Transformer and Electrical Machines

Transformer
A transformer is a static electromagnetic device designed for the transformation of the alternating current (from primary) into
another (secondary) one of the same frequency with other characteristics, in particulars, voltage and current.
Primary and secondary windings. The transformer winding to which the energy of the alternating current is delivered is
called the secondary winding; the other winding from which energy is received is called the primary winding.
If the secondary voltage is less than the primary one, the transformer is called a step-down transformer and if the secondary
voltage is greater than the primary one, the transformer is called a step-up transformer.
WORKING PRINCIPLE OF A TRANSFORMER
A transformer operates on the principle of mutual inductance.
The principle of mutual induction states that, when two coils are inductively couples and if current in one coil is
changed uniformly then an e.m.f. gets induced in the other coil. This e.m.f. can drive a current, when a closed path is provided
to it. The transformer works on the same principle. In its elementary form, it consist of two inductive coils which are electrically
separated but linked through a common magnetic circuit. The two coils have mutual inductance.
It consists of two windings in close proximity as shown in Fig. 1. The two windings are coupled by magnetic induction. (There
is no conductive connection between the windings). One of the windings called primary is energised by a sinusoidal voltage.
The second winding, called secondary feeds the load. The alternating current in the primary winding sets up an alternating flux
(ϕ) in the core. The secondary winding is linked by most of this flux and e.m.f’s are induced in the two windings. The e.m.f.
induced in the secondary winding drives a current through the load connected to the winding. Energy is transferred from the
primary circuit to the secondary circuit through the medium of the magnetic field.
In brief, a transformer is a device that :
(i) transfers electric power from one circuit to another ;
(ii) it does so without change of frequency ;
(iii) it accomplishes this by electromagnetic induction (or mutual inductance).

TRANSFORMER CONSTRUCTION
All transformers have the following essential elements :
1. Two or more electrical windings insulated from each other and from the core (except in auto-transformers).
2. A core, which in case of a single-phase distribution transformers usually comprises cold rolled silicon-steel strip.
The flux path in the assembled core is parallel to the directions of steel’s grain or ‘orientation’.
This results in a reduction in core losses for a given flux density and frequency, or it permits the use of higher core densities
and reduced size of transformers for given core losses.
Other necessary parts are :
A suitable container for the assembled core and windings.
A suitable medium for insulating the core and its windings from each other and from the container.
Suitable bushings for insulating and bringing the terminals of the windings out of the case.
The two basic types of transformer construction are:
1. The core type.
2. The shell type.
The above two types differ in their relative arrangements of copper conductors and the iron cores. In the ‘core type’, the
copper virtually surrounds the iron core, while in the ‘shell type’, the iron surrounds the copper winding.
1. Core Type Transformer
The complete magnetic circuit of the core-type transformer is in the shape of the hollow rectangle, as shown in Fig. 2 in
which I0 is the no-load current and ϕ is the flux produced by it. N1 and N2 are the number of turns on the primary and
secondary sides respectively.

The core is made of silicon-steel laminations, which are, either rectangular or L-shaped. With the coils wound on two legs,
the appearance is that of Fig. 3.

If the two coils shown were the respective high and low-side coils as in Fig. 3, the leakage reactance would be much too
great. In order to provide maximum linkage between windings, the group on each leg is made of both high-tension and low-
tension coils. This may be seen in Fig. 4, where a cross-sectional cut is taken across the legs of the core.
By placing the high-voltage winding around the low-voltage winding, only one layer of high-voltage insulation is required,
that between the two coils. If the high-voltage coils were adjacent to the core, an additional high-voltage insulation layer
would be necessary between the coils and the iron core.
2. Shell Type Transformer
It has double magnetic circuit. The core has three limbs. Both the windings are placed on the central limb.
The core encircles most part of the windings. The coil used generally multilayer disc type or sandwich coil. Each high
voltage coil is in between two low voltage coils and low voltage coils are nearest to top and bottom of yokes.
The core is laminated. While arranging the lamination of the core, care is taken that all joints at alternate layers are staggered.
This is done to avoid narrow air gap at the joint, such joints are called overlapped joints. Generally for very high voltage
transformers, shell type is preferred. As the core surrounds the windings, natural cooling does not exists. The schematic
representation and construction of shell type transformer is shown below.

