Industrial Engineer · phase 16 of 16
VVVF
Variable Voltage Variable Frequency, a descriptive term for a common AC drive output method.
The Explain card
- Plain English
- Variable voltage variable frequency describes what an AC drive actually does to the motor supply. Both the voltage and the frequency change together, following the volts per hertz relationship.
- Example
- An elevator specification from an Asian manufacturer describes the traction machine as VVVF controlled. It is a standard AC drive on a standard motor.
- Why it matters
- The term is common in elevator, rail and Asian industrial documents, and it names the output method rather than any particular product. When you see it, read AC drive and move on.
- Hook
- The drive described by what it does to the waveform.
Word knowledge
How the word is built, where it came from, and what it sits beside in memory.
In a sentence
During commissioning, the technician set the motor base values, then verified the VVVF output at the drive terminals.
Letter by letter
- V Variable describes an adjustable quantity
- V Voltage names the first adjusted electrical quantity
- V Variable repeats the modifier for the second quantity
- F Frequency names the second adjusted electrical quantity
Where it came from
- Origin
- English technical initialism, widely associated with Japanese power-electronics and railway terminology
- Entered the language
- 1970s
- What changed
- It began as a supply classification and became a label for inverter control systems, especially in railway and elevator engineering.
How it is spelled
- Capitalisation
- Written VVVF in full capitals, including mid-sentence
- Plural and possessive
- Usually pluralised through a following noun, as in VVVF drives; VVVFs and VVVF's are possible when the initialism stands alone
- Out loud
- Spelled out letter by letter.
Same family
- VFD
- VSD
- ASD
- CVVF
Broken into chunks
-
VV
- variable-voltage
- VVCF
-
VF
- variable-frequency
- VFD
Where it sits in the deck
Phase 16: VFD Related Drive Terms
The drive family's wider vocabulary, from soft starters and servo drives to the regenerative units people also call a drive.
