Efficient Electric Motors Performance Under

Voltage Variation Conditions

Jonathan Muñoz Tabora
Amazon Energy Efficiency Center
Federal University of Pará (UFPA)
Belém, Pará, Brazil
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5322-7212
2023 IEEE Kansas Power and Energy Conference (KPEC) | 979-8-3503-3540-8/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/KPEC58008.2023.10215475
Lauro Correa dos Santos Júnior
Amazon Energy Efficiency Center
Federal University of Pará (UFPA)
Belém, Pará, Brazil
ortiz@ufpa.br
Maria Emília de Lima Tostes
Amazon Energy Efficiency Center
Federal University of Pará (UFPA)
Belém, Pará, Brazil
tostes@ufpa.br

Edson Ortiz de Matos Ubiratan Holanda Bezerra

Amazon Energy Efficiency Center Amazon Energy Efficiency Center
Federal University of Pará (UFPA) Federal University of Pará (UFPA)
Belém, Pará, Brazil Belém, Pará, Brazil
ortiz@ufpa.br ubiratan.fapespa@gmail.com

Abstract— Electric motors can be found in almost every
country in the world, which places them subject to operation
according to the country/region's nominal voltages. Since not all
countries are motor manufacturers, a large number of motors
can operate at non-rated voltages without this representing a
poor quality of electrical service in the country. Considering
that under new regulations adopted by many countries such as
the Minimum Energy Performance Standards, efficient motors
will become mandatory in developing countries, therefore, the
impact of voltage variation on these machines becomes
important in order to evaluate their tolerance to this
disturbance. This paper presents an evaluation of the impact of
voltage variation on two 0.75 kW class IE2 and IE3 squirrel cage
induction motors. The results show that the operation with
undervoltage can represent lower currents and higher power
factor, contrary to the overvoltage normally used in some
countries industries.
Keywords—induction motors, undervoltage, overvoltage,
high-efficiency motors, voltage variation
I. INTRODUCTION
A. General Considerations
The new editions of IEC 60034-30-1 [1] will define the
IE5 efficiency class, and in Europe, the IE4 class will be valid
for motors between 75 kW and 200 kW from July 2023 [2],
so it is expected that more countries will follow these
regulations. Electric motors are tested for a specific voltage
and frequency from which parameters such as efficiency,
currents, torque, and power factor are determined and listed
on the motor nameplate.
Efficiencies in IEC 60034-30-1 are listed based on power
output, the number of poles/speeds, and frequency for each
efficiency class in electric motors. However, it is known that
efficiency varies with the voltage in the electric motor [3, p.
10], which results in deviations in the performance of electric
motors operating in electrical systems with different voltages
than the nominal ones, and therefore, voltage variation must
be considered in electric motor performance studies by
manufacturers and end users.
B. Related Works
Studies have demonstrated the importance of motors
operating as close as possible to their nominal nameplate
voltage values in order to avoid additional costs due to power
consumption, power factor, and reduced lifetime [4].
Literature assessing the effects of voltage variation was
documented in the late 1920s, where a detailed evaluation of
a 5 hp motor under conditions of voltage variation was
performed by the authors in [5], and the detrimental effects of
this disturbance were already apparent. When assessing
torque, slip, efficiency, and power factor, the study found that
core losses are directly proportional to the magnitude of the
voltage. On the other hand, Joule losses exhibit greater
increases during undervoltage compared to overvoltage,
although both cases result in higher losses than the nominal
condition. Similar results are found in [6] regarding efficiency
and losses using a squirrel cage induction motor (SCIM)
design program.
The work carried out at [7] utilizes a dynamic model of the
motor constructed in Simulink to assess the effects of voltage
and frequency variations on SCIMs. Upon analyzing the
undervoltage scenario, the model's findings reveal that core
losses vary with voltage magnitude and, to a lesser extent,
with variations in the load. On the other hand, Joule losses
decrease as voltage magnitude decreases.
The work presented in [8] showed that the efficiency
varies proportionally with voltage magnitude, however up to
values of 1.05 p.u., after which it begins to decrease. In [9],
the effects of voltage variation were also presented including
a case study as well as the effects of this disturbance on
temperature. Voltage unbalance can even aggravate its effects
when combined with the variation in magnitudes, as has been
presented in [10]–[12], and with even worse impacts for new
technologies [13]. For the substitution between technologies,
the voltage magnitude is a parameter that must also be
observed, as it has been seen to influence the motor current
which can result in misinterpretations of the load connected to
the motor [14].
C. Motivation and Contribution
In Central America and specifically in Honduras, two
connections can be used in small industries to feed electric
motors, one of them is the star connection, which provides
three-phase voltages of 208 V, and the other is the delta
connection, with three-phase voltages of 240 V. However,
since there are no electric motor manufacturers in the region,
motors are imported from North America, South America, and
Europe (Figure 1), resulting in the operation of electric motors
with performance deviations. Considering that according to
the IEC 60038-2009 and NEMA standards, the motors can
operate at different voltages from the nominal ones, however,

