The effects of the harmonics generated by the drive may affect the operation, life and performance of the electric motor. These effects can be divided into three categories, heating, dielectric and mechanical. Current harmonics are additional to the fundamental current, therefore generating additional heat in the motor windings. Even a 30 percent (30 percent) baldor motors value of current distortion in an engine generates no more than 8 percent (8 percent) of additional heat, because of motor windings that behave like a filter. The drive supplier must supply the engine supplier with information on the harmonics generated to allow the engine to be properly designed with the correct heat dissipation / absorption capacity to counterbalance any additional loss and / or heating.
An electric motor operating at variable speed through a frequency inverter must meet the same temperature rise limits as a pure sine wave motor. Current harmonics may result in a higher emission of audible noise. The motors shall verify that the noise level limit is adhered to when they are driven by static frequency inverters. The harmonics also contribute to the pulsating torque