Basic Electrical Engineering 15ELE15/25
Unit 5 (b):
Induction Motors:-
The asynchronous motors or the induction motors are most widely used ac motors in
industry.
They convert electrical energy in AC form into mechanical energy.
They work on the principle of electromagnetic induction.
They are simple and rugged in construction, quite economical with good operating
characteristics and efficiency, requiring minimum maintenance, but have a low
starting torque.
They run at practically constant speed from no load to full load condition.
The 3 - phase induction motors are self starting while the single phase motors are not
self starting as they produce equal and opposite torques (zero resultant torque) making
the rotor stationary.
The speed of the squirrel cage induction motor cannot be varied easily.
CLASSIFICATION:
They are basically classified into two types based on the rotor construction
1. Squirrel cage motor
2. Slip ring motor or phase wound motor
CONSTRUCTION
Induction motor consists of two parts (1) stator (2) rotor
1. Stator
It is the stationary part of the motor supporting the entire motor assembly.
This outer frame is made up of a single piece of cast iron in case of small machines.
In case of larger machines they are fabricated in sections of steel and bolted together.
The core is made of thin laminations of silicon steel and flash enameled to reduce
eddy current and hysteresis losses.
Slots are evenly spaced on the inner periphery of the laminations.
Conductors insulated from each other are placed in these slots and are connected to
form a balanced 3 - phase star or delta connected stator circuit.
Depending on the desired speed the stator winding is wound for the required number
of poles. Greater the speed lesser is the number of poles.
Dept of EEE, SVIT
Basic Electrical Engineering 15ELE15/25
2. Rotor
1. Squirrel cage motor :
Squirrel cage rotors are widely used because of their ruggedness.
The rotor consists of hollow laminated core with parallel slots provided on the outer
periphery.
The rotor conductors are solid bars of copper, aluminum or their alloys.
The bars are inserted from the ends into the semi-enclosed slots and are brazed to the
thick short circuited end rings.
This sort of construction resembles a squirrel cage hence the name “squirrel cage
induction motor”.
The rotor conductors being permanently short circuited prevent the addition of any
external resistance to the rotor circuit to improve the inherent low starting torque.
The rotor bars are not placed parallel to each other but are slightly skewed which
reduces the magnetic hum and prevents cogging of the rotor and the stator teeth.
2. Slip ring motor or phase wound motor
The rotor in case of a phase wound/ slip ring motor has a 3-phase double layer
distributed winding made up of coils, similar to that of an alternator.
The rotor winding is usually star connected and is wound to the number of stator
poles.
Dept of EEE, SVIT
Basic Electrical Engineering 15ELE15/25
The terminals are brought out and connected to three slip rings mounted on the rotor
shaft with the brushes resting on the slip rings.
The brushes are externally connected to the star connected rheostat in case a higher
starting torque and modification in the speed torque characteristics are required.
Under normal running conditions all the slip rings are automatically short circuited by
a metal collar provided on the shaft and the condition is similar to that of a cage rotor.
Provision is made to lift the brushes to reduce the frictional losses. The slip ring and
the enclosures are made of phosphor bronze.
In both the type of motors the shaft and bearings (ball and roller) are designed for
trouble free operation.
Fans are provided on the shaft for effective circulation of air.
The insulated (mica and varnish) stator and rotor windings are rigidly braced to
withstand the short circuit forces and heavy centrifugal forces respectively. .
Care is taken to maintain a uniform air gap between the stator and the rotor.
Comparison of the squirrel cage and slip ring rotors
The cage rotor has the following advantages:
1. Rugged in construction and economical.
2. Has a slightly higher efficiency and better power factor than slip ring motor.
3. The absence of slip rings and brushes eliminate the risk of sparking which helps in a
totally enclosed fan cooled (TEFC) construction.
The advantages of the slip ring rotor are:
1. The starting torque is much higher and the starting current much lower when
compared to a cage motor with the inclusion of external resistance.
2. The speed can be varied by means of solid state switching
Dept of EEE, SVIT
Basic Electrical Engineering 15ELE15/25
ROTATING MAGNETIC FIELD
Consider a 3- phase induction motor whose stator windings mutually displaced from
each other by 120° are connected in delta and energized by a 3- phase supply.
. The currents flowing in each phase will set up a flux in the respective phases as shown.
Dept of EEE, SVIT
Basic Electrical Engineering 15ELE15/25
The corresponding phase fluxes can be represented by the following equations
R m sin t m sin
Y m sin t 120
Y m sin 120
B m sin t 240
B m sin 240
The resultant flux at any instant is given by the vector sum of the flux in each of the
phases.