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their performance can also be affected, resulting in higher
operating costs in terms of consumption and reactive power,
so the assessment of these impacts becomes important in order
to take actions that can minimize them.
Fig. 1. Most typical voltages found in CA in SCIM´s (Motor in delta
Connection).
D. Paper Organization
This work is presented as follows: Section II presents a
brief problem statement about the voltage variation causes in
Honduras, then in section III the proposed methodology to
obtain the results of section IV is presented, to finish with the
final considerations on the proposed study.
Fig. 2. Open-Delta transformers connection: Loads typical typology (left), and voltage phasor diagram for open delta transformers configuration (right).
Fig. 3. Star transformers connection: Loads typical typology (left), and voltage phasor diagram for star transformers configuration (right).
B. Induction Motors Equivalent Circuit
The internal components of the induction motor can be
represented by an equivalent circuit of resistances and
inductances (Figure 4), such as the stator coils (Rs) and rotor
bars (Rr), the ferromagnetic core (Rc), as well as the stator
(Xs) and rotor (Xr) stray magnetic fields, and the core
magnetic fields (Xm).
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II. PROBLEM STATEMENT
A. Voltage Variation Causes
Alternating current voltages in a given electrical system
may vary according to the IEC 60038-2009 standard, the same
occurs with electric motors, which are usually built according
to the voltages present in the manufacturing country. These
two separate facts can result in the operation of electric motors
with non-nominal voltages; in Honduras and taking as an
example a motor with nominal voltage of 220V, two voltages
can be found, 208V and 240V.
The line voltages are obtained from the secondary
connection of the transformers. Figures 3 and 4 show
transformer configurations in star and open delta (connection
made from two single-phase transformers, typically used in
areas of difficult access in Honduras), as well as the respective
phasor diagrams for each connection. The triangle connection
(independently with two or three transformers) produces three
supply voltages, with three-phase line-to-line voltages of 240
Volts, and line-to-neutral voltages of 120 V/208 V(c-n), as
presented in the phasor diagram in Figure 3. While in the star
connection, the line-to-neutral voltages of 120 V, produce line-
to-neutral voltages of 208 V out of phase by 120 degrees, as
presented in Figure 4.
In Figure 4, Vs is the stator per-phase voltage, Is the stator
phase current, Im the magnetizing phase current, Ir is the rotor
phase current, Rs is the stator resistance; Xs is the stator
leakage reactance; Rc the core loss resistance; Xm the
magnetizing reactance; Rr the rotor resistance referred to the
stator, Xr=sXb the rotor leakage reactance referred to the
stator and s the slip.
Fig. 4. Equivalent per-phase circuit for a squirrel cage induction motor.

