AC MOTORS
LEVEL 2
TYPES OF AC MOTORS
There are three types of AC motors :
INDUCTION MOTORS (ASYNCHRONOUS MOTOR)
SYNCHRONOUS MOTOR
AC SERIES MOTOR( UNIVERSAL MOTOR)
They are further divided as single phase, two phase &
three phase.
Three phase induction motors are used where large
amounts of power are required. They operate such devices
as starters, flaps, landing gears, and hydraulic pumps.
Single phase induction motors are used to operate devices
such as surface locks, intercooler shutters, and oil shutoff
valves in which the power requirement is low.
Three phase synchronous motors operate at constant
synchronous speeds and are commonly used to operate
flux gate compasses and propeller synchronizer systems.
Single phase synchronous motors are common sources of
power to operate electric clocks and other small
precision equipment.
SYNCHRONOUS MOTOR
The synchronous motor is one of the principal types of ac motors that
rotate at the same speed as the supply frequency.
Like the induction motor, the synchronous motor makes use of a rotating
magnetic field.
Unlike the induction motor, however, the torque developed does not
depend on the induction of currents in the rotor.
The principle of operation of the synchronous motor is as follows: A
multiphase source of ac is applied to the stator windings, and a rotating
magnetic field is produced.
A direct current is applied to the rotor winding, and another magnetic field
is produced.
The synchronous motor is so designed and constructed that these two
fields react to each other in such a manner that the rotor is dragged along
and rotates at the same speed as the rotating magnetic field produced by
the stator windings.
An understanding of the operation of the synchronous motor can be
obtained by considering the simple motor of figure.
Assume that poles A and B are being rotated clockwise
by some mechanical means in order to produce a rotating
magnetic field, they induce poles of opposite polarity in
the soft iron rotor, and forces of attraction exist between
corresponding north and south poles.
Consequently, as poles A and B rotate, the rotor is
dragged along at the same speed.
However, if a load is applied to the rotor shaft, the rotor
axis will momentarily fall behind that of the rotating
field but, thereafter, will continue to rotate with the field
at the same speed, as long as the load remains constant.
If the load is too large, the rotor will pull out of
synchronism with the rotating field and, as a result, will
no longer rotate with the field at the same speed. The
motor is then said to be overloaded.
The synchronous motor consists of a stator field winding
similar to that of an induction motor.
The stator winding produces a rotating magnetic field. The
rotor may be a permanent magnet, as in small single phase
synchronous motors used for clocks and other small precision
equipment, or it may be an electromagnet, energized from a dc
source of power and fed through slip rings into the rotor field
coils, as in an alternator.
In fact, an alternator may be operated either as an alternator or
a synchronous motor.
Since a synchronous motor has little starting torque, some
means must be provided to bring it up to synchronous speed.
The most common method is to start the motor at no load,
allow it to reach full speed, and then energize the magnetic
field. The magnetic field of the rotor locks with the magnetic
field of the stator and the motor operates at synchronous speed.
The synchronous motor is not a self starting motor.
The rotor is heavy and, from a dead stop, it is impossible to
bring the rotor into magnetic lock with the rotating magnetic
field.
For this reason, all synchronous motors have some kind of
starting device.
One type of simple starter is another motor, either ac or dc,
which brings the rotor up to approximately 90 percent of its
synchronous speed.
The starting motor is then disconnected, and the rotor locks
in step with the rotating field.
Another starting method is a second winding of the squirrel
cage type on the rotor. This induction winding brings the
rotor almost to synchronous speed, and when the dc is
connected to the rotor windings, the rotor pulls into step with
the field. The latter method is the more commonly used.
INDUCTION MOTORS
SINGLE PHASE:A single-phase motor has only one stator
winding.
This winding generates a field, which merely pulsates, instead of
rotating.
When the rotor is stationary, the expanding and collapsing stator
field induces currents in the rotor. These currents generate a rotor
field opposite in polarity to that of the stator.
The opposition of the field exerts a turning force on the upper and
lower parts of the rotor trying to turn it 180° from its position.
Since these forces are exerted through the center of the rotor, the
turning force is equal in each direction.
As a result, the rotor does not turn.
If the rotor has started turning, it will continue to rotate in the
direction in which it is started, since the turning force in that
direction is aided by the momentum of the rotor.
SHADED POLE INDUCTION MOTOR
The first effort in the development of a self-starting,
single-phase motor was the shaded pole induction motor.
This motor has salient poles, a portion of each pole being
encircled by a heavy copper ring.
The presence of the ring causes the magnetic field
through the ringed portion of the pole face to lag
appreciably behind that through the other part of the pole
face.
The net effect is the production of a slight component of
rotation of the field, sufficient to cause the rotor to
revolve.
As the rotor accelerates, the torque increases until the
rated speed is obtained.
