INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRICAL MACHINES

Types and Fundamentals of Electrical Machines

What are Electrical Machines?

These are electrical Devices in which electromagnetics are involved, to convert electrical
energy to mechanical energy and vice versa.

Basic Elements: All electrical machines are forms of energy converters and the vast
majority are electrical-mechanical (abbreviated as electro-mechanical) which are
arranged to convert from electrical energy to mechanical energy - these are motors which
are also called sinks; and those that convert from mechanical energy to electrical energy -
also called generators and sources.
[diagram]

Different Types of Machines

Those that have rotating parts are called dynamic machines and those with non-rotating
parts are called static machines.
Rotating machines include generators and motors, while static ones are transformers.

[Diagram]

Basic Principles

There is always some form of coupling field between the electrical and mechanical
systems and in most cases, this takes the form of magnetic field. The structure on which
the magnetic field circuit is located may be either stationary or rotating depending on the
particular form of machine.
In many other cases, the coupling field is electromagnetic and field coils carrying the
field current would be wound on a magnetic structure. The iron forming this structure
will be laminated in order to reduce the field losses if the field current is alternating or
contains an alternating component.
Two forms of construction are used for the field circuit. Firstly, the so-called ‘salient
pole’ arrangement can be used, in which field coils are concentrated and wound around
protruding poles. This form of construction is only used with machines with direct-
current (d.c) field supplies.

The second form of construction is that in which the field coils are distributed in slots cut
into a cylindrical magnetic structure, and this arrangement is commonly used on certain
forms of alternating current (ac) generators. It is important to note at this stage that the
field structure can in general, be physically situated on either the stationary member

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(stator) or rotating member (rotor) on the machine.
The actions of all forms of electromagnetic machines are based on two fundamental laws,
these are:
1. Faraday’s law: This states that, when there is relative motion between the
magnetic field and a coil situated in the field, there will be and e.m.f induced in
that coil whose magnitude is equal to the time rate of change of flux linkage
between the field and the coil; this law is represented mathematically as shown in
equation (i)

Where represents the flux linkages

where φ represents the flux linkages.
2. Maxwell’s law: This states that, if a current-carrying conductor is placed in a
magnetic filed, a force will be exerted and relative motion will take place between
the structure carrying the conductor and that carrying the field.

ROTATIONAL MOTION
Almost all electrical machines rotate about an axis called the SHAFT of the machine.
In general, a three-dimensional vector is required to completely describe the rotation
of an object in space. However machines normally turn on a fixed shaft, so their
rotation is restricted to one angular dimension. Relative to a given end of the
machine’s shaft, the direction of rotation can be described as either clockwise (CW)
or counter clockwise (CCW).

ANGULAR POSITION θ
The angular position θ of an object is the angle at which it is oriented measured from
some arbitrary reference point. Angular position is usually measured in radians or
degrees. Its linear concept equivalent is distance along a line.

ANGULAR VELOCITY (ω)

Angular velocity (or speed) is the rate of change of angular position with respect to
time. It is assumed to be positive if the rotation is counter clockwise in direction.

If θ =angular displacement,
ω = angular velocity,
then

If the unit of angular position is radians, then angular velocity is measured in radians per
second. Engineers usually more often use revolution per second (rev./s) and revolution
per minute (rev./ min) to describe the machine speed.

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MAGNETIC FIELD

A magnetic field is the fundamental mechanism by which energy is converted from one
form to another in motors, generators and transformers. Four basic principles describe
how magnetic fields are used in these devices.
1. A current - carrying wire produces a magnetic field in the area around it.
2. A time - changing magnetic field induces a voltage in a coil of wire if it passes
through the coil (this is the basis of the transformer action).
3. A current - carrying wire in the presence of a magnetic field has s force acting on
it (This is the basis for the motor action).
4. A moving wire in the presence of a magnetic field has a voltage induced in it
(This is the basis of the generator action).

PRODUCTION OF A MAGNETIC FIELD

The basic law governing the production of a magnetic field by a current is Ampere’s law:

Where H is the magnetic field intensity produced by the current Inet and dl is a
differential element of length along the path of integration. In S.I unit, I is in Amperes,
and H is measured in ampere-turns per metre.

MAGNETIC FIELD INTENSITY (H)

Magnetic field intensity, H is in a sense, a measure of the ‘effort’ that a current is putting
into the establishment of a magnetic field.
Another term of importance to us is the magnetic flux density B. The relationship
between H and B is:

B=μH

Where:
H= Magnetic Field Intensity
μ= magnetic permeability of the material
B= resulting magnetic flux density

The units of magnetic field intensity as we have said is A-n/m (ampere-turns per metre);
the unit of permeability is Henrys per metre, and the unit of flux density is webers per
square metre also known as Tesla (T).

The permeability of free space is denoted as μo and

μo= 4π × 10-7 H/m

The permeability of any other material compared to the permeability of free space is

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called relative permeability μr

and μr = μ/ μo or μ= μr μo

Induced Voltage on a conductor moving in a magnetic field

If a wire with the proper orientation moves through a magnetic field, a voltage is induced
in it. This is shown in Figure 5

Figure 5. a conductor moving in the presence of a magnetic field

The voltage induced in the wire above is given as:

Vector lpoints long the directionof the wire making a very small angle with respect to the
vector . The voltage in the conductor will be built up so that, the positive end will
be in the direction of the vector .

