29/3/2015 AutomationBasics:Grounding:Engineering,notblackmagicISA

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HomeISAPublicationsInTechMagazine2013/JanFebAutomationBasics:Grounding:Engineering,notblackmagic

January/February 2013
Automation Basics
Grounding: Engineering, not black magic
By Lee Stephens
Groundingandshieldingismanytimesreferredtoasbeingalmostmystic,buteffectivegroundingandshieldsworkonsolidengineeringprinciples.Therearefourpathsthatlet
undesiredsignalsgetintoasystem:magneticorinductivecoupling,capacitivecouplingfromhighspeedvoltagechanges(dV/dt),directcoupling,andradiated,orRF,coupling.One
maynotbeabletopredicttheexactpathanoisesignaltakes,justasonecannotpredicttheexactpathoflightning.Butoneknowshowtolimitthechancesofgettingstruck.
LightningisnothingmorethanoneofthemostpowerfulEMIevents.ManufacturerstypicallyprovideconnectionrecommendationsonhowtominimizeEMIandotherelectricalnoise
issuesontheirproducts.

InEMIterms,thereisthereceiver(referredtoasthevictim),andthesourceofthesignals.SometimesthevictimofanEMIproblemisalsothesourceoftheproblem.Itmaybedifficult
tryingtodeterminethesourceofthenoiseincircuitsthatcontainfeedbackloops,asdomostmotorspeedcontrolsandpowersupplies.Inthecaseofpowersuppliesorservo
amplifiers,trackingdownnoisesourcescanbeadauntingtask.Currentandvoltagefeedbackinthesetypesofdevicesuserelativelyhighgainstagesthatcaneasilyfeedbackupon
themselves.Caremustbetakentopreservetheintegrityoftheintendedsignalwithrobustrejectionofundesiredsignals.

Manyswitchmodepowersuppliescontainbothcurrentandvoltagefeedback.Often,theyoperateathigherfrequencies(typically400kHzandup)thatcancreatecapacitive,
magnetic(inductive),andRFtypeinterferenceproblems.Inadequateshielding,orapoorlayoutofthevoltagesenseline,mayletinterferencefromthepulsewidthmodulated(PWM)
outputinterferewithpropersensing.Thepowersupplybecomesboththesourceandvictimoftheproblem.Theonlysolutionhereistoisolatethesignalswithlayoutandshielding
changes.Shieldthenoisesourcewitha360coveragebraidedcable.ThePWMedgescanalsobesubstantiallytamedwitheithercommonordifferentialmodeinductors,
dependingonthecause.Theinductorsslowtheriseandfalltimesofthewave,reducingdV/dtanddI/dteffects.Theslowerrisetimealsoreducestheharmonicfrequencies.Thisin
turnmaybreakthecouplingsincethereceivingantennamaynotbeabletoreceivethelowerfrequency.

Shields
Shieldsmerelyactasanisolationbarriertoasignal.Usingonebarrieronthesourceofthenoiseandonebarrieronthereceivertypicallydeliversthegreatestintegrity.Shieldsmay
benecessary,but,ideally,thereshouldbenosignaltoshieldagainst.Itisimportanttounderstandwhatiscausingthenoiseandwhetheritcanberesolved.Therearemany
techniquesrelatingtonoisethattrulyresolvethesourceoftheproblem,notjustreducenoiselevels.Forexample,thehighdV/dtsignalsseeninpulsewidthmodulationsmaybe
impactedbyslowingtherisetime.ThechangeindV/dtmaybreakanycapacitancecouplingfactorshouldtherisetimefallbelowthereactancelevel.

RF signals
Unfortunately,itisfairlyeasytocreateRFsignals.Forexample,anelectricarcjumpingacrossasparkgapgeneratesawiderangeoffrequencies.Relaysarecommonculprits,as
contactarcingmayarisewhentherelayopens.Thesubsequentelectromagneticfieldgeneratedbythesparkmaycausemajorinterferenceproblemswithintheequipment.In
addition,theEMInoiseisbroadcastwhereitsreceptionmayinterferewithproperoperationofothernearbyequipment.

