CHAPTER FIVE

Induction Motors – Rotating Field,

Slip and Torque

1. INTRODUCTION
Judged in terms of fitness for purpose coupled with simplicity, the induction motor
must rank alongside the screwthread as one of mankind’s best inventions. It is not
only supremely elegant as an electromechanical energy converter, but is also by far
the most important, with something like half of all the electricity generated being
converted back to mechanical energy in induction motors. Despite playing a key
role in industrial society, it remains largely unnoticed because of its workaday role
driving machinery, pumps, fans, compressors, conveyors, hoists, and a host of other
routine but vital tasks. It will doubtless continue to dominate fixed-speed appli-
cations, but, thanks to the availability of reliable variable-frequency inverters, it is
now also the leader in the controlled-speed arena.
Like the d.c. motor, the induction motor develops torque by the interaction of
axial currents on the rotor and a radial magnetic field produced by the stator. But
whereas in the d.c. motor the ‘work’ current has to be fed into the rotor by means of
brushes and a commutator, the torque-producing currents in the rotor of the
induction motor are induced by electromagnetic action, hence the name ‘induc-
tion’ motor. The stator winding therefore not only produces the magnetic field (the
‘excitation’), but also supplies the energy which is converted to mechanical output.
The absence of any sliding mechanical contacts and the consequent saving in terms
of maintenance is a major advantage of the induction motor over the d.c. machine.
Other differences between the induction motor and the d.c. motor are first that
the supply to the induction motor is a.c. (usually 3-phase, but in smaller sizes single-
phase); secondly that the magnetic field in the induction motor rotates relative to
the stator, while in the d.c. motor it is stationary; and thirdly that both stator and
rotor in the induction motor are non-salient (i.e. effectively smooth) whereas the
d.c. motor stator has projecting poles or saliencies which define the position of the
field windings.
Given these differences we might expect to find major contrasts between the
performance of the two types of motor, and it is true that their inherent characteristics
exhibit distinctive features. But there are also many aspects of behavior which are
similar, as we shall see. Perhaps most important from the user’s point of view is that
there is no dramatic difference in size or weight between an induction motor and
a d.c. motor giving the same power at the same base speed, though the induction

Ó 2013 Austin Hughes and William Drury.

Electric Motors and Drives
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142 Electric Motors and Drives

motor will usually be cheaper. The similarity in size is a reflection of the fact that both
types employ similar amounts of copper and iron, while the difference in price stems
from the simpler construction and production volume of the induction motor.

1.1 Outline of approach

Throughout this chapter we will be concerned with how the induction motor
behaves in the steady state, i.e. the supply voltage and frequency are constant, the
load is steady, and any transients have died away. We will aim to develop a sound
qualitative understanding of the steady-state behavior, based on the ideas we have
discussed so far (magnetic flux, m.m.f., reluctance, electromagnetic force, motional
e.m.f.). But despite many similarities with the d.c. motor, most readers will probably
find that the induction motor is more difficult to understand. This is because we are
now dealing with alternating rather than steady quantities (so, for example,
inductive reactance becomes very significant), and also because (as mentioned
earlier) a single winding acts simultaneously as the producer of the flux and the
supplier of the converted energy.
In the next chapter, we will extend our qualitative understanding to look at how
motor performance depends on design parameters: we will again be following an
approach that has served well since the early days of the induction motor, and was
developed to reflect the fact that motors were operated at a fixed voltage and frequency.
It turns out that under these ‘utility supply’ conditions, the transient performance is
poor and fast control of torque is not possible, and so the induction motor was
considered unable to compete with the d.c. motor in controlled-speed drives.
All this changed rapidly beginning in the 1970s. The full set of governing
equations (describing not only the steady state but also the much more complex
dynamic behavior) had become tractable with computer simulation, which in turn
led the way to understanding how the stator currents would have to be manipulated
to obtain fast control of torque. The hardware for implementing rapid current
control became available with the development of pulse-width modulation (PWM)
inverters, but it was not until digital signal processing finally became cheap and fast
enough to deal with the complex control algorithms that so-called ‘field-oriented’
or ‘vector’ control emerged as a practicable commercial proposition. We will defer
consideration of this spectacularly successful system until later, because experience
has shown that a solid grounding based on the classical approach is invaluable before
getting to grips with more demanding ideas, which are introduced in Chapter 7.

2. THE ROTATING MAGNETIC FIELD

To understand how an induction motor operates, we must first unravel the
mysteries of the rotating magnetic field. We will see later that the rotor is effectively
dragged along by the rotating field, but that it can never run quite as fast as the field.
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 143

Our look at the mechanism of the rotating field will focus on the stator
windings because they act as the source of the flux. In this part of the discussion we
will ignore the presence of the rotor conductors. This makes it much easier to
understand what governs the speed of rotation and the magnitude of the field,
which are the two factors that most influence motor behavior.
Having established how the rotating field is set up, and what its speed and
strength depend on, we move on to examine the rotor, concentrating on how it
behaves when exposed to the rotating field, and discovering how the induced rotor
currents and torque vary with rotor speed. In this section we assume – again for the
sake of simplicity – that the rotating flux set up by the stator is not influenced by the
rotor.
Finally we turn attention to the interaction between the rotor and stator,
verifying that our earlier assumptions are well justified. Having done this we are in
a position to examine the ‘external characteristics’ of the motor, i.e. the variation of
motor torque and stator current with speed. These are the most important char-
acteristics from the point of view of the user.
Readers who are unfamiliar with routine a.c. circuit theory, including reac-
tance, impedance, phasor diagrams (but not, at this stage, ‘j’ notation) and basic ideas
about 3-phase systems will have to do some preparatory work1 before tackling the
later sections of this chapter.
Before we investigate how the rotating magnetic field is produced, we should
be clear what it actually is. Because both the rotor and stator iron surfaces are
smooth (apart from the regular slotting), and are separated by a small air-gap, the
flux produced by the stator windings crosses the air-gap radially. The behavior of
the motor is dictated by this radial flux, so we will concentrate first on establishing
a mental picture of what is meant by the ‘flux wave’ in an induction motor.
The pattern of flux in an ideal 4-pole motor supplied from a balanced 3-phase
source is shown in Figure 5.1(a). The top sketch corresponds to time t ¼ 0; the
middle one shows the flux pattern one-quarter of a cycle of the supply later (i.e.
5 ms if the frequency is 50 Hz); and the lower one corresponds to a further quarter-
cycle later. We note that the pattern of flux lines is repeated in each case, except that
the middle and lower ones are rotated by 45 and 90 , respectively, with respect to
the top sketch.
The term ‘4-pole’ reflects the fact that flux leaves the stator from two N poles, and
returns at two S poles. Note, however, that there are no physical features of the stator
iron that mark it out as being 4-pole, rather than say 2-pole or 6-pole. As we will see,
it is the layout and interconnection of the stator coils which set the pole-number.
If we plot the variation of the radial air-gap flux density with respect to distance
round the stator, at each of the three instants of time, we get the patterns shown in

1 The revised book Electrical and Electronic Technology, 10th Edition by Edward Hughes (no relation) is
a tried and tested favorite.
144 Electric Motors and Drives

Figure 5.1 (a) Flux pattern in a 4-pole induction motor at three successive instants of
time, each one-quarter of a cycle apart; (b) radial flux density distribution in the air-gap
at the three instants shown in Figure 5.1(a).

Figure 5.1(b). The first feature to note is that the radial flux density varