The importance of limiting the voltage drop at

the motor terminals during start-up

In order to have a motor starting and accelerating to its normal speed in the
appropriate time, the torque of the motor must exceed the load torque by at
least 70%. However, the starting current is much higher than the full-load
current of the motor. As a result, if the voltage drop is very high, the motor
torque will be excessively reduced (motor torque is proportional to U2) and it will
result, for extreme case, in failure to start.
Example:
• With 400 V maintained at the terminals of a motor, its torque would be 2.1
times that of the load torque
• For a voltage drop of 10% during start-up, the motor torque would be 2.1 x
0.81 = 1.7 times the load torque, and the motor would accelerate to its rated
speed normally.
• For a voltage drop of 15% during start-up, the motor torque would be 2.1 x
0.722 = 1.5 times the load torque, so that the motor starting time would be
longer than normal In general, a maximum allowable voltage drop of 10% is
recommended during start-up of the motor.
 MOTOR STARTING CURRENT

t (s)
In

Ia

Ip

ABB SACE I (A) 2

 MOTOR PROTECTION

1 3

ABB SACE 3
 Example 1
Circuit /Fuse
Size
Conductor Size
Over Load Size
Motor Feeder calculation