EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 1

EEE102
POWER NETWORKS
12/15/2020 Chapter 12 - Three-Phase Circuits
 12.1 Introduction
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 Three-phase systems are important for 3 major

reasons:
 Nearly all electric power is generated and distributed in
three-phase, at the operating frequency of 60 Hz in the
US or 50 Hz in some other parts of the world.
 When one phase or two phase inputs are required, they are
taken from the three phase system rather than generated
independently.
 Even when more than 3 phases are required, eg. In the
aluminium industry where 48 phases are needed for melting
purposes, they can be provided by manipulating the 3 phases.

EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020

 12.1 Introduction
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 Secondly, the instantaneous power in a three phase

system can be constant (not pulsating).
 This results in uniform power transmission and less
vibration of three-phase machines.
 Thirdly, for the same amount of power, the three-phase
system is more economical than the single-phase.
 The amount of wire required for a three-phase system is
less than that required for an equivalent single-phase
system.

EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020

 12.2 Balanced Three-Phase Voltages
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 Three phase voltages are produced with a three-

phase ac generator which basically consists of:
 A rotating magnet (rotor) surrounded by…
 … a stationary winding (stator).
 Three separate windings or
coils with terminals a-a’,
b-b’, and c-c’ are physically
placed 120° apart around
the stator.

EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020

 12.2 Balanced Three-Phase Voltages
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 As the rotor rotates, its magnetic field “cuts” the

flux from the three coils and induces voltages in the
coils.
 Because the coils are placed 120° apart, the
induced voltages in the coils are equal in
magnitude but out of phase by 120°.

EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020

 12.2 Balanced Three-Phase Voltages
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 A three-phase system consists of three voltage

sources and is equivalent to three single-phase
circuits.
 The voltage sources can be either:
 Wye (Y)-connected or…
 … delta (∆)-connected.

EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020

 12.2 Balanced Three-Phase Voltages
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 Consider Y-connected voltages:

 Voltages Van, Vbn, and Vcn are between lines a, b, c and
the neutral line n.
 These voltages are called phase voltages.
 Balanced phase voltages are equal in magnitude
and are out of phase with each other by 120°.

EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020

 12.2 Balanced Three-Phase Voltages
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 The phase sequence is the time

order in which the voltages pass
through their respective
amplitudes.
 abc/positive sequence:
V  V 0,
an p

Vbn  V p   120,
Vcn  V p   120  V p   240

 acb/negative sequence:
Van  V p 0,
Vcn  V p   120,
Vbn  V p   240  V p   120

EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020

 12.2 Balanced Three-Phase Voltages
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 A three-phase load can be either y-connected or delta-

connected.
 A balanced load is one in
which the phase impedances
are equal in magnitude and
in phase.
 For a balanced y-connected
load: Z Z Z Z
1 2 3 Y

 For a balanced delta-connected

load: Z A  Z B  ZC  Z

EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020

 12.2 Balanced Three-Phase Voltages
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 The impedance transform for Y-∆ is:

Z   3ZY
 There are 4 possible connections for the source-
load:
 Y-Y connection
 Y-∆ connection
 ∆- ∆ connection
 ∆-Y connection
 PP 12.1
EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020
 12.3 Balanced Y-Y connection
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 Phase voltages:
Van  V p 0
Vbn  V p   120
Vcn  V p   120
 Line voltages:
Vab  3V p 30

Vbc  3V p   90

Vca  3V p   210

EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020

 12.3 Balanced Y-Y connection
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 Line currents are the same as phase currents

whereby: Van
Ia 
ZY
 An alternative way of analyzing a balanced Y-Y
system is to do so on a “per-phase” basis.

 PP 12.2
EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020
 12.4 Balanced Y-∆ connection
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 Phase voltages (same as Y-Y):

Van  V p 0
Vbn  V p   120
Vcn  V p   120
 Line voltages (same as Y-Y):
Vab  3V p 30

Vbc  3V p   90

Vca  3V p   210

EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020

 12.4 Balanced Y-∆ connection
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 Currents:
I a  3 I AB   30
I b  I a   120
I c  I a   120
 For the single phase equivalent circuit, the ∆-
connected load needs to be transformed to its Y-
connected equivalent: Z Y  Z 
3

 PP 12.3
EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020
 12.5 Balanced ∆-∆ connection
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 Phase voltages are the same as line voltages,

whereby:
Vab  V p 0  VAB
Vbc  V p   120  VBC
Vca  V p   120  VCA
 Currents (same as Y-∆):
I a  3 I AB   30
I b  I a   120
I c  I a   120
EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020
 12.5 Balanced ∆-∆ connection
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 The single phase Y-Y equivalent of the ∆-∆ circuit is:

 Note that the ∆-connected source and load has been transformed
into its Y-equivalents using:
Vp
Van    30 Vbn  Van   120 Vcn  Van   120
3
Z
ZY 
3

 PP 12.4
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 12.6 Balanced ∆-Y connection
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 Phase voltages are the same as line voltages,

whereby (same as ∆-∆):
Vab  V p 0  VAB
Vbc  V p   120  VBC
Vca  V p   120  VCA
 Currents: V p
  30
Ia  3
ZY
I b  I a   120 I c  I a   120

EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020

 12.6 Balanced ∆-Y connection
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 Alternate methods to solving ∆-Y:

a) Convert ∆-source to
equivalent Y-source (fig):
Vp
Van    30 Vbn  Van   120 Vcn  Van   120
3
Vp
b) Convert Y-load to VAN    30
equivalent ∆-load: 3
VCN  V AN   120 VBN  V AN   120

 PP 12.5
EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020
 12.7 Power in a Balanced System
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 The total instantaneous power in a balanced system three-

phase system is constant – it doesn’t change with time as the
instantaneous power of each phase does, or whether the load
is Y or ∆ connected.
 The total complex power:
2
* 3V
S  3S p  3V p I p  3I p2 Z p  *  P  jQ  3VL I L 
p

Zp
 Where Vp, Ip, VL and IL are all rms values and θ is the angle of
the load impedance or the angle between the phase voltage and
the phase current.
 PP 12.6, 12.7, 12.8
EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020
 References
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 Fundamentals of Electric Circuits, 4th Edition –

Alexander Sadiku, McGraw Hill.

EEE3183 – Circuits and Signals 2 12/15/2020