Hot Control Engineering motors and drives articles in 2022

The most-viewed articles about motors and drives posted over the last year include VFDs, pulse width modulation, permanent magnet motors and more.

By Chris Vavra January 11, 2023
Courtesy: Yaskawa America Inc.

Control Engineering top 5 articles online about motors and drives posted over the last year covered VFDs, pulse width modulation, permanent magnet motors and more. Also: See additional motor and drive stories here.

1. VFDs from the inside out, February 1: Variable frequency drive (VFD) vocabulary words: These 50 terms can help properly apply VFDs.

2. Understanding the effect of PWM when controlling a brushless dc motor, January 26: Motion system designers can be challenged when selecting or developing electronics using pulse-width modulation (PWM) to drive brushless dc motors. Heed some basic physical phenomena to avoid unexpected performance issues, along with general guidelines for using a PWM driver with a brushless dc motor. See diagrams, equations.

3. Intro to setting up, tuning a PM motor with a VFD, March 2: A permanent magnet (PM) motor requires a variable frequency drive (VFD) to operate effectively. See motor comparison table, induction motor vs. PM torque curve, and VFD programming and tuning advice.

4. Ode to an induction motor, April 19: Recite this induction motor tutorial and savor it; even if poetry really isn’t your favorite.

5. Direct-drive servo tutorial, application update, June 16: Solving low speed rotary servo applications with direct-drive motors avoids hidden initial costs, while saving money over the life of the machine. Example shows $73,000 annual savings on a widget-making machine.


Author Bio: Chris Vavra is web content manager for CFE Media and Technology.