Clearly, the mass increases if the rotor bar area is increased,

the resistance and the torque decrease. In addition, depending

on how the slot size is modified, the reactance may increase
or decrease with the same effects on the torque. Therefore, the
stall time increases but so does the acceleration time because
the torque margin between the load and the available motor
torque decreases, and the risk of a hang up below synchronous
speed grows. The lower resistance means higher inrush and
extra stator heating during the acceleration period from both
the increased stator current and the longer acceleration time.
The second impact of the higher stator current is a shorter
stator stall time.
If the rotor bar length is increased, then the torque increases
as well as the bar mass, but there is only a small amount
by which the bar length can be increased beyond the rotor
core before mechanical and other complications take effect.
The increase in torque shortens the stall time, and this could
offset the gain in stall time created by the greater bar mass.
In addition, if there is more resistance, the rotor losses will
be higher and the rotor cage rise will be greater, which itself
causes more resistance and shortens hot stall time. The net
result is a marginal gain before the laws of diminishing
returns start to flourish.
T J
Fig. 1. Typical rotor slot and bar shapes.
If the mass of the bar is increased by increasing the area
while the resistivity of the bars is also increased by changing
the material, one would expect to get a longer stall time.
Unfortunately, (3a) does not show that if the resistivity of
the material is greater or if the slot, is deeper, the effective
resistance related to the inductive effect (skin effect) of the
slot-leakage flux on the current distribution in the rotor bars
will be higher. The combined effect of the greater area and
higher resistance is generally a shorter stall time if the starting
torque is the same or greater than that of the smaller lower
resistant bar. The only time a material change will consistently
result in improved stall times is a switch from an aluminum
cage to a copper alloy cage of the same resistivity.
Myth: All stall times are calculated similarly, and motors
with the same stall time have the same thermal and starting
capacities.
The assumption is that all stall times are calculated in the
same manner and are equally conservative. Similar machines
in the same application with a design by different manufacturers
have been found to perform differently and to have
different rates of failure or success. Recent developments in
calculating rotor bar life analysis [ 11, [2] confirm that the stall
time calculation is not as simple as just shown but is a rather
complex calculation affected by the slot design, the stator slot
pitch and the material properties of the rotor bar [SI.
Fig. 1 shows a number of the more popular shapes developed
for the bars used in the cages of squirrel-cage induction
machines. The shapes are designed to produce the different
torque and inrush (starting current) characteristics that are
requested for the many applications in which induction motors
are found.
Fig. 2 shows the corresponding shape of the speed-torque
characteristic that might be expected for each bar. A general
description of each bar shape and the corresponding speedtorque
curve will help to understand some of the significant
points that will emerge during the course of this paper.
Fig. l(a) is commonly known as the inverted T bar, which
produces high starting torque and low inrush. It has, during
startup, the highest output torque per ampere of any of the bars
in Fig. 1, but it also has a very flat speed-torque profile, as seen