What are motors and drives?
Motors transform electrical and magnetic energy to motion and include a wide array of technologies, designs, sizes, form factors and standards for many applications. Drives control the motion of motors and other actuators and can be integrated with the motor or other actuator, stand alone, and can exist as a software application in a controller.
10 essential maintenance and troubleshooting tips for VFDs
A properly maintained variable frequency drive (VFD) can provide decades and cost-effective service. Making VFD inspections and maintenance part of facility oversight can improve outcomes.
High-performance motor designs
Motor innovations: Advanced motor technologies influence motor form factors, performance, and efficiencies. Examine how these technology advances can help with your next set of applications.
2019 Motor Drives Study research
Five trends on buying and, specifying motor drives for industrial automation applications.
Motors, fans, pumps, compressors: IIoT avoids downtime
Think Again: Remote monitoring, sensors, analytics and real-time intelligence is helping those who manufacture, use, and repair motors and attached critical assets to avoid downtime with prescriptive maintenance technologies, says EASA and Plant Engineering research.
Diagnosing motor health: Start with the basics
Temperature, power quality, and torque all are strong indicators of a motor's health.
Stepper motor torque basics
Stepper motors remain popular for industrial motor applications because they are low-cost, rugged, simple, have high torque at startup and low speeds, require little maintenance, and they can operate in an open loop control system.
Three major VFD trends
Variable frequency drive (VFD) development is shifting focus away from general-purpose motor controls that are already meeting market demands toward reduced installation costs. Consider industrial VFD installation time, VFD installation space and VFD harmonics.
How to select a motor for an industrial application
Cover Story: Understanding the main types of loads, motors, and applications can help simplify industrial motor and accessory selection.
Permanent magnet motors outperform induction motors in many applications
Permanent magnet synchronous motors offer significant advantages on high-energy-consuming and high-dynamic applications, compared to induction motors. See table, photo gallery.
Making good motor decisions
Correct motor sizing is critical for maximum efficiency, as is making the right rewind-versus-replace determination.