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13 ELECTRIC MOTORS

Modern underwater vehicles and surface vessels are making increased use of electrical ac-
tuators, for all range of tasks including weaponry, control surfaces, and main propulsion.
This section gives a very brief introduction to the most prevalent electrical actuators: The
DC motor, the AC induction motor, and the AC synchronous motor. For the latter two
technologies, we consider the case of three-phase power, which is generally preferred over
single-phase because of much higher power density; three-phase motors also have simpler
starting conditions. AC motors are generally simpler in construction and more robust than
DCmotors, but atthe cost of increased control complexity.
This section provides working parametric models of these three motor types. As with gas
turbines and diesel engines, the dynamic response ofthe actuator is quite fast compared to
thatofthesystembeingcontrolled,sayasubmarineorsurfacevessel. Thus,weconcentrate
on portraying the quasi-static properties of the actuator in particular, the torque/speed
characteristics as afunction ofthe control settings andelectrical power applied.
Thediscussionbelowonthesevariousmotorsisgenerallyinvertible(atleastforDCandAC
synchronous devices) to cover both motors (electrical power in, mechanical power out) and
generators (mechanical power in, electrical power out). We will only cover motors in this
section, however; a thorough treatment of generators can be found in the references listed.
The bookby Bradley (19??) hasbeen drawn on heavily in the following.
13.1 Basic Relations
13.1.1 Concepts
First we need the notion of a magnetic ux, analagous to an electrical current, denoted ;
acommon unit is the Weber orVolt-second. The ux density
B =/A (167)
is simply the ux per unit area, given in Teslas such that 1T = 1W/m
2
. Correponding to
electrical eld (Volts/m) is the magnetic eld intensity H,in Amperes/meter:
B
H = = ; (168)

r
A
o

58 13 ELECTRIC MOTORS

o
410

7Henries/meter isthepermeabilityoffreespace,and
r
isa(dimensionless)
relative permeability. The product
o

r
represents the real permeability of the material,
andisthustheanalogofelectricalconductivity. AsmallareaAorlowrelativepermeability
drives up the eld intensity for agiven ux .
13.1.2 Faradays Law
Thevoltagegeneratedinaconductorexperiencing atimerateofchangeinmagneticuxis
given as
d
e= (169)
dt
Thisvoltageiscommonlycalledtheback-electromotiveforceorback-e.m.f.,sinceittypically
opposes the driving current; itis in facta limiting factorin DCmotors.
13.1.3 Amperes Law
Current passing through a conductor in a closed loop generates a perpendicular magnetic
eld intensity given by
I = Hdl. (170)
AnimportantpointisthatN circularwrapsofthesameconductorcarryingcurrentI induce
the eld H =DNI, where D is the diameter ofthe circle.
13.1.4 Force
ForcesaregeneratedfromtheorthogonalcomponentsofmagneticuxdensityBandcurrent
I:
F =IB. (171)
The units ofthis force is N/m, and so represents adistributed force onthe conductor.
13.2 DC Motors
The DCmotorin its simplest form can bedescribed by three relations:
e
a
= K
V = e
a
+R
a
i
a
T = Ki
a
,
where
13.2 DCMotors 59
K is aconstant ofthe motor
is the airgapmagnetic ux perpole (Webers)
is the rotationalspeed of the motor(rad/s)
e
a
is the back-e.m.f.
V is the applied voltage
R
a
is the armature resistance onthe rotor
i
a
is the current delivered tothe armature onthe rotor
T is developed torque
Themagneticeldinatypicalmotorisstationary(onthestator)andiscreatedbyperma-
nentmagnetsorbycoils,i.e.,Faradayslaw. Currentisappliedtotherotorarmaturethrough

slip rings, and thus the force on each conductor in the armature is given by F = i

a
B.
Back-e.m.f. is created because the conductors in the rotor rotate through the stationary
eld,causingarelativerateofchangeofux. Thearmaturevoltageloopcontainstheback-
e.m.f. plus the resistive losses in the windings. As expected, torque scales with the product
ofmagnetic ux andcurrent.
There arethree main varieties ofDC motors, allofwhich make use of the relations above.
SpeedcontroloftheDCmotorisprimarilythroughthevoltageV,eitherdirectlyorthrough
pulse-widthmodulation,butthestatoruxcouldalsobecontrolledintheshunt/independent
congurations.
13.2.1 Permanent Field Magnets
Here, the magnetic eld is created by permanent magnets arranged in the stator, imposing
asteady. TheproductKisgenerallywrittenask
t
,thetorqueconstantofaDCmotor,
and has units of Nm/A. When SI units are used, k
t
also describes back-e.m.f.. The three
basic relations arethus rewritten
e
a
= k
t

