Cables between

VFD & MOTOR

- Motors powered through variable frequency drive (frequency converter)-

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CONTENT
1. Introduction
2. Line and motor connection
3. VFD and power cables selecting
4. VFD du/dt filter
5. VFD power cable
6. Conclusion

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1. INTRODUCTION
Standard motors that have been designed to operate from fixed frequency sinusoidal power, are being used with
adjustable (variable) frequency drives .
VFDs are used in applications ranging from small appliances to the largest motors and compressors.
of a variable-frequency drive consisting of the following three main sub-systems: AC motor, main drive
controller assembly, and drive/operator interface.
The basic principles of VFD are :
- The rectifier which converts input line power, which has a nominally fixed voltage and frequency, to fixed voltage DC
power.
- Filter : The fixed voltage DC power is then filtered to reduce the ripple voltage resulting from the rectification
of the AC line.
- Inverter : The inverter changes the fixed voltage DC power to AC output power, with adjustable voltage and
frequency

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1. INTRODUCTION
Principles of Operation for Variable Frequency Drives :

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2. LINE AND MOTOR CONNECTION

The drive employs modern insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) inverter technology
The output of the variable frequency drive combined with the motor cable length will result in additional stress at the
motor terminals and to motor cable insulation.
This is a concern for the isolation in motors, which ussualy is not designed to be driven by VFDs.
On the other hand the maximum motor cable length depends also on the switching frequency used due to the
charging effect of the motor cable capacitance.
This is a limitation on the variable frequency drive side, not on the motor isolation.
In order to reduce the motor stress, it should check whether an additional protection is needed in the installation.
Examples for variable frequency driver connected to a line system are showing below:
- VFD with integrated or external line filter
- VFD without line filter

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2. LINE AND MOTOR CONNECTION

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3. VFD AND POWER CABLE SELECTING
There is no organization that decides if a cable is suitable for operation with VFDs and also, no standards for what can
be called a VFD cable.
Selecting the right power cable must be in attention of the designer, during the realization of the project.
It is important to select a motor drive cable that has been properly designed and engineered to address all the key
technical issues that such a component faces.
The most important key cable related issues that commonly effect variable frequency drive are :
• Common mode current
• Cable charging and capacitive coupling
• Reflected wave voltage
• Installation safety and reliability

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3. VFD AND POWER CABLE SELECTING

Common mode current

This is sometimes known as current noise.
It is defined as any current that leaves the drive on the primary motor leads and returns through any ground path
(including the cable grounds and shield).
The role of VFD cable is to provide the most attractive path for these potentially harmful currents to return to the drive
with minimal disturbance to the surrounding networks and instrumentation
Capacitive coupling and cable charging
Are effects which consume some of the drive output currents in capacitive interaction with either the other motor
leads, or other adjacent cable systems
The keys to reducing the cable losses associated with capacitive coupling and cable charging are:
- Having the lowest practical cable capacitance
- ensuring that motor lead sets are effectively shielded from each other to prevent capacitive interaction.

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3. VFD AND POWER CABLE SELECTING

Reflected wave voltage

The mismatch between the cable and motor impedance leads to a voltage reflection at the point where the leads enter
the motor windings
This reflection leads to a standing wave effect, and a potential doubling of motor terminal voltages.
Using cables with the lowest capacitance will increase the critical distances (the distance where the cable is fully rung
up to twice the drive bus voltage), thus potentially reducing the stresses on motor windings and VFD cable
Installation safety and reliability
Is ensured when a properly designed cable system is selected.
It is critical to select a system that can withstand the challenges associated with harsh environments, and electrical
challenges, as well as one that will provide the highest degree of safety.
Induced voltages and system failures as amresult of unsuitable cable selection create both risk to personal safety, and
operational reliability

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4. VFD du/dt
du/dt FILTERS

The inherent rise times of later generation Isolated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) used in VFDs create an effect called
voltage overshoot.
If the turn-on time of the output device is slow, the capacitance of the motor has an opportunity to charge and
discharge with the IGBT.
If the output device’s turn-on time is fast, the capacitance of the motor is not able to keep up with the charge and
discharge. Instead, the voltage applied across the lead increases.
Therefore, more energy is stored, resulting in more overshoot voltage.
Motor insulation not designed to protect against this voltage overshoot may fail prematurely.
In order to prevent those damage, it should be use additional equipment, like line du/dt filter.
The common mode filters mainly reduce bearing currents. The du/dt filters also protect the motor insulation system.