Theory of an Ideal Transformer

An ideal transformer, is one in which the resistance of the windings is negligible, there is no magnetic leakage and the core has no
losses. An ideal transformer is an imaginary transformer, which has the following characteristics −
 The primary and secondary windings have negligible (or zero) resistance.
 No leakage flux, i.e., whole of the flux is confined to the magnetic circuit.
 The magnetic core has infinite permeability, thus negligible mmf (magneto motive force) is require to establish flux in the core.
 There are no losses due to winding resistances, hysteresis and eddy currents. Hence, the efficiency is 100 %.
Practical Transformer
A practical transformer is the one which has following properties −
 The primary and secondary windings have finite resistance.
 There is a leakage flux, i.e., whole of the flux is not confined to the magnetic circuit.
 The magnetic core has finite permeability, thus a considerable amount of mmf is require to establish flux in the core.
 There are losses in the transformer due to winding resistances, hysteresis and eddy currents. Therefore, the efficiency
of a practical transformer is less than 100 %.

Ideal Transformer Practical Transformer

It has 100% efficiency. It has 100% below efficiency.

It has no losses. It has losses.

Purely inductive material is used. It is too purely inductive material used.

It has no I2R losses. It has I2R losses.

It has no iron loss. It has iron loss.

There is no ohmic resistance drop. There is ohmic resistance drop.

It has no leakage drop. It has leakage drop.

In it ideal condition. In it practical condition.

It is not used in practical condition. It is used in practical condition.

E.M.F. Equation of a Transformer

Losses in Transformer, regulation and efficiency
Losses in a Practical Transformer
The different losses in the transformer are as follows

Copper Losses (Winding Resistance)

Current flowing through the windings causes resistive heating of the conductors. At higher frequencies, skin effect
and proximity effect create additional winding resistance and losses.

Core or Iron Losses

There are two types of core or iron losses in a Transformer.
a) Hysteresis Losses
Power losses due to repeated change in magnetic polarity. Each time the magnetic field is reversed, a small amount
of energy is lost due to hysteresis within the core. For a given core material, the transformer losses are proportional
to the frequency, and is a function of the peak flux density to which it is subjected.

b) Eddy Current Losses

AC current induced in iron core due to changing magnetic field. The eddy current loss is a complex function of the
square of supply frequency and inverse square of the material thickness. Eddy current losses can be reduced by
making the core of a stack of plates electrically insulated from each other, rather than a solid block; all transformers
operating at low frequencies using laminated or similar cores.
Eddy currents therefore circulate within the core in a plane normal to the flux, and are responsible for resistive
heating of the core material.

Stray losses (leakage Flux)

Leakage inductance is by itself largely lossless, since energy supplied to its magnetic fields is returned to the
supply with the next half-cycle. However, any leakage flux that intercepts nearby conductive materials such as the
transformer’s support structure will give rise to eddy currents and be converted to heat. There are also radiative
losses due to the oscillating magnetic field, but these are usually small and negligible.
Dielectric Loss
In the solid insulation or transformer oil i.e. insulation material of the transformer, dielectric loss occurs when the
solid insulation get damaged or the oil gets deteriorated or its quality decreases over the time. Hence, the overall
efficiency of transformer may be affected due to this loss.
Electrical Machines
DC Motor

DC motors convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. This conversion of energy is based on the
principle of the production of dynamically induced electromotive force (emf). The DC motors are very useful where
wide range of speeds and perfect speed regulation is required such as electric traction. Electric motors are used for
driving industrial machines, e.g., hammers, presses, drilling machines, lathes, rollers in paper and steel industry,
blowers for furnaces, etc., and domestic appliances, e.g., refrigerators, fans, water pumps, toys, mixers, etc.
The block diagram of energy conversion, when the electro-mechanical device works as a motor, is shown in Fig.
5.1.

Principle of D.C. Motor

A machine that converts d.c. power into mechanical power is known as a d.c. motor. Its operation is based on
the principle that when a current carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field, the conductor experiences
a mechanical force. The direction of this force is given by Fleming’s left hand rule and magnitude is given by;
F=BIl newtons
F- Force. B- flux density. I- current flowing through conductor. l- Length of conductor.
When the electric current passes through a coil in a magnetic field, a magnetic force will be generated, this
produces a torque in the DC motor.

