Induction machines – historical touch

http://electrical- engineering- portal.com/induction- machines- historical- touch January 18, 2013

Faraday disco vered the electro magnetic inductio n law aro und 1831 and Maxwell fo rmulated the laws o f electricity (o r Maxwell’s
equatio ns) aro und 1860. The kno wledge was ripe fo r the inventio n o f the inductio n machine which has two fathers: Galile o
Fe rraris (1885) and Nico la T e sla (1886).

Their inductio n machines are sho wn in Figure 1.1 and Figure 1.2.

Bo th mo to rs have been supplied fro m a two -phase a.c. po wer so urce and thus co ntained two phase co ncentrated co il
windings 1-1’ and 2-2’ o n the ferro magnetic stato r co re. In Ferrari’s patent the ro to r was made o f a co pper cylinder, while in the
Tesla’s patent the ro to r was made o f a ferro magnetic cylinder pro vided with a sho rt-circuited winding.

Tho ugh the co ntempo rary induct io n m o t o rs have mo re elabo rated to po lo gies (Figure 1.3) and their perfo rmance is much
better, the principle has remained basically the same.

That is, a multiphase a.c. stato r winding pro duces a traveling field which induces vo ltages that pro duce currents in the sho rt-
circuited (o r clo sed) windings o f the ro to r. The interactio n between the stato r pro duced field and the ro to r induced currents
pro duces to rque and thus o perates the inductio n mo to r. As the to rque at zero ro to r speed is no nzero , the inductio n mo to r is
self-starting. The three-phase a.c. po wer grid capable o f delivering energy at a distance to inductio n mo to rs and o ther
co nsumers has been put fo rward by Do livo -Do bro vo lsky aro und 1880.

In 1889, Do livo -Do bro vo lsky invented the inductio n mo to r with the wo und ro to r and subsequently the cage ro to r in a to po lo gy
very similar to that used to day. He also invented the do uble-cage ro to r. Thus, aro und 1900 the inductio n mo to r was ready fo r
wide industrial use.

No wo nder that befo re 1910, in Euro pe, lo co mo tives pro vided with inductio n mo to r pro pulsio n, were capable o f delivering 200
km/h. Ho wever, at least fo r transpo rtatio n, the d.c. mo to r to o k o ver all markets until aro und 1985 when the IGBT PWM inverter
was pro vided fo r efficient frequency changers. This pro mo ted the inductio n mo to r spectacular co meback in variable speed
drives with applicatio ns in all industries.

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T he racehorse of high-tech
Mainly due to po wer electro nics and digital
co ntro l, the inductio n mo to r may add to its o ld
nickname o f “the wo rkho rse o f industry” the label
o f “the
raceho rse o f high-tech”. A mo re co mplete list o f
events that marked the inductio n mo to r histo ry
fo llo ws.

Better and better analytical mo dels fo r

steady state and design purpo ses
The o rtho go nal (circuit) and space phaso r
mo dels fo r transients
Better and better magnetic and insulatio n
materials and co o ling systems
Design o ptimizatio n deterministic and
sto chastic metho ds
IGBT PWM frequency changers with lo w
lo sses and high po wer density (kW/m3) fo r
mo derate co sts
Finite element metho ds (FEMs) fo r field Fig ure 1.3 A s tate -o f-the -art thre e -p has e ind uc tio n mo to r (s o urc e ABB mo to rs )
distributio n analysis and co upled circuit-
FEM mo dels fo r co mprehensive
explo ratio n o f IMs with critical (high) magnetic and electric lo ading
Develo pments o f inductio n mo to rs fo r super-high speeds and high po wers
A parallel histo ry o f linear inductio n mo to rs with applicatio ns in linear mo tio n co ntro l has unfo lded
New and better metho ds o f manufacturing and testing fo r inductio n machines
Integral inductio n mo to rs: inductio n mo to rs with the PWM co nverter integrated into o ne piece

SOURCE: The inductio n machine handbo o k BY Io n Bo ldea and Syed A. Nasar

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