Three Phase Induction Motor
Three Phase Induction Motor
Three Phase Induction Motor
Specific Objectives
a) Define three phase induction motor
b) State the advantages and disadvantages of three phase induction motor
c) Explain the construction of three phase induction motor
d) Describe the principle operation of three phase induction motor
e) Illustrate the methods of starting three phase induction motor
f) Analyze characteristics of three phase induction motor
INTRODUCTION
The three-phase induction motors are the most widely used electric motors in industry. They run at essentially
constant speed from no-load to full-load. However, the speed is frequency dependent and consequently these
motors are not easily adapted to speed control. We usually prefer d.c. motors when large speed variations are
required. Nevertheless, the 3-phase induction motors are simple, rugged, low-priced, easy to maintain and can be
manufactured with characteristics to suit most industrial requirements.
DEFINITION/ MEANING OF THREE PHASE INDUCTION MOTOR
Like any electric motor, a 3-phase induction motor has a stator and a rotor. The stator carries a 3-phase winding
(called stator winding) while the rotor carries a short-circuited winding (called rotor winding). Only the stator
winding is fed from 3-phase supply. The rotor winding derives its voltage and power from the externally energized
stator winding through electromagnetic induction and hence the name. The induction motor may be considered to
be a transformer with a rotating secondary and it can, therefore, be described as a “transformer type” a.c. machine
in which electrical energy is converted into mechanical energy.
THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THREE PHASE INDUCTION MOTOR
Advantages
i) It has simple and rugged construction.
ii) It is relatively cheap.
iii) It requires little maintenance.
iv) It has high efficiency and reasonably good power factor.
v) It has self-starting torque.
Disadvantages
i) It is essentially a constant speed motor and its speed cannot be changed easily.
ii) Its starting torque is inferior to d.c. shunt motor.
Figure 1.1
It consists of a steel frame which encloses a hollow, cylindrical core made up of thin laminations of silicon steel to
reduce hysteresis and eddy current losses. A number of evenly spaced slots are provided on the inner periphery of
the laminations [See Fig. (1.1)]. The insulated connected to form a balanced 3-phase star or delta connected circuit.
The 3-phase stator winding is wound for a definite number of poles as per requirement of speed. Greater the
number of poles, lesser is the speed of the motor and vice-versa. When 3-phase supply is given to the stator
winding, a rotating magnetic field of constant magnitude is produced. This rotating field induces currents in the
rotor by electromagnetic induction.
2) Rotor
The rotor, mounted on a shaft, is a hollow laminated core having slots on its outer periphery. The winding placed in
these slots (called rotor winding) may be one of the following two types:
Figure 1.3
(ii) Wound rotor. It consists of a laminated cylindrical core and carries a 3- phase winding, similar to the one on
the stator [See Fig. (1.2) (ii)]. The rotor winding is uniformly distributed in the slots and is usually star-connected.
Figure 1.4
The open ends of the rotor winding are brought out and joined to three insulated slip rings mounted on the rotor
shaft with one brush resting on each slip ring. The three brushes are connected to a 3-phase star-connected rheostat
as shown in Fig. (8.4). At starting, the external resistances are included in the rotor circuit to give a large starting
torque. These resistances are gradually reduced to zero as the motor runs up to speed.
The external resistances are used during starting period only. When the motor attains normal speed, the three
brushes are short-circuited so that the wound rotor runs like a squirrel cage rotor.
Figure 1.5
Since revolutions per second is equal to the revolutions per minute (Ns) divided by 60 and the number of cycles per
second is the frequency f,
The speed of the rotating magnetic field is the same as the speed of the alternator that is supplying power to the
motor if the two have the same number of poles. Hence the magnetic flux is said to rotate at synchronous speed.
c) The Production of Torque
Figure 1.6
When 3-phase stator winding is energized from a 3-phase supply, a rotating magnetic field is set up which rotates
round the stator at synchronous speed Ns (= 120 f/P).
The rotating field passes through the air gap and cuts the rotor conductors, which as yet, are stationary. Due to the
relative speed between the rotating flux and the stationary rotor, e.m.f.s are induced in the rotor conductors. Since
the rotor circuit is short-circuited, currents start flowing in the rotor conductors.
The current-carrying rotor conductors are placed in the magnetic field produced by the stator. Consequently,
mechanical force acts on the rotor conductors. The sum of the mechanical forces on all the rotor conductors
produces a torque which tends to move the rotor in the same direction as the rotating field.