Construction of DC motor
A DC motor or machine consists of two windings namely field winding and armature winding. The field winding
is stationary and the armature winding can rotate.
The field winding produces a magnetic flux in the air gap between the armature and field windings and the armature
is placed in this magnetic field. The construction of DC motor or machine is shown in the following Figure.

The main parts used in the construction of DC motor are the yoke, poles, field winding, commutator, carbon
brushes bearings, etc. A brief description of the various parts is as follows:
DC Motor

ANY ONE DIAGRAM FROM ABOVE

1.Yoke: The yoke acts as the outer cover of a DC motor and it is also known as the frame. The yoke is an iron body, made up
of low reluctance magnetic material such as cast iron, silicon steel, rolled steel, etc.
Yoke serves two purposes, firstly it provides mechanical protection to the outer parts of the machine secondly it provides a low
reluctance path for the magnetic flux.
2. Poles and Pole Shoe: The pole and pole shoe are fixed on the yoke by bolts. These are made of thin cast steel or wrought
iron laminations that are riveted together. Poles produce the magnetic flux when the field winding is excited. A Pole shoe is an
extended part of a pole. Due to its shape, the pole area is enlarged and more flux can pass through the air gap to the armature.
3. Field Winding: The coils around the poles are known as field (or exciting) coils and are connected in series to form the
field winding. Copper wire is used for the construction of field coils. When the DC is passed through the field windings, it
magnetizes poles that produce magnetic flux.
The connection of the field winding and the armature winding is done according to the type of the motor and decides
the characteristics of the motor.
4. Armature Core: It is a cylindrical drum and keyed to the rotating shaft. A large number of slots are made all over its
periphery, which accommodates the armature winding. Low reluctance, high permeability material such as silicon steel is used
for armature core. The laminated construction is used to produce the armature core to minimize the eddy current losses.
The air holes are also provided on the armature core for the air circulation which helps in cooling the motor.
5. Armature Winding: The armature winding plays a very important role in the construction of a DC motor because the
conversion of power takes place in the armature winding. Based on connections, there are two types of armature windings
named:
 Wave Winding: In wave winding, all the armature coils are connected in series through commutator segments in such a
way that the whole armature winding is divided into two parallel paths.
 Lap Winding: In lap winding the armature conductors are divided into the groups equal to the number of poles of the motor.
All the conductors in each group are connected in series and all such groups are connected in parallel.
6. Commutator: It is mounted on the shaft. It is made up of a large number of wedge-shaped segments of hard drawn
copper, insulated from each other by a thin layer of mica. The commutator connects the rotating armature conductor to the
stationary external circuit through carbon brushes. It converts alternating torque into unidirectional torque produced in the
armature.
7. Carbon Brushes: The current is conducted from the voltage source to the armature by the carbon brushes which are held
against the surface of the commutator by springs. They are made of high-grade carbon steel and are rectangular.
8. Bearings: The ball or roller bearings are fitted in the end housings. The friction between stationary and rotating parts of the
motor is reduced by bearing. Mostly high carbon steel is used for making the bearings as it is a very hard material.
9. Interpoles: The brushes on the commutator short-circuit the armature coils when they are slipping from one commutator
segment to the next. At this instant, EMF induced in those particular coils should be zero otherwise this EMF will create
sparking on the commutator due to short-circuit. This is achieved by placing the carbon brushes at the MNA. (MNA is defined
magnetic neutral axis, as the axis at the right angle to the main flux where armature conductors do not have any EMF in them).

Working Principle of DC Motors

The operation of a DC motor is based on the principle that when a current carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic
field, a mechanical force is experienced by it. The direction of this force is determined by Fleming’s Left Hand Rule and its
magnitude is given by the relation:
F = Bil newton
For simplicity, consider only one coil of the armature placed in the magnetic field produced by a bipolar machine [see Fig.
5.2(a)]. When DC supply is connected to the coil, current flows through it which sets up its own field as shown in Fig. 5.2(b).
By the interaction of the two fields (i.e., field produced by the main poles and the coil), a resultant field is set up as shown in
Fig. 5.2(c). The tendency of this is to come to its original position i.e., in straight line due to which force is exerted on the
two coil sides and torque develops which rotates the coil.
Alternately, it can be said that the main poles produce a field Fm. Its direction is marked in Fig.5.3. When
current is supplied to the coil (armature conductors), it produces its own field marked as Fr. This field tries
to come in line with the main field and an electromagnetic torque develops in clockwise direction as marked in
Fig. 5.3.

