6, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
Assuming that we have control of the permeability value The core size as expressed by either (14) or (15) appears
(through either selection of the core or gapping), a smaller dramatically different from standard inductor sizing equations,
window size is desirable insofar as it is feasible. Therefore, it which typically show the size as being related to LI 2 , with a
is necessary to establish a minimum window size to proceed fixed temperature rise (the Hanna-curve method [13]) or a fixed
with the design. This depends on the wire used to wind the Q value (the Kg method [14]). The dependence on L in (14)
choke and the number of turns. The simplest option is to wind and (15) is hidden; instead, the result is written in terms of the
the choke with the same wires used to connect the inverter to performance and application specifications. The dependence on
the machine, and we consider this case first. Note also that the current is different because it is assumed that Ipeak is in effect
approach includes both multiturn wound chokes and the more for a short enough time that the winding dissipation associated
easily installed single-turn feedthrough chokes. with it is insignificant.
Based on the aforementioned analysis, we can completely
specify the design with
A. Case 1: Fixed Wire Diameter; Free Choice of µ
Consider winding the choke with the machine lead wire con- 3 √
c = πdo N (16)
necting the inverter to the machine, which has outside diameter Fp
do , including insulation, per phase. The required window area
is, for three-phase wires (∆V )2 C 1
Ac = (17)
Bpeak Ipeak N
3πN d2o
Aw = (8)
4Fp πdo F3p
µideal =√ . (18)
where Fp is a packing factor, defined as the ratio of the wire area N Ipeak Bpeak
(including insulation) to the core window area. For a circular
From these equations, we can draw several conclusions.
window, the maximum packing factor can be calculated from
simple geometrical considerations to be 1) A high packing factor is preferred, i.e., for a given wire
diameter, one should ordinarily use the minimum core
3π(do /2)2 window size that the wire will fit through. The core
Fp,max =
Aw size is reduced by a high packing factor (15), as is the
3π(do /2)2 required permeability. An exception to this rule is if the
= √ 2 permeability found from (18) was lower than available
π(do /2)2 1 + 1/( 3/2)
9 permeabilities, and gapping was not practical. This situ-
= √ ≈ 0.646. (9) ation is addressed in Section III-C. However, if the ideal
( 3 + 2)2
permeability µideal found from (18) is higher than what
From (7) and (8), we obtain is available, as discussed in Section III-B, a high packing
factor is still preferred.
2c 3πN d2o 2) In contrast to a standard inductor design, in which the
= (10)
4π 4Fp required effective permeability is inversely proportional
3 √ to the number of turns, the required effective permeabil-
c = πdo N. (11) ity based on our constraints and assumptions decreases
Fp
more slowly as the number of turns increases, which is
inversely proportional to the square root of N . Because
We define a constant kw = πdo 3/Fp to enable writing this
there is less benefit from an increased number of turns,
more simply as
we can expect small numbers of turns to work well here
√
c = kw N . (12) more often than they do in standard chokes. The core
volume also decreases slowly with increased N ; it is also
This result can be used with (7) to establish inversely proportional to the square root of N .
Bpeak
µ = kw √ . (13)
N Ipeak B. Case 2: Fixed Wire Diameter; Ideal Permeability µideal
Higher Than Available Permeability µa
Using this value of permeability in (6), we obtain an expres-
sion for magnetic volume If the available permeability is smaller than what would
be ideal, the inductor is not saturated, and the core area is
(∆V )2 C kw chosen simply to meet the inductance specifications with the
Ac c = √ (14)
Bpeak Ipeak N given permeability. Solving (3) for core area and applying the
calculation of length from Case 1 (12), we obtain the required
or writing out kw explicitly core area
(∆V )2 C 3 1 ∆V 2 kw
Ac c = πdo √ . (15) Ac = C 2 3 (19)
Bpeak Ipeak Fp N Ipeak N 2 µa
MUETZE AND SULLIVAN: SIMPLIFIED DESIGN OF CM CHOKES FOR REDUCTION OF MOTOR GROUND CURRENTS 2573
C. Case 3: Fixed Wire Diameter; Ideal Permeability µideal D. Case 4: Variable Wire Size
Lower Than Available Permeability µa In the case that the inductor is not wound with the same
If the available permeability µa is larger than the ideal wire used for the connection between the inverter and the ma-
permeability calculated by (18), in principle, it is possible to chine, the wire diameter and number of turns may be selected
gap the core and achieve an effective permeability equal to the specifically for the inductor. Once the inductance requirement is
ideal permeability. However, if the difference between the ideal found from (2), the design becomes similar to standard inductor
permeability and the available permeability is small, the ideal design for other applications, as described in many textbooks.
