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Increasing energy efficiency in

motor-integrated inverters with
SiC-MOSFETs

Version 1, October 2013

Increasing energy efficiency in motorintegrated inverters with SiC-MOSFETs

INTRODUCTION
Classical servo-drives are usually offered in so-called
book format for installation in a switching cabinet. The
3-phase supply voltage is rectified via a B6 diode bridge
and buffered with a dc-link capacitor, Figure 1. To maintain
the EMI compliance, an additional filter is required, which
is often integrated into the device. The electronics is
protected against transient excessive supply voltages using
varistors. The voltage drop across the rectifier diodes
largely determines the efficiency. These losses can be
estimated at about 1%. For a 3 kW drive this corresponds

Figure 2: B
 lock wiring diagram of a modular multi-axis servo-inverter:
1 Power supply module, 2 Axis module

at nominal load to 30 W power loss in the power supply.

Only a few years ago it was the power electronics that
primarily determined costs. Today this is only the case
for larger drives from 2 kW. Assembly costs, cable and
electrical connectors in the meantime play an important
role, particularly for smaller drives.
The size of the inverter module is determined by the power
electronics with the associated cooling elements and the
electrical connectors used. The control electronics can
now be implemented very compactly with a single FPGA, in
shunts in combination with sigma delta ADCs [1].

protection with EMI filter and rectifier, 2 Output stage, 3 Charge

circuit, 4 Ballast circuit, C dc link Capacitor, M motor

The usual permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM)

in servo-drive engineering have a much better efficiency

Today IGBT six-packs in combination with space vector

than induction machines (IM). As far as energy efficiency

modulation are mostly used, to generate the desired motor

is concerned it is therefore mostly sufficient, if the usual

voltage from the DC voltage. When a motor is slowed

efficiency for what is on the market is achieved. It is very

down, the energy regained is initially stored in the dc-link

difficult to create more efficient inverters, which are therefore

capacitor. If its voltage exceeds a maximum value, a ballast

more expensive to produce. The resistances that have to be

resistor switches on, through which further kinetic energy is

overcome in this respect, can be observed in the introduction

converted into heat. Transiently (for up to 100ms) the peak

of energy efficient IM.

power is typically 10 kW. The thermally effective continuous

rating of the ballast resistors used is, for example, 200 W.
In many applications in automation systems several servo-

CONNECTION OF THE MOTOR OVER SHIELDED

CABLES

drives are used. It is then usual to couple the dc-link circuits

of the drives. In this way, energy, which a drive stores in the

In order to maintain EMI compliance servo-motors are usu-

dc-link circuit, can immediately be used by another drive,

ally connected to the inverter with shielded connectors [2].

Figure 2. Drive manufacturers therefore offer modular

The shielded cables have a characteristic impedance Z0 of

drive systems, in which a power supply module supplies

about 100 . However, because of the associated losses, the

several inverters with the DC voltage.

inverter is not optimally impedance coupled and the motor

is not impedance terminated, Figure 3a. On the inverter

As far as users are concerned there are now three main

side the voltage uE has a very low-impedance coupling with

criteria: costs, size and energy efficiency.

RE 1 . If the conductor on the motor side were terminated,

All statements are without any engagement. Subject to modifications and amendments. | Project Nr P-118-E-10-2013-v1

particular when the current measurement is performed with

Figure 1: Block wiring diagram for a standard servo-drive: 1 Over-voltage

DC
AC

Bild 2: Blockschaltbild eines modularen Mehrachs-Servoumrichters: 1 Netzmodul, 2 Achsmodul

Anwenderseitig wird heute insbesondere auf drei Kriterien geachtet:

Kosten, Baugre und Energieeffizienz.

Noch vor wenigen Jahren bestimmte hauptschlich die Leistungselektronik die Kosten.
Heute ist das nur noch bei greren Antrieben ab ca. 2 kW der Fall. Montagekosten,
Kabel und Steckverbinder spielen inzwischen insbesondere bei kleineren Antrieben eine
wichtige Rolle.
a)

b)

Die Baugre der Wechselrichtermodule wird bestimmt von der Leistungselektronik mit
den zugehrigen Khlkrpern und den eingesetzten Steckverbindern. Die Steuerelektronik kann heute sehr kompakt mit nur einem FPGA realisiert werden, insbesondere
wenn die Strommessung mit Shunts in Kombination mit Sigma-Delta-ADCs erfolgt [1].