Anunderstandingofthetransmissionandreceptionmechanismofaradiatedsignalmakesitpossibletodevisetechniquesthateffectivelyeliminatetheirassociatedproblems.First,
ittakesanantennatotransmitorreceivearadiatedsignal,butanytypeofconductingsurfacecanfunctionasanantenna.Therearetwofieldspresentonanyworkingantenna:anE
fieldthatrepresentsvoltageandanHfield,whichismagnetic.Whentheyareinphaseontheantenna,theywillsupporteachotherandmaintaintheirresonantrelationship.Thisis
sometimesreferredtoassympatheticoscillation.Theareawithinonehalfwavelength(1/2)ofthesourceiscalledthenearfieldorinductivearea.TheRFsignalwithinthenearfield
showsa90shiftbetweentheEfieldandtheHfield,makingatrueanalysis(calledcharacterization)ofthesignalunreliableduetocancellationsandintermodulation.However,the
magneticfieldistheprimaryaffecterthus,amagneticshieldismoreeffectivetoblockthetransmissionsourceandpreventreception.

Beyond1/2,inthefarorradiativefieldarea,theelectricfieldhasthepredominanteffect.Themagneticandvoltagefields,EandH,respectively,ororthogonalare90apartandare
sympatheticorsupportiveofoneanother.Characteristicsofthesignalareplainlyvisible.Forexample,electromagneticcompatibility(EMC)labsmeasuresignals30MHzandhigher
atdistancesover10mfromtheunitundertest(UUT).Tenmetersisthe1wavelengthfor30MHz.Typically,theyuseanEfield(voltage)antennaasareceiver.

Magnetic coupling
Pulsewidthmodulationsignalsfromservoamplifiersandpowersuppliesareoftennoiseculprits,projectingtheirsignalsintounwantedareas.Theseunwantedsignalshave
sufficientpowerto,insomecases,actuallyturnonnearbydevices.Forexample,ahighmagneticfieldacrossadevicemayilluminateLEDswithinthefield.Atthesametime,any
solidstatedeviceconnectedtothesamecircuitmaypartiallyconductatthewrongtime.AnegregiousexampleisthePWMoutputfromservodrivesystems.Typically,theseoutputs
aresentvialongcablestomotorsthateffectivelyrepresentaninductiveloadinelectricalterms.Thecombinedeffectofthesefactorsgeneratesaperfectstormforcarelesscable
selection,grounding,shielding,andconnections.Fortunately,answersdoexisttocontrolthiswellknowncombinationofproblems.Thecomplexmodelofamotoramplifier,cable,
andmotorincludeselementsofinductance,resistance,capacitance,andcurrent,alongwithbackEMFvoltages.Thiscomplexreactiveloadmaynotfunctionasonethinks,butitis
possibletouseittoresolvetheinterferenceissues.Inamajorityofcases,thistypeofsystemispronetotheHfieldormagneticeffectofthePWMsignals.Interferenceistypically
eliminatedbysurroundingthiscablewithamagneticshieldgroundedatboththeamplifierandmotorterminals.

When a ground is not a ground

Oneofthemostcommondirectcouplednoisesourcesariseswhenthegroundusedforreferenceorreturnisnotreferencedtoearthasexpected.Thisisespeciallyprevalentin
sensitivehighgaincircuits.Anexampleisapowersystemwhereaneutrallineservesasthegroundreference.Earthorsafetygroundandtheneutralwireconnecttothesame
potentialinthepowerbox.Thedifferenceisthatneutralisacurrentcarryingconductorwhileanearthgroundshouldnevercarrycurrentundernormalcircumstances.Ifthesignal
wasmonitoredatthispoint,youwouldmostlikelyseevoltagefluctuationsusingtheneutrallineasreference,butyouwouldnotonthegroundconnection.Ifthepowerreturnlineof
theequipmentwereinadvertentlyconnectedtogroundinsteadofneutral,itmostlikelywouldoperate.Butbesidescreatinganelectricaldanger,itwouldlikelyputunintendednoise
onthegroundline,negativelyaffectingallofthedevicesconnectedtothatground.Whiletheproperanswertothisproblemistoconnectthesystemcorrectly,thepowerlineinputsof
theequipmentshouldalsocontainfiltersthatblocksensitivedevicesfrompowerlinedisturbances.Thesepowerlinedisturbancesarequitecommonandfiltersfromanumberof
differentmanufacturerssufficientlyaddressthisissue.

