EN0567 Power, machines and renewable energy

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & ENVIRONMENT

3-PHASE INDUCTION MACHINES

1. Introduction
The 3-phase induction machine is the most widely used industrial machine. This is mainly due to its
simple and robust construction, giving it an inherently high reliability and robustness. Induction
motors are suitable for the vast majority of drive applications involving constant speed, e.g. pumps,
fans, compressors, conveyors. With modification or use of additional equipment, variable speed
operation is possible. 3-phase induction motors are self-starting and have high overload operating
capability. They are available in power range from a fraction of a kW to several MWs.

2. Construction
The induction machine has two main structural components, the stator and the rotor (Fig.1). The
construction is determined by the rotor configuration, which can be either of wound type or squirrel
cage type. Enclosures can be open-type, dust-proof, drip proof or totally explosion proof, depending
on the operating environment.
Stator
The stator, shown in Figure (1), forms the body of the machine. It carries a three-phase winding,
which is usually delta-connected and supplied from the mains. The stator windings can be arranged
in various ways but, as will be shown later, the essence is that each phase winding occupies two, 60
electrical degree sections of the stator periphery. The two sections are separated by 180 electrical
degrees. The physical location of the windings corresponds to the sequence of the applied mains
voltages.

Fig.1: Induction machine stator (left) and cage induction machine (both stator and cage rotor)

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Rotor
The rotor can be either wound type (with slip rings and brushes) or more reliable squirrel cage type
(brushless design).
Wound rotors
In this type, shown in Fig.2, the rotor carries a three-phase winding (similar to the stator) which may
be star or delta connected. The ends of the windings are connected to slip-rings, which are joined
via carbon brushes to a set of three external resistances. As will be shown later, the resistances are
used during starting and are switched to zero during normal running. They may also be used for a
'very limited' speed control. This rotor design is generally more expensive than the squirrel cage
rotors, but offers certain advantages and is used in heavy-duty applications such as large
compressors (where high power and control of starting current are desired) and pumps.

Fig.2: Wound (slip-ring) rotors

Squirrel cage rotors

These rotors consist of a set of conducting grid of bars enclosed in rotor laminations and shorted
together at either end of the rotor core, as shown in Fig.3. Rotor bars and end rings are made of
copper or bronze, brazed joints. Alternatively, bars and end-rings are cast in aluminium with
integral cooling fans. The squirrel cage rotor is cheap and robust.

Fig.3: Squirrel-cage rotor structure

3. Principle of Operation
When connected to a three-phase voltage supply, the stator 3-phase winding produce a steady
rotating magnetic field. The speed of rotation of the field is constant and is defined by the supply
frequency and the number of machine poles, as will be shown later. The rotating field links the rotor
and induces e.m.f. in the rotor circuit. Since the latter consists of bars or windings, which are shortcircuited at the ends, there is current flow driven by the rotor induced voltage (e.m.f). The rotor
current produced field interacts with the stator magnetic field to produce torque in such a direction,
by Lenz's Law, to minimise the rate of change of flux linkage, i.e. in the same direction as the field.
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Thus the rotor runs almost at the same speed as the field. The induction of current in this way leads
to the name 'induction motor'.
Consider a simple two-pole machine. The field distribution in the machine at the instant of
maximum current in the Red phase may be represented as shown in Fig.4. Note that the '+ ' sign
indicates a current flow into the winding while the ' ' sign indicates a current flow out of the
winding.
Y

B'

i R = + Im

iR

R'

Im

R
30 o

iB

Y'

i Y = iB = - Im
iY

axis
of field

(a)
(b)
Fig.4: (a) Axial cross section and (b) phasor diagram of induction motor
The field distribution at the instant 1/12 of the supply cycle (30o) later is shown in Fig.5.
Y

B'
S

iR

R'

i R = 3/2 Im
Im

30 o

iY

iY = 0

N
Y'

i B = - 3/2 Im

iB

axis
of field

(a)
Axial cross-section of motor

(b)
Phasor diagram

Fig.5: Field distribution at the time instant corresponding to 1/12 supply cycle
In 30o electrical, the field obviously moves 30o in space. In one cycle of the supply, the field will
move 360o in space, i.e. it will make 1 revolution. Therefore, in one second, the field moves f
revolutions, where f is the supply frequency in Hz (i.e. the number of cycles per second). The field
speed is called the Synchronous Speed, and can be defined as:
nS = f rev/s = 60 f rev/min (rpm)

(1)

