Reliability and Economic Efficiency Analysis of 4-Leg Inverter Compared with 3-Leg Inverters

The 4-leg inverter can adjust the load current or output voltage even under unbalanced load conditions, but it is known that the additional switch arm to the 3-leg inverter can increase the overall cost and the failure rate. This paper aims to analyze the failure rate and mean time between failures (MTBF) of 3-leg inverters and 4-leg inverters using part count failure analysis (PCA) and fault-tree analysis (FTA), and to compare the price of the inverters. The FTA can analyze the failure rate, including the type, number and connection status of the circuit components, and moreover the redundancy effect of the 4-leg inverter. For more accurate failure-rate prediction, the failure rate and MTBF of the 4-leg inverter according to the lifecycle of the controller are analyzed. Finally, by comparing the price of 3-leg inverters and 4-leg inverters using the cost model of major parts, the degree of reliability improvement against price increase is quantitatively analyzed.