Busitema University
DEE I
INDUCTION MACHINES
Lecture by: John Kigozi
Introduction
Three-phase induction motors are the most common
and frequently encountered machines in industry
- simple design, rugged, low-price, easy maintenance
- wide range of power ratings: fractional horsepower to 10
MW
- run essentially as constant speed from no-load to full load
- Its speed depends on the frequency of the power source
• not easy to have variable speed control
• requires a variable-frequency power-electronic drive for optimal
speed control
Construction
An induction motor has two main parts
- a stationary stator
• consisting of a steel frame that supports a hollow, cylindrical core
• core, constructed from stacked laminations (why?), having a
number of evenly spaced slots, providing the space for the stator
winding
Stator of IM
Construction
- a revolving rotor
• composed of punched laminations, stacked to create a series of rotor slots,
providing space for the rotor winding
• one of two types of rotor windings
• conventional 3-phase windings made of insulated wire (wound-rotor) »
similar to the winding on the stator
• aluminum bus bars shorted together at the ends by two aluminum rings,
forming a squirrel-cage shaped circuit (squirrel-cage)
Two basic design types depending on the rotor design
- squirrel-cage: conducting bars laid into slots and shorted at both ends
by shorting rings.
- wound-rotor: complete set of three-phase windings exactly as the
stator. Usually Y-connected, the ends of the three rotor wires are
connected to 3 slip rings on the rotor shaft. In this way, the rotor circuit
is accessible.
Construction
Squirrel cage rotor
Wound rotor
Notice the
slip rings
Construction
Slip rings
Cutaway in a
typical wound-
rotor IM.
Notice the
brushes and the
slip rings
Brushes
Rotating Magnetic Field
Balanced three phase windings, i.e.
mechanically displaced 120 degrees
form each other, fed by balanced three
phase source
A rotating magnetic field with constant
magnitude is produced, rotating with a
speed
120 f e
nsync rpm
P
Where fe is the supply frequency and
P is the no. of poles and nsync is called the
synchronous speed in rpm (revolutions
per minute)
Synchronous speed
P 50 Hz 60 Hz
2 3000 3600
4 1500 1800
6 1000 1200
8 750 900
10 600 720
12 500 600
Principle of operation
This rotating magnetic field cuts the rotor windings and
produces an induced voltage in the rotor windings
Due to the fact that the rotor windings are short circuited, for
both squirrel cage and wound-rotor, and induced current flows
in the rotor windings
The rotor current produces another magnetic field
A torque is produced as a result of the interaction of those two
magnetic fields
ind kBR Bs
Where ind is the induced torque and BR and BS are the magnetic
flux densities of the rotor and the stator respectively
Induction motor speed
At what speed will the IM run?
- Can the IM run at the synchronous speed, why?
- If rotor runs at the synchronous speed, which is the
same speed of the rotating magnetic field, then the rotor
will appear stationary to the rotating magnetic field and
the rotating magnetic field will not cut the rotor. So, no
induced current will flow in the rotor and no rotor
magnetic flux will be produced so no torque is
generated and the rotor speed will fall below the
synchronous speed
- When the speed falls, the rotating magnetic field will
cut the rotor windings and a torque is produced
Induction motor speed
So, the IM will always run at a speed lower than
the synchronous speed
The difference between the motor speed and the
synchronous speed is called the Slip
nslip nsync nm
Where nslip= slip speed
nsync= speed of the magnetic field
nm = mechanical shaft speed of the motor
The Slip
nsync nm
s
nsync
Where s is the slip
Notice that : if the rotor runs at synchronous speed
s=0
if the rotor is stationary
s=1
Slip may be expressed as a percentage by multiplying the above
eq. by 100, notice that the slip is a ratio and doesn’t have units
Induction Motors and Transformers
Both IM and transformer works on the principle of
induced voltage
- Transformer: voltage applied to the primary windings
produce an induced voltage in the secondary windings
- Induction motor: voltage applied to the stator windings
produce an induced voltage in the rotor windings
- The difference is that, in the case of the induction
motor, the secondary windings can move
- Due to the rotation of the rotor (the secondary winding
of the IM), the induced voltage in it does not have the
same frequency of the stator (the primary) voltage
Frequency
The frequency of the voltage induced in the rotor is
given by
P n
fr
120
Where fr = the rotor frequency (Hz)
P = number of stator poles
n = slip speed (rpm)
P (ns nm )
fr
120
P sns
sf e
120
Frequency
What would be the frequency of the rotor’s induced
voltage at any speed nm?
f r s f e
When the rotor is blocked (s=1) , the frequency of
the induced voltage is equal to the supply frequency
On the other hand, if the rotor runs at synchronous
speed (s = 0), the frequency will be zero
Torque
While the input to the induction motor is electrical
power, its output is mechanical power and for that we
should know some terms and quantities related to
mechanical power
Any mechanical load applied to the motor shaft will
introduce a Torque on the motor shaft. This torque is
related to the motor output power and the rotor speed
Pout 2 nm
load N .m and m rad / s
m 60
Horse power
Another unit used to measure mechanical power is
the horse power
It is used to refer to the mechanical output power
of the motor
Since we, as an electrical engineers, deal with
watts as a unit to measure electrical power, there is
a relation between horse power and watts
hp 746 watts
Example
A 208-V, 10hp, four pole, 60 Hz, Y-connected
induction motor has a full-load slip of 5 percent
1. What is the synchronous speed of this motor?
2. What is the rotor speed of this motor at rated load?
3. What is the rotor frequency of this motor at rated load?
4. What is the shaft torque of this motor at rated load?
Solution
120 f e 120(60)
1. nsync 1800 rpm
P 4
2. nm (1 s)ns
(1 0.05) 1800 1710 rpm
3. f r sf e 0.05 60 3Hz
Pout Pout
4. load
m 2 nm
60
10 hp 746 watt / hp
41.7 N .m
1710 2 (1/ 60)
Problem 7-2 (p.468)
END
