PWM INVERTER-FED INDUCTION-MOTORS LOSSES EVALUATION

In this paper the authors deal with the problems concerning the steady state losses evaluation in medium power industrial induction motors supplied by PWM inverter. They present a method based on the no-load and short circuit tests. This technique seems to be very useful for the good obtained results and because it is quite similar to the standard no-load and short circuit tests used with sinusoidal voltage supply. The method is based on some simple hypothesis that have been verified during the experimental tests by means of mathematical models. As a consequence, it is possible to compare the no-load and the short circuit tests under sinusoidal and PWM inverter supply considering the same rms fundamental voltage. The method has been applied to a 7.5 kW induction motor supplied by a prototype PWM Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) modulated with a ramp comparison technique at a 1 kHz switching frequency. The obtained results could be utilized in order to define some design criteria and the derating for standard induction motors supplied by PWM inverters.