BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ELECTRICAL MACHINES

All electrical machines are basically electro-magnetic devices. Among them the rotating machines are electromechanical energy conversion devices but the transformer is a static machine where energy conversion does not take place, only the level of voltage changes. All electrical machines are based upon three principles namely: (i) Induction (ii) Interaction (iii) Alignment. Transformer operation is based on induction. Most of the rotating electrical machines use the principle of induction as well as interaction. Only a few machines such as reluctance motors are based on alignment.