Calculation of Circulating Bearing Currents in Machines of Inverter-Based Drive Systems

The high-frequency circulating bearing current that may occur in machines of inverter-based drive systems can be described by an eddy-current model. The parameters of an equivalent circuit are derived from the model. The ratio between bearing current and common-mode current amplitudes for different machines is calculated. The theoretical maximum ratio is about 0.35. Copper loops applied for bearing current measurement may decrease the circulating bearing currents up to almost 40%