A general model for estimating the laminated steel losses under PWM voltage supply

The new model is based on a modified Steinmetz equation and employs a hysteresis-loss multiplicative coefficient and a combined coefficient for eddy-current and excess losses, both coefficients being variable with induction and frequency. The material model coefficients are first identified through multifrequency tests with sine-wave excitation. The iron-loss increase due to pulsewidth-modulation supply is estimated using global waveform parameters of the nonsinusoidal voltage. The study includes three different grades of non-grain-oriented electric steel. The data cover a wide range of fundamental frequency from 10 to 600 Hz and induction from 0.05 to 2 T. The errors of the computational model are small at relatively low fundamental frequency and increase thereafter. The main advantages of the model are its simplicity of use and minimal data requirements.