gap would be smaller than what might be feasible and would
be unlikely to be worth the added expense. Thus, it is also IV. E XAMPLE D ESIGNS
of interest to consider design with a fixed permeability larger
than ideal. The volume of such a design is given by (6), as for A. Drive Parameters for Example Designs
designs using the ideal permeability. However, the result is now We consider eight different example cases based on typical
a constant volume, independent of the number of turns, since values for three-phase machines with random-wound winding.
the permeability is fixed. Thus, there is no reason to increase The machines have 315-, 400-, and 450-mm frame sizes. Both
the number of turns. voltage ratings of 400 and 690 V are considered. Machine
To complete the design by finding core path length and supply via one motor lead per phase is assumed for the smallest,
area, we start by noting in (6) that an increase in permeability two motor leads per phase for the largest, and both cases for the
requires a proportional increase in volume. Starting with the 400-mm-frame-size machine. These parameters along with the
design based on the ideal permeability, with length specified corresponding values of the operating dc bus voltage Vdc ,
by (16) and area specified by (17), we need to decide how to the CM voltage step ∆V (obtained by averaging the three
allocate this increase in volume between length and area. Since phases when one phase makes a transition), do , and typical
an inductor built with a core of permeability µa has inductance values for C are summarized in Table I.
N 2 µa Ac As will be shown hereinafter, ideal relative permeabilities for
L= (21) the choke core are typically over 10 000. Tape-wound toroidal
c
metal–alloy core permeabilities in this vicinity include amor-
an increase of c by a factor µa /µideal while also increasing µ phous or nanocrystalline materials [15]–[18], and so, we base
will maintain the original inductance value, whereas increasing Bpeak on the saturation flux density of typical nanocrystalline
Ac by the same factor as the increase in µ will increase the material and use Bpeak = 1.2 T. We assume a packing factor
inductance by the square of the permeability ratio (µa /µideal )2 . Fp = 0.5 for one and Fp = 0.25 for two machine leads per
If the permeability is truly fixed at a constant µa , the higher phase, and we attempt to limit peak ground current to 5 A (peak-
inductance solution (increased Ac ) would be preferred, because to-peak of 10 A), 10 A, and 15 A for the three machine sizes,
it further decreases ground current. However, if the permeabil- respectively.
2574 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 47, NO. 6, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
TABLE II
E XAMPLE D ESIGNS FOR C ASE 1: F REE C HOICE OF P ERMEABILITY, N = 1
TABLE III
E XAMPLE D ESIGNS FOR C ASE 2: P ERMEABILITY OF 10 000µ0
(C ONSERVATIVE A SSUMPTION ). M OST E NTRIES A RE C ALCULATED
BASED ON C ASE 2: I DEAL µideal H IGHER T HAN AVAILABLE µa ; THE
E NTRIES M ARKED W ITH ∗ H AVE I DEAL P ERMEABILITY B ELOW
10 000µ0 AND A RE C ALCULATED BASED ON C ASE 3: I DEAL µideal
L OWER T HAN AVAILABLE µa
TABLE IV
E XAMPLE D ESIGNS FOR P ERMEABILITY AVAILABLE AT THE C ALCULATED R ING F REQUENCY, N = 1
the core volume ends up larger than that in the initial designs in
Table II.
Fig. 6. Simulation model including a Cauer network to capture the effect of frequency-dependent core material.
shunt inductors and series resistors) if both are linear [20], but [15] “Vacuumschmelze GmbH,” Nanocrystalline Vitroperm EMC components,
with nonlinear elements, the behaviors can be different and the 2004. [Online]. Available: http://www.vacuumschmelze.de
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in [12] and shown to accurately match measured results. Netherlands: Elsevier, 1997, ch. 3.
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tor, in Catena SIMetrix/SIMPLIS version 5.3, Oregon, USA. [Online].
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of a compact set of design equations for CM chokes for reduc- [20] G. C. Temes and J. W. LaPatra, Introduction to Circuit Synthesis and
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[21] P. Holmberg, A. Bergqvist, and G. Engdahl, “Modelling eddy currents and
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Although these assumptions may not always be accurate, they pp. 1306–1309, Mar. 1997.
lead to simple equations that provide insight on the effects of
various parameters and allow easy design. Example designs for
machines up to 450-mm frame size show how effective ground-
current reduction is possible with small inexpensive single-turn
chokes.
