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Electric Motors and Drives - Third Edition

Solutions to Review Questions - Chapter 6
1)

Any supply system can be represented by an equivalent circuit consisting of an ideal voltage
source VS in series with the supply system impedance, Z S , as shown in Figure 6.1. The
supply impedance is usually predominantly inductive. The terminal (system) voltage, V, is
generally less than VS because of the volt-drop across the supply impedance, which is
predominantly inductive. The volt-drop increases with current, but for a given current, the voltdrop is greatest when the load is inductive.
A large induction motor at rest has a very low, and predominantly inductive, impedance. When
connected to the supply the current drawn by the motor will be several times the full-load
current. And because the motor and supply impedances are both inductive, the fall in voltage
when the load is applied will be much greater than if the load was resistive.
Other customers on the same system will experience a dip in voltage until the motor speed rises
and the current it draws reduces and moves more into phase with the system voltage.

2)

If the supply system impedance is relatively high (a weak system), the volt-drop when the
motor is started direct-on-line may be unacceptable to other consumers, or in extreme cases the
voltage may fall so much that the motor has insufficient torque to start and /or accelerate to its
normal speed. The same motor may however be started quite happily on a low-impedance
(stiff) supply, where there is little or no dip in voltage even when a very large current is drawn.

3)

See the answers to questions 1 and 2.

4)

The torque developed by an induction motor at any speed is proportional to the square of the
applied voltage. On a weak supply, for the reasons given in the answer to question 1, the
voltage during starting will be less than it would be with a stiff supply, so the torque at all
speeds will be less and the motor will therefore accelerate less rapidly and take longer to run up
to speed.

5)

The starting torque must be greater than the load torque in order to begin the process of
acceleration. For the motor in this question, if the load torque at standstill is T, the motor torque
is 1.2T when the motor voltage is at its rated value, say V.
The torque of an induction motor is proportional to the square of the voltage, so the starting
torque when the voltage is reduced to V is given by
V'
V

, or

T '

V'
T'

1.2T
V

1 .2 T .

The limiting value of V is that which causes the starting torque to

equal the load torque, i.e.

T ' T

V'
V

1 .2 T ,

i.e. V' 0.91V .

So the system voltage could fall by about 9% before the motor refused to start.

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6)

First, some background on 3-phase. The line-to-line voltage (referred to as line voltage, VL )
in a three-phase system is the voltage between any pair of lines. The magnitudes of all three
line-line voltages are the same, but they differ in phase by 120.
When the three windings of the motor are connected in delta (see Figure 5.2) the voltage across
each phase is the relevant line voltage. When the load (i.e. the motor) phases are balanced, the
currents in all three phases have the same magnitude, but differ in phase by 120, and as a result
the magnitude of the current in the supply line is 3 times the current in each phase. To sum
up,
VL V ph
for delta connection:I L 3 I ph

When the three motor windings are connected in star (see Figure 5.2), then provided that (a) the
three windings are balanced, or (b) the star point is connected to the neutral of the supply, the
VL
voltage across each phase is given by
, and the line current is clearly the same as the phase
3
current. To sum up,
for star connection:-

VL 3 V ph
I L I ph

Turning now to the question, and thinking first about the line current, suppose that the
impedance of each phase of the motor is Z.
When the motor phases are connected in delta to the supply, the current in each phase is given
V
3 VL
by I ph L , and the current in each line is therefore given by I L 3 I ph
(a ).
Z
Z
When the motor phases are connected in star to the supply, the current in each phase is given by
V ph
V
V
(b).
I ph
L , and the current in each line is therefore given by I L I ph L
3Z
Z
3Z
Comparing expressions (a) and (b) shows that the line current when the motor windings are
connected in star is 1/3 of the line current when the motor windings are connected in delta.
As far as torque is concerned, we know that torque is proportional to the square of the applied
1
voltage across each phase. The phase voltage in star is
times the line voltage, so the torque
3
in star is one-third of the torque in delta.

7)

The torque per line ampere is thus the same regardless of whether the motor is connected in star
of in delta.
This question is framed in the sort of sloppy language which users of motors are expected to
unravel. So first we need to sort out just what is meant by 50% torque and 25% current.
Given that the context is that of a soft-starter, the most legitimate interpretation is that the claim
is that the soft-starter reduces the initial (i.e. standstill, or locked-rotor) current to 25% of what
it would be in a direct-on-line start, but that the torque is only reduced to 50% of what it would
be in a direct start. (The alternative interpretation - that the figures mean 25% of rated (i.e. fullload) current and 50% of full-load torque - is so absurd that we can rule it out immediately.)
Let us assume that when the motor is started direct-on-line the line voltage and current are V
and I respectively, and the torque is T. The effective impedance of the stationary motor is
therefore Z = V/I.
When a soft-starter is interposed to limit the fundamental-frequency starting current to 0.25I, it
is clear that the voltage at the motor must be 0.25V, since the motor impedance Z = V/I.
We know that, for any particular slip, the torque of an induction motor is proportional to the
square of the applied voltage, so in this case the toque when the voltage is 0.25V will be given
2
0.25V
by T0.25V
T 0.0625 T .
V
Hence if the current is reduced to 25% of its direct-on-line value the torque cannot be greater
than 6.25% of its direct-on-line value: so the claim that the torque is 50% is nonsense.

