L6230 Gate Driver Heating Issue During 6-Step BLDC Drive (NUCLEO-G474RE + IHM07M1)

[Esakkimuthu]

I am working on a BLDC motor 6-step (trapezoidal) control using a NUCLEO-G474RE controller board and NUCLEO-IHM07M1 (L6230) power board with a 48V supply.

Below is my phase activation for one commutation step:

__HAL_TIM_SET_COMPARE(&htim1, TIM_CHANNEL_1, curr_duty);

__HAL_TIM_SET_COMPARE(&htim1, TIM_CHANNEL_2, 0);

__HAL_TIM_SET_COMPARE(&htim1, TIM_CHANNEL_3, 0);

HAL_GPIO_WritePin(GPIOC, GPIO_PIN_10, SET); // UL Enable

HAL_GPIO_WritePin(GPIOC, GPIO_PIN_11, SET); // VL Enable

HAL_GPIO_WritePin(GPIOC, GPIO_PIN_12, RESET); // WL Disable

Problem

The L6230 gate driver IC overheats quickly, even though I am running only an open-loop 6-step sequence.

My Parameters

• Switching frequency: 9 kHz (tested from 8 kHz up to 50 kHz)

• PWM duty cycle: ramping from 10% → 40%

• Step duration: ramping down from 60 ms → 20 ms

What I Have Tried

• Changing commutation step duration (15 ms → 60 ms)

• Slower and faster duty-cycle ramp

• Changing PWM switching frequency

• Verified PWM compare values and GPIO logic for each step

Symptoms

Even at ≤ 20% duty, the L6230 driver gets noticeably hot within a short time.

Questions

1. Is there any issue with my 6-step commutation logic for the IHM07M1?

2. Does the L6230 require a specific PWM strategy (e.g., high-side PWM vs low-side PWM)?

3. Could mis-timed enable/disable of the high-side and low-side MOSFETs cause shoot-through, resulting in heating?

4. Has anyone successfully implemented 6-step open-loop control on this board with a similar setup?

5. What are the possible reasons for the L6230 driver to overheat even at low duty cycles and moderate load?

Any suggestions or insights will be greatly appreciated. I want to ensure the commutation sequence and PWM method are correct to avoid stressing the L6230 driver.

[GMA]

Hello @Esakkimuthu,

You can test the 6Step solution provided by the MCSDK tool, available at this link.
Refer to the Pins usage and hardware changes section for information about hardware changes required to resolve signal hardware conflicts.