For f = 50 Hz, nS = 50 rev/s=50 60 = 3000 rev/min

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So far, a simple winding with one North (N) pole and one South (S) pole, i.e. one pole-pair, has
been considered. However, for the same supply frequency, other speeds are available, depending on
the number of pole-pairs in the stator winding of the machine.
A simple two pole-pairs (four poles) machine is shown in Fig.6, where only Red phase winding is
shown and the field distribution is shown at the instant of maximum current in the winding. Note
that, in this case, one supply cycle (360o) electrical only contributes to 180o mechanical rotation.
Thus, it takes two complete electrical cycles to complete one mechanical revolution. That is:
720o electrical = 2 360o mechanical.
= p 360o mechanical, where p is the number of pole-pairs.

or
In general:

Electrical angle = p mechanical angle

Electrical speed of the field = p mechanical speed

(2)

The conclusion that can be made from the above analysis is that a 3-phase current of frequency f
flowing in a 3-phase winding with p pole-pairs produces a magnetic field rotating at synchronous
speed given by:
nS

60 f
p

rev/min

(3)

R'

R'
N

R
Fig.6: Field distribution per phase of 4-pole machine

4.

Slip

Assuming that the rotor speed is nR, the relative speed of the stator rotating field with respect to the
rotor is defined as the slip speed. This represents the speed by which the rotor is slipping back
with respect to the stator field. Thus,
Slip speed = nS - nR rev/min

(4)

It is most often expressed as a per-unit (dimensionless) quantity known as the per unit slip s:
n nR
Per Unit Slip = s S
(5)
nS
When the rotor is at standstill, nR = 0 and s = 1. Note also that s > 0 for motoring, and s < 0 for
generating mode.
Assuming the rotor is running at synchronous speed, nR = nS and s = 0 (is the condition of zero slip
possible during motoring ??).
From (5), the rotor speed may be found as: nR = nS (1 - s)

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5.

Rotor (Slip) Frequency

The frequency of the induced current in the rotor is proportional to the speed of the stator magnetic
field with respect to the rotor (i.e. the slip speed = nS-nR = snS). When the rotor is at standstill, the
motor acts similarly to a short-circuited transformer and the rotor current frequency fR is equal to the
supply frequency f. As the rotor picks up speed, the relative speed of the rotor with respect to the
stator rotating field falls. Hence, the frequency of the induced rotor current also falls.
Therefore, if the frequency (f) of the current flowing in the stator, with p pole-pairs, produces
magnetic field speed rotating at nS = 60f/p rpm (with respect to stator), the same field rotating at snS
= s60f/p with respect to rotor produces rotor induced currents of frequency (this is known as slip
frequency):
fR s f

(6)

At standstill, s = 1 and fR = f (mains frequency). Whereas as s0, fR0 (very low frequency).

6.

Amplitude of the Rotor E.M.F.

When the rotor is at standstill, the rotating 'steady' field in the stator induces a constant rotor e.m.f.
per phase E2 Volts/ph (as with a transformer). However, as the rotor speeds up, the magnitude of
induced voltage decreases as the rate of change of flux linking the rotor (proportional to s) reduces.
Therefore, at any per-unit slip s:
Rotor induced e.m.f. per phase = s E2

(7)

When S1, rotor e.m.f. is maximum = E2 and as S0, rotor e.m.f. 0.

7.

The Rotor Power Balance

The mechanism by which the stator field exerts a force, or torque, on the rotor of the induction
motor has already been considered. In order to deliver a load torque, the stator field must deliver
power to the rotor.
In general:
where:

P=T

P = power (W),

(8)
= angular velocity (rad/s) and T = torque (Nm).

The power delivered by the field, rotating at S=2nS/60 is equal to the electrical power input to the
rotor (PR) which may be expressed as:
PR S T

2 nS
T
60

(9)

The rotor, rotating at nR, supplies mechanical power to the load:

PM R T

2 n R
T
60

(10)

The current flowing through the rotor 3-phase windings produces copper losses, which can be
expressed in a usual manner:
PC 3I 2 R2
2

(11)

where: PC = total rotor copper loss (W), I2 = per-phase rotor current (A) and R2 = per-phase rotor
resistance ().
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Clearly:

PR PM PC

(12)

Substituting for PR and PM from equations (9) and (10) one can write:
PC

2 T (nS n R ) 2 T snS

s PR
60
60

(13)

From (12) and (13) it follows: PM PR PC PR s PR (1 S ) PR

(14)

Therefore, using equations (13) and (14) the following power relationship can be established:

PR :PM :PC PR :(1S )PR :S PR 1 : 1 s : s

(15)

The above rotor power balance equation shows that:

