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Technical note
What is A VFD?

You can divide the world of electronic motor drives

into two categories: AC and DC. A motor drive
controls the speed, torque, direction and resulting
horsepower of a motor. A DC drive typically controls a
shunt wound DC motor, which has separate armature
and field circuits. AC drives control AC induction
motors, and-like their DC counterparts-control speed,
torque, and horsepower.

Application As An Example
Figure 2, Basic Induction Motor Construction
Let’s take a brief look at a drive application. In Fig. 1,
you can see a simple application with a fixed speed
fan using a motor starter. You could replace the
3-phase motor starter with Variable Frequency Drive
(VFD) to operate the fan at variable speed. Since you
can operate the fan at any speed below its maximum,
you can vary airflow by controlling the motor speed
instead of the air outlet damper.

Figure 3, Operating Principles of Induction Motor

With one pole pair isolated in a motor, the rotor

Figure 1, Fixed Speed Fan Application (shaft) rotates at a specific speed: the base speed.
The number of poles and the frequency applied
A drive can control two main elements of a 3-phase determine this speed (Fig. 4). This formula includes an
induction motor: speed and torque. To understand effect called “slip.” Slip is the difference between the
how a drive controls these two elements, we will take rotor speed and the rotating magnetic field in the
a short review of AC induction motors. Fig. 2 shows stator. When a magnetic field passes through the
the construction of an induction motor. The two basic conductors of the rotor, the rotor takes on magnetic
parts of the motor, the rotor and stator, work through fields of its own. These rotor magnetic fields will try
magnetic interaction. A motor contains pole pairs. to catch up to the rotating fields of the stator.
These are iron pieces in the stator, wound in a specific However, it never does -- this difference is slip. Think
pattern to provide a north to south magnetic field. of slip as the distance between the greyhounds and
the hare they are chasing around the track. As long as
they don’t catch up to the hare, they will continue to
revolve around the track. Slip is what allows a motor
to turn.
 Figure 6, Basic PWM Drive Components

Although some drives accept single-phase input

power, we’ll focus on the 3-phase drive. But to
Figure 4, Induction Motor Slip Calculation
simplify illustrations, the waveforms in the following
drive figures show only one phase of input and
output.
We can conveniently adjust the speed of a motor by
changing the frequency applied to the motor. You
The input section of the drive is the converter. It
could adjust motor speed by adjusting the number of
contains six diodes, arranged in an electrical bridge.
poles, but this is a physical change to the motor. It
These diodes convert AC power to DC power. The next
would require rewinding, and result in a step change
section-the DC bus section-sees a fixed DC voltage.
to the speed. So, for convenience, cost-efficiency, and
The DC Bus section filters and smooths out the
precision, we change the frequency. Fig. 5 shows the
waveform. The diodes actually reconstruct the
torque developing characteristic of every motor: the
negative halves of the waveform onto the positive
Volts per Hertz ratio (V/Hz). We change this ratio to
half. In a 460V unit, you’d measure an average DC bus
change motor torque. An induction motor connected
voltage of about 650V to 680V. You can calculate this
to a 460V, 60 Hz source has a ratio of 7.67. As long as
as line voltage times 1.414. The inductor (L) and the
this ratio stays in proportion, the motor will develop
capacitor (C) work together to filter out any AC
rated torque. A drive provides many different
component of the DC waveform. The smoother the DC
frequency outputs. At any given frequency output of
waveform, the cleaner the output waveform from the
the drive, you get a new torque curve.
drive.

The DC bus feeds the final section of the drive: the

inverter. As the name implies, this section inverts the
DC voltage back to AC. But, it does so in a variable
voltage and frequency output. How does it do this?
That depends on what kind of power devices your
drive uses. If you have many SCR-based drives in your
facility, see the Sidebar. Bipolar Transistor technology
began superseding SCRs in drives in the mid-1970s. In
the early 1990s, those gave way to using Insulated
Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) technology, which will
Figure 5, Volts/Hertz Ratio form the basis for our discussion.

Switching Bus With IGBTs

How Drive Changes Motor Speed
Today’s inverters use Insulated Gate Bipolar
Just how does a drive provide the frequency and
Transistors (IGBTs) to switch the DC bus on and off at
voltage output necessary to change the speed of a
specific intervals. In doing so, the inverter actually
motor? That’s what we’ll look at next. Fig. 6 shows a
creates a variable AC voltage and frequency output.
basic PWM drive. All PWM drives contain these main
As shown in Fig. 7, the output of the drive doesn’t
parts, with subtle differences in hardware and
provide an exact replica of the AC input sine
software components.
waveform. Instead, it provides voltage pulses that are
at a constant magnitude.
 Sidebar: What if you have SCRs?
One item is noteworthy. In the beginning of this
article, DC Drives are referenced, and SCRs are
indicated in relation to AC Drives and DC Drives.
Currently, SCRs primarily find themselves as the
power conversion component mainly in DC Drives.
The use of SCRs in AC Drives has been overtaken by
Diodes and IGBTs for many years.
Figure 7, Drive Output Waveform
With that in mind, there is a large installed base of
SCRs and you might want to know how these
The drive’s control board signals the power device’s
operate. An SCR (originally referred to as a
control circuits to turn “on” the waveform positive half
thyristor) contains a control element called a gate.
or negative half of the power device. This alternating
The gate acts as the “turn-on” switch that allows
of positive and negative switches recreates the 3
the device to fully conduct voltage. The device
phase output. The longer the power device remains
conducts voltage until the polarity of the device
on, the higher the output voltage. The less time the
reverses-and then it automatically ‘turns off.”
power device is on, the lower the output voltage
Special circuitry, usually requiring another circuit
(shown in Fig.8). Conversely, the longer the power
board and associated wiring, controls this
device is off, the lower the output frequency.
switching.
The speed at which power devices switch on and off is
the carrier frequency, also known as the switch
The SCR’s output depends on how soon in the
frequency. The higher the switch frequency, the more
control cycle that gate turns on. The IGBT output
resolution each PWM pulse contains. Typical switch
also depends the length of time the gate is on.
frequencies are 3,000 to 4,000 times per second
However, it can turn off anytime in the control
(3KHz to 4KHz). (With an older, SCR-based drive,
cycle, providing a more precise output waveform.
switch frequencies are 250 to 500 times per second).
IGBTs also require a control circuit connected to
As you can imagine, the higher the switch frequency,
the gate, but this circuitry is less complex and
the smoother the output waveform and the higher the
doesn’t require a reversal of polarity. Thus, you
resolution. However, higher switch frequencies
would approach troubleshooting differently if you
decrease the efficiency of the drive because of
have an SCR-based drive.
increased heat in the power devices.

Shrinking cost and size

Drives vary in the complexity of their designs, but the
designs continue to improve. Drives come in smaller
packages with each generation. The trend is similar to
that of the personal computer. More features, better
performance, and lower cost with successive
generations. Unlike computers, however, drives have
dramatically improved in their reliability and ease of
use. And also unlike computers, the typical drive of
today doesn’t spew gratuitous harmonics into your
distribution system-nor does it affect your power
factor. Drives are increasingly becoming “plug and
play.” As electronic power components improve in
reliability and decrease in size, the cost and size of
VFDs will continue to decrease. While all that is going
on, their performance and ease of use will only get
better.