V = e
a
+R
a
i
a
T = k
t
i
a
,
which leads viasubstitution to
1

R
a
T

k
= V , or
t
k
t
k
t
R
T = [V k
t
].
a

= .
60 13 ELECTRIC MOTORS
This result indicates thatthe torque developed scales linearly with theapplied voltage, but
thatitalsoscalesnegativelywiththemotorspeed. Hence,atthespeed=V/K
t
,notorque
is created. Additionally, the maximum torque is created atzero speed.
Control of these motors is through the voltage V, or, more commonly, directly through
current i
a
,which gives torque directly.
13.2.2 Shunt or Independent Field Windings
Theeldcreatedbythestatorcanbestrengthenedbyreplacingthepermanentmagnetswith
electromagnets. The eld windings are commonly placed in series with the rotor circuit, in
parallel with it (shunt connection), or, they may be powered from a completely separate
circuit. The latter two cases are eectively equivalent, in the sense that current and hence
the eld strength can be modulated easily, through a variable resistance in the shunt case.
We have
1

R
a
T

= V ,
K K
with the important property that the second term in brackets is small due to the increased
eld strength, compared with the permanent magnet case above. Thus, the motor speed
is eectively independent oftorque, which makes these motortypes ideal forself-regulation
applications. At very high torques and currents, however, the total available ux will be
reduced because of eld armature reactance; the speed starts to degrade as shown in the
gure.
13.2.3 Series Windings
When the eld windings arearranged in series with the rotorcircuit, the ux is
=K
s
i
a
,
where K
s
is aconstant ofthe eld winding. This additionalconnection requires
V = e
a
+(R
a
+R
s
)i
a
;
the eld winding brings a new resistance R
s
into the voltage loop. It follows through the
substitutions that
T = KK
s
i
2
a

T
I
a
=
KK
s
V R
a
+R
s

KK
s
T

KK
s
13.3 Three-Phase Synchronous Motor 61
The eects of resistance are usually quite small, so that the rst term dominates, leading
to a nonlinear torque/speed characteristic. The starting torque from this kind of motor is
exceptionallyhigh,andtheserieseldwindingndswideapplicationinrailwaylocomotives.
Atthesametime,itshouldbeobserved thatunderlightloading,theseries motormaywell
self-destruct since there is nointrinsic upper limit to speed!
T
V
V
V
T
T
a) b) c)
Figure 6: Torque-speed characteristics of three types of DC motors: a) permanent eld
magnets, b) shunt orindependent eld winding, c) series eld winding.
Some variations on the series and shunt connections are common, and referred to as com-
pound DC motors. These achieve other torque/speed curves, including increasing torque
with increasing speed, which can oset the speed droop due to eld armature reaction ef-
fects in the shunt motor.
13.3 Three-Phase Synchronous Motor
The rotor is either tted with permanent magnets or supplied with DC current to create a
static eld on the rotor. The stator eld windings are driven with three (balanced) phases
of an AC supply, such that a moving eld is created which rotates around the stator. The
torqueexertedontherotortriestoalignthetwoelds,andsotherotorfollowstherotating
statoreldatthesamespeed. Notethatiftherotorspeedlagsthatofthestatoreld,there
is no net torque; hence the name synchronous motor.
A simple model of the synchronous motor is straightforward. As with the DC motors, the
voltage loopequation fora single phase onthe stator gives
V =e
a
+ji
a
X,
where V, e
a
, and i
a
are now phasors (magnitude of V and e
a
measured with respect to
ground), j =

1, and X is the reactance (armature and stator leakage) of the machine.