(i) When 0 , from the flux waveform diagram ,we have
R 0
3
Y km sin(120 ) m
2
3
B m sin(240 ) m
2
The resultant flux r is given by,
3
r 2 * m cos(30 ) 1..5 m
2
3
B m
2
3
Y m
2
r 1.5 m
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Basic Electrical Engineering 15ELE15/25
(ii) When 60o
3
R m
2
3
Y m
2
B 0
(iii) When 120
3
R m
2
Y 0
3
B m
2
Dept of EEE, SVIT
Basic Electrical Engineering 15ELE15/25
(iv) When 180
R 0;
3
Y m
2
3
B
2
From the above discussion it is very clear that when the stator of a 3-phase induction motor
is energized, a magnetic field of constant magnitude (1.5 φm) rotating at synchronous speed
(Ns) with respect to stator winding is produced.
WORKING PRINCIPLE:
When a 3-Φ supply is given to the stator winding a magnetic field of constant
magnitude 1.5Φm and rotating with the synchronous speed Ns is produced.
This rotating speed sweeps across the conductors and hence an emf is induced in rotor
conductors.
According to lenz's law, the direction of the induced emf is such as to oppose the
very cause producing it. The cause is the relative speed between the rotating magnetic
field and static stator
Since rotor conductors are short circuited by themselves, the induced emf sets up the
current in rotor conductors in such a direction to produce torque, which rotates the
rotor in same direction as the magnetic field.
But as the speed of the rotor is in the same direction of rotating magnetic field , the
relative speed decreases.
The speed of the rotor gradually increases and tries to catch up the speed of rotating
magnetic field . But if it catches up the speed , then the relative speed becomes zero
and hence , no emf will be induced in the rotor conductors hence the torque becomes
zero hence motor stops . thus rotor will not be able to catch the speed of the magnetic
field ,but rotates at a speed slightly lesser than the synchronous speed.
Dept of EEE, SVIT
Basic Electrical Engineering 15ELE15/25
Consider a 3- phase stator winding energized from a 3 phase supply. As explained earlier a
rotating magnetic field is produced running at a synchronous speed NS
120 f
NS = ---------
P
Where f = supply frequency
P = Number of stator poles
CONCEPT OF SLIP (S):
According to Lenz’s law, the direction of rotor current will be such that they tend to
oppose the cause producing it.
The cause producing the rotor current is the relative speed between the rotating field
and the stationary rotor.
Hence, to reduce this relative speed, the rotor starts running in the same direction as
that of stator field and tries to catch it.
In practice the rotor can never reach the speed of the rotating magnetic field produced
by the stator.
This is because if rotor speed equals the synchronous speed, then there is no relative
speed between the rotating magnetic field and the rotor.
This makes the rotor current zero and hence no torque is produced and the rotor will
tend to remain stationary.
In practice, windage and friction losses cause the rotor to slow down. Hence, the
rotor speed (N) is always less than the stator field speed (NS).
Thus the induction motor cannot run with ZERO SLIP. The frequency of the rotor
current fr = sf.
The difference between the synchronous speed (NS) of the rotating stator field and the
actual rotor speed (N) is called the slip speed.
Slip speed = NS – N depends upon the load on the motor
Dept of EEE, SVIT
Basic Electrical Engineering 15ELE15/25
NS - N
% Slip (s) = ---------- * 100
NS
Note: In an induction motor the slip value ranges from 2% to 4%
APPLICATIONS OF INDUCTION MOTORS:
Squirrel cage induction motor
Squirrel cage induction motors are simple and rugged in construction, are relatively
cheap and require little maintenance.
Hence, squirrel cage induction motors are preferred in most of the industrial
applications such as in
i) Lathes
ii) Drilling machines
iii) Agricultural and industrial pumps
iv) Industrial drives.
Slip ring induction motors
Slip ring induction motors when compared to squirrel cage motors have high starting
torque, smooth acceleration under heavy loads, adjustable speed and good running
characteristics.
They are used in
i) Lifts
ii) Cranes
iii) Conveyors , etc.,
Necessity of starters for 3 phase induction motor
When a 3- phase motor of higher rating is switched on directly from the mains it
draws a starting current of about 4 -7 times the full load (depending upon on the
design) current.
This will cause a drop in the voltage affecting the performance of other loads
connected to the mains.
Hence starters are used to limit the initial current drawn by the 3 phase induction
motors.
The starting current is limited by applying reduced voltage in case of squirrel cage
type induction motor and by increasing the impedance of the motor circuit in case of
slip ring type induction motor.
This can be achieved by the following methods.
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