Virtual Impedance-Based Feedforward VDCM Control for Stability Enhancement in Shipboard DC Microgrids

Shipboard DC microgrids face critical stability challenges including low-inertia-induced voltage fluctuations and impedance mismatch caused by constant power loads (CPLs), which severely threaten system stability. Existing virtual DC machine (VDCM) control methods typically treat inertia support and impedance optimization as separate design objectives, lacking a unified frequency-domain design framework. To address this issue, this paper first establishes an accurate virtual impedance model for the standard VDCM controller, quantitatively revealing how its control parameters (J and D) shape the frequency-domain impedance characteristics and identifying potential stability conflicts. Building upon this model, a feedforward-compensated VDCM (FFC-VDCM) strategy is proposed, introducing a differential feedforward loop to actively reshape the converter output impedance in the critical mid-frequency range without interfering with the inertia support function. The impedance reshaping effect is quantified via impedance-based stability analysis; the proposed method improves the gain margin from 4.1 dB (with conventional VDCM) to 8.6 dB, along with a significant enhancement in the phase margin, confirming improved system robustness. Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experiments conducted under realistic shipboard conditions further confirm the theoretical analysis, demonstrating superior transient voltage regulation and validating the practical effectiveness of the proposed strategy. The FFC-VDCM provides a synergistic solution for concurrently improving inertia and stability in low-inertia DC microgrids.