Then, let denote the angle between i
a
and V. Equating the electrical (all three phases)
and mechanical power gives
62 13 ELECTRIC MOTORS
3Vi
a
cos=T.
Next,let denotetheanglebetween thephasorse
a
andV. Itfollowsfromthevoltageloop
equation that
i
a
cosX = e
a
sin
p 3Ve
a
sin
T = , or
2 X
p V
ab
e
a,ab
sin
T =
2 X
where
p is the number of poles on the rotor; two poles means one north pole and one south
pole, etc.
isboththerotationalspeedoftherotor,andtherotationalspeedofthestatoreld
V
ab

3V
e
a,ab

3e
a
is the line-to-line voltage, equal to
is the line-to-lineback-e.m.f., equal to
delta is the angle by which the rotoreld lagsthe stator eld (rad)
X is the synchronous reactance
The torque scales with sin, and thus the rotor lags the stator eld when the motor is
powering; in a generator, the stator eld lags the rotor. If the load torque exceeds the
availabletorque,thesynchronousmotorcansliponeormorepoles,causingalargetransient
disturbance.
Speedcontrolofthethree-phasesynchronous machine isgenerallythroughthefrequency of
thethree-phasepowersupply,,withtheassumptionthatadequatevoltageandcurrentare
available.
13.4 Three-Phase Induction Motor
Like the synchronous machine, the induction machine has windings on the stator to create
arotatingmagneticeldatfrequency . Lettingtherotorspeed be
r
,we seeimmediately
that if =
r
, a potential eld will be induced on any conductor on the rotor. In the case
of a squirrel-cage rotor design, the rotor is made of conductor bars which are shorted out
throughringsattheends,andhencethepotentialeldwillcausearealcurrentow. Torque
isthengeneratedthroughthefamiliarF =IBrelation. Thefactofunequaleldandrotor
speeds in the induction motor is related to several unique eects, leading to torque-speed
characteristic which diers signicantly from boththe DC the AC synchronous machines.

13.4 Three-Phase Induction Motor 63


First we dene the slip ratio

r
s= ; (172)
aslipratioofzeromeans=
r
(andhence zerotorquebecausethemagneticeldseen by
the rotor is constant) while a slip ratio of one implies the rotor is stopped. Most induction
motorsaredesignedtooperateatasmallpositiveslipratio,say0.1-0.2,forreasonsdescribed
below.
Next, since the magnetic ux lines pass through the rotor, the number of ampere-turns on
statorand rotoris equivalent, that is, they form anideal inductor:
N
r
I
r
=N
s
I
s
. (173)
e
I
We consider per-unit quantities from here on, for which we set N = N
r
= N
s
and hence
r
=I
s
. Ifthestatorux ataparticularlocationis
s
=
o
sint,theassociated voltageis
s
=Nd/dt=N
o
cost. Ontherotor,thesameuxapplies,butitrotatesmoreslowly:
s

r
=
o
sin
r
t =
o
sinst. Hence the rotor voltage is e
r
= Nd
r
/dt = N
o
scosst.
Then theRMSvoltageofthestatorandrotorsides oftheinductive couplingarerelatedby
E
s
1
= . (174)
E
r
s
The voltage seen at the stator scales inversely with the slip ratio, for a constant voltage at
therotor. Inper-unitterms,thecurrentintherotorandstatorareequivalent,andthisthen
indicates that the rotor impedance, seen from the stator, also scales inversely with the slip
ratio:
1
Z
rs
= [R
r
+jsX
r
]
s
1
= R
r
+jX
r
.
s
Thefactorofsintherotorinductance occursbecausetheeldseen bytherotorisactually
rotatingats.
Next,weconstructthe(onephase)Theveninequivalentcircuitofthestator: ithasavoltage
sourceV
t
,andequivalentresistanceRandinductanceX. Thisistobepairedwiththerotor
resistance and inductance, reected tothe stator,giving the following current
V
t
I = .
(R
r
/s+R)
2
+(X
r
+X)
2
Finally,we need toexpress thetorque/speed characteristic ofthe machine. The mechanical
powerisP
m
=(1s)T,whilethepowerdeliveredacrosstheairgapisP
gap
=I
2
R
r
/s. The
64 14 TOWING OFVEHICLES
actual power dissipated in the copper is related to the real rotor resistance: P
loss
= I
2
R
r
,
and hence the mechanical power is P
m
=3(P
gap
P
loss
)=3P
gap
(1s). It follows that the
eciencyofthemotorissimply=1s. Combiningthemechanicalpowerwiththetorque
equation gives
P
m
3P
gap
T = =
3V
(1s)
t
2
R
r
= .
s[(R
r
/s+R)
2
+(X
r
+X)
2
]
Maximum torque is developed ata slight slippage, with decreased values atlower speeds.
T
o
r
q
u
e

s = 0 s = 1
1 0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
/
m
Figure7: Torque-speed characteristics ofatypical three-phase induction motor.

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