It can be seen that to obtain a continuous torque, the direction of flow of current in each conductor or coil side must be
reversed when it passes through the magnetic neutral axis (MNA). This is achieved with the help of a commutator.
The function of a commutator in DC motors is to reverse the direction of flow of current in each armature conductor when it
passes through the M.N.A. to obtain continuous torque.
Back or Counter E.M.F. (Eb)
When the armature of a d.c. motor rotates under the influence of the driving torque, the armature conductors move through
the magnetic field and hence e.m.f. is induced in them. The induced e.m.f. acts in opposite direction to the applied voltage
V(Lenz’s law) and in known as back or counter e.m.f. Eb.
Eb= ( P Z ∅N/60 A)
Eb – Back e.m.f. P - number of poles. N is the speed.
A - number of parallel paths through the armature between the brushes of opposite polarity.
Z is the total number of conductors in the armature and ϕ is the useful flux per pole.
The back e.m.f. is always less than the applied voltage V, although this difference is small when the motor is running
under normal conditions.
A conventional circuit diagram of the machine working as motor, is shown in Fig. 5.6. In this case, the supply voltage is
always greater than the induced or back emf (i.e., V > Eb). Therefore, current is always supplied to the motor from the mains
and the relation among the various quantities will be;
Eb = V – Ia Ra.
V applied voltage. Ra is the armature resistance. Ia is the armature current.

Significance of Back emf

The current flowing through the armature is given by the relation:

When mechanical load applied on the motor increases, its speed decreases which reduces the value of Eb. As a result the
value (V – Eb) increases which consequently increases Ia. Hence, motor draws extra current from the mains. Thus, the back
emf regulates the input power as per the extra load.
Voltage Equation of D.C. Motor
Let in a d.c. motor
V = applied voltage. Eb = back e.m.f.
Ra = armature resistance. Ia = armature current

Since back e.m.f. Eb acts in opposition to the applied voltage V, the net voltage across the armature circuit is V- Eb.
The armature current Ia is given by;

This is known as voltage equation of the d.c. motor.

Types of DC Motors
There are two types of d.c. motors characterized by the connections of field winding in relation to the armature viz.:
1. Separately excited DC motors: The supply is given separately to the field and armature windings. The conventional
diagram of a separately excited DC motor is shown figure below. Its voltage equation will be;
Eb = V – Ia Ra – 2Vb (where Vb is voltage drop per brush).
Separately excited DC motors
2. Self excited DC motors: In the Self Excited DC Motors, the field winding is linked to the armature winding in series,
parallel, partly in series, or partly in parallel. These motors can be further classified as;
(i) Shunt-wound motor in which the field winding is connected in parallel with the armature [See Fig. 4.4]. The current
through the shunt field winding is not the same as the armature current. Shunt field windings are designed to produce the
necessary m.m.f. by means of a relatively large number of turns of wire having high resistance. Therefore, shunt field current
is relatively small compared with the armature current.

(ii) Series-wound motor in which the field winding is connected in series with the armature [See Fig. 4.5]. Therefore,
series field winding carries the armature current. Since the current passing through a series field winding is the same as the
armature current, series field windings must be designed with much fewer turns than shunt field windings for the same
m.m.f. Therefore, a series field winding has a relatively small number of turns of thick wire and, therefore, will possess a low
resistance.

