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Fundamentals of AC machine windings

Introduction to AC Machines:
Classification of AC Rotating Machines
• Synchronous Machines:
• Synchronous Generators: A primary source of electrical energy.
• Synchronous Motors: Used as motors as well as power factor compensators (synchronous
condensers).
• Asynchronous (Induction) Machines:
• Induction Motors: Most widely used electrical motors in both domestic and industrial
applications.
• Induction Generators: Due to lack of a separate field excitation, these machines are rarely used as generators.
Energy Conversion
• Generators convert mechanical energy to electric energy.
• Motors convert electric energy to mechanical energy.
• The construction of motors and generators are similar.
• Every generator can operate as a motor and vice versa.
• The energy or power balance is :
– Generator: Mechanical power = electric power + losses
– Motor: Electric Power = Mechanical Power + losses.

Physical Arrangement Of Windings In Stator Are-

 Pre-manufactured coils can be inserted into the stator slots one by one to form a three-phase distributed winding
 All the windings are in a single-speed three-phase motor design.
Physical Arrangement Of Windings In Cylindrical Rotor Are-
 The windings for rotor are less complex than stator.
 The windings of a rotor are less insulated.
 The size of the cylindrical rotor winding is small as it does not need to transmit huge current through it.
Slots For Windings:
The number of slots depends on how many phases of power are provided to the coil windings. A basic single-
phase motor usually has four slots that contain two pairs of coil windings, each offset by 90 degrees; a basic
three-phase motor has six slots with three pairs of coil windings, each pair offset by 120 degrees.

Winding Diagrams: (i) DC Winding diagrams (ii) AC Winding Diagrams

Terminologies Used In Winding Diagrams:

Conductor: An individual piece of wire placed in the slots in the machine in the magnetic field.

Turn: Two conductors connected in series and separated from each other by a pole pitch so that the emf induced
will be additive.

Coil: When one or more turns are connected in series and placed in almost similar magnetic positions. Coils may
be single turn or multi turn coils.

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Conductor Coil side

Pole pitch

(a) Single turn Coil (b) 3 – turn coil (c) Multi turn coil
Fig. 1 Different types of winding coils representations

Coil group: One or more coil single coils formed in a group forms the coil group.

Winding: Number of coils arranged in coil group is said to be a winding.

Pole Pitch: Distance between the poles in terms of slots is called pole pitch.

Fig. 2 Single and Multi turn coils

Full Pitch winding: If the coil pitch for a winding is equal to pole pitch the winding is called full pitch winding
as shown in Fig .
Chorded winding: When the pitch of the winding is less than the full pitch or pole pitch then the winding is
called short pitch winding or chorded winding.

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Fig. 3 Full pitched and short pitched coils

Single layer winding: Only one coil side placed in one slot.

Double layer winding: Two coil sides are placed in a single slot. Single and double layer windings are shown
in Fig 4

Fig.4 Single and double layer windings

Classification of windings: Closed type and open type winding

Closed type windings: In this type of winding there is a closed path around the armature or stator. Starting from
any point, the winding path can be followed through all the turns and starting point can be reached. Such windings
are used in DC machines.

Open windings: There is no closed path in the windings. Such windings are used in AC machines.

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Fig. 5 Photographs of the windings and coils

AC winding design:
The windings used in rotating electrical machines can be classified as
Concentrated Windings
• All the winding turns are wound together in series to form one multi-turn coil
• All the turns have the same magnetic axis
• Examples of concentrated winding are
– field windings for salient-pole synchronous machines
– D.C. machines
– Primary and secondary windings of a transformer
Distributed Windings
• All the winding turns are arranged in several full-pitch or fractional-pitch coils
• These coils are then housed in the slots spread around the air-gap periphery to form phase or commutator
winding
• Examples of distributed winding are
– Stator and rotor of induction machines
– The armatures of both synchronous and D.C. machines

Armature windings, in general, are classified under two main heads, namely,
Closed Windings
• There is a closed path in the sense that if one starts from any point on the winding and traverses it, one
again reaches the starting point from where one had started
• Used only for D.C. machines and A.C. commutator machines

Open Windings
• Open windings terminate at suitable number of slip-rings or terminals
• Used only for A.C. machines, like synchronous machines, induction machines, etc
EMF Equation of a Synchronous Generator
The generator which runs at a synchronous speed is known as the synchronous generator. The synchronous
generator converts the mechanical power into electrical energy for the grid. The Derivation of EMF Equation of
a synchronous generator is given below.
Let,
P be the number of poles
ϕ is Flux per pole in Webers
N is the speed in revolution per minute (r.p.m)
f be the frequency in Hertz
Zph is the number of conductors connected in series per phase
Tph is the number of turns connected in series per phase
Kc is the coil span factor
Kd is the distribution factor
Flux cut by each conductor during one revolution is given as Pϕ Weber.
Time taken to complete one revolution is given by 60/N sec
Average EMF induced per conductor will be given by the equation shown below
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Winding Factors (Coil Pitch and Distributed Windings)

Pitch Factor:

Distribution Factor:
Even though we assumed concentrated winding in deriving EMF equation, in practice an
attempt is made to distribute the winding in all the slots coming under a pole. Such a winding is called distributed
winding.
In concentrated winding the EMF induced in all the coil sides will be same in magnitude and in phase with each
other. In case of distributed winding the magnitude of EMF will be same but the EMF s induced in each coil side
will not be in phase with each other as they are distributed in the slots under a pole. Hence the total EMF will not
be same as that in concentrated winding but will be equal to the vector sum of the EMF s induced. Hence it will
be less than that in the concentrated winding. Now the factor by which the EMF induced in a distributed winding
gets reduced is called distribution factor and defined as the ratio of EMF induced in a distributed winding to EMF
induced in a concentrated winding.