Such motors have low starting torque and find their
greatest application in small fan motors where the initial
torque required is low.
SPLIT PHASE INDUCTION MOTOR
Such motors have a starting winding displaced 90
electrical degrees from the main or running winding.
In some types, the starting winding has a fairly high
resistance, which causes the current in this winding to be
out of phase with the current in the running winding.
This condition produces, in effect a rotating field and the
rotor revolves.
A centrifugal switch disconnects the starting winding
automatically, after the rotor has attained approximately
25 percent of its rated speed.
CAPACITOR START INDUTION MOTOR
With the development of high capacity electrolytic
capacitors, a variation of the split phase motor, known as
the capacitor start motor, has been made.
The starting winding and running winding have the same
size and resistance value.
The phase shift between currents of the two windings is
obtained by using capacitors connected in series with the
starting winding.
Capacitor start motors have a starting torque comparable
to their torque at rated speed and can be used in
applications where the initial load is heavy.
a centrifugal switch is required for disconnecting the
starting winding when the rotor speed is approximately
25 percent of the rated speed.
THREE PHASE INDUCTION MOTORS
CONSTRUCTION OF INDUCTION MOTOR: The stationary
portion of an induction motor is called a stator, and the rotating
member is called a rotor.
Instead of salient poles in the stator, distributed windings are used;
these windings are placed in slots around the periphery of the stator.
It is usually impossible to determine the number of poles in an
induction motor by visual inspection, but the information can be
obtained from the nameplate of the motor.
The rotor of an induction motor consists of an iron core having
longitudinal slots around its circumference in which heavy copper
or aluminum bars are embedded.
These bars are welded to a heavy ring of high conductivity on either
end. The composite structure is sometimes called a squirrel cage,
and motors containing such a rotor are called squirrel cage
induction motors.
SLIP OF AN INDUCTION MOTOR
The difference in stator speed & rotor speed is called slip
and is expressed as a percentage of the synchronous
speed.
ROTATING MAGNETIC FEILD
DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF
INDUCTION MOTORS
The direction of rotation of a three phase induction motor
can be changed by simply reversing two of the leads to the
motor.
The same effect can be obtained in a two phase motor by
reversing connections to one phase.
In a single phase motor, reversing connections to the starting
winding will reverse the direction of rotation Most single
phase motors designed for general application have
provision for readily reversing connections to the starting
winding.
Nothing can be done to a shaded pole motor to reverse the
direction of rotation because the direction is determined by
the physical location of the copper shading ring.
If, after starting, one connection to a three phase motor is
broken, the motor will continue to run but will deliver
only one-third the rated power.
Also, a two phase motor will run at one-half its rated
power if one phase is disconnected.
Neither motor will start under these abnormal
conditions.
AC SERIES MOTOR
An alternating current series motor is a single phase
motor, but is not an induction or synchronous motor.
It resembles a dc motor in that it has brushes and a
commutator.
The ac series motor will operate on either ac or dc
circuits.
It will be recalled that the direction of rotation of a dc
series motor is independent of the polarity of the applied
voltage, provided the field and armature connections
remain unchanged.
Hence, if a dc series motor is connected to an ac source,
a torque will be developed which tends to rotate the
armature in one direction.
However, a dc series motor does not operate
satisfactorily from an ac supply for the following
reasons:
The alternating flux sets up large eddy current and
hysteresis losses in the unlaminated portions of the
magnetic circuit and causes excessive heating and
reduced efficiency.
The self induction of the field and armature windings
causes a low power factor.
The alternating field flux establishes large currents in the
coils, which are short circuited by the brushes; this
action causes excessive sparking at the commutator.
To design a series motor for satisfactory operation on
ac, the following changes are made:
The eddy current losses are reduced by laminating the
field poles, frame and armature.
Hysteresis losses are minimized by using high
permeability, transformer-type, silicon steel laminations.
The reactance of the field windings is kept satisfactorily
low by using shallow pole pieces, few turns of wire, low
frequency (usually 25 cycles for large motors), low flux
density, and low reluctance (a short air gap).
The reactance of the armature is reduced by using a
compensating winding embedded in the pole pieces. If
the compensating winding is connected in series with the
armature, the armature is conductively compensated.
SPEED CONTROL OF AC MOTORS
The speed of induction motors is dependent on motor design.
The synchronous speed (the speed at which the stator field rotates)
is determined by the frequency of the input ac power and the
number of poles in the stator.
The greater the number of poles, the slower the synchronous
speed.
The higher the frequency of applied voltage, the higher the
synchronous speed. Remember, however, that neither frequency
nor number of poles are variables. They are both fixed by the
manufacturer.
The relationship between poles, frequency, and synchronous
speed is as follows:
N = 120 f/P
where n is the synchronous speed in rpm, f is the frequency of
applied voltage in hertz, and p is the number of poles in the stator.
