Principles of operation

A three-phase power supply provides a rotating magnetic field in an induction motor.

Inherent slip - unequal rotation frequency of stator field and the rotor.

In both induction and synchronous motors, the AC power supplied to the motor's statorcreates

a magnetic field that rotates in time with the AC oscillations. Whereas a synchronous motor's rotor
turns at the same rate as the stator field, an induction motor's rotor rotates at a slower speed than
the stator field. The induction motor stator's magnetic field is therefore changing or rotating relative
to the rotor. This induces an opposing current in the induction motor's rotor, in effect the motor's
secondary winding, when the latter is short-circuited or closed through an external impedance. [22] The
rotating magnetic flux induces currents in the windings of the rotor; [23] in a manner similar to currents
induced in a transformer's secondary winding(s). The currents in the rotor windings in turn create
magnetic fields in the rotor that react against the stator field. Due to Lenz's Law, the direction of the
magnetic field created will be such as to oppose the change in current through the rotor windings.
The cause of induced current in the rotor windings is the rotating stator magnetic field, so to oppose
the change in rotor-winding currents the rotor will start to rotate in the direction of the rotating stator
magnetic field. The rotor accelerates until the magnitude of induced rotor current and torque
balances the applied load. Since rotation at synchronous speed would result in no induced rotor
current, an induction motor always operates slower than synchronous speed.
Synchronous speed
An AC motor's synchronous speed,  , is the rotation rate of the stator's magnetic field,

where   has the same unit as   which is the motor supply's frequency and where   is the
number of magnetic poles.[26][27]That is, for a six-pole three-phase motor with three pole-pairs set

120° apart,   equals 6, thus   which equals 1,000 RPM (16.67 Hz) and 1,200 RPM
(20 Hz) respectively for 50 Hz and 60 Hz supply systems.

Slip[edit]

Typical torque curve as a function of slip, represented as 'g' here.

Slip,  , is defined as the difference between synchronous speed and operating speed, at the
same frequency, expressed in rpm or in percent or ratio of synchronous speed. Thus

where   is stator electrical speed,   is rotor mechanical speed.

Motor construction

Electric motor rotor (left) and stator (right)

Rotor[
In an electric motor the moving part is the rotor which turns the shaft to deliver the mechanical
power. The rotor usually has conductors laid into it which carry currents that interact with the
magnetic field of the stator to generate the forces that turn the shaft. However, some rotors carry
permanent magnets, and the stator holds the conductors.

Stator
The stator is the stationary part of the motor’s electromagnetic circuit and usually consists of either
windings or permanent magnets. The stator core is made up of many thin metal sheets, called
laminations. Laminations are used to reduce energy losses that would result if a solid core were
used.

Air gap
The distance between the rotor and stator is the air gap. The air gap has important effects, and is
generally as small as possible, as a large gap has a strong negative effect on the performance of an
electric motor. It is the main source of the low power factor at which motors operate.The air gap
increases magnetizing current. For this purpose air gap should be small. Very small gaps may pose
mechanical problems in addition to noise and losses.

Windings
Windings are wires that are laid in coils, usually wrapped around a laminated soft iron magnetic
core so as to form magnetic poles when energized with current.

Electric machines come in two basic magnet field pole configurations: salient-pole machine

and nonsalient-pole machine. In the salient-pole machine the pole's magnetic field is produced by a
winding wound around the pole below the pole face. In the nonsalient-pole, or distributed field, or
round-rotor, machine, the winding is distributed in pole face slots.[51] A shaded-pole motor has a
winding around part of the pole that delays the phase of the magnetic field for that pole.

Some motors have conductors which consist of thicker metal, such as bars or sheets of metal,
usually copper, although sometimes aluminum is used. These are usually powered
by electromagnetic induction.

Commutator[ Commutator converts ac to dc.

Rotation reversal
The method of changing the direction of rotation of an induction motor depends on whether
it is a three-phase or single-phase machine. In the case of three phase, reversal is carried
out by swapping connection of any two phase conductors. In a single-phase split-phase
motor, it is achieved by changing the connection between the primary winding and the start
circuit. Single-phase split-phase motors that are designed for specific applications may have
the connection between the primary winding and the start circuit connected internally so that
 the rotation cannot be changed. Also, single-phase shaded-pole motors have a fixed
rotation, and the direction cannot be changed.

