A typical low-voltage variable-frequency drive. Industrial facilities commonly use variable-frequency drives (VFDs) to control the speed at which alternating current motors operate. Let’s examine a ...

If a motor isn't adequately protected, a short circuit will likely result in premature replacement. Then there's the problem of nuisance tripping upon initial start-up because the magnetic setting of ...

Electric drives require effective protection against overloads and short circuits. Both phenomena cause motor disruption and create a risk of damage to the motor. This could lead to a potentially ...

Have you ever wondered why a car’s city fuel economy is always lower than its highway fuel economy? Most cars spend a lot of time stopping or traveling at low speeds, especially in a city. Start-stop ...

When it comes to downtime, motors are a disproportionally large contributor compared to other causes, simply because motors are used in so many processes, from pumping to material management. So, a ...

Now that autos are moving toward high-powered battery voltage, the industry is turning new attention toward making sure the flow can stop on a dime when needed. Power management company Eaton Corp.

Automotive applications need “smarter” drivers for their switches, which handle loads ranging from a fraction of an ampere to several amperes. Not only are these smart chips costly, but many times, ...

This article is part of the Ideas for Design Series: Vol. 3, No. 8. This circuit builds on a previous idea in which the addition of an optocoupler to a microcontroller output converted a “dumb” ...

A German research team has developed a semiconductor-based protection concept tailored to renewable energy systems that forces a permanent short circuit in less than 1 millisecond in the event of a ...