By: Dr.

Salah Eldeen Gasim

 Lecture 1

Three phase Induction Motor

Introduction
❑ Because of its relatively low cost, simple and rugged
construction, minimal maintenance requirements, and
good operating characteristics that satisfy a wide variety of
loads, the induction motor is the most commonly used
type of ac motors.
❑ Induction motors range in size from a few watts to
about 40,000 hp.
❑ Small fractional-horsepower motors are usually single
phase and are used extensively for domestic appliances,
such as refrigerators, washers, dryers, and blenders.
❑ Large induction motors (usually above 5hp) are always
designed for three-phase operation to achieve a constant
torque and balanced network loading.
❑ In particular, where very large machinery is to be
operated, the three-phase induction motor is the
workhorse of the industry.
❑In typical induction motors, the stator winding (the
field winding) is connected to the source, and the rotor
winding (the armature winding) is short-circuited (for
the squirrel-cage IMs, and slip-ring IMs), or may be
closed through external resistances (this is possible for
slip-ring IMs only).
❑ In a 3 phase IM, alternating current passing through a
fixed stator winding sets up a rotating magnetic field.
Thus, an induction motor is a singly excited motor. This
moving field induces currents in closed loops of wire
mounted on the rotor. These currents set up magnetic
fields around the wires and cause them to follow the
main magnetic field as it rotates. Fig. 1 shows two
possibilities of the stator windings wiring and stator
external terminals. Fig. 2 represents an overview of 3
phase IMs.
 Fig. 1 Two possibilities of the stator windings
wiring and stator external terminals of 3 phase
IMs.
Overview of 3 phase IMs

Fig. 2 An overview of 3 phase IMs

Parts of a Squirrel cage IM
Construction of 3 phase IMs
❑ Construction of the stator of a three-phase induction
machine is almost same as that for a DC machine, except
for the windings which are three phase. However, the
same cannot be said for the rotors. Unlike rotors of DC
machines, rotors of IMs are not supplied by any source.
Similar to the case of transformers, IMs are supplied at
their primary side only, which represent the stator in the
case of IMs. In fact, the three-phase IMs are classified
based on their rotor types as wound-rotor (also called slip-
ring motor) or squirrel-cage motors.
Fig. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the magnetic circuit of
an IM that has a wound rotor. Both stator and rotor iron are
laminated and slotted to contain the insulated windings. The
wound rotor motor has a three-phase symmetrical winding
similar to that in the stator and is wound for the same
number of poles as the stator winding. These rotor windings
are star-connected with the open end of each phase
connected to a slip ring mounted on the rotor shaft. Fig. 4
gives more details of Fig. 3 (a). Fig. 5 shows three equal
external variable resistors used for speed control are
connected to the slip rings by carbon brushes.
 Fig. 3 (a) A cross-sectional view of the
magnetic circuit of an IM with a wound
rotor and (b) the squirrel-cage winding of a
cage rotor of an IM
Fig. 4 gives more details of Fig. 3 (a)
Fig. 5 A three-phase wound-rotor winding
with slip rings and externally connected
resistors
Fig. 6 illustrates the concept of a three-phase induction
motor that has wound-rotor windings connected to
external resistors.

Fig. 6 A three-phase IM with its wound-rotor

windings connected to external resistors.
CONCEPT OF ROTOR SLIP
When the stator windings are connected to a three-
phase supply, a rotating magnetic field to develop in the
air gap. Rotation speed of the flux is called the
synchronous speed (Ns). This flux cuts the rotor’s
windings and accordingly three phase voltages are
induced in the rotor windings. Given that the rotor
circuit is closed, the induced voltages in the rotor
windings produce three-phase rotor currents. As a result,
the rotor develops a torque according to the principle of
alignment of magnetic fields.
Thus, the rotor starts to rotate in the direction of the
rotating field of the stator, due to Lenz’s law. Here, the
stator magnetic field can be considered as dragging the
rotor magnetic field. The torque is maintained as long as
the rotating magnetic field and the induced rotor
currents exist.
Also, the voltage induced in the rotor windings depends
on the speed of the rotor relative to the magnetic fields.
At steady-state operation, the rotor’s shaft speed (Nr) is
less than the synchronous speed (Ns) at which the stator
rotating field rotates in the air gap. The synchronous
speed is determined by the applied stator frequency (f1) ,
in hertz, and the number of poles, (p), of the stator
winding. Therefore:
The slip speed (also called the slip rpm) is defined as the
difference between synchronous speed and rotor speed
and indicates how much the rotor slips behind the
synchronous speed. Hence:
Therefore, the term slip describes this relative motion in
per unit or in percent. Thus, the slip in per unit is:

and the slip in percent is:

Alternatively, the slip can be defined in terms

of angular velocity ꙍ (rad/s) as:
1. If s=0, it means that Nm =Ns, that is, the rotor turns
at synchronous speed. (In practice, it can only occur if
the direct current is injected into the rotor winding.)
2. If s=1, it indicates that nm =0, that is, the rotor is
stationary. In other words, the rotor is at standstill.
3. If 1>s>0, it signals that the rotor turns at a speed
somewhere between standstill and synchronous
speed. In other words, the motor runs at an
asynchronous speed as it should, as illustrated in Fig.
7a.
4. If s>1, it signifies that the rotor rotates in a direction
opposite of the stator rotating field, as shown in Fig. 7c.
Therefore, in addition to electrical power, mechanical
power (i.e., shaft power) must be provided. Since power
comes in from both sides, the copper losses of the rotor
increase tremendously. The rotor develops a braking
torque that forces the motor to stop. This mode of
induction machine operation is called braking (or
plugging) mode.
5. If s˂0, it means that the machine operates as a
generator with a shaft speed that is greater than the
synchronous speed, as shown in Fig. 7b. This mode of
operation is called generating mode.
Note that the mechanical shaft speed of the rotor can be
obtained from the following two equations, which
involve only slip and synchronous speed:
Fig. 7 Three operation modes of an IM: (a)
motoring, (b) generating, and (c) plugging
Effects of slip on the frequency and
magnitude of induced voltage of the rotor

If the rotor of an induction motor is rotating, the

frequency of the induced voltages (as well as the induced
currents) in the rotor circuit is no longer the same as the
frequency of its stator.
Under such a running operation, the frequency of the
induced voltages (and the currents) in the rotor is
directly related to the slip rpm (i.e., the relative speed
between the rotating field and the shaft speed of the
rotor). Therefore:

Also:

where f2 or fr is the frequency of the voltage

and current in the rotor winding.
The voltage induced in the rotor circuit at a given slip s
can be found simply by:

where E2 is the induced voltage in the rotor

circuit at standstill.