Induction motor

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Three-phase induction motors

Animation of a squirrel-cage AC motor

An induction motor or asynchronous motor is a type of alternating current motor where power
is supplied to the rotor by means of electromagnetic induction.[1]
An electric motor turns because of magnetic force exerted between a stationary electromagnet
called the stator and a rotating electromagnet called the rotor. Different types of electric motors
are distinguished by how electric current is supplied to the moving rotor. In a DC motor and a
slip-ring AC motor, current is provided to the rotor directly through sliding electrical contacts
called commutators and slip rings. In an induction motor, by contrast, the current is induced in
the rotor without contacts by the magnetic field of the stator, through electromagnetic induction.
An induction motor is sometimes called a rotating transformer because the stator (stationary
part) is essentially the primary side of the transformer and the rotor (rotating part) is the
secondary side. Unlike the normal transformer which changes the current by using time varying
flux, induction motors use rotating magnetic fields to transform the voltage. The current in the
primary side creates an electromagnetic field which interacts with the electromagnetic field of
the secondary side to produce a resultant torque, thereby transforming the electrical energy into
mechanical energy. Induction motors are widely used, especially polyphase induction motors,
which are frequently used in industrial drives.
Induction motors are now the preferred choice for industrial motors due to their rugged
construction, absence of brushes (which are required in most DC motors) and—thanks to modern
power electronics—the ability to control the speed of the motor.

Contents
[hide]
• 1 History
• 2 Principle of operation and comparison to synchronous motors
○ 2.1 Synchronous speed
○ 2.2 Slip
• 3 Construction
• 4 Speed control
• 5 Equivalent circuit
• 6 Starting of induction motors
○ 6.1 Single Phase
• 7 Induction generator
• 8 Sources
• 9 References
• 10 External links

[edit] History
The first induction motors were independently realized by Galileo Ferraris, in Italy, and Nikola
Tesla, in America. Tesla had conceived the rotating magnetic field principle in 1882 and used it
to invent the first brushless AC motor or induction motor in 1883.[citation needed] Ferraris developed
the idea in 1885.[citation needed] In 1888, Ferraris published his research in a paper to the Royal
Academy of Sciences in Turin where he detailed the theoretical foundations for understanding
the way the motor operates.[2] Separately, in the same year, Tesla gained U.S. Patent 381,968.
The induction motor with a cage was invented by Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky about a year
later.
[edit] Principle of operation and comparison to synchronous
motors
A 3-phase power supply provides a rotating magnetic field in an induction motor.
The basic difference between an induction motor and a synchronous AC motor with a permanent
magnet rotor is that in the latter the rotating magnetic field of the stator will impose an
electromagnetic torque on the magnetic field of the rotor causing it to move (about a shaft) and a
steady rotation of the rotor is produced. It is called synchronous because at steady state the speed
of the rotor is the same as the speed of the rotating magnetic field in the stator.
By way of contrast, the induction motor does not have any permanent magnets on the rotor;
instead, a current is induced in the rotor. To achieve this, stator windings are arranged around the
rotor so that when energised with a polyphase supply they create a rotating magnetic field pattern
which sweeps past the rotor. This changing magnetic field pattern induces current in the rotor
conductors. These currents interact with the rotating magnetic field created by the stator and in
effect causes a rotational motion on the rotor.
However, for these currents to be induced, the speed of the physical rotor must be less than the
speed of the rotating magnetic field in the stator (the synchronous frequency ns) or else the
magnetic field will not be moving relative to the rotor conductors and no currents will be
induced. If by some chance this happens, the rotor typically slows slightly until a current is re-
induced and then the rotor continues as before. This difference between the speed of the rotor
and speed of the rotating magnetic field in the stator is called slip. It is unitless and is the ratio
between the relative speed of the magnetic field as seen by the rotor (the slip speed) to the speed
of the rotating stator field. Due to this, an induction motor is sometimes referred to as an
asynchronous machine.
[edit] Synchronous speed
Understanding the behaviour of induction motors, it's useful to understand the differerences from
a synchronous motor. That type of motor always runs at a synchronous speed- a shaft rotation
frequency that is an integer fraction of the supply frequency. The synchronous speed of an
induction motor is the same fraction of the supply.
It can be shown that the speed of a synchronous motor is determined by the following formula:

where ns is the (synchronous) speed of the rotor (in rpm), f is the frequency of the AC supply (in
Hz) and p is the number of magnetic poles.[3]
For example, a 6 pole motor operating on 60 Hz power would have a speed of:
Note on the use of p - some texts refer to number of pole pairs per phase instead of number of
poles per phase. For example a 6 pole motor, operating on 60 Hz power, would have 3 pole pairs.
The equation of synchronous speed then becomes:

with P being the number of pole pairs.