(iii) Compound-wound motor which has two field windings; one connected in parallel with the armature and the other
in series with it. There are two types of compound motor connections (like generators). When the shunt field winding is
directly connected across the armature terminals [See Fig. 4.6], it is called short-shunt connection. When the shunt winding is
so connected that it shunts the series combination of armature and series field [See Fig. 4.7], it is called long-shunt
connection.
Induction Motor
3-ϕ Induction Motor
General Principle
As a general rule, conversion of electrical power into mechanical power takes place in the rotating part of an electric
motor. In d.c. motors, the electric power is conducted directly to the armature (i.e. rotating part) through brushes and
commutator. Hence, in this sense, a d.c. motor can be called a conduction motor.
However, in a.c. motors, the rotor does not receive electric power by conduction but by induction in exactly the same way as
the secondary of a 2-winding transformer receives its power from the primary. That is why such motors are known as
induction motors. In fact, an induction motor can be treated as a rotating transformer i.e. one in which primary winding is
stationary but the secondary is free to rotate. Of all the a.c. motors, the polyphase induction motor is the one which is
extensively used for various kinds of industrial drives. It has the following main advantages and also some dis-advantages:
Advantages:
1. It has very simple and extremely rugged, almost unbreakable construction (especially squirrel cage type).
2. Its cost is low and it is very reliable.
3. It has sufficiently high efficiency. In normal running condition, no brushes are needed, hence frictional losses are reduced.
It has a reasonably good power factor.
4. It requires minimum of maintenance.
5. It starts up from rest and needs no extra starting motor and has not to be synchronised. Its starting arrangement is simple
especially for squirrel-cage type motor.
Disadvantages:
1. Its speed cannot be varied without sacrificing some of its efficiency.
2. Just like a d.c. shunt motor, its speed decreases with increase in load.
3. Its starting torque is somewhat inferior to that of a d.c. shunt motor.
Construction
A 3-phase induction motor has two main parts (i) stator and (ii) rotor. The rotor is separated from the stator by a small air-
gap which ranges from 0.4 mm to 4 mm, depending on the power of the motor.
1. Stator: It consists of a steel frame which encloses a hollow, cylindrical core made up of thin laminations of silicon steel to
reduce hysteresis and eddy current losses. A number of evenly spaced slots are provided on the inner periphery of the
laminations [Fig. (8.1)]. The insulated connected to form a balanced 3-phase star or delta connected circuit. The 3-phase
stator winding is wound for a definite number of poles as per requirement of speed. Greater the number of poles, lesser is the
speed of the motor and vice-versa. When 3-phase supply is given to the stator winding, a rotating magnetic field of constant
magnitude is produced. This rotating field induces currents in the rotor by electromagnetic induction.

2. Rotor
The rotor, mounted on a shaft, is a hollow laminated core having slots on its outer periphery. The winding placed in these
slots (called rotor winding) may be one of the following two types:
(i) Squirrel cage type (ii) Wound type.
(i) Squirrel cage rotor. It consists of a laminated cylindrical core having parallel slots on its outer periphery. One copper or
aluminum bar is placed in each slot. All these bars are joined at each end by metal rings called end rings [Fig. (8.2)].
This forms a permanently short-circuited winding which is indestructible.
The entire construction (bars and end rings) resembles a squirrel cage and hence the name. The rotor is not connected
electrically to the supply but has current induced in it by transformer action from the stator. Those induction motors which
employ squirrel cage rotor are called squirrel cage induction motors. Most of 3-phase induction motors use squirrel cage rotor
as it has a remarkably simple and robust construction enabling it to operate in the most adverse circumstances. However, it
suffers from the disadvantage of a low starting torque. It is because the rotor bars are permanently short-circuited and it is not
possible to add any external resistance to the rotor circuit to have a large starting torque.
Squirrel Cage rotor.
(ii) Wound rotor or Slip Ring Rotor
The slip ring rotor consists of a laminated cylindrical armature core. The slots are provided on the outer periphery and insulated
conductors are put in the slots. The rotor conductors are connected to form a 3-phase double layer distributed winding similar
to the stator winding. The rotor windings are connected in star fashion (see the figure).

The open ends of the star circuit are taken outside the rotor and connected to three insulated slip rings. The slip rings are
mounted on the rotor shaft with brushes resting on them. The brushes are connected to three variable resistors which are also
connected in star. Here, the slip rings and brushes are used to provide a mean for connecting external resistors in the rotor
circuit. The equivalent circuit of the wound rotor is shown in the figure below.