For example
In figure 4 above supposing that the conductor is moving with a velocity of 5.0m/s to the
right in the presence of the magnetic field. The flux density conductor is 1.0m in length
oriented as shown. What are the magnitude and polarity of the resulting voltage?

Solution
The direction of the quantity is up. Therefore, the voltage in the conductor will be
built up positive at the top with respect to the bottom of the conductor.

The directionof vector l is up, so that it makes the smallest angle with repect to the vector
.

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Since V is perpendicular to B and is almost parallel to l, the magnitude of the
induced voltage is:

Thus the induced voltage is 2.5V, positive at the top of the wire

ASSIGNMENT
Tutorial: figure 6 shows a conductor moving with a velocity of 10m/s to the right in the
permanent presence of the magnetic field. The flux densities is 0.5T out of the page and
the the conductor is 1.0m in length oriented as shown. What are the magnitude and
polarity of the resulting induced voltage?

FORCE ACTING ON A CONDUCTOR PLACED IN A MAGNETIC FIELD

A current carrying conductor placed in a magnetic field moves as a result of produced
force acting on it. This concept is illustrated in figure 7

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Figure 7. current carrying conductor in the presence of a magnetic field

The conductor is placed in a uniform magnetic filed of flux density B pointing into the
page. The conductor itself is L meter long and carriers a current of i amperes.

The force acting o the conductor is given by:

Where i = magnitude of current in conductor

l = length of conductor, with direction of l defined to be in the direction of current
flow
B = magnetic flux density vector

The direction of the force is given by the right hand rule; this states that: if the index
finger of the right ahnd points in the ndirection of the current and l vector and the middle
finger points in the direction of the flux density vector B, then the thub points in the
direction of the resultant force on the wire.

The magnitude of this force is given by the equation

F = iLB sin Ө
Where Ө = angle between the length vector and the flux density vector l and B are the
magnitude of vector l (l) and vector B(B) respectively

Example: Consider the figure 7 (earlier considered); with the magnetic flux density
B=0.25T; the conductor is 1.0m long and carriers a current of 0.5A. what are the
magnitude and direction of the force acing on the conductor?

Solution
The direction of the foce is given by the right hand rule and it is acting to the right

The magnitude

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ANGULAR ACCELERATION (α)
Angular acceleration is the rate of change in angular velocity with respect to time. It is
assumed positive if the angular velocity is increasing in an algebraic sense.
If α = angular acceleration
then,

TORQUE (τ)
Torque can be defined as the ‘twisting force’ on an object.
Consider figures 1 and 2 below:

F
F

The cylinder is free to rotate about its axis. A force applied to the cylinder so that it
passes through the axis of the rotation produces no torque in 1. In 2, a force applied to the
cylinder so that its line of action misses the axis of rotation produces a counter clockwise
torque.
Generally, the torque of an object is defined as the product of the force applied to the
object and the smallest distance between the line of action of the force, and the objects

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axis of rotation.
If r is a vector pointing from the axis of rotation to the point of application of the force,
and F is the applied force, then the torque can be described as (see figure 3)
Torque (τ) is the product of the force applied and the perpendicular distance from the line
of action of the force to the axis of rotation of the object.
τ = (F) × (rsinθ)
= rFsinθ (Newton-metres)……….. (iv)

Where θ is the angle between the vector r and the vector F.

The direction of the torque is clockwise if it would tend to cause a clockwise rotation and
vice versa.
Figure 3 illustrates the derivation of the equation for the torque on an object.

Newton’s Law of Rotation and Power Relationships

Newton’s law for objects moving along a straight line describes the relationship between
the force applied to an object and its resulting acceleration. This relationship is given by
the equation:

F=ma
Where F = net force applied to an object
m = mass of the object
a = resulting acceleration

F is in Newton (N), m in kilogramme (kg) and a in metres per second square (m/s2)

A similar equation describes the relationship between the torque applied to an object and
its resulting angular acceleration. This relationship is given by the equation:

τ=Јα
Where τ is the net applied torque in Newton-metre (Nm) and α is the resulting angular

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acceleration in radians per second square. The term J serves the same as an object’s mass
in linear motion. It is called the moment of inertia of the object and it’s measured in
kilogram-metres square (kg-m2).

Work (W)
For linear motion, work is defined as the application of a force through a distance.
In equation form,

W=∫Fdr
Where it is assumed that the force is co-linear with the direction of the motion. For the
special case of a constant force applied collinearly with the direction of the motion, the
equation just becomes just:
W=Fr

The unit of work is Joules

For rotational motion, a work is the application of a torque through an angle. Here the
equation for work is:

W=∫τdθ

And if the torque is constant,

W=τθ................................................ (vi)

Where θ is the angle through which the object moves. See the figure 4 below

From the figure:

Torque (τ) is the product of the perpendicular distance and force

τ = (rsinθ) × F

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this acts in an anti-clockwise direction.

Power (P)

Since power is the rate of doing work or the increase in work per unit time, the equation
for power is therefore:

It is generally measured in Joules per second or Watts.

By the above equation, and assuming that force is constant and collinear with the
direction of motion, putting equation (v) into equation (vii),

Where V is linear Velocity in m/s

Similarly, putting equation (vi) into equation (vii), and assuming a constant torque, power
in a rotational motion is given by:

where ω is angular velocity in radians/s

Equation (9) above is very important in the study of electric machines, because it can
describe the mechanical power on the shaft of a generator or motor. The relationship is
the correct relationship among power, torque and speed if power is measured in Watts,
torque in Newton-metres and speed in radians per second.

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