3.

1 Induction Motors 139

3.1.9 OPERATION REGIONS OF INDUCTION MOTORS

Induction motors have been traditionally used as constant speed motors supplied
by the AC power source. However, recently, it has been increasingly used as vari-
able speed motors driven by an inverter. As stated in the Section 3.1.8.2, the vari-
able speed induction motor drive can be achieved by controlling the frequency and
voltage applied to the motor. The operation range of an induction motor can be
divided into three regions according to the output torque capability as
• Constant torque region: speed range below the base speed
• Constant power region: speed range above the base speed
• Breakdown torque region: speed range above the base speed maintaining
the maximum slip frequency
The speed range above the base speed can be further divided into two subre-
gions: constant power region and breakdown torque region. Because the field
flux is reduced for operation in these regions, they are called field-weakening
regions. Fig. 3.47 illustrates the output toque characteristic in each region.

3.1.9.1 Constant torque region

In this region, the motor speed is increased by increasing the stator frequency. To
maintain the air-gap flux at a constant value, the applied stator voltage will be
increased with the stator frequency according to the linear V/f relationship. This is
the constant V/f control as stated in the Section 3.1.8.2. In this control method,
since the output torque is proportional to the slip frequency, the output torque can
be produced equally at any speed for the same slip frequency as shown in
Fig. 3.48. (The same slip frequency means the same stator current.) Hence, this
speed range is called constant torque region. The maximum torque developed by
the induction motor is limited only by the allowable current rating in this region.

Torque Constant Constant Breakdown

torque region power region torque region
Maximum
torque Field-weakening region
f rated

Constant
torque locus Breakdown
torque locus
Constant
power locus

0 ω base ω BT Speed

FIGURE 3.47
Operation regions of an induction motor.
140 CHAPTER 3 Synchronous motor and induction motor

Torque Constant
torque region
Maximum torque f rated

Flux

Slip frequency
ω base
0
Speed
ωsl
FIGURE 3.48
Operation characteristics in constant torque region.

Rs Xls Ir Xlr

Is Im
Rr
Vs Xm Es
s

FIGURE 3.49
Steady-state equivalent circuit of an induction motor.

3.1.9.2 Constant power region

Since the back-electromotive force (back-EMF) of the induction motor increases
with the speed, the voltage applied to the motor should also be increased with the
speed for the stator current to flow properly. However, since the terminal voltage
of the motor should not exceed the rated (or nominal) voltage, the stator voltage
cannot be increased above the rated voltage despite the speed increase. The onset
speed, at which the terminal voltage of the motor becomes the rated voltage, is
called the base speed. Since the induction motor will be operated with a constant
voltage in the speed region above the base speed, the air-gap flux as well as the
rotor current will decrease as the operating speed increases.
The steady-state equivalent circuit in Fig. 3.49 implies that under a constant
stator voltage Vs , an increase in the operating frequency causes the reactance
to increase, resulting in a decrease of both the exciting current Iφ and rotor
current Ir . Therefore the output torque of an induction motor in this region will
be different from that in the constant torque region.
 3.1 Induction Motors 141

In the Section 3.1.4.3, the output torque and the rotor current of an induction
motor were given as
1 2 Rr
Te 5 3
I (3.65)
ωs r s
!
E Es ωsl
Ir 5 !s 5 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi (3.66)
Rr ωs
1 jXlr R2r 1 ðωsl Llr Þ2
s
Substituting Eq. (3.66) into Eq. (3.65), the following torque expression as a
function of air-gap flux and rotor current can be obtained.
! !
Es Rr Es
Te 5 3 Ir qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi DKφIr φ5 (3.67)
ωs R 1 ðω L Þ2
2 ωs
r sl lr

Under a constant stator voltage, an increase in the stator frequency leads to a

reduction in both the air-gap flux φð ~ Es =ωs Þ and the rotor current Ir . Therefore
the output torque will decrease in proportion to 1=ω2s . However, if we make the
slip frequency ωsl increase as the stator frequency increases, then the rotor current
will remain constant due to the reduced impedance Rr =s by the increase in the
slip. This can be readily seen in Eq. (3.66) and Fig. 3.49. In this way, if the rotor
current remains constant despite the stator frequency increase, then the developed
torque decreases in proportion to 1=ωs , not 1=ω2s , as shown in Fig. 3.50. Thus an
enhanced output torque capability can be achieved.
Therefore for operation in this region, the slip frequency ωsl should be
increased as the stator frequency increases. In this case, since both the voltage
and the current remain constant, this region is called the constant power region
(strictly speaking, constant VA), which corresponds to the field-weakening region
of a DC motor.

Constant
Torque
power region

Output torque
1 Breakdown torque locus
Te ∝ 1
ωs Tmax ∝
ωs2

Flux
Slip frequency

Speed
0 ωbase ωBT
FIGURE 3.50
Operation of constant power regions.