Chapter 7

7.1.1

FE Formulation of the Field Problem

The magnetic eld distribution along the cross section of the

brushless alternator is described by Poissons equation. The eld
properties of the machine are invariant along z-axis and hence 2D
FEM formulation is sucient for analysis of the machine thereby
considerably reducing the computational time. The eld variables computed in the problem domain by FEM, are used for
deriving the machine parameters, by post-processing.
To improve the accuracy of computation, the quadratic triangular elements are used where eld variable at the six nodes of each
element in the problem domain are computed and then interpolated to compute the eld variable at each and every point in the
analysis domain. Iso-parametric elements used for discretisation
help modelling the complex geometry of the machine accurately.

7.1.2

Parameter Prediction by FEM based Virtual Prototyping

Virtual prototyping of the machine is done by modelling the

machine using FEM software, Ansys Maxwell 2D. The FE modelling of a brushless alternator of 45 KVA capacity is done using
geometrical data, material properties, winding data, period of
symmetry and the boundary conditions. Simulation of the virtual
prototype of the alternator is carried out and based on electromagnetic eld analysis, the machine parameters are predicted.
FEM proves to be an ecient numerical tool for prediction of
performance characteristics of electrical machines in the design
stage thus saving development time and cost by avoiding expensive and time consuming prototyping.
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Chapter 7
7.1.3

Improved Excitation System for Brushless Alternators

A third harmonic excitation system for brushless alternators

is designed with two auxiliary windings embedded in the stator
slots, electrically isolated from the main winding. In the fundamental auxiliary winding, a voltage proportional to the output
voltage is induced. The third harmonic auxiliary winding is designed in such a way that only triplen harmonic ux produced in
air gap of the alternator links with the winding. Triplen harmonic
ux produced in the air gap vary linearly with percentage loading of alternator and by suitably selecting the number of turns of
THW, voltage induced in the winding is made exactly equal to
the additional excitation required to compensate armature reaction caused by the load. Rectied voltages of both the auxiliary
windings are fed to two dierent windings on each pole of the
exciter eld, so that MMF produced by fundamental auxiliary
winding is strengthened by the third harmonic auxiliary winding under loaded conditions. When ux produced by these two
windings are additively fed to the exciter eld, output of the alternator is maintained within permitted voltage tolerance band
from no load to full load conditions.
A nite element model of the machine with THE is simulated for
predicting the induced EMF per turn in the fundamental and the
third harmonic auxiliary windings, thereby calculating the numbers of turns of the auxiliary windings. The voltage induced in
the third harmonic winding for dierent load conditions are also
plotted and it shows that the induced voltage in THW is sucient for providing additional excitation for the machine under
loaded conditions. A prototype brushless alternator of 45 KVA,
415 V, 3-phase, 4 pole with THE is developed and experimented
to validate the simulation results.
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Chapter 7
7.1.4

Impact of THE System on Voltage regulation and

Output Voltage Harmonics

In the compound excitation system using third harmonic

winding, the combined eect of the fundamental auxiliary winding with 2/3rd pitch and the third harmonic auxiliary winding
with 1/3rd pitch, ensures desired voltage regulation and reduces
the total harmonic content in the output phase voltage. Experiments conducted on the 45 KVA prototype machine with
THE system and the output phase voltage waveforms analysed
for THD exhibited considerable reduction as compared to that
in generator without THE. This is attributed to the reduction
in triplen harmonics under loaded conditions, by utilising third
harmonic power for excitation. The compound excitation system using THE system eliminate use of expensive compounding
transformer or shunt AVR otherwise required, thereby drastically
reducing overall cost of the machine, at the same time enhancing
reliability of the system.

7.2

Conclusion

The present investigation successfully designed and implemented a simple, reliable and cost eective excitation system for
low voltage brushless alternators, with two auxiliary windings
embedded into the stator slots. Since the number of turns of
auxiliary windings are very small compared to main winding of
the machine, same could be accommodated in the stator slots. To
nalise the number of turns and conductor dimensions of THW,
it is necessary to predict third harmonic ux in the air gap of the
machine. Since calculation of third harmonic ux by analytic
methods is inaccurate, the prediction is done by virtually prototyping the machine using FEM. Based on the simulation results,
the design of THW is nalised and an experimental machine with
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Chapter 7
THE system is developed.
Analysis of THD in the output phase voltage of the alternator with THE exhibited reduction in total harmonic distortion
as compared to that in generator without THE. The compound
excitation system using THW eliminates use of expensive compounding transformer or shunt AVR thereby reducing the overall
cost of the machine, at the same time reliability of the system is
enhanced.
FEM proves to be an ecient numerical tool for virtual prototyping for prediction of performance characteristics of electrical
machines in the design stage thereby avoiding expensive and time
consuming prototyping. The numerical test platform based on
FEM can replace costly and hazardous tests conducted in conventional test beds.

7.3

Suggestions for Future Reaearch

Field analysis of synchronous machines is of multi-physics

nature which includes electric, magnetic, thermal and mechanical aspects. The work presented here is restricted only
to analysis of electric and magnetic phenomena within the
machine structure.
The present work is limited to the study of impact of THE
system on voltage regulation and THD of output phase voltage. There is scope for extending the investigation to other
important performance criteria of brushless alternators like
TVD/TVR and Short circuit characteristics.
From results of the present study it is obvious that fth
harmonics is also a predominant component in the generator output voltage. Therefore, by suitably changing pitch
of the harmonic auxiliary winding, fth harmonic ux can
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also be utilised for generating excitation power, so that total harmonic content in the output phase voltage of the
alternator can further be reduced.
Present study is limited to the parameter prediction by
magneto-static analysis together with parametric investigation of the machine model. The transient parameters
of the machine can also be predicted by resorting to transient analysis where movement modelling of the rotor also
is considered.

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List of Publications
International / National Conferences
Jiji K. S., Jayadas N. H. and C. A. Babu, An Improved Excitation System for Low Voltage Salient Pole Synchronous
Generators Utilizing Third Harmonic Power, The EE Centenary Conference , IISc, Bangalore. December 2012.
Jiji K. S., Jayadas N. H. and C. A. Babu, Prediction
of Performance characteristics of Salient pole Synchronous
Generators by Finite Element Method, Proceedings of International Conference on Emerging Trends in Manufacturing technology, Kochi, September 2012.
Jiji K. S., Jayadas N. H. and C. A. Babu, FEM based
design of Third harmonic Excitation System for Low Voltage Salient Synchronous Generators, Proceedings of International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems
(ICEMS 2012), Sapporo, JAPAN, October 2012.
International Journals
Jiji K. S., Jayadas N. H. and C. A. Babu, FEM based Virtual Prototyping and Design of Third Harmonic Excitation
System for Low Voltage Salient Pole Synchronous Generators, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, pp.
1829 1834, Vol. 50, Issue 3, May/June 2014.
Jiji K. S., Jayadas N. H. and C. A. Babu, Prediction of
Steady State Parameters of Synchronous Generators by Finite Element Method, Wiley International Journal of Numerical Modelling, Communicated.

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