Die in der Servoantriebstechnik blichen permanenterregten Synchronmotoren (PMSM)

weisen verglichen mit Asynchronmotoren (ASM) einen viel besseren Wirkungsgrad auf.
Bei der Energieeffizienz ist es deshalb meist ausreichend, wenn marktbliche Wirkungsgrade erreicht werden. Es gilt als sehr schwierig, effizientere Umrichter anzubieten, die deshalb in der Anschaffung teurer sind. Welche Widerstnde diesbezglich
berwunden werden mssen, kann man bei der Einfhrung der energieeffizienten ASM
beobachten.
c)

d)

2. Anschluss des Motors ber geschirmte Leitungen

Figure 3: a) The
of the (ideal) inverter iswerden
coupled via Servomotoren
R , b) In the case of a conductor
terminated with
a delay occurs
Zur Einhaltung
dervoltage
EMV-Grenzwerte
blicherweise
mitZ only
geschirm
c)
Non-termination
gives rise to
an oscillation with doubling
the voltage,
d) With an additional
inductor besitzen
the voltage super elevation falls.
ten Leitungen
an
den Umrichter
angeschlossen
[2]. ofDie
geschirmten
Leitungen
einen Wellenwiderstand Z0 von ca. 100 . Jedoch wird aufgrund der damit verbundenen
Verluste weder der Umrichter optimal mit Wellenwiderstand eingekoppelt noch der Mothere would be noterminiert,
reflection Bild
there.3a.
TheUmrichterseitig
voltage uA would
charging and
discharging of the cable capacitance gives
tor mit Wellenwiderstand
wird dieThe
Spannung
uE sehr
rise
in
each
motor
phase to additional switching losses in the
only
be
delayed
by
a
propagation
time
of
25
ns,
Figure
3b.
niederohmig mit RE 1 eingekoppelt. Wrde die Leitung motorseitig abgeschlossen,
output
stage
of
approximately
Pcable u2 x C x f PWM. At 600 V
fnde dort keine Reflexion statt. Die Spannung uA wre lediglich um eine Laufzeit von
But there
is no
dc-link voltage, a capacitance per unit length of 120 pF/m and an
25 ns verzgert,
Bild
3b.terminating resistance on the motor side
E

(R ), since the motor inductance at high frequencies

8 kHz switching frequency, additional switching losses occur

A
die MotorinduktiMotorseitig
ist aber kein Abschlusswiderstand vorhanden (RA ), da
at the level of 2 W per metre of connection cable.
exhibits a very high impedance. Thus, the reflection factors
vitt bei hohen Frequenzen eine sehr hohe Impedanz aufweist. Damit lassen sich die
at the conductor ends can be estimated as follows:
Reflexionsfaktoren der Leitungsenden wie folgt abschtzen:

at the motor:
ReflektionReflection
am Motor:

!! !!!

! = !

ReflektionReflection
am Umrichter:
at the inverter: ! =

! !!!

!! !!!
!! !!!

! !!!!"" !

! !!!!"" !

! !!!"" !

In the case of longer cables additional motor inductors

0,99

are usually used to limit voltage rises. The time

0,98
! !!!"" !

The pulse width modulation has the effect that the voltage
at the inverter exhibits an almost step like variation. The

step moves through the conductor at about 5 m/ns. The

reflection at the end of the conductor with rA almost doubles

SPS / IPC / Drives 2013
2
the magnitude of the voltage for a short time. The reflected
step is reflected after propagation on the input side with rE.
Figure 3c shows such a measured variation in voltage for
a 5 m long cable and almost ideal pulse edge (rise time

constant is calculated from the inductance L and the

characteristic impedance Z0:

!!

Bei geeigneter Auslegung von Motordrossel und Kabel mit aus

fung
an
wird
der Betrag
des Reflexionsfaktors
umrichterseitig deu
For
appropriate
arrangement
of motor inductor
Anstiegszeit
lnger
als die
Kabellaufzeit.
and cable wird
withwieder
sufficient
damping
the
contribution Wichtig ist,
Krah,
Richter,
Toubin, Wiese
kreis
bestehend
aus Motordrossel
Kabelkapazitt
(C) und L
of
the
reflection factor
on the inverter(L),
side
will be
(R)markedly
ausreichend
gedmpft
ist,
Bild
3d.
Die
kabelkapazittsbed
smaller and the rise time will again be longer
ca. than
2 W the
/ mcable
fallenpropagation
nach wie vor
an, jedoch nur noch zu einem Te
time. It is important that
der Rest in Motordrossel und Kabel.

the oscillating circuit taking in the motor inductance

ein cable
Sinusfilter
eingesetzt
wird,
sind keine
abgeschirmten Kab
ta <10 ns). Due to losses in the cable and because high Wenn (L),
capacitance
(C) and
conductor
resistance,
de
bei
Servoantrieben
ist
diese
Option
jedoch
problematisch,
weil d
frequencies are more strongly dampened, the almost ideal
is sufficiently well dampened, Figure 3d. The losses

deutlich
Die zustzlichen
Verluste und Kos
rectangular shaped step becomes a decaying sine signal, geldynamik
of about
2 W / mverringert.
due to the cable
capacitances occur
. but only in part in the output stage, the
whose frequency is inversely proportional to the cable length: unerheblich
as before,
remainder in the motor inductor and cable.

If the cables are comparatively short (<10m), the signal

propagation time on the conductor is shorter than the
real rise time for the pulse edge (typical values for IGBT
are 5 kV/s ta 120 ns at 600 Vdc). A voltage super
elevation scarcely occurs in this case.

3. Motorintegrierte Servoumrichter

Bei den
angebotenen
Klemmkastenumrichtern
Asynchronmasch
If a sine
filter is used,
shielded cabling is not fr
necessary.
vollstndige
Frequenzumrichter

mit
Netzteil
etc.
jedoch ohne
However, for servo-drives this option is problematic, because
gesetzt
werden.
Dadurch
sind
die
Umrichter
vergleichsweise
gro
the sine filter reduces the control dynamics markedly. The
nem Lfter ausgestattet. Besonderer Vorteil ist die einfache Montag
additional losses and costs are also not insignificant.
te Kabel oft auch ohne Schaltschrank.

Wenn man dieses Konzept hinsichtlich der Anforderungen der Serv

trachtet, fllt folgendes auf:
Vierquadrantenbetrieb ist ohne Ballastwiderstand bzw. Rckspei
vergleichsweise groe Umrichter erschweren die Montage und e
gen des Antriebs innerhalb einer Maschine und
Motoren mit Lfter werden nur sehr ungern verwendet. 3

MOTOR-INTEGRATED SERVO-INVERTERS
In the available terminal box inverters for asynchronous

verwendet wird.
Die Stromskalierung des Umrichters kann genau auf den Motor a
Mit einer konfigurierbaren Hardware (FPGA) knnen alle relevant
Ethernet Feldbusse (EtherCAT, ProfiNet, ) abgedeckt werden.
Insbesondere
EtherCAT kann
z.B.
ein an
Last montierter
As far as EMIbei
is concerned,
the DC
supply
is der
technically
oder
digitales
I/O
(Endschalter
etc.)
kostensparend
ber den sehr
advantageous, since no voltage slopes (du/dt) occur operationally
angekoppelt werden.

and the sum of the currents flowing is always equal to zero.

ist diethe
DC-Versorgung
vorteilhaft,
ima DC
Betrieb keine
machines, complete frequency inverters with power supply, EMV-technisch
The rate at which
current rises can
be limited da
with

auftreten
diemotor-integrated
Summe der flieenden
etc. but without ballast circuit, are usually used. Thus, the (du/dt)
film
capacitorund
in the
inverter. Strme immer gleich

inverters are comparatively large and often include a fan. anstiegsgeschwindigkeit kann mit einem DC-Filmkondensator im m
One particular advantage is the simple assembly without

richterThis
begrenzt
werden.
capacitor acts at the same time as a snubber capacitor

to Kondensator
limit over-voltages
at thegleichzeitig
MOSFETs. Since
a line failure in
shielded cable and often also without a switching cabinet. Dieser
arbeitet
als Snubber-Kondensator
z
the dc-power supply
cannot
be ruled out,
energy
stored
berspannungen
an den
MOSFETs.
Weilthe
ein
Leitungsbruch
in de
When one considers this concept in terms of the requirements sorgung
in the
winding
inductors mustwerden
not leadkann,
to dangerous
nicht
ausgeschlossen
darf dieexcess
in den Wicklun
of servo-drive engineering, the following are apparent:
four-quadrant operation is not possible without ballast
resistance and/or energy recovery,
comparatively large inverters complicate the
assembly and possible movement of the drive within
a machine and

voltages:
speicherte
Energie nicht zu gefhrlichen berspannungen fhren:
!

! = ! ; ! = !

! !

= 0,01H

!" ! !

!"" !

= 4

Alternativ knnen gefhrlich hohe Spannungen mit einem Varistor ve

Alternatively, dangerously high voltages can be prevented

Gerade
bei geringen Drehzahlen bzw. im Stillstand ist der Strom du
motors with fans are only very reluctantly used.
with a varistor.
leitung wesentlich geringer als der Motorstrom. Wenn ein Servom
mechanisch blockiert mit ca. 1 A betrieben wird, flieen ber die DC
For energies less than 10 kW an line regeneration scheme
In particular for low speeds of rotation and at standstill the
ge mA statt des vollen Stroms bei einem konventionellen Antrieb.

current through the DC bus lead is considerably less than the

is relatively large and expensive. Based on modular servofr den
der Solarwechselrichter
werden Siliz
motor current.
WhenBereich
a servo-motor
is operated, for example
inverters, for preference only the inverter is integrated in the Insbesondere

der 600
V Klasse mit schnellen Body-Dioden angeboten [3]. Si-M
in a mechanically blocked state with about 1 A, only a few
Spannungsfestigkeit von 1200 V weisen erstens einen deutlich h
Instead of the three motor phases and the feedback signals
mA flow over the DC lead instead of the full current in the
stand auf und werden zweitens nicht mit einer schnellen Body-Dio
(resolver or encoder) DC dc-link voltage and field bus (e.g.
case of a conventional drive.
halb sind Si-MOSFETs fr Umrichter mit ca. 600 V Spannungszwis
EtherCAT) are now transmitted by the connection cable.
mit fr den direkten Betrieb am 3~ 400 V Netz ungeeignet.
motor and supplied with the common DC voltage, Figure 4.

In particular in the 600 V solar inverter range silicon (Si)

MOSFETs
with fast body-diodes are available [3]. Si-MOSFETs
4. Silizium
Carbid

with a specified voltage of 1200 V firstly have a signicantly

Seit einigen
Jahren werden leistungselektronische Bauelemente bas
higher
channel
resistance
second are
offered
Carbid
(SiC)
angeboten.
Im and
Vergleich
zu no
Si longer
weisen
SiC-basierte B
with
a
fast
body
diode.
Thus
Si-MOSFETs
are
not
suitable
vergleichsweise groe Bandlcke besondere Eigenschaften auf.
for inverters
a 600 V dc-link voltage(reverse
circuit and
thus time) de
beispielsweise
diewith
Sperrverzgerungszeit
recovery
they
are
also
unsuitable
for
direct
operation
on
the
3-phase
Si-Dioden. Das verringert die Schaltverluste der Freilaufdioden im
lich. Bisher
hat essupply.
sich nur bei Freilaufdioden bewhrt, Si-Komp
~ 400 V power
gleichbare SiC-Bauteile ohne grere Schaltungsnderung zu ersetz

Figure 4: Block wiring diagram of a system with motor-integrated inverters:

1 Power supply module, 2 Motor with inverter.

Sobald SiC-basierte Transistoren eingesetzt werden sollen, ist meis

CARBIDE
sung SILICON
von Schaltung
und Layout erforderlich. Am wenigsten aufwen
tungsnderungen bei der Verwendung von SiC-MOSFETs. Hier k
whrte
eingesetzt
werden,
die eigentlich
zur Ansteue
ForGate-Treiber
some years power
electronics
components
based on
silicon carbide (SiC) have been available. In comparison with
Si the SiC-based components due to the comparatively

A motor-integrated inverter can be adapted to the motor

without many options:

large band gap exhibit special properties. For SiC diodes,

the reverse recovery time is markedly
less than
SPS / for
IPCexample,
/ Drives 2013
5
for Si diodes. This significantly reduces the switching losses

Even at the manufacturing stage it is determined

of the free-wheeling diodes in the PWM operation. Until now

whether a resolver or an encoder is to be used as

it has only proved worthwhile in the case of free-wheeling

feedback.

diodes, to replace Si components with comparable SiC

The current scaling for the inverter can be precisely

components without changing the circuitry.

tuned to the motor.

All relevant real-time-Ethernet field buses (EtherCAT,

adaptation of circuitry and layout. Circuitry changes in the

(FPGA).

case of the use of SiC-MOSFETs are the least expensive. Here

In particular, for EtherCAT, e.g. a second encoder fitted

The use of SiC-based transistors mostly also requires an

ProfiNet, ) can be covered with configurable hardware

even approved gate drivers, which were actually developed

to the load or digital I/O (limit switch, etc.) can be

to control Si-IGBTs, can often be used. If now IGBTs in an

connected via the very fast field bus, thereby saving

inverter are replaced by SiC-MOSFETs, the following properties

costs.

are characteristic:

Krah

 The MOSFET body diode which is always present can

Si-IGBT [5]

ST SiC-MOSFET [4]

be used as a free-wheeling diode and for SiC has a very

Gate resistance

20

6,8

small reverse recovery time. This reduces the switching

Eon

0,67 mJ

0,118 mJ

losses.

Eoff

0,5 mJ

0,1 mJ

The MOSFET channel in the on-state can carry the

current in both directions (synchronous rectifier). This
reduces, after the locking time, the voltage drop across
the free diode and thus also the on-state losses. On
the controller side in the case of motor controllers no
additional expense is needed to bypass the body diode.
MOSFETs do not exhibit the tail current typical of IGBTs
when they are switched off. This also reduces the
switching losses.
MOSFETs, unlike most IGBTs, are not short-circuit
proof for up to 10 s. So that the current sensors can be

Err

0,88 mJ

0,03 mJ

Switching losses

16 W

2W

Usat Trans.

1,5 V

0,5 V

Usat Diode 1)

1,2 V

0,5 V

Forward losses

8,5 W

3,15 W

Total losses

24,5 W

5,2 W

Table 1:
Comparison of IGBT and SiC-MOSFET losses for a half bridge based on product data
sheet entries.
UZK = 600 V, 125 C, I = 6,3 A, 8 kHz [4, 5]
 for MOSFET the diode is bypassed via the conducting channel (synchronous rectifier)

1) 

used to switch-off safely, the current slew rate must be

limited.
When the Si-IGBT output stages for an inverter is

The switching losses of the SiC-MOSFETs are 8-times less

than those of the Si-IGBTs. The forward losses are half as

replaced by SiC-MOSFETs, higher voltage rise rates

much. At 8 kHz switching frequency the total losses of the

may occur. This aggravates the over-voltage problem

output stage without gate drive and controller fall to less

for shielded motor cables. If the voltage slew rate is

than one quarter.

reduced, the switching losses increase.

SiC-semiconductors are up to now significantly more
expensive than comparable Si-types.

In most drive applications it is not necessary to increase

the switching frequency above the usual 8 - 20 kHz. When
controlling motors the current-smoothing effect of the winding

It follows that one can only make sensible use of SiC-

inductance is almost always sufficient. The lower switching

MOSFETs, if a sine filter in combination with high switching

losses thus lead directly to an improved efficiency.

frequency is used or the inverter is integrated into the motor

using moderate switching frequency to minimize losses.

Since classically constructed servo-inverters are built for

operation with shielded cables, the dimensioning of the
cooling element for the output stage must take into account

SI-IGBT VERSUS SIC-MOSFET

the additional switching losses due to the cable capacitance.

If one includes a typical cable length of 5 m in the calculation,

Silicon carbide (SiC) makes it possible to produce fast low-

there is an additional 10 W power loss. In comparison, an

loss power semiconductor devices, with reverse voltages

SiC-based motor-integrated inverter need only dissipate

and current load capacities, which are not possible in silicon

of the power loss and thus can be constructed significantly

technology. The new SiC-MOSFETs from ST are specified

more compactly.

with 1200 V and are typically used with about 600 V dc-link
voltage. Due to the advantageous properties of SiC, linepowered inverters can now be implemented with MOSFETs.
For a motor-integrated solution it is also advantageous that
SiC-semiconductors can be used at very high temperatures.
The SiC-MOSFETs from ST that are used are specified for a
junction temperature up to a maximum of 200 C [4].
In order to pass judgement on the losses of the new SiCMOSFETs from ST, the product datasheet entries were
compared with comparable Infineon IGBTs, Table 1. We
considered a half bridge. The following were assumed: 600
V dc-link voltage, a reverse recovery temperature of +125 C
and a current of 6.3 A.

INTEGRATION OF THE INVERTER

The parasitic capacitance of the motor winding to the

case measured at 200 kHz amounts to approximately:

The classical construction of terminal box inverters as a

C W 300pF per phase.

backpack on the side of the motor has critical disadvantages

in servo-drive engineering:

The inverter essentially consists of two boards integrated in

the motor: the control and power-electronics cards, Figure5.

Servo-motors are usually used without fans. The stator

iron losses and the winding copper losses heat-up the

The inverter increases the length of the motor by about 40mm,

similarly to an optional holding brake, Figure 6.

motor particularly strongly on the side at the level of the

rotors. This results in a de-rating of about 20%.
There is no unused space to the side of the motor, which

RESULTS

can still be made available for the inverter.

The symmetry of the motor is lost.

Figure 7 shows the laborator y set-up for the SiCinverter power-electronics card [7]. The new SCT30N120

Instead of this, the SiC-inverter is integrated in the motor

(1200V80m) SiC-MOSFETs from STMicroelectronics are

behind the feedback system. In what follows we consider

used. In the test set-up 10 gate resistors were used. The

the integration of the inverter in the AM 8052 motor [6]. The

MOSFETs are switched on with +20 V, and switched off with

8-pole motor has a stall torque of 8.2 Nm for a current of

6.3 A. The nominal torque at 4000 min -1 is 6.9 Nm, which

4 V. The gate is being driven by new generation of Avago gate

corresponds to about 3 kW. The maximum permissible

protection of SiC MOSFET. The measured voltage slew rate of

peak current is 33.6 A. The winding resistance (terminal-

the pulse edges is 10 kV/s. The current is measured via three

terminal) is RW = 2.3 , the winding inductance is specified by

5 m-shunts in combination with three high resolution Avago

LW = 14.1mH. The flange size is: 100 x 100 mm

Sigma-Delta modulators ACPL-796J externally clocked with

driver ACPL-H342 with integrated Miller clamp and UVLO for

20 MHz which enables high current control bandwidth and

fast over-current protection. The dc-link voltage is measured
by an Avago Sigma-Delta modulator ACPL-797J using the
10 MHz internal clock generation [8].

Figure 5: The schematic diagram shows how the SiC-inverter is mounted behind
the feedback system in the AM 8052 motor.

Figure 7: L
 aboratory set-up for the power electronics card of the SiC-MOSFET
inverter [7].

When one considers the power loss, the motor winding

copper losses (i x R) dominate with about 137 W at room
temperature (+20 C) and about 200 W, when the winding has
reached the maximum permissible temperature of +140C.
If the motor is fitted with a holding brake, a further 18 W is
lost in the ventilation of the brake.
For the FPGA-based control card (Altera Cyclone EP4CE55)
the power input is 2.0 W. The control card is based on the
EBV-Altera Motor-Control-Platform FalconEye FPGA and
was reduced to the necessary components [9, 10]. Only half
of the resources of the FPGA are used, so that alternatively
the somewhat smaller FPGA, specified for the automotive
temperature range (EP4CE40) can be used.
Figure 6: The integration of the inverter lengthens the AM 8052 motor by
about 40 mm.

A total of four switching power supplies provide the necessary,

galvanically separated supply voltages for gate drivers and

sigma delta modulators. For a clock frequency of 8 kHz the

LITERATURE

received power is 1.7 W.

1. J.O. Krah, Ch. Klarenbach, J. Achterberg:
The measured power input of the output stage with an 8kHz

Modulare Antriebsregelung fr Servoantriebe in der

clock frequency (IMOTOR = 0 A) is (600 V x 10 mA) 6 W. This

Automatisierungstechnik, SPS/IPC/Drives Kongress,

corresponds to the losses from three meter of shielded cable.

Nrnberg, Nov. 2010, S 111-120.

At nominal current there are additional losses of 15.6 W

(3 x 5.2 W) according to Table 1.

2. Beckhoff Motorleitung, 4x1,5 + 2x(2x0,75) mm,

verzinntes Kupfergeflecht mit 85% optischer

In sum the power loss for the SiC inverter is just 10 W for

Bedeckung, www.Beckhoff.com

a currentless motor and 25 W for nominal current. For an

IGBT output stage with 5 m motor conductor, losses of 94W
(10 W + 3 x 24.5 W + 10 W) occur for nominal current. In

3. N-channel 600 V, FDmesh II Power MOSFET

(with fast diode), STMicroelectronics, www.st.com

this comparison the higher fundamental frequency current

through the motor cable in the case of a standard inverter
is not yet taken into account.

4. Datasheet: SCT30N120: 1200V 20A N-channel SiC

MOSFET, STMicroelectronics, www.st.com

The losses of the SiC inverter are thus less than 1% of the nominal
motor power, and amount to approximately one-eighth of the

5. Datasheet: IGBT4, 1200V 25A, FS25R12W1T4, Infineon,

www.infineon.com

motor copper losses. With a de-rating of only 2% the total power

loss of the motor with integrated SiC inverter corresponds to
that of a standard servo-motor with a holding brake.

6. Dokumentation Synchron Servomotor AM8000 und

AM8500, www.Beckhoff.com
7. A. Boulassouak, Aufbau und Inbetriebnahme eines SiC-

SUMMARY

MOSFET Wechselrichters, Bachelor-Arbeit, FH Kln, 2013.

Particularly energy-efficient inverters can be implemented

using silicon-carbide-MOSFETs. This is especially true if the

8. Datasheet: ACPL 796J, 2nd order Sigma-DeltaModulator, Avago Technologies, www.avagotech.com

inverter is integrated directly in the motor. On the one hand the

capacitances of the shielded cable are not charged or discharged

9. FalconEye Motor Control Platform, EBV/Altera,

unnecessarily, on the other hand the high efficiency allows for

www.altera.com/end-markets/industrial/motor-

a particularly compact structural design. The currents over

control/falconeye/ind-falconeye.html

the supply line are smaller and thus lead to lower losses. The
inverter is integrated via real-time Ethernet, e.g. EtherCAT, in

10. Y. nder: FPGA-basierte Steuerung fr einen MOSFETWechselrichter, Bachelor-Arbeit, FH Kln, 2012.

a superimposed controller.

BILL OF MATERIAL (BOM)

Supplier

Part Number

Description

SCT30N120

Silicon carbide Power MOSFET

ACPL-796J

Optically Isolated Sigma-Delta Modulator, External Clock

ACPL-C797

Optically Isolated Sigma-Delta Modulator

ACPL-H342

2.5 Amp Output Current IGBT Gate Drive Optocoupler with Active Miller
Clamp, Rail-to-Rail Output Voltage & UVLO

Authors: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jens Onno Krah, Fachhochschule Kln Rolf Richter, EBV Elektronik, Poing Loic Toubin,
STMircoelectronics, Geneva Andreas Wiese, Fertig Motors, Marktheidenfeld

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