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Distribution factor Kd = EMF induced in a distributed winding/ EMF induced in a concentrated winding
= vector sum of the EMF / arithmetic sum of the EMF

Let
E = EMF induced per coil side
m = number of slots per pole per phase,
n = number of slots per pole
³ = slot angle = 180/n
The EMF induced in concentrated winding with m slots per pole per phase = mE volts.
Fig below shows the method of calculating the vector sum of the voltages in a distributed winding having a
mutual phase difference of ³. When m is large curve ACEN will form the arc of a circle of radius r.
From the figure below AC = 2rsin ³/2
Hence arithmetic sum = m2r sin³/2
Now the vector sum of the EMF s = 2rsin m³/2
Hence the distribution factor Kd = vector sum of the EMF / arithmetic sum of the EMF
= (2r sin m³/2) / (m x 2r sin ³/2)
Kd = ( sin m³/2) / (m sin ³/2)

In practical machines the windings will be generally short pitched and distributed over the periphery of the
machine. Hence in deducing the EMF equation both pitch factor and distribution factor has to be considered.
Hence the general EMF equation including pitch factor and distribution factor can be given as
EMF induced per phase = 4.44 f Tph x KpKd volts
Eph = 4.44 KpKd f Tph vlolts
Hence the line Voltage EL = √3 x phase voltage = √3 Eph

MMF Space Wave of a Single Coil (Air-gap MMF distribution with fixed current through winding)

A cylindrical rotor machine with small air-gap as shown in Fig. 5.24(a) will be assumed here. The stator is
imagined to be wound for two-poles with a single N-turn full-pitch coil carrying current i in the direction
indicated. The figure shows some flux lines of the magnetic field set up. A north and corresponding south pole
are induced on the stator periphery. The magnetic axis of the coil is from the stator north to the stator south. Each
flux line radially crosses the air-gap twice, normal to the stator and rotor iron surfaces and is associated with
constant mmf Ni. On the assumption that the reluctance of the iron path is negligible, half the mmf (Ni/2) is
consumed to create flux from the rotor to stator in the air-gap and the other half is used up to establish flux from
the stator to rotor in the air-gap. Mmf and flux radially outwards from the rotor to the stator (south pole on stator)
will be assumed to be positive and that from the stator to rotor as negative.

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The physical picture is more easily visualized by the developed diagram of Fig. 5.24(b) where the stator with the
winding is laid down flat with the rotor on the top of it. It is seen that the mmf is a rectangular space wave wherein
mmf of + Ni/2 is consumed in setting flux from the rotor to stator and mmf of – Ni/2 is consumed in setting up
flux from the stator to the rotor. It has been imagined here that the coil-sides occupy a narrow space on the stator
and the mmf changes abruptly from –Ni/2 to + Ni/2 at one slot and in reverse direction at the other slot. The mmf
change at any slot is

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and its sign depends upon the current direction.

The mmf space wave of a single coil being rectangular, it can be split up into its fundamental and harmonics.

MMF Space Wave of One Phase of a Distributed Winding:

Consider now a basic 2-pole structure with a round rotor, with 5 slots/pole/phase (SPP) and a 2-layer winding as
shown in Fig. 5.25. The corresponding developed diagram is shown in Fig. 5.26(a) along with the mmf diagram
which now is a stepped wave obviously closer to a sine wave than the rectangular mmf wave of a single coil (Fig.
5.24(b)). Here since SPP is odd (5), half the ampere-conductors of the middle slot of the phase group a and a′
contribute towards establishment of south pole and half towards north pole on the stator. At each slot the mmf
wave has a step jump of 2Ncic, ampere-conductors where Nc = coil turns (equal to conductors/layer) and ic =
conductor current.

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Now F1p, the peak of the fundamental of the mmf wave, has to be determined. Rather than directly finding the
fundamental of the stepped wave, one can proceed by adding the fundamentals of the mmf s of individual slot-
pairs (with a span of one pole-pitch). These fundamentals are progressively out of phase (space phase as different
from time phase) with each other by the slot angle ´. This addition is easily accomplished by defining the breadth
factor Kb, which will be the same as in the case of the generated emf of a coil group.

Harmonic Effect
The flux distribution along the air gaps of alternators usually is non-sinusoidal so that the emf in the
individual armature conductor likewise is non-sinusoidal
The sources of harmonics in the output voltage waveform are the non-sinusoidal waveform of the field
flux.
Fourier showed that any periodic wave may be expressed as the sum of a d-c component (zero
frequency) and sine (or cosine) waves having fundamental and multiple or higher frequencies, the higher
frequencies being called harmonics.

Elimination or Suppressed of Harmonics

Field flux waveform can be made as much sinusoidal as possible by the following methods:
1. Small air gap at the pole centre and large air gap towards the pole ends
2. Skewing: skew the pole faces if possible
3. Distribution: distribution of the armature winding along the air-gap periphery
4. Chording: with coil-span less than pole pitch
5. Fractional slot winding
6. Alternator connections: star or delta connections of alternators suppress triplen harmonics from
appearing across the lines

Note: For Problems and winding diagrams, please go through the class note book

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