This representation allows analyzing the response of the

motor both in ideal conditions as well as those different from
the nominal ones existing in all electrical systems. The node
that connects the stator current (motor input current) is
highlighted in Figure 4, it can be seen as the sum of two Fig. 5. Stator current for voltage variation conditions with no-load.
currents, the core current (Im) necessary to create the magnetic
fields that produce a resulting torque, while the rotor current It is possible to observe how, with no load connected to the
(Ir) is due to the load connected to the motor shaft. In the circuit motor shaft (Ir=0, theoretically), the input current (Is=Im)
can also be observed three voltages, the supply voltage (Vs) varies according to the voltage supply magnitude present on
and the stator and rotor induced voltages (Es, Er), resulting the motor. Thus, it would be expected that these voltage
from the induced magnetic fields, it can be observed how the conditions would also impact the motor at full load conditions
latter will depend on the magnitude of the input voltage. and also on the motor protections. To assess the impact of
voltage magnitude on SCIM, the next section will present the
C. Voltage Variation Conditions methodology used.
The induced emf in the stator and rotor windings are related
III. METHODOLOGY
to the magnetic field inside the machine, according to
equations (1) and (2), from which it is further induced that the The data used in this study was obtained from the
stator flux is directly proportional to the ratio of the induced experimental bench shown in Figure 6. Composed by an AC
voltage to the stator frequency. programmable source (1) in which the voltage variations were
configured in the IE2 and IE3 Class motors (4). To evaluate
4.44 (1) different load conditions, the eddy current brake has been used
(3), while the motor input parameters have been recorded using
4.44 ) (2) a class “A” power quality analyzer (2). The SCIM´s nameplate
data is presented in Table I.
where is the stator frequency, s the slip, and are
the total number of the series turns per phase forming a
concentrated full-pitch winding in the stator and rotor
respectively, the mutual flux, and and the stator
and rotor winding factors.
From the equivalent circuit, we can obtain the rotor current
(equation 3), which depends on the rotor bars' voltage induced
( , which in turn depends on the mutual magnetic flux ( ,
based on which we can influence that the rotor current will not
only vary with the load (slip, s) but also with the magnitude of
the induced voltage, as will be presented in the results section.
4.44
3

Concerning the magnetizing current, when the frequency

and the motor output load remain constant for each voltage
level, the voltage variation influences the rate of change over
time of the stator flux link and therefore the induced voltage, Fig. 6. General test setup [15].
which produces a variation in the magnetizing current
according to the motor supply voltage and consequently in the TABLE I. SQUIRREL CAGE INDUCTION MOTOR PARAMETERS
motor input current. IM Class IE2 IE3
Technology SCIM, SCIM
To verify the voltage variation impacts on the induced Power 0.75 kW 0.75 kW
voltage (E1), Figure 5 shows the variation in motor stator Voltage 220/380 V 220/380 V
current (Is), with no load connected to the motor shaft at five Speed (rpm) 1730 1715
voltage variation conditions of 0.90 p.u., 0.95 p.u., 1.0 p.u., Torque (Nm) 4.12 4.13
1.05 p.u. and 1.10 p.u. based on experimental measurements. Current (A) 2.98/1.73 2.89/1.67
Efficiency (%) 80.5% 83%
Power Factor 0.80 0.82

