SIC induction smart welder integrated in an industry 4.0 network

Induction industrial welding is one of the most straightforward application for the power inverter. Practical industrial welders require at the same time power levels up to 1 MW while frequencies are in the range between 200–500 kHz, depending on the characteristics of the tube to be weld. SiC devices, as per its superior high frequency characteristics, are ideal components for this type of high power, high frequency inverters, but several aspects as the long term reliability, short circuit capability, cost issues of SiC material and others have to be considered in the use of this material in industrial welders. Another important issue in todays IH inverters is smartness and their capability to be integrated in a Industry 4.0 network, as actual complex IH systems require advanced communication features The paper aims to give practical technical considerations, based on experimental results, for the realistic use of SiC devices in resonant inverters for this type of industrial material processing application as well as some ideas of providing intelligence to IH converters and advanced services for the integration in an Industry 4.0 network.