SLVAES8 May   2020 DRV8424 , DRV8424E , DRV8426 , DRV8428 , DRV8428E , DRV8434 , DRV8434E , DRV8434S , DRV8436 , DRV8436E , DRV8889-Q1

 

  1.   How to Reduce Audible Noise in Stepper Motors
    1.     Trademarks
    2. 1 Introduction
    3. 2 Details of the Test Setup
    4. 3 Sources of Noise in a Stepper Motor
      1. 3.1 Magnetic Noise
      2. 3.2 Mechanical Noise
      3. 3.3 Electrical Noise
        1. 3.3.1 Effects of Current Ripple and Decay Mode
        2. 3.3.2 Effects of PWM Chopper Frequency
        3. 3.3.3 Effects of Current Zero-cross Error
        4. 3.3.4 Effects of Step Resolution and Step Frequency
        5. 3.3.5 Effects of Resonant Frequency
    5. 4 Summary
    6. 5 References

How to Reduce Audible Noise in Stepper Motors

Stepper motors are known to generate audible noise as they operate, which is undesirable for many applications. Traditional stepper motor drivers with fixed-percentage mixed decay current chopping and low levels of microstepping greatly contribute to the noise. But features such as smart tune technology and high microstepping can help lower the audible noise significantly. The goal of this application report is to explain how specific motor driver features can reduce the audible noise for a wide variety of stepper motor systems and applications.