Unit 1 Basic Concept of Electric Machine Design

1.1 Basic concept of design

Let’s first study a very simple question.

Question: How to design an electric wire which connects an electric

lamp and a battery together?

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The material of the wire should be a conductor.
 realize the function to conduct electric current.

Consider two possible designs:

 If the diameter of the wire is too small, the copper loss will
be high  the temperature rise will be high.

 If the diameter of the wire is too large, the cost will be

high  the volume (size) will be large.


(1) The component/device should perform specified
functions.
(2) We design the sizes, etc, according to its limitations
(constraints).
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Question: What should we consider when we design an
electric machine?
The function of an electric machine：
a bridge to convert energies.

Electric machine is connected with outside through ports.

Electric port: the terminals of windings
Mechanical port: shaft

Electric
Winding Shaft
machine

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1.2 Excitation (source) and load
Electric motor
Excitation: applied voltage\current on the terminals
of windings
(Input)
Load: speed vs torque characteristic
(Output) tw (omega)

Voltage\ Electric Torque

Current motor \Speed

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Electric generator
Excitation: applied torque\speed on shaft
(Input)
Load:
current vs voltage characteristic
(Output)

Torque Electric Voltage\

\Speed generator Current

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1.3 Analysis and design

Usually the load is always known.

Analysis:

 If the structure, sizes, excitation of a machine have already

been determined,

how to predict its performance, such as speed, torque, and

power efficiency?

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Design: is the inverse problem of analysis

 If the performance, such as speed, torque, power efficiency,

is expected,
how to determine the structure, sizes, and excitation?
(design parameters)

Analysis
Machine Performance

Design

Design is the application of science and technology to the

realization of a machine to perform specified functions
with optimum economy and efficiency.
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Basic analysis method
d d
u  ri 
Electric port: dt Coupling term: Emf dt
d
J  Te  Tl
Mechanical port: dt Coupling term: Electromagnetic torque Te

Magnetic field (as a medium to convert energy):

 H  J ,  B  0
d
 Electromotive force dt
Electromagnetic torque Te

By solving above equations, we can obtain the performance of electric

machines.

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General design method

Two basic methods:

(1) Trial and error (trial by error)
(2) Optimization

 In our course we will mainly talk about how to determine the initial design.
 The result of design is usually not unique.
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The design activities include a balanced consideration of the
following:

 Meet customer’s requirements, interpret specifications.

 Improve performance.
 Reduce cost (cost analysis).
 Meet standards and codes.
 Consider manufacturing and transport facilities.

 Need previous experience (previous similar design, data

sources such as previous contracts, technical journals,
research reports; results from research and development.)
 Research into extension of technology of materials.
 Check limitations.
 Need optimization.
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 Need new ideas (invention).

 Subdivide into specialist design areas; coordination;

organize design team, allocation of tasks; technical
design analysis; prediction of performance; synthesis of
group designs; matching and compatibility; achievement
of specifications and guarantees.

 Transfer of design to factory floor (prepare drawings,

instructions, processes); job-flow; timing; delivery date.

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1.4 Main concerns in machine design

 Many of the items are interrelated.

For example, the choice of slot dimensions, affects

 torque ripple
 leakage flux, and therefore
 leakage reactance
 starting performance
 torque/speed relation
 ventilation, heating, etc

 The analytical relations between them are indirect

and not easy to formulate.
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The main design areas are:

 The magnetic field/magnetic circuit  magnetic

 The windings  electric
 The machine controller  power electronic
 The insulation, iron cores  materials
 The heat dissipation  ventilation, thermal
 The vibration control  mechanical
 The noise control  acoustic
 The mechanical construction  mechanical

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1.5 The balance between iron and copper
iron core

Electric machine = Iron + Copper

eddy current loss

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 Iron  magnetic part  core loss (iron loss)

core loss = eddy-current loss + hysteresis loss

core loss  B2  2  U2 E  4.44KwTphm f

Core loss doesn’t change with load if voltage is

constant. I

 Copper  winding part  copper loss I2R

changes with I  changes with load
Usually when
core loss = copper loss,
the efficiency reaches the highest.
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Prove:
Suppose we have a d.c. electric motor
The input power: P1  UI
Copper loss: P Cu  I 2
R
 U , Fe  2
Core loss (iron loss): PFe
2 P kU k is a constant
The output power: P2  P1  PCu  PFe  UI  I 2
R  kU 2

The efficiency:
P2 UI  I 2 R  kU 2 I 2 R  kU 2 IR kU
  1  1 
P1 UI UI U I
Case 1: connected to a constant voltage U
d R kU
0   2 0
Let dI :  I 2 R  kU 2 
U I
PCu  PFe
Case 2: connected to a constant current I
d R k
0  0
Let dU : U 2
I 2  I 2 R  kU 2  PCu  PFe

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 1.6 Limitations of the design

To a certain volume of the machine, there are

limitations to convert energies:

 further
Thermal  temperature rise
 limitation of current
increase of current -> increase of
temp. , so it can melt, so limit current

