The requirements of today’s Electric Vehicle Powertrain presents unique EMC immunity challenges for vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers.

The robust AC induction motor has become the preferred main drive system for the latest generation of EVs. However, an unwanted side effect of the inverter technology, used to control the speed of the AC motor, is large ripple disturbances that become superimposed on the DC power system.

To ensure that other components and systems are unaffected by the disturbance, a ripple immunity test is now required by international standards such as ISO 21498-2 and ISO 7637-4 or manufacturer standards such as MBN 11123, VW 80300, and PSA B21 7712, and is becoming increasingly important due to the constantly developing automotive industry.

Testing low impedance HV components and systems are a big challenge when ripple testing due to the high power disturbances that must be generated. However, this is not a problem for the new Ripple NX from AMETEK CTS.

The New Ripple NX is a high-power ripple generator that is used to perform ripple immunity tests. It offers the power to test high power high voltage components i.e. electric drives, high voltage batteries, DC-DC converters, on-board chargers, and other high voltage components. It can also be used to generate ripple on high-power aircraft components.

The Ripple NX is a fully integrated test system that includes all necessary components:

• Low-frequency amplifier 10 Hz - 300 kHz, 160 Vp, 63 Ap or 126 Ap
• Coupling network consisting of coupling transformers and a switch matrix
• Measurement and control unit
• Capacitor bank 10mF (low ESR) with pre- and discharge circuits
• Connection boxes with connection cables

The fully integrated system guarantees a minimum setup time, error-proof cabling, and reduced operator interaction. The components are designed that they optimally work as a system, ensuring the maximum voltage, current, and system power.

The Ripple NX incorporates a transformer coupling network that can be reconfigured. This allows selecting the optimal operating mode based on the frequency range and required current or voltage. The configuration can be set manually or automatically by the system.