8)

The majority of induction motors operate from the fixed-frequency mains supply, in which case
the synchronous speed of the rotating field inside the motor is constant. The mechanism of
operation relies on the rotor running at a somewhat slower speed than the field, so that currents
are induced into the rotor conductors and torque is produced.
When there is no load on the shaft the rotor speed is very nearly equal to the synchronous
speed, and as the load is increased the speed falls in order to develop more torque. However,
the change in speed from no-load to full-load is unlikely to be more than a few percent of
synchronous speed, so, roughly speaking the motor can be described as constant speed.

9)

The motionally induced e.m.f.s in the rotor bars are directed axially, and currents flow along
the low-resistance copper rotor bars, the circuit being completed via the circumferential path
provided by the copper end-rings (see Figure 5.14. Axial current flow in the iron core is
prevented because the core is made from a stack of laminations that are insulated from one
another. It is however possible for circumferential currents to flow in the laminations, but he
currents will be small because of the relatively high resistance of the core material.

10)

It is usually possible to examine the end-windings to deduce the pole-number, provided that
they are not completely obscured by insulating tapes. For example, in the most common
(double-layer) winding the pitch (in slots) can usually be estimated by tracing the path of a top
coilside from where it leaves the end of the stator core to the point at which it enters the bottom
of a slot. For example if in a 48-slot stator the coil appears to span 8 or 9 slots, it is almost

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certain that the winding is 4-pole (full-pitch = 12 slots) with short-pitched coils of 2/3 or 3/4
pitch. On the other hand if the coil pitch was say 18 slots it would clearly be 2-pole (full-pitch
= 24 slots), or if the pitch was 6 slots the winding would be 6-pole (full pitch = 8 slots).
11)

The direction of rotation is determined by the phase sequence of the supply to the stator
terminals. If when the phase sequence is ABC the motor runs clockwise, it will run
anticlockwise when the phase-sequence is ACB. Reversal is accomplished by interchanging
any two of the three supply leads.

12)

For this question we make use of the expression for the synchronous speed, N S in terms of the
pole-number of the machine (p) and the supply frequency (f), i.e. N S
a) If we choose a 2-pole motor the synchronous speed is

120 f
.
p

120 60
3600 rev/min.
2

Allowing for a modest slip of say 4% the running speed will be about 3450 rev/min, which is
fine.
b) At 50 Hz the synchronous speed of an eight-pole motor is 750 rev/min, so allowing for
modest slip the running speed will be about 700 rev/min.
c) The pole-number must be an even integer, so the lowest is 2 and therefore the highest
synchronous speed with a 60 Hz supply is 3600 rev/min.
If we want to reach 8000 rev/min with a 2-pole motor we would need to feed the motor via an
inverter that could provide a frequency of

8000
60 133 Hz. It would be unwise to run a
3600

standard 60 Hz motor at this speed without checking with the manufacturer that it is safe
mechanically. Electrically, the voltage would have to be increased in proportion to the
frequency if full torque is required: this will result in high iron losses and increased stress on the
insulation, so again these aspects should first be checked.
13)

The synchronous speed is 1800 rev/min and the full-load slip is

1800 1700
0.056.
1800

The efficiency of the rotor is given by (1 slip) 100%, i.e. 94.4%, i.e. the rotor losses amount
to 5.6%. The overall efficiency must be less that the rotor efficiency, and typically the stator
losses are of similar magnitude to the rotor losses, which would suggest in this case an overall
efficiency of around 89%. It is certainly highly unlikely that the stator losses are as low as
0.4%, which would be necessary to achieve an overall efficiency of 94%.
14)
15)

Figure 6A here.
The advantages of a low resistance rotor are that it leads to a steep torque-speed curve in the
normal operating region, with a small slip at full load and therefore a high rotor efficiency. The
disadvantage is that the starting and run-up torques are low.

16)

17)

The advantage of a high-resistance rotor is that the starting and run-up torque can be high
without having a high starting current. The disadvantage is a high full-load slip and low rotor
efficiency.
The answer to this question has been covered in the solution to question 14 of chapter 5. The
torque depends not only on the magnitude of the induced current in the rotor, but also on its
space-phase in relation to the flux wave. Increasing the rotor resistance decreases the current,
but at the same time the current wave moves further into alignment with the flux wave, and this
more than compensates for the reduction in current, leading to an increase in torque.
The full-load slip is

1800 1740
0.033.
1800

a) For low values of slip, the torque is proportional to slip, so at half rated torque, the slip is
0.033/2 = 0.0167 and the speed is 1800(1 0.0167) = 1770 rev/min.
b) For low value of slip, torque is proportional to slip and to the square of the applied voltage.
With rated voltage, the slip for rated torque is 0.033. Hence if the voltage is reduced by a factor

0.85

of 0.85, the slip must increase by a factor of

1.384, so the new slip is 1.384

0.0333 = 0.046, corresponding to a running speed of (1 0.046)1800 = 1717 rev/min.

