooth Switching Sequence in Three-Phase 3LNPC-CR
by Xu Peng, Hang Li, Lu Liu, Xiaohan Liu, Siqi An and Weidong Peng
Machines 2026, 14(2), 215; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines14020215 - 12 Feb 2026
Viewed by 334
Abstract
The three-level neutral-point-clamped cascaded rectifier (3LNPC-CR) is a key component in power electronic transformers (PET) due to its high efficiency and modular configuration. However, voltage imbalance among submodule DC links may cause system instability and degrade power quality. To address this issue, this [...] Read more.
The three-level neutral-point-clamped cascaded rectifier (3LNPC-CR) is a key component in power electronic transformers (PET) due to its high efficiency and modular configuration. However, voltage imbalance among submodule DC links may cause system instability and degrade power quality. To address this issue, this paper proposes a voltage balancing strategy based on Model Predictive Control with a Smooth Switching Sequence (MPC-3S). First, a negative-sequence current control strategy is introduced to equalize the voltages among phases. In addition, an improved modulation scheme is developed to predict and optimize system states in real time within the control horizon, dynamically selecting the optimal switching sequence to achieve rapid voltage equalization. Finally, simulation and experimental results on a three-phase, three-module 3LNPC-CR prototype demonstrate that the proposed MPC-3S strategy can achieve fast intra-phase voltage balancing within 0.1 s under load imbalance, while maintaining high-quality grid-side current. These results verify that the proposed method significantly enhances both the dynamic and steady-state performance of 3LNPC-CR systems, providing a practical and efficient solution to the voltage-balancing challenge in PET applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Progress and Prospects of Multi-Level Converters)
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