In order to maintain a reasonably high efficiency, the slip must be small.
During Direct On Line (DOL) starting, s = 1, and the rotor copper loss PC 3I 2 2 R2 is large. The
same applies to the rotor currents.
A wound rotor machine could run at high slip, without high current, if the total resistance of the
rotor circuit is increased by adding an external resistance via the slip rings. The efficiency,
however, would still be low as PC 3I 2 2 ( R2 Rext ) .
The active power flow in an induction motor may be graphically represented as follows:
I12R1
loss

Iron
loss

Windage and
friction loss

PC

Active power
to stator

PR

Active
PSpower
to stator

Net output
power

PM

PL
Fig.7: Graphical representation of real power flow in induction motors

8.

Equivalent Circuit

An equivalent circuit is a useful tool to represent the electrical characteristics of the induction
machine and simplify its analysis. The transformer equivalent circuit is a good starting point as the
primary and secondary winding parameters of a transformer are similar to the stator and rotor
winding parameters of an induction machine respectively. Therefore, similarly to a transformer, a 3phase induction machine may be represented by the 1-phase equivalent circuit shown in Fig.8. Note
that a balanced 3-phase system may be analysed by considering one phase only, the characteristics
of each phase being assumed identical.

X1

Ip

I1

N1

N2

R2

SX2

I2

Io

R1

XM

RW

SE 2

E1

Fig.8: Stator and rotor equivalent circuits of induction machine

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where the meanings of parameters (per phase) are:

V:

Supply voltage.

s:

Per unit slip.

N1 & N2 :

Number of turns in the stator and rotor windings, respectively.

R1 & X1 :

Stator winding resistance and leakage reactance, respectively.

R2 & X2 :

Rotor circuit resistance and leakage reactance, respectively.

E1 & SE2 :

Stator and rotor induced e.m.f.s, respectively.

RW :

Shunt resistance to allow for the stator core losses.

XM :

Magnetizing reactance to allow for the current required to produce the rotating flux.

In practice, the rotor leakage reactance X2 , which is due to the small amount of rotor flux linking
the rotor windings only, is measured at mains frequency with the rotor blocked. Since X2 is quoted
at standstill, i.e. fR = f, its value is X2 = 2 f L2 . However, the leakage reactance of the rotor is
dependent on the frequency of the rotor current (fR = s f). Therefore, the rotor reactance at any slip
is 2 s f L2 = s X2 i.e. it varies with s as indicated in Fig.8.
The equivalent circuit shown in Fig.8 takes no account of mechanical output power of the induction
machine and, also, the frequencies of the stator and rotor quantities are different. Unlike a
transformer, a significant proportion of the rotor input power is converted into mechanical output
power. In this equivalent circuit, the only power represented is the machine power loss. Therefore,
the equivalent circuit of Fig.8 is modified to its equivalent but, for analysis, more useful form where
the frequency of the stator and rotor are identical:

X1

Ip
o

R1

I1

N1

N2

R2/S

X2

I2

Io
XM

RW

E2

E1

Fig.9: The stator and rotor equivalent circuit at supply frequency

Note that in the equivalent circuit of Fig.9, the rotor induced voltage, leakage reactance and
frequency are shown to be constant which is physically incorrect. However, this circuit is
'effectively' correct as the rotor input power now is:
R
1
PR 3I 2 2 2 PC = Rotor copper loss + Mechanical power output
s
s

At no-load, s 0 , R2/s , I2 0 , I1 0 and Ip Io = no-load current.

At starting, s = 1 and starting current is high.

9.

The Torque/Slip Curve

The torque/speed or torque/slip characteristic of the induction motor is of prime importance in the
majority of industrial applications. There are rigorous methods to evaluate the actual torque/slip
characteristics of induction machines. However the shape of the torque-slip curve can be obtained
from the equivalent circuit from consideration of machine power flow. To simplify the analysis, the
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equivalent circuit shown in Fig.9 is simplified by ignoring the effects of the shunt elements (RW and
XM) and the small stator resistance (R1). This approximation is in most cases quite justified. Thus,
the equivalent circuit now becomes as in Fig.10a. Referring all components to the stator (as with a
power fransformer i.e. in turns ratio sense), the equivalent circuit is further simplified and appears in
Fig.10b.
X1

I p N1

N2

R2/S

X2

I2

R2/S

X1+X 2

E2

E1

(a)
(b)
Fig.10: The equivalent circuits with ideal transformer (a) and referred to the stator (b)
The 3-phase input power to the machine may be found from the approximate equivalent circuit of
Fig.10b and/or using (9) and (16) introduced previously as:

PR

2 nS
R
3 60 2 R2
T 3 I 2 2 T
I
60
s
2 nS
S

(16)

From Fig.10b, the current I may be written as:

(17)

R
( 2 )2 X 2
S

where X = X1 + X2 is the total leakage reactance referred to the stator side.