When the voltage is reduced by a factor of 0.85, so is the magnitude of the rotating flux wave.
In order to develop full rated torque, the induced current in the rotor must increase by a factor
of 1/0.85 = 1.176 in order to compensate for the reduced flux. This means that the rotor current
is 11.8% higher than it s rated value, so the rotor copper loss will be increased by a factor of
(1.18)2 i.e. 1.38. A 38% increase in rotor losses will cause overheating of the rotor.
18)

To get the most out of the motor we must ensure that the magnitude of the rotating magnetic
flux wave remains the same whenever we change the frequency. This is achieved by ensuring
that he voltage/frequency ratio is kept constant.
If the frequency is reduced from 60 Hz to 50 Hz, the new voltage is given by
50
50
V50
V60
550 458 Volts.
60
60
With the same air-gap flux, the rotor will have the rated current and torque if its slip speed
remains the same as before. Originally, the synchronous speed was 1800 rev/min and full speed
was 1750 rev/min, so the slip speed was 50 rev/min. The new synchronous speed is 1500
rev/min, so the new full-load speed is 1500 - 50 = 1450 rev/min.
Power is torque times speed, and the torque will be the same as before because the flux and
1450
20.7 kW.
rotor current have been maintained. Hence the new power is given by 25
1750
The total losses at 50 Hz will be more or less the same (the stator iron loss will be a bit less
because of the lower supply frequency) but in practice we should check that the fact that the fan
speed is now lower does not lead to any overheating.

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19)

The stator and rotor currents are very large when the slip is large, as it is during most of the runup period. Consequently the I 2 R losses are high and a substantial amount of heat is released in
the windings each time the motor runs up to speed. Repetitive starting therefore runs the risk of
overheating the motor, particularly if it is coupled to a high-inertia load.

20)

See Figure 6B for torque-speed curve. Quadrant 1 lies to the right of the zero-speed axis (slip =
1), and the curve therefore indicates that the machine can operate in two quadrants (1 and 4) of
the torque-speed plane when the supply phase-sequence is such that the synchronous speed lies
in quadrant 1. Reversing the phase-sequence (by interchanging two of the supply lines) places
the synchronous speed in quadrant 3, so that motoring and generating takes place in quadrant 3
with braking in quadrant 2.
Fig 6B here

21)

The synchronous speed of a 10-pole, 50 Hz motor is 600 rev/min. We are told that when the
speed is 550 rev/min, the output power is 25 kW. The torque is therefore given by
Torque

Power
25,000

43 Nm.
2
Speed
550
60

The efficiency is 90%, so the input power is 25/0.9 = 27.78 kW, and the losses = 2.78 kW.
When the machine is driven above its synchronous speed at 650 rev/min/ the slip speed is the
same as it was when motoring at 550 rev/min. Conditions on the rotor are therefore the same as
when motoring, (except that the load component of current is now 180 out of phase with the
applied voltage) and in particular the torque is the same. The mechanical input power from the
wind turbine is therefore given by
2
Power Torque speed 434.06 650

60

29.55 kW.

The magnetising current in the stator will be the same as when motoring, but the sign of the
work or power component will now be negative, so the stator current will be of similar
magnitude and the stator and rotor copper losses will be much as before, as will the iron losses.
We do not have sufficient information to make calculations, but it seems reasonable to assume
that the total losses will be the same as when motoring, i.e. approximately 2.8 kW. The power
supplied to the grid is therefore 29.55 2.8 = 26.75 kW.
22)

The space harmonics are the unwanted by-products that are produced because the stator
windings of real machines are at best an approximation to the ideal of a sinusoidally-distributed
winding. When we refer to the fifth harmonic of say a 4-pole field, we mean the unwanted 20pole field produced when we aim to produce a pure 4-pole field, and so on.
Let us suppose that the fundamental pole-number is p, and that the supply frequency is f. The
speed of rotation of the fundamental field is given (in engineering units of rev/min)
by the familiar formula N1

120 f
.
p

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We are told that the fifth harmonic rotates backwards at one-fifth of the speed of the
fundamental, i.e. the speed of the fifth harmonic is given by N 5

120 f
. To find the
5p

frequency induced by the fifth harmonic flux wave we can use the familiar formula again, to
yield
120 f
5p
N5 5 p
5p
We see that the fifth harmonic reacts by inducing a
f5

f.
120
120

fundamental-frequency e.m.f. in the stator, as indeed do all the space harmonics.

This is a result which we could have anticipated by noting that although that although the fifth
harmonic flux wave has five times as many poles as the fundamental flux wave, it rotates at
only a fifth of the speed. All points on the stator see one complete cycle of the fifth harmonic
flux in the same time that they see a complete cycle of the fundamental, so both waves induce
the same frequency.
- End of Solutions for Chapter 6 -