 Saturation  flux density B in iron cores

further increase to magnetic filed does not increase further  limitation of voltage
for material, if a magnetic material reaches saturation;

magnetization
 Dielectric  voltage on windings
dielectric is insulator in fancy term
 limitation of voltage
 Elastic  mechanical stress
 limitation of force

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Temperature rises can be measured by

1) Thermometer: However it is difficult to

measure the hot spots inside machines
and hence this represents rather crude
measurements.
2) Infra-red scanner: This measures the
surface temperature only and the hot
spots are not detected.
3) Change in winding resistance: This
measures the average temperature rises of
the windings. Based on the temperature - resistance
curve of copper/aluminium, the measurement
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represents the most reliable thermal profile of the
motor. However one may have to de-energise the
motor during measurement and hence such
measurements might not be taken readily.
   1  a(t  t )
Resistivity: t 15 15

where a: temperature coefficient. For copper, a  0.004 C1 ;

t
At 15  15
C 
, 15  0.0175  106
 m .
At t20=20C, 20=15[1+0.004×(20-15)] = 15×1.02.
At t75=75C, 75=15[1+0.004×(75-15)] = 15×1.24.

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4) Embedded thermocouple: The thermocouples have
to be installed during the manufacturing stage and
hence might not be applicable to all motors.

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1.7 Other technological factors need to be considered

 Choice of materials:
 Irons
 Conductors
 Insulation
 Coolant (very large machines), e.g., water, oil,
hydrogen

 Elimination of undesirable performance, such as

 Cogging torque
Cogging torque, also known as detent torque or reluctance torque, refers to the
phenomenon of periodic fluctuations in the torque output of a motor or
generator caused by the interaction between the permanent magnets and the
teeth of the stator or rotor. It is most commonly observed in brushless DC
motors, permanent magnet motors, and generators.
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 Crawling torque

Speed – torque characteristic of an induction motor

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  Vibration and noise

 Harmonic distortion

if you try to measure AC frequency, that 220Hz signal wouldn't be totally perfect. It would
have some slight distortion in it. That distortion comes partially from harmonics, which in this
case, would be components of the signal at 440Hz, 660Hz, 880Hz, etc. - all multiples (2x, 3x,
4x). Ofcourse, the harmonic frequency does not limit to multiples of fundamental frequency 24
1.8 Selection of rotating machines

(1) D.C. machine

 Easy to control
 Need dc source; has commutator and brushes

Commutator and brushes are exclusive to DC, AC does not need these

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(2) Induction machine AC
 Robust, cheap
 Not easy to control, power factor < 1.0

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A single-phase induction motor

A three-phase induction motor

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(3) Synchronous machine AC
 High power factor
 A little complicated structure
In contrast, synchronous motors operate at a power
factor that is closer to unity or even leading power
factor. Synchronous motors have a This synchronous
operation enables the motor to generate a magnetic
field that is in phase with the supply voltage, resulting
in a power factor close to unity.

Induction motor: synchronous motor:

stator and rotor magnetic field affect p.f. needs to operate at close to unity or even leading p.f.
P.f. is affected under load conditions: This type of motor has separate excitation source, such
-full load: typically operate under lagging p.f. as a DC field winding or permanent magnets, which
(less than utility), which means phase difference allows them to operate at a constant speed that is
between voltage and current waveforms synchronized with the frequency of the power supply.
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1.9 Basic structures of electric machines

A rotating machine consists of two

structural parts:
1. The stator: stationary component.
2. The rotor: rotating component.

The stator and rotor are separated by

an air gap.

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Cylindrical 隱極: Salient pole 突極:

oles are cylindrical in shape and evenly salient pole rotor has protruding poles
distributed around the rotor circumference. that extend outward from the rotor core.
These poles have a salient or projected
The possible combinations are: shape, resembling a claw or tooth.

Stator Rotor Examples

1 Cylindrical Cylindrical Induction machine, cylindrical rotor synchronous machine
2 Cylindrical Salient pole Salient pole synchronous machine, brushless PM d.c. motor
3 Salient pole Cylindrical D.C. machine
4 Salient pole Salient pole Stepping motor, switched reluctance motor

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 Single phase induction machine
(Cylindrical stator – Cylindrical rotor)

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cylindrical, has
smooth windings all around

sailent pole: use magnet and is rugged,

not smoothed out; seems to form relationship

A PM synchronous machine
(Cylindrical stator - Salient pole rotor)

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 D.C. machine
(Salient pole stator – Cylindrical rotor)

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 Switched reluctance motor
(Salient pole stator – Salient pole rotor)

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1.10 Special interests in electric machine design

(1) The copper part

Skin effect

Skin effect is due to the circulating eddy currents (arising from a

changing H field) cancelling the current flow in the center of a
conductor and reinforcing it in the skin.