Substituting for (17) into (16) gives:

R2 3 60 V 2
s R2
3 60
V2

2
2
2 n S R2
s
2 n S R2 s 2 X 2
X2
s2

(18)

The above equation shows that the torque is proportional to V2 (square of the supply phase voltage).
Assuming a 3-phase induction machine fed from a constant supply voltage (V), (18) may be
rewritten as:

T k

where k

s R2

(19)

R2 2 s 2 X 2

3 60 V 2
= constant
2 nS

(19a)

The shape of the torque slip curve can be sketched by considering (19) for the variation of T with
s, for small s, for large s and by finding the value of s for maximum torque.

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s 2 X 2 R2 2

For small s values:

T k

Therefore, (19) can be simplified to:

s R2
R2 2

s R2
For large s: s 2 X 2 R2 2 , and (19) becomes: T k
s2 X 2

i.e.

Ts

i.e.

1
S

Maximum Torque
The point of maximum torque, Tmax, and the slip at which it occurs, smax, can be found by first
differentiating (19) with respect to s:
( R2 2 s 2 X 2 ) R2 s R2 2sX 2
dT
k
dS
( R2 2 s 2 X 2 ) 2

At the point of maximum torque for s = smax: dT

ds

0 . Thus,

( R2 2 s 2 X 2 )R2 s R2 2sX 2 0 or ( R2 2 s 2 X 2 )R2 sR2 2sX 2

Simplifying:

s 2 X 2 R2 2

Therefore:

S max

R2
X

(20)

with a positive (+) sign indicating motoring mode.

Therefore, the shape of the torque/slip curve may now be sketched as illustrated in Fig.11a.
To find the value of the maximum torque, let us substitute for s from (20) into (19):
2

Tmax k
R2

R2
R2
R2
k
X
k X 2
2
2X
R
2 R2
22 X 2
X

(21)

Substituting now for k from (19a) one can finally write for maximum torque:
Tmax

3V 2 1

2 nS 2 X

(22)

Some important observations can be made about the previously derived expressions.
While (20) undoubtedly shows that the value of slip for maximum torque (known as pull-out or
breakdown slip) occurs depends on R2, (22) demonstrates that the maximum torque itself is
independent of the rotor resistance. This means that, for a wound rotor motor, smax can be controlled
by changing the value of the external resistance Rext , since,
S max

R2 Rext
X

(23)

At starting S = 1, therefore by adding Rext = X - R2 (note that this value is referred to the stator and
not the actual external resistance) the machine can start at maximum torque if desired.
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TORQUE (Nm)
TMA X

SLIP

TORQUE (Nm)
TM AX

T 1/s

100% V

0.5TM AX

Ts

70.7% V
0

sMA X

sM AX

(a)

SLIP

(b)

Fig.11: Torque-Slip curves at full and reduced supply voltage

Motor Operating Point
Load characteristics are often given as torque/speed profiles. The determination of the operating
point for a centrifugal fan where TL n2 is shown in Fig.12.
TORQUE (Nm)

TORQUE (Nm)

TM

C
A
TL=K

TL N 2

SPEED (r.p.m.)

NS

Fig.12: Steady-state operating point

SPEED (r.p.m.)

NS

Fig.13: Stability regions

The operating point of the motor (point A) occurs when the nett accelerating torque is zero. That is,
the intersection of the two curves or, TM = TL. Before point A is reached, the accelerating torque is:
d 2
d t2
where T
is the torque in Nm,
J
is the total inertia of the rotor and load masses, in kg m2,

is the angle of rotation of the rotor in radians and

d2/dt2 is the mechanical angular acceleration in rad s-2.
TA TM TL J

(24)

Stability of the Operating Point

Stability of operation of the motor can be determined by considering the effect of a small change in
the operating slip. Consider the effect of a small increase in slip of the machine in Fig.12. TM
increases and, for the centrifugal fan load under consideration, the load torque TL reduces. A nett
positive accelerating torque is produced, the shaft speeds up again and the original operating point
(A) is therefore restored. The machine operation is therefore stable in this speed region.
Specific points on the torque/speed profile can be considered in order to generalise stability
concepts over the full operating range. For the constant load torque TL = k shown in Fig.13, point B
is stable while point C is unstable.
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