[edit] Slip

typical torque curve as a function of slip

slip s, is calculated using:

Where
nr = rotor rotation speed (rpm)
ns = synchronous rotation speed (rpm)
[edit] Construction
typical winding pattern for a 6 pole 3 phase motor (here poles are labelled W, U, V). Note the
interleaving of the pole windings
The stator consists of wound 'poles' that carry the supply current to induce a magnetic field that
penetrates the rotor. In a very simple motor, there would be a single projecting piece of the stator
(a salient pole) for each pole, with windings around it; in fact, to optimize the distribution of the
magnetic field, the windings are distributed in many slots located around the stator, but the
magnetic field still has the same number of north-south alternations. The number of 'poles' can
vary between motor types but the poles are always in pairs (i.e. 2, 4, 6, etc.).
Induction motors are most commonly built to run on single-phase or three-phase power, but two-
phase motors also exist. In theory, two-phase and more than three phase induction motors are
possible; many single-phase motors having two windings and requiring a capacitor can actually
be viewed as two-phase motors, since the capacitor generates a second power phase 90 degrees
from the single-phase supply and feeds it to a separate motor winding. Single-phase power is
more widely available in residential buildings, but cannot produce a rotating field in the motor
( the field merely oscillates back and forth), so single-phase induction motors must incorporate
some kind of starting mechanism to produce a rotating field. They would, using the simplified
analogy of salient poles, have one salient pole per pole number; a four-pole motor would have
four salient poles. Three-phase motors have three salient poles per pole number, so a four-pole
motor would have twelve salient poles. This allows the motor to produce a rotating field,
allowing the motor to start with no extra equipment and run more efficiently than a similar
single-phase motor.
There are three types of rotor:
• Squirrel-cage rotor
The most common rotor is a squirrel-cage rotor. It is made up of bars of either solid copper (most
common) or aluminum that span the length of the rotor, and those solid copper or aluminium
strips can be shorted or connected by a ring or some times not, i.e. the rotor can be closed or
semiclosed type. The rotor bars in squirrel-cage induction motors are not straight, but have some
skew to reduce noise and harmonics.
• Slip ring rotor
A slip ring rotor replaces the bars of the squirrel-cage rotor with windings that are connected to
slip rings. When these slip rings are shorted, the rotor behaves similarly to a squirrel-cage rotor;
they can also be connected to resistors to produce a high-resistance rotor circuit, which can be
beneficial in starting
• Solid core rotor
A rotor can be made from a solid mild steel. The induced current causes the rotation.
[edit] Speed control