Distribution of current flow in a cylindrical conductor,

is shown in cross section. For alternating current, most
(63%) of the electrical current flows between the
surface and the skin depth, δ, which depends on the

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frequency f of the current and the electrical and magnetic properties
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
of the conductor. f , where  : conductivity;  = magnetic
permeability.

Having understood the phenomena

of skin effect let us now see why this
arises in case of an AC system. To
have a clear understanding of that look
into the cross sectional view of the
conductor during the flow of
alternating current.
Let us initially consider the solid
conductor to be split up into a number
of annular filaments spaced infinitely small distance apart, such that
each filament carries an infinitely small fraction of the total current.
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Like if the total current = I.
Let’s consider the conductor to be split up into n filament
carrying current ‘i’ such that I = n i.
Now during the flow of an alternating current, the current carrying
filaments lying on the core has a flux linkage with the entire
conductor cross section including the filaments of the surface as well
as those in the core.
Whereas the flux set up by the outer filaments is restricted only to the
surface itself and is unable to link with the inner filaments.
Thus the flux linkage of the conductor increases as we move closer
towards the core and at the same rate increases the inductance as it
has a direct proportionality relationship with flux linkage.
This results in a larger inductive reactance being induced into the core
as compared to the outer sections of the conductor. The high value of
reactance in the inner section results in the current being distributed
in an un-uniform manner and forcing the bulk of the current to flow
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through the outer surface or skin giving rise to the phenomena
called skin effect.
Types of windings:
 Stranded winding: many very thin conductors coated with
insulation (e.g. paint) winded together  eddy-current can be
ignored

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 Solid conductor: a lump of conductor
e.g. the bar in the squirrel cage of induction motors;
shaped winding in large machines
 eddy-current needs to be considered

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(2) The iron part

It is the path let magnetic flux flow, which may be of cylindrical or

salient pole construction.

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Iron core also known as alternating or time-varying
flux, refers to the flow of a physical
quantity that changes with time. Magnetic
 Made of mild steel or alternating flux corresponds to a magnetic
field that varies in magnitude and direction
laminated silicon steel. over time.
Typically appears in AC system

 Solid core (mild steel) is used where uni-directional magnetic

flux is to be encountered
e.g. stator yokes of d.c. machines.

 Laminated core is required if alternating flux is present

e.g. stator/rotor core of an induction machine,
stator core of a synchronous machine.

 Laminated core increases the resistivity (along axial

direction) of the steel and hence reduce the eddy current
loss;
 but increases cost; makes the steel harder and more brittle.
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Examples of laminated silicon steel

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Solid iron core carrying an ac flux: Eddy current is reduced
by splitting the core in half:

Resistance = p * l/S
since S smaller, resistance
Core built up of thin, insulated laminations: larger, eddy current smaller

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EMF is induced in a revolving armature: large eddy current is produced:

 
e  v B  L

Armature built up of thin laminations: much smaller eddy current is

produced:

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(3) Air gap

 Necessary for mechanical clearance.

 Major drawback: a large portion of the mmf
(magnetic motive force) is consumed within the air
gap. Air has a relatively high reluctance compared to other magnetic
materials like iron or steel. Therefore, significant portion of the MMF is

 Small or large? required to push the magnetic flux across the air gap.

 For induction machines, small air gap required in

order to give high operating power factors.
 For d.c. and synchronous machines, relatively
large air gaps are required in order to reduce
armature reaction effect.
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(4) Slots
 Slots are necessary for accommodating the windings.
 Slots may be open, semi-closed or closed, as shown in Fig. 4:

(a) Open slot (b) Semi-closed slot (c) Closed slot

Fig. 4 Common slot shapes

 Open slots: used in the armatures of large a.c.

generators, usually for shaped conductors.
Merit:
 Magnetic reluctance ( 磁 阻 ) for leakage
flux is large
 small leakage reactance X=L.
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 Demerit: large high-order harmonics of magnetic flux density
in the air gap:

 Closed slots: used in rotors of squirrel cage induction motors

(for cast aluminium or copper bar).
Demerit:
 Magnetic reluctance (磁阻) for leakage flux is small.
 large leakage flux and leakage reactance X=L.

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  Semi-closed slots: used in stators and rotors of induction
motors.

 The leakage reactance depends upon slot dimensions as well as the

slot shape.
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(5) Magnetic field

Magnetic field is taken as the medium for energy

conversion between electrical system and mechanical
system.
 Required for production of emf (electromotive
force) and torque interaction:
 Flux cutting (generator) rule: e = Blv
 Motor rule: f = Bli

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 In d.c. machines, both the armature mmf and field
mmf are stationary (Fig. 2a).

(a) D.C. machine

Field and armature mmfs in rotating machines

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 In induction machines and rotating-field type
synchronous machines, both the stator mmf and
rotor mmf rotate at synchronous speed in space.

(b) Induction machine (c) Synchronous machine

Field and armature mmfs in rotating machines

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References

[1] http://www.electrical4u.com/
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
[3] http://www.electrical4u.com/skin-effect-in-transmission-lines/

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