Implementation of a Simulator for the Most Commonly Found Industrial Motor Loads Based on Pulse-width Modulation Inverters and Torque Estimator

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the results of the implementation of a simple generic load simulator using pulse-width modulation inverters. The implementation of this load simulator took place at Universidade Federal de Itajubá's electrical drives laboratory. Different types of load can be simulated to evaluate the performance of electric motors in electrical drives. The implemented system shows satisfactory results, even at low speeds. The system arrangement utilizes two pulse-width modulation inverters (one for the motor and the other for the generator), a PC microcomputer, and a data acquisition board installed in a free slot of the microcomputer. A tachogenerator is also used to provide an analog speed signal as well as LabVIEW data acquisition (Hungary) for filtering speed and torque signals for better visualization and interpretation of the results. The torque signal is originated from the motor pulse-width modulation inverter torque transducer.