In order to select the best AC drives for a given AC motor, a complete analysis of application categories is required.  Multi-axis controllers are used to control and monitor multiple, independent axes of motion.  Motor speed controllers are application-specific and used to control machines such as conveyors.  Digital motion control hardware and software for the [...]

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It will come as an interesting fact for those unfamiliar with variable frequency drives that the first electric motors available on the market were designed and built for operation from direct current power.  As such DC motors have been available for nearly 100 years.  However, AC motors have surpassed DC motors as the preferred motor [...]

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During its early years in the 1960s, AC drives had rather small solid-state components; this meant that the amount of current AC drives could supply to the electric motor was quite limited.  This usually limited the size of the electric motor that could be controlled by a frequency and they were not commonly used.  However, [...]

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AC and DC electric motors were seen as the muscle of the industrial revolution.  Ironically, these electric motors are now also regarded as the smart muscle of the computer-controlled plant and commercial facility of the future.  The advent of powerful, reliable AC drives and DC drives is keeping AC motors and DC motors in the [...]

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AC motors are made up of two assemblies, namely the stator and the rotor.  The stator structure is composed of steel laminations shaped to form poles.  Copper wire coils are wound around these poles.  These primary windings are connected to a voltage source to produce a rotating magnetic field. Standard electric motors for industrial, commercial [...]

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AC drives used together with electric motors can offer a significant amount of process improvements and energy savings for equipment used in dusty environments such as fans, pumps, and other.  These advantages are the same as those achieved in applications in ordinary, non-hazardous areas.  There are a number of ways to safely run AC drives [...]

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Both industrial and commercial businesses make use of AC drive and DC drive systems Â
for a variety of applications.  Some of the more common applications include blowers, fans, and pumps.  Newer applications include textile-fiber spinning machines, machine tools, extruders, hoists and cranes conveyors, and film lines.  Â
Due to the fact that many applications have unique characteristics [...]

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Although new advances and technologies are nice, is it really necessary to replace all DC drives with AC drives?  Should one not rather select the most appropriate motor and drive solution for your particular application?  This is an important question being raised quite often about this topic.  Both DC drives and AC drives have their [...]

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Replacement of Variable Speed Drives happens due to a number of different reasons.  Find below a list of these reasons.  Â
Existing equipment should be replaced with an AC Drives system when:

The existing DC motor nears the end of its lifespan;
Power factor and distortion are an issue, such as when the DC motor has a poor power [...]

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AC drive controllers, commonly referred to as inverters, are generally more complex than its DC drive controller counterparts.  This is due to the fact that AC drive controllers must perform two power section functions.  The first of these is the conversion of the AC line power source to DC, and secondly an inverter change from [...]

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