Power factor
The power factor of induction motors varies with load, typically from around 0.85 or 0.90 at
full load to as low as 0.12 at no-load,[33] due to stator and rotor leakage and magnetizing
reactances.[36] Power factor can be improved by connecting capacitors either on an individual
motor basis or, by preference, on a common bus covering several motors. For economic
and other considerations, power systems are rarely power factor corrected to unity power
factor.[37] Power capacitor application with harmonic currents requires power system analysis
to avoid harmonic resonance between capacitors and transformer and circuit reactances.
[38]
 Common bus power factor correction is recommended to minimize resonant risk and to
simplify power system analysis.

A DC motor is any of a class of electrical machines that converts direct current electrical power into
mechanical power. The most common types rely on the forces produced by magnetic fields. Nearly
all types of DC motors have some internal mechanism, either electromechanical or electronic, to
periodically change the direction of current flow in part of the motor. Most types produce rotary
motion; a linear motor directly produces force and motion in a straight line.

Brushed
The brushed DC electric motor generates torque directly from DC power supplied to the motor by
using internal commutation, stationary magnets (permanent orelectromagnets), and rotating
electrical magnets.
Advantages of a brushed DC motor include low initial cost, high reliability, and simple control of
motor speed. Disadvantages are high maintenance and low life-span for high intensity uses.
Maintenance involves regularly replacing the carbon brushes and springs which carry the electric
current, as well as cleaning or replacing thecommutator. These components are necessary for
transferring electrical power from outside the motor to the spinning wire windings of the rotor inside
the motor. Brushes consist of conductors.

Brushless
Typical brushless DC motors use one or more permanent magnets in the rotor
andelectromagnets on the motor housing for the stator. A motor controller converts DC to AC. This
design is mechanically simpler than that of brushed motors because it eliminates the complication of
transferring power from outside the motor to the spinning rotor. The motor controller can sense the
rotor's position via Hall effectsensors or similar devices and can precisely control the timing, phase,
etc., of the current in the rotor coils to optimize torque, conserve power, regulate speed, and even
apply some braking. Advantages of brushless motors include long life span, little or no maintenance,
and high efficiency. Disadvantages include high initial cost, and more complicated motor speed
controllers. Some such brushless motors are sometimes referred to as "synchronous motors"
although they have no external power supply to be synchronized with, as would be the case with
normal AC synchronous motors.

Wound stators

A field coil may be connected in shunt, in series, or in compound with the armature of a DC machine (motor or
generator)

There are three types of electrical connections between the stator and rotor possible for DC electric
motors: series, shunt/parallel and compound (various blends of series and shunt/parallel) and each
has unique speed/torque characteristics appropriate for different loading torque profiles/signatures. [1]
Series connection
A series DC motor connects the armature and field windings in series with a common D.C. power
source. The motor speed varies as a non-linear function of load torque and armature current; current
is common to both the stator and rotor yielding current squared (I^2) behavior [citation needed]. A series
motor has very high starting torque and is commonly used for starting high inertia loads, such as
trains, elevators or hoists.
Shunt connection
A shunt DC motor connects the armature and field windings in parallel or shunt with a common D.C.
power source. This type of motor has good speed regulation even as the load varies, but does not
have the starting torque of a series DC motor.[4] It is typically used for industrial, adjustable speed
applications, such as machine tools, winding/unwinding machines and tensioners.
Compound connection
A compound DC motor connects the armature and fields windings in a shunt and a series
combination to give it characteristics of both a shunt and a series DC motor. [5] This motor is used
when both a high starting torque and good speed regulation is needed. The motor can be connected
in two arrangements: cumulatively or differentially. Cumulative compound motors connect the series
field to aid the shunt field, which provides higher starting torque but less speed regulation.
Differential compound DC motors have good speed regulation and are typically operated at constant
speed.