typical torque curves for different line frequencies

The synchronous rotational speed of the rotor (i.e. the theoretical unloaded speed with no slip) is
controlled by the number of pole pairs (number of windings in the stator) and by the frequency
of the supply voltage.
However, for a loaded rotor, for any given drive frequency and current and mechanical load,
synchronous motors should be run in the 'operating zone' for that particular induction motor. This
is the shaft rotation speed range above the peak torque. In this zone slightly increasing the slip
speed increases the torque, and decreasing the slip decreases the torque. Hence in this zone the
motor will tend to run at constant speed. Below the operating zone, the run speed tends to be
unstable and may stall out or run at reduced shaft speed, depending on the nature of the
mechanical load.
Before the development of economical semiconductor power electronics, it was difficult to vary
the frequency to the motor and induction motors were mainly used in fixed speed applications.
As an induction motor has no brushes and is easy to control, many older DC motors are now
being replaced with THR induction motors and accompanying inverters in industrial
applications.
[edit] Equivalent circuit
This section has been recently been machine translated from the German Wikipedia, and
partially human translated. If you can continue the translation, please do so
To understand the processes of a speed controller, it is helpful to look at the induction motor's
equivalent circuit. The equivalent circuit shows an electrically equivalent circuit to the motor's
construction, where the two leftmost terminals would be connected to a power supply.
Equivalent circuit
On the left side of the circuit, the equivalent resistance of the stator, which consists of the copper
resistance and core resistance in series, is shown as Rs. During asynchronous operation, stator
also induces some reactance, which is represented by the inductor Xs. The next inductor Xr
represents the effect of the rotor (commonly a []Squirrel-cage rotor|squirrel-cage]]) passing
through the stator's magnetic field. The effective resistance of the rotor (again with rotating in a
magnetic field), Rr, is composed of:
• the equivalent value of the machine's real power (which changes with the torque and the
load on the machine)
• the ohmic resistance of the stator windings and the short circuit cage
At idle, the induction motor equivalent circuit is essentially just Rs and Xs, which is why this
machine only takes up mostly reactive power. The idle current draw is often near the rated
current, due to the copper and core losses which exist even at no load. In these conditions, this is
usually more than half the power loss at rated load. If the torque against the motor spindle is
increased, the active current increases by Rr, and thus in the rotor.
Due to the construction of the induction motor, the two resistances both induce a magnetic field,
in contrast to the three-phase synchronous machine, where the magnetic flux is induced only by
the reactive current in the stator windings.
The current produces a voltage drop in the cage portion of the Rr, but only a slightly higher
voltage drop in the stator windings. Consequently, the losses increase with increasing load in the
rotor faster than they do in the stator. The copper resistance Rs and the "copper" resistance from
the cage portion of Rr both cause I2R losses, and therefore the efficiency of the machine improves
with increasing load. The efficiency of the machine reduces with temperature.
In contrast with a smaller frequency of the reactance Xs also getting smaller. In compliance with
the rated current must shrink by the drive voltage delivered. Thus, the ratio of the voltage divider
Rs to Xs and Rs and this increases engine power losses. In continuous operation this can only be
an approximation because a nominal torque is generated because the cooling of rotor and stator
is not included in the calculation. At higher than the rated speed or rated frequency induction
motor can, however - in the context of isolation - are working on higher voltages and is more
effective.
Frequently today, Rs / Rr are measure automatically and are thus in a position for any motor
connected to automatically configure itself and thus to be protected from overload. A holding
torque or speed close to zero can be achieved with a vector control. Here, too though, there can
be problems with cooling since the fan is usually mounted on the rotor.
[edit] Starting of induction motors
[edit] Single Phase
In a single phase induction motor, it is necessary to provide a starting circuit to start rotation of
the rotor. If this is not done, rotation may be commenced by manually giving a slight turn to the
rotor. The single phase induction motor may rotate in either direction and it is only the starting
circuit which determines rotational direction.
For small motors of a few watts, the start rotation is done by means of one or two single turn(s)
of heavy copper wire around one corner of the pole. The current induced in the single turn is out
of phase with the supply current and so causes an out-of-phase component in the magnetic field,
which imparts to the field sufficient rotational character to start the motor. Starting torque is very
low and efficiency is also reduced. Such shaded-pole motors are typically used in low-power
applications with low or zero starting torque requirements, such as desk fans and record players.
Larger motors are provided with a second stator winding which is fed with an out-of-phase
current to create a rotating magnetic field. The out-of-phase current may be derived by feeding
the winding through a capacitor or it may derive from the winding having different values of
inductance and resistance from the main winding.
In some designs, the second winding is disconnected once the motor is up to speed, usually either
by means of a switch operated by centrifugal force acting on weights on the motor shaft or by a
positive temperature coefficient thermistor which, after a few seconds of operation, heats up and
increases its resistance to a high value thereby reducing the current through the second winding
to an insignificant level. Other designs keep the second winding continuously energised when
running, which improves torque.
[edit] Induction generator
Main article: induction generator
Induction motors can also generally be run as generators if run above a critical speed (which is
usually marked on the motor). Some source of electricity is needed to run the coils, but this can
be provided by the motor once it is running via capacitors, or provided by external power
supplies such as from a grid connection.
[edit] Sources
• Henri Boy de la Tour (1906). The induction motor: its theory and design, set forth by a
practical method of calculation. Translated Cyprien Odilon Mailloux. McGraw Pub. Co..
http://books.google.com/books?
id=hbM_AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=induction+motor&source=bl&ots=_Jg
DsnjN2s&sig=LHXibhTQ9XXIOvzsWATRSHA-
xkA&hl=en&ei=X1O3TOekFpCisAPomqGeCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&res
num=14&sqi=2&ved=0CFoQ6AEwDQ#v=onepage&q&f=false.
• Benjamin Franklin Bailey (1911). The induction motor. McGraw-Hill.
http://books.google.com/books?
id=r_dOAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=induction+motor&source=bl&ots=g7T
h09trR-
&sig=onxjvgyC920oARs_LUDqnzV2kHg&hl=en&ei=1VS3TNTyNoKKlwfWwJ3MDA
&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q
&f=false.
• Bernhard Arthur Behrend (1901). The induction motor: A short treatise on its theory and
design, with numerous experimental data and diagrams. Electrical world and engineer.
 http://books.google.com/books?
id=ffpOAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=induction+motor&source=bl&ots=AWJ
zYuRVCl&sig=Bm0VKBdRKgCfTPpeR5_YU3BCrso&hl=en&ei=1VS3TNTyNoKKlw
fWwJ3MDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBjgK#v
=onepage&q&f=false.
[edit] References
1. ^ http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-induction-motor.htm
2. ^ http://www.fi.edu/learn/case-files/tesla/motor.html
3. ^
http://www.electricmotors.machinedesign.com/guiEdits/Content/bdeee11/bdeee11_7.asp
x
This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and
removed. (October 2010)

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Induction motors

• A drawing of an induction motor

• (Italian) Rotating magnetic fields: interactive
• Construct your squirrelcage electromotor using povray
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