Principle of Operation
Consider a portion of 3-phase induction motor as shown in Fig. (8.13). The operation of the motor can be explained as under:
(i) When 3-phase stator winding is energized from a 3-phase supply, a rotating magnetic field is set up which rotates round
the stator at synchronous speed Ns (= 120 f/P).
(ii) The rotating field passes through the air gap and cuts the rotor conductors, which as yet, are stationary. Due to the relative
speed between the rotating flux and the stationary rotor, e.m.f.’s are induced in the rotor conductors. Since the rotor circuit is
short-circuited, currents start flowing in the rotor conductors.
(iii) The current-carrying rotor conductors are placed in the magnetic field produced by the stator. Consequently, mechanical
force acts on the rotor conductors. The sum of the mechanical forces on all the rotor conductors produces a torque which
tends to move the rotor in the same direction as the rotating field.
(iv) The fact that rotor is urged to follow the stator field (i.e., rotor moves in the direction of stator field) can be explained by
Lenz’s law. According to this law, the direction of rotor currents will be such that they tend to oppose the cause producing
them. Now, the cause producing the rotor currents is the relative speed between the rotating field and the stationary rotor
conductors. Hence to reduce this relative speed, the rotor starts running in the same direction as that of stator field and tries to
catch it.

Slip
In practice, the rotor never succeeds in ‘catching up’ with the stator field. If it really did so, then there would be no relative
speed between the two, hence no rotor e.m.f., no rotor current and so no torque to maintain rotation. That is why the rotor
runs at a speed which is always less than the speed of the stator field. The difference in speeds depends upon the load on the
motor. The difference between the synchronous speed Ns and the actual speed N of the rotor is known as slip. Though it may
be expressed in so many revolutions/second, yet it is usual to express it as a percentage of the synchronous speed. Actually,
the term ‘slip’ is descriptive of the way in which the rotor ‘slips back’ from synchronism.

Sometimes, Ns− N is called the slip speed.

Obviously, rotor (or motor) speed is N = Ns (1 − s).
It may be kept in mind that revolving flux is rotating synchronously, relative to the stator (i.e. stationary space) but at slip
speed relative to the rotor.

1-ϕ Induction Motor

A single phase induction motor is very similar to a 3-phase squirrel cage induction motor. It has (i) a squirrel-cage
rotor identical to a 3-phase motor and (ii) a single-phase winding on the stator. Unlike a 3-phase induction motor, a single-
phase induction motor is not self starting but requires some starting means. The single-phase stator winding produces a
magnetic field that pulsates in strength in a sinusoidal manner. The field polarity reverses after each half cycle but the field
does not rotate. Consequently, the alternating flux cannot produce rotation in a stationary squirrel-cage rotor.
However, if the rotor of a single-phase motor is rotated in one direction by some mechanical means, it will continue to run in
the direction of rotation. As a matter of fact, the rotor quickly accelerates until it reaches a speed slightly below the synchronous
speed. Once the motor is running at this speed, it will continue to rotate even though single-phase current is flowing through
the stator winding. This method of starting is generally not convenient for large motors. Nor can it be employed fur a motor
located at some inaccessible spot.
Fig. (9.1) shows single-phase induction motor having a squirrel cage rotor and a single phase distributed stator winding. Such
a motor inherently docs not develop any starting torque and, therefore, will not start to rotate if the stator winding is
connected to single-phase a.c. supply. However, if the rotor is started by auxiliary means, the motor will quickly attain me
final speed. This strange behavior of single-phase induction motor can be explained on the basis of double-field revolving
theory.

Construction of Single Phase Induction Motor

Like any other electrical motor it also have two main parts namely rotor and stator.
Stator: As its name indicates stator is a stationary part of induction motor. A single phase AC supply is given to the stator of
single phase induction motor. The stator core carries the stator windings connected across a single phase ac supply which
produces a rotating magnetic field.
The stator of the single-phase induction motor has laminated stamping to reduce eddy current losses on its periphery. The
slots are provided on its stamping to carry stator or main winding. Stampings are made up of
silicon steel to reduce the hysteresis losses. When we apply a single phase AC supply to the stator winding, the magnetic
field gets produced, and the motor rotates at speed slightly less than the synchronous speed N s.
Synchronous speed Ns is given by

Where,
f = supply voltage frequency,
P = No. of poles of the motor.
The construction of the stator of the single-phase induction motor is similar to that of three phase induction motor except
there are two dissimilarities in the winding part of the single phase induction motor.
1. Firstly, the single-phase induction motors are mostly provided with concentric coils. We can easily adjust the number of
turns per coil can with the help of concentric coils. The m.m.f. (magneto motive force) distribution is almost sinusoidal.
2. Except for shaded pole motor, the asynchronous motor has two stator windings namely the main winding and the auxiliary
winding. These two windings are placed in space quadrature to each other.