The fact that rotor is urged to follow the stator field (i.e., rotor moves in the direction of stator field) can be
explained by Lenz’s law. According to this law, the direction of rotor currents will be such that they tend to oppose
the cause producing them. Now, the cause producing the rotor currents is the relative speed between the rotating
field and the stationary rotor conductors. Hence to reduce this relative speed, the rotor starts running in the same
direction as that of stator field and tries to catch it. currents is the relative speed between the rotating field and the
stationary rotor conductors. Hence to reduce this relative speed, the rotor starts running in the same direction as that
of stator field and tries to catch it.
d) The Slip
It is observed that rotor rapidly accelerates in the direction of rotating field. In practice, the rotor can never reach
the speed of stator flux. If it did, there would be no relative speed between the stator field and rotor conductors, no
induced rotor currents and, therefore, no torque to drive the rotor. The friction and windage would immediately
cause the rotor to slow down. Hence, the rotor speed (N) is always less than the suitor field speed (Ns). This
difference in speed depends upon load on the motor. The difference between the synchronous speed Ns of the
rotating stator field and the actual rotor speed N is called slip. It is usually expressed as a percentage of
synchronous speed i.e.,
or
i) The quantity Ns - N is sometimes called slip speed.
ii) When the rotor is stationary (i.e., N = 0), slip, s = 1 or 100 %.
iii) In an induction motor, the change in slip from no-load to full-load is hardly 0.1% to 3% so that it is
essentially a constant-speed motor.
Examples
Problems
2. Variable losses
i) Stator copper loss
ii) Rotor copper loss
Fig. (1.7) shows how electric power fed to the stator of an induction motor suffers losses and finally converted into
mechanical power.
The following points may be noted from the above diagram:
i) Stator input, P1 = Stator output + Stator losses = Stator output + Stator Iron loss + Stator Cu loss
ii) Rotor input, P2 = Stator output
It is because stator output is entirely transferred to the rotor through airgap by electromagnetic induction.
iii) Mechanical power available, Pm = P2 - Rotor Cu loss
This mechanical power available is the gross rotor output and will produce a gross torque T g.
iv) Mechanical power at shaft, Pout = Pm - Friction and windage loss
Mechanical power available at the shaft produces a shaft torque T sh.
Clearly, Pm - Pout = Friction and windage loss
If the gross output of the rotor of an induction motor is Pm and its speed is N r.p.m., then gross torque T developed
is given by:
Note. Since windage and friction loss is small, T g = Tsh, This assumption hardly leads to any significant error.
Rotor Output
If Tg newton-metre is the gross torque developed and N r.p.m. is the speed of the rotor, then,
If there were no copper losses in the rotor, the output would equal rotor inputand the rotor would run at
synchronous speed Ns.
It is clear that if the input power to rotor is P 2 then s P2 is lost as rotor Cu loss and the remaining (1 - s) P2 is
converted into mechanical power. Consequently, induction motor operating at high slip has poor efficiency.
If the stator losses as well as friction and windage losses arc neglected, then,
Gross rotor output = Useful output
Rotor input = Stator input
Hence the approximate efficiency of an induction motor is 1 - s. Thus, if the slip of an induction motor is 0.125,
then its approximate efficiency is = 1 - 0.125 = 0.875 or 87.5%.
Examples
Exercise
1) The power supplied to a three-phase induction motor is 50kW and the stator losses are 2kW. If the slip is
4%, determine (a) the rotor copper loss, (b) the total mechanical power developed by the rotor, (c) the
output power of the motor if friction and windage losses are 1kW, and (d) the efficiency of the motor,
neglecting rotor iron losses.
[(a) 1.92kW (b) 46.08kW (c) 45.08kW (d) 90.16%]
2) By using external rotor resistance, the speed of the induction motor in Problem 1 is reduced to 40% of its
synchronous speed. If the torque and stator losses are unchanged, calculate (a) the rotor copper loss, and (b)
the efficiency of the motor. [(a) 28.80 kW (b) 36.40%]
or or
If Ist is the starting current, then starting torque (T st) is
When the motor is started direct-on-line, the starting current is the short-circuit (blocked-rotor) current Isc.