Annette Muetze (SM’03–M’04) received the Dipl.-
R EFERENCES Ing. degree in general engineering from the Ecole
Centrale de Lyon, Ecully, France, in 1999, and the
[1] S. Chen and T. Lipo, “Circulating type motor bearing current in inverter Dipl.-Ing. and Dr.Tech. degrees in electrical engi-
drives,” IEEE Ind. Appl. Mag., vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 32–38, Jan./Feb. 1998. neering from Darmstadt University of Technology,
[2] J. Ollila, T. Hammar, J. Lisakkala, and H. Tuusa, “A new reason for Darmstadt, Germany, in 1999 and 2004, respectively.
bearing current damages in variable speed drives,” in Proc. 7th Eur. Conf. Since April 2010, she has been the Head of the
Power Electron. Appl. (EPE), Trondheim, Norway, 1997, pp. 2539–2542. Institute of Electrical Drives and Machines and a
[3] P. Link, “Minimizing electric bearing currents in ASD systems,” IEEE Professor at Graz University of Technology, Graz,
Ind. Appl. Mag., vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 55–66, Jul./Aug. 1999. Austria. Prior to this, she was with the Department
[4] S. Ogasawara and H. Akagi, “Modeling and damping of high-frequency of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University
leakage currents in PWM inverter-fed AC motor drive systems,” IEEE of Wisconsin, Madison, where she was an Assistant Professor, and, then, with
Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 1105–1114, Sep./Oct. 1996. the School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry, U.K., where she
[5] S. Ogasawara, H. Ayano, and H. Akagi, “Measurement and reduction was, first, an Assistant Professor and, then, an Associate Professor.
of EMI radiated by a PWM inverter-fed AC motor drive system,” IEEE Dr. Muetze was a recipient of the FAG Innovation Award, a National Science
Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 1019–1026, Jul./Aug. 1997. Foundation CAREER Award, and an IEEE Industry Applications Society
[6] I. Boldea and S. Nasar, Electric Drives. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Industrial Drives Committee Prize Paper Award.
1999.
[7] C. Mei, J. Balda, W. Waite, and K. Carr, “Minimization and cancellation
of common-mode currents, shaft voltages, and bearing currents for induc-
tion motor drives,” in Proc. 34th IEEE PESC, Cape Girardeau, MO, 2003,
vol. 3, pp. 1127–1132.
[8] A. Muetze, “Bearing currents in inverter-fed AC motors,” Ph.D. disserta-
tion, Darmstadt Univ. Technol., Aachen, Germany, 2004.
[9] H. Akagi and T. Doumoto, “An approach to eliminating high-frequency Charles R. Sullivan (SM’93–M’96) received the
shaft voltage and ground leakage current from an inverter-driven motor,” B.S. degree (with highest honors) in electrical engi-
IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 1162–1169, Jul./Aug. 2004. neering from Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, in
[10] H. Akagi and S. Tamura, “A passive EMI filter for eliminating both 1987, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering
bearing current and ground leakage current from an inverter-drive motor,” from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1996.
IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 1459–1469, Sep. 2006. He is currently an Associate Professor with
[11] A. Muetze, “Scaling issues for common mode chokes to mitigate ground the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth,
currents in inverter-based drive systems,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 45, Hanover, NH. Between his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees,
no. 1, pp. 286–294, Jan./Feb. 2009. he was with Lutron Electronics, where he worked
[12] C. R. Sullivan and A. Muetze, “Simulation model of common-mode designing electronic ballasts. His research includes
chokes for high-power applications,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 46, work on design optimization of magnetics for high-
no. 2, pp. 884–891, Mar./Apr. 2010. frequency power conversion, thin-film magnetic materials and devices for
[13] E. C. Snelling, Soft Ferrites, Properties and Applications. London, U.K.: power applications, energy efficiency and renewable energy, and electromag-
Butterworth, 1988. netic modeling of capacitors.
[14] R. W. Erickson and D. Maksimovie, Fundamentals of Power Electronics, Dr. Sullivan was a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER
2nd ed. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2001. Award and an IEEE Power Electronics Society Prize Paper Award.