Rotor:
The rotor is a rotating part of an induction motor. The rotor connects the mechanical load through the shaft. The rotor in the
single-phase induction motor is of squirrel cage rotor type. The rotor has aluminium or copper bars which are permanently
circuited at both ends by conducting end rings.
The construction of the rotor of the single-phase induction motor is similar to the squirrel cage three-phase induction motor.
The rotor is cylindrical and has slots all over its periphery. The slots are not made parallel to each other but are a little bit
skewed as the skewing prevents magnetic locking of stator and rotor teeth and makes the working of induction motor more
smooth and quieter (i.e. less noisy).
The squirrel cage rotor consists of aluminum, brass or copper bars. These aluminum or copper bars are called rotor conductors
and placed in the slots on the periphery of the rotor. The copper or aluminum rings permanently short the rotor conductors
called the end rings.
To provide mechanical strength, these rotor conductors are braced to the end ring and hence form a complete closed circuit
resembling a cage and hence got its name as squirrel cage induction motor. As end rings permanently short the bars, the rotor
electrical resistance is very small and it is not possible to add external resistance as the bars get permanently shorted. The
absence of slip ring and brushes make the construction of single phase induction motor very simple and robust.

The construction of single phase induction motor is almost similar to the squirrel cage three-phase induction motor. But in case of a single
phase induction motor, the stator has two windings instead of one three-phase winding in three phase induction motor.
Working Principle of Single Phase Induction Motor
We know that for the working of any electrical motor whether its AC or DC motor, we require two fluxes as the interaction of these two
fluxes produced the required torque. When we apply a single phase AC supply to the stator winding of single phase induction motor, the
alternating current starts flowing through the stator or main winding. This alternating current produces an alternating flux called main flux.
This main flux also links with the rotor conductors and hence cut the rotor conductors.
According to the Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction, emf gets induced in the rotor. As the rotor circuit is closed one so, the current
starts flowing in the rotor. This current is called the rotor current. This rotor current produces its flux called rotor flux. Since this flux is
produced due to the induction principle so, the motor working on this principle got its name as an induction motor. Now there are two fluxes
one is main flux, and another is called rotor flux. These two fluxes produce the desired torque which is required by the motor to rotate.
Comparison between Single Phase and Three Phase Induction Motors

Characteristics Single Phase induction Motor Three Phase Induction Motor

Power Source Single Phase (1-phase) Only. Generally requires more than a single phase power
source (like 3-phase supply).
Starting Mechanism They are NOT self-starting. They are self-starting.
Efficiency Low as only one winding has to carry all the High because three winding are available to carry
current. the current
Types Shaded pole. Split Phase. Squirrel cage type.
Capacitor Start Inductor Run. Slip ring type or wound induction motor.
Capacitor Start Capacitor Run.
Cost Cheaper. Quite Expensive.
Slip (s) There are two slips: It has only forward slip
1. Forward slip (s). 2. Backward slip (2-s)
Size (for same power Larger in size. Smaller in size.
rating)
Power Factor Low. High.
Repair & Maintenance Easier to repair. Difficult to repair and maintain.
Structure Simple and easy to manufacture. More complicated to construct because of extra
components involvement.
Starting Torque Low. High.
Operational Reliability More Reliable. Less Reliable.
Motor Rotation There is no mechanism to change the rotation. Can be changed easily by changing the phase
sequence in stator.
Uses Frequently used for lighter loads. Blowers. Extensively employed in industrial and commercial
Vacuum cleaner fans. Centrifugal pump. drives since they are more rugged and economical
Washing machine. Grinder. Compressor. in terms of operational efficiency.