Let us illustrate the above relation with a numerical example. Suppose Isc = 5 If and full-load slip sf =0.04. Then,
Note that starting current is as large as five times the full-load current but starting torque is just equal to the full-
load torque. Therefore, starting current is very high and the starting torque is comparatively low. If this large
starting current flows for a long time, it may overheat the motor and damage the insulation.
This method suffers from two drawbacks. First, the reduced voltage applied to the motor during the starting period
lowers the starting torque and hence increases the accelerating time. Secondly, a lot of power is wasted in the
starting resistances.
Figure 1.8
Relation between starting and F.L. torques. Let V be the rated voltage/phase. If the voltage is reduced by a
fraction x by the insertion of resistors in the line, then voltage applied to the motor per phase will be xV.
Thus, while the starting current reduces by a fraction x of the rated-voltage starting current (Isc), the starting torque
is reduced by a fraction x2 of that obtained by direct switching. The reduced voltage applied to the motor during the
starting period lowers the starting current but at the same time increases the accelerating time because of the
reduced value of the starting torque. Therefore, this method is used for starting small motors only.
(iii) Autotransformer starting
This method also aims at connecting the induction motor to a reduced supply at starting and then connecting it to
the full voltage as the motor picks up sufficient speed. Fig. (1.9) shows the circuit arrangement for autotransformer
starting.
Figure 1.10
The tapping on the autotransformer is so set that when it is in the circuit, 65% to 80% of line voltage is applied to
the motor. At the instant of starting, the change-over switch is thrown to “start” position. This puts the
autotransformer in the circuit and thus reduced voltage is applied to the circuit. Consequently, starting current is
limited to safe value. When the motor attains about 80% of normal speed, the changeover switch is thrown to “run”
position. This takes out the autotransformer from the circuit and puts the motor to full line voltage. Autotransformer
starting has several advantages viz low power loss, low starting current and less radiated heat. For large machines
(over 25 H.P.), this method of starting is often used. This method can be used for both star and delta connected
motors.
Relation between starting And F.L. torques. Consider a star-connected squirrel-cage induction motor. If V is the
line voltage, then voltage across motor phase on direct switching is and starting current is Ist = Isc. In case
of autotransformer, if a tapping of transformation ratio K (a fraction) is used, then phase voltage across motor is
and Ist = K Isc,
Figure 1.11
The current taken from the supply or by autotransformer is I1 = KI2 = K2Isc. Note that motor current is K times, the
supply line current is K2 times and the starting torque is K2 times the value it would have been on direct-on-line
starting.
Figure 1.12
Figure 1.13
At starting, the handle of rheostat is set in the OFF position so that maximum resistance is placed in each
phase of the rotor circuit. This reduces the starting current and at the same time starting torque is increased.
As the motor picks up speed, the handle of rheostat is gradually moved in clockwise direction and cuts out
the external resistance in each phase of the rotor circuit. When the motor attains normal speed, the change-
over switch is in the ON position and the whole external resistance is cut out from the rotor circuit.
Slip-Ring Motors Versus Squirrel Cage Motors
The slip-ring induction motors have the following advantages over the squirrel cage motors:
If a curve is drawn between the torque and slip for a particular value of rotor resistance R2, the graph thus obtained
is called torque-slip characteristic. Fig. (1.14) shows a family of torque-slip characteristics for a slip-range from s =
0 to s = 1 for various values of rotor resistance.
Figure 1.14
The following points may be noted carefully:
a) At s = 0, T = 0 so that torque-slip curve starts from the origin.
b) At normal speed, slip is small so that s X2 is negligible as compared to R2.
Hence torque slip curve is a straight line from zero slip to a slip that corresponds to full-load.
c) As slip increases beyond full-load slip, the torque increases and becomes maximum at s = R 2/X2. This
maximum torque in an induction motor is called pull-out torque or break-down torque. Its value is at least twice
the full-load value when the motor is operated at rated voltage and frequency.
d) To maximum torque, the term s2X22 increases very rapidly so that R22 may be neglected as compared s2X22
Thus, the torque is now inversely proportional to slip. Hence torque-slip curve is a rectangular hyperbola.
e) The maximum torque remains the same and is independent of the value of rotor resistance. Therefore, the
addition of resistance to the rotor circuit does not change the value of maximum torque but it only changes the
value of slip at which maximum torque occurs.
ASSIGNMENT
Describe the Torque – Current characteristic of three phase induction