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29/3/2015 AutomationBasics:Grounding:Engineering,notblackmagicISA

PWM simulation
ThecomplexconditionsforEMInoisearerelated,butnotlimited,tomotorinductance,motorresistance,cablecapacitance,shielding,andthecapacitiveeffectsofthemotor
windings.AddtothistheunpredictablenatureofwhatthePWMwilldowithbackEMFvoltages,andthepossibilitiesbecomenumerous.AmodelofthePWMtechniquecanbe
illustratedbywayofanelectronicsimulationprogram.Tostart,themotor'scomplexelectricalqualitiesaremodeledasaninductorinserieswiththeresistanceofthemotor.Motor
capacitanceislumpedinwiththecables,whileonethirdofthePWMbridgedriveismodeledusingIGBTstosimulateasinglephaseofthedrive.Thestandardsimulationproduces
anindicationofringingontheleadingedgeofthePWMoutput.IthappensatasubstantiallyhigherfrequencythanthatofthePWMwaveformandisusuallyonlyontherisingedgeof
thepulse.Giventhispropensitytooscillate,andthefactthateachtransistorwillproduceringing,itiseasytoseehowthefrequenciesinvolvedcancoupleintoaloadthatcontains
unevenRLC(resistive,inductive,capacitance)characteristics.Commonmodenoise,aswellasvoltagespikesfromthedi/dtthroughtheinductanceofthemotorwinding,can
damageinsulation,producinganelectricalfailureinthemotorordrive.TheseoscillationsareprevalentonthePWMofalltransistorsintheoutputpowerbridge.Anyloadimbalance
resultsincurrentflowfromtheoscillationsourcetogroundviathisRLCcircuit.Iftheinductancepathtogroundisalowerimpedance,itusuallyresultsinsomeofthoseleadingedge
oscillationsleakingontothesignalreturns.

Tocorrectthisproblemrequiresathreefoldattack.First,reducetheemissions.Second,shieldthereceivertobreakthecoupling.Andthird,forceacurrentpathtogroundviathe
intendedconnections.OnedrivemodelplacesaninductorinseriestoslowtherisetimeofthePWMsignalandreduceoscillations.AnalysisofthePWMsignalshowsthereissome
improvement,butnotenoughtoconsiderthisaneffectiveanswer.Whiletheyareeasiertoshieldthantheoriginaloscillations,therearestillsomesignificantoscillationsthatcould
coupleintothesystem.Reducingtheamplitudeandfrequencyoftheseoscillationsfurthershouldbethegoalhere.Analternativesolutionistoaddasnubbingcircuit.Thisoften
resultsinawellcontrolledPWMpulsewithoutthewildoscillatingrisingedgethatcanleadtoEMInoise.Thismodelincludesbothacommonmodeinductoraswellasaseriesmode
matchedtocablecapacitance.TheoscillationofthisPWMedgeisbenign.Thedrawbackofthisdesign,however,isthatitslowsPWMpowerchangesinthedrive.Nowwithagood
connectiontogroundandalowerfrequencyofringing,itissignificantlyeasiertoeliminatethenoise.AstraightforwardshieldandgroundarelikelyadequatetominimizetheEMI
infiltrationwithoutsignificantlyaddingtothecostofthesystem.Donotforgetthatcablesalsocontributetotheeffect.Theyarepartofthecircuit.Thecombinationofcablecapacitance
andmotorinductancecanproducea"tankcircuit"thatresonatesatafrequencyrelatedtotherisetimeofthePWM.Shouldthishappen,evenaccidentally,theremaybecatastrophic
results.Ascanbeseenfromthefinalmodel,bothtransmissionandreceptionofEMIcanbetakencareofwithshields,inductance,andcapacitanceintherightareas.Thisisthebest
answerforanexistingdesign,withminimalimpactondeliveringasoundproduct.

ManufacturersthatareCEcompliantshouldhaveanintimateunderstandingofEMIandEMCcompliance.DrivesdisplayingtheCEmarkshouldcomewithinformationabouthowto
maintaincompatibility,aswellashowtosupplyexternalproductsforspecialcases.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LeeStephensisaseniormotioncontrolengineeratKollmorgen,withmorethan20yearsofmotioncontrolengineeringexperience,includingmechatronicdesignengineeringfor
systemsinuseinelectronicmanufacturing,textile,glassmanufacturing,andprintingindustries.Formoreinformation,[email protected].

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