Busitema University
DEE I
INDUCTION MACHINES
Lecture by: John Kigozi
Introduction
Ø 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
Ø 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)
Ø 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
Ø Balanced three phase windings, i.e.
mechanically displaced 120
degrees form each other, fed by
balanced three phase source
Ø A rotating magnetic field with
constant magnitude is produced,
rotating with a speed
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
Ø This rotating magnetic field cuts the rotor windings and
produces an induced voltage in the rotor windings
Ø 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
Ø The rotor current produces another magnetic field
Ø 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
Ø 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
Ø So, the IM will always run at a speed lower than
the synchronous speed
Ø The difference between the motor speed and the
synchronous speed is called the Slip
Where nslip= slip speed
nsync= speed of the magnetic field
nm = mechanical shaft speed of the motor
The Slip
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
Ø 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
Ø The frequency of the voltage induced in the rotor is
given by
Pn
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
Ø What would be the frequency of the rotor’s induced
voltage at any speed nm?
Ø When the rotor is blocked (s=1) , the frequency of
the induced voltage is equal to the supply frequency
Ø On the other hand, if the rotor runs at synchronous
speed (s = 0), the frequency will be zero
Torque
Ø 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
Ø 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
and
Horse power
Ø Another unit used to measure mechanical power is
the horse power
Ø It is used to refer to the mechanical output power
of the motor
Ø 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
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
1. nsync 120 f e 120(60) 1800 rpm
P 4
2. nm (1 s )ns
(1 0.05) 1800 1710 rpm
3. f r sf e 0.05 60 3Hz
4. load Pout Pout
m nm
2
60
10 hp 746 watt / hp
41.7 N .m
1710 2 (1/ 60)
Problem 7-2 (p.468)
END