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 For the methodology, the SCIM´s were subjected to five
voltage conditions with 0.90 p.u., 0.95 p.u., 1.0 p.u., 1.05 p.u.
and 1.10 p.u., As well as five loading conditions with 20%,
50%, 80%, 100% and 125%., the data obtained was processed
and analyzed. Figure 7 summarizes the methodology
explained above in the flowchart.
Fig. 7. General test setup.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
As mentioned before, the voltage variation will produce not
only an increase in the magnetization current, but also an
increase in the rotor current which translates into increases in
the total motor current. Figure 8 presents the variation of the
stator currents for class IE2 (Figure 8a) and IE3 (Figure 8b)
motors in the presence of voltage variation.
It is observed how the voltage variation results in greater
differences for both motors with lower loads, and where the
undervoltage results in lower currents, then in the overload
condition, the situation is reversed, and the overvoltage results
in lower currents.
(a) (b)
Fig. 8. Experimental input current in voltage variation conditions for: (a)
IE2 Class motor and (b) IE3 Class motor.
A similar scenario is observed for the active powers
(Figure 9), related to the consumption, however with smaller
variations when compared to the currents, since it is more
linked to the load connected to the motor, with lower powers
for low loads in undervoltage, and similar/lower powers for
loads close to nominal and overloads in the overvoltage
condition, therefore it can be concluded that the motor load
percentage should be a factor to be considered by the
specialists when choosing the best supply voltage for the
motors in these regions.
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(a) (b)
Fig. 9. Experimental input power in voltage variation conditions for: (a) IE2
Class motor and (b) IE3 Class motor.
In Figures 10-11, the detailed variation of reactive power
for each of the motors is observable. The equivalent circuit of
a SCIM shows the magnetizing inductance in the parallel
branch, representing the magnetic consumption in the core,
and the leakage inductance in the series branch, which is
responsible for the losses of the stray fluxes in the stator and
rotor. As long as the supply voltage remains constant, the
reactive power consumed by the magnetizing reactance is
nearly invariable; however, the reactive power consumed by
the series leakage inductance is proportional to the load,
similar to the way current varies with the load (See Figure 8),
which explains the variation of this parameter with the load.
To visualize the power factor, ridgeline plots were
developed for the IE2 and IE3 class motors. This plot is a
smoothed version of the histogram and uses a Kernel density
estimate to show the probability density of a variable, in this
case, the power factor along the motor load curve for each
voltage magnitude evaluated. The results presented in Fig. 12
and 13 show that the density curve is positioned over higher
power factor values for the undervoltage conditions, and
whose values decrease as the voltage magnitude increases,
with which it can be concluded that higher power factors over
a higher load range can be obtained for the undervoltage
condition.
1300 Q (var) - 0.90 pu
Q (var) - 0.95 pu
1150 Q (var) - 1,00 pu
Q (var) - 1.05 pu
Q (var) - 1.10 pu
1000
850
Q (var)
700
550
400
250
100
20% 50% 80% 100% 125%
Load %
Fig. 10. Reactive power as a function of load for the IE2 Class motor.
 1300
Q (var) - 0.90 pu
Q (var) - 0.95 pu
1150 Q (var) - 1,00 pu
Q (var) - 1.05 pu
Q (var) - 1.10 pu
1000

850
Q (var)

700

550

400

250

100
20% 50% 80% 100% 125%
Load %

Fig. 11. Reactive power as a function of load for the IE3 Class motor.

Fig. 14. Current total harmonic distortion in voltage variation conditions for
a 0.75 kW IE2 Class SCIM.

Fig. 12. Power Factor density plots versus voltage magnitude for the IE2
Class SCIM

Fig. 15. Current total harmonic distortion in voltage variation conditions for
a 0.75 kW IE3 Class SCIM.

Fig. 13. Power Factor density plots versus voltage magnitude for the IE3
Class SCIM
It was also observed how the voltage variation influences
the total harmonic content of the current (THDI), in Figures
14 and 15, caused mainly by the interaction of the magnetic
fields (it has been seen that the voltage variation influences the
magnetic field of the motor). In the same way it was observed
that the THDI varies with voltage magnitude, and the load
percentage, being, as expected, higher for smaller loads, since
the fundamental component is also low. However, for nominal
load and overload conditions, all voltage variation conditions
result in a higher THDI in relation to the nominal voltage, this
parameter should be observed in other technologies such as
permanent magnet motors where the harmonic content may be
higher [15], [16].
V. CONCLUSIONS
The main goal of this work was to address the operation of
electric motors in Central America, a region characterized by
the absence of electric motor manufacturers, and the
characteristic nominal voltages that make the motors operate
under conditions of voltage variation.
The results revealed that under nominal load conditions,
the voltage variation for the evaluated magnitudes does not
have a considerable impact in terms of current and active
power. The undervoltage condition proved to be better at low
load conditions, with lower active currents and power than at
nominal voltage and overvoltage. The overvoltage on the
other hand proved to be better for overload conditions.
Regarding the power factor, it was analyzed by observing
the whole load spectrum, it was observed that higher values
are obtained in the undervoltage condition, and that they
decrease as the voltage magnitude increases.
FUTURE WORKS
Currently, voltage variation experiences are being
developed considering motors with higher power ratings, as
well as evaluating other characteristics such as load starting,
and other technologies such as LSPMM and DoLSynRM.

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