Maximizing Efficiency in Industrial Drives: Optimized Motor Windings for Inverter Operation
Industrial Electric Motors
In a project to optimize industrial drives, PACK LitzWire worked closely with a customer who used modern electric motors with fast frequency converters. The goal was to design the motor windings in such a way that they withstand the high demands on efficiency, thermal load, and mechanical stability during operation.
The Challenge
The challenge lay less in individual components, but in the complex interaction between power electronics and the motor. The high switching frequencies of the inverters resulted not only in DC losses but also significant eddy current losses in the windings. At the same time, the motor windings had to dissipate heat reliably to manage the high power densities and withstand mechanical forces and vibrations at high speeds.
The winding design is specifically matched to operation with variable-frequency drives and reduces inverter-related losses in the interplay between power electronics and the motor.
The optimized litz wire structure supports uniform current distribution at high switching frequencies and contributes to thermal relief as well as the mechanical stability of the motor winding.
Support from PACK LitzWire
PACK LitzWire specifically contributed its technical know-how: In joint workshops with the customer's development engineers, real component geometries and control parameters were analyzed to identify the dominant loss mechanisms. Building on this, the litz wire structure was adapted – the single wire thickness and the number of strands were chosen so that the AC resistance remained minimal at the specific switching frequency of the inverters. With the help of simulation-based evaluations, it was checked whether switching losses or conduction losses predominated in the respective load cycle, and the litz wire was designed accordingly to achieve an optimal balance between copper cross-section and insulation.
Result
The result of this holistic approach was a motor winding that was specially optimized for operation with a frequency converter. It showed significantly lower overall losses in the drivetrain and enabled a more compact design of the motor with the same power – a measurable gain in efficiency, thermal stability, and mechanical reliability.
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