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4. VFD du/dt
du/dt FILTERS
Schematic of a typical VFD system :

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4. VFD du/dt
du/dt FILTERS

A dV/dT filter is a device that controls the voltage spikes generated by VFDs and long motor lead lengths.
This voltage spike event is generally known as the reflected wave phenomenon.
The power cable acts like a distributed LC impedance and the dU/dt calculation on VFD terminals will have high values
that can be apparently dangerous.
For long cables, the combination of cable impedance, high frequency input impedance of motor and VFD switching
frequency can lead to reflection of voltage pulses that gives origin to large voltage overshoots on motor terminals.
The problem increases as increasing switching frequency because the time between voltage pulses will be smaller, so, a
voltage pulse reaching the motor will add to the pulse being reflected.
This “double pulsing” can results in extreme voltage overshoot and dU/dt that will result in motor insulation failures
For the variable frequency drives side the increasing switching frequency will be a problem.

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4. VFD du/dt
du/dt FILTERS

The determination of the resulting dU/dt at motor terminals from the dU/dt at VFD drive terminals is very difficult to
obtain.
For this task is need the high frequency parameters of cables (which also depends on installation details) and motor
data, that will not be available from standard datasheets and are very difficult to obtain from measurements.
In practice almost all VFD manufacturers make extensive measurements and establish some criteria in order to orient
applications.
The approach is to determine if it is necessary or not to have an output filter for a known application (cable length).
Schematic diagram of
dU/dt filter:

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4. VFD du/dt
du/dt FILTERS

Main function of the dU/dt filter :

• Protects the motor-reducing dU/dt value of the drive output voltage
• Reduction of motor temperature
• Increases the lifetime of the motor
Motor winding insulation experiences higher voltage stresses when used with a variable speed drive than when
connected directly to the mains supply.
The higher stresses depend on the motor cable length.
The stresses are caused by the fast-rising voltage pulses of the drive and transmission line effects in the cable.
DU/dt filters reduce the insulation stress of the motors by lowering the dU/dt- value of the variable speed drive output
voltage.
The reduced stress increases the lifetime of the motor windings.

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5. VFD POWER CABLE

The VFD and cable must have sufficient current capacity so that the power they supply to the motor is able to meet the
torque requirements that the load will demand.
Motor torque ultimately depends on the current passing through the motor, while the motor’s speed depends on the
frequency applied to it.
Choosing the appropriate VFD cable can substantially reduce, or even avoide, noise emissions, voltage reflections and
motor cable failures.
With an improperly selected cable, voltage waves reflected back from the motor toward the VFD along the cable can
produce excessively high voltages in the cable’s conductors.
Peak voltages of up to 2.5 times the nominal system voltage can be present in the cable, resulting in voltage reflections
that can cause in-service motor failures.
High voltage levels in the cable can also cause a corona discharge to occur between the conductors.
This can damage the cable and the motor, as well as the motor bearings and the drive, leading to a failure of the entire
system.

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5. VFD POWER CABLE

Usual are using two types of VFD cables

• Classic design
• Classic symmetrical design

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5. VFD POWER CABLE

An electrical grounding system provides a reference voltage, ideally zero, for other VFD system voltages.
It is not always possible to bring the ground voltage to a true 0V level, but the ideal reference can be approximated by
bringing all grounded points to the same
Creating a low impedance ground path between the motor and drive is essential to reducing potential(voltage)
differences, and thus harmful common mode currents.
One approach for grounding a cable is to use an insulated ground conductor, terminated both at the motor and at the
drive.
The shield surrounding the circuit conductors should be tied both physically and electrically to the insulated ground at
the point where the cable enters the motor housing and the driveproper.
Alternatively, in what is known as a symmetrical-design cable , three conductors are used for the ground—each
relatively small in gauge size, though when taken together they add up to the equivalent gauge size of the circuit
conductors. These are connected to the shield, so when they are terminated together at the ground lug on the motor
case, the shield is automatically terminated.

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5. VFD POWER CABLE

The most important factor when choosing a VFD power cable are :
• Stranding: High performance VFD cables tend to be constructed with flexible high flex (high strand count) tinned
conductors
• Insulation: XLPE wire insulated, PVC or XLPE outer sheath, cable designed for VFD applications
• Grounding and Shielding : Uopinions vary among VFD manufacturers and client, but using both type of cables,
classic design or classic symmetrical design, is tipically
As a result of the distinctions in VFD power cable design, the items below should determine the most suitable VFD
power cables for a given installation
• How sensitive is the environment to common mode current
• What is the voltage rating of the VFD itself
• Are there sealing requirements for the cable?

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6. CONCLUSION

Choosing well-designed, robust VFD power cables ensures motor uptime and reliability of the VFD system
and also provides protection for any sensitive instrumentation and adjacent control systems.
Selecting an appropriate VFD power cable can improve overall drive system longevity and reliability by
mitigating the impact of reflected waves on the overall drive system.
Related to the VFD power cables length, using or not using of du/dt filters, in general a common
specification is:
• For cable lengths up to 100 meters (and motor suitable for variable frequency drive applications) it is not
necessary a filter
• For cable lengths from 100 to 200 meters, a series reactance can be used
• For cable lengths from 200 meters (and motor suitable for variable frequency drive applications) it is
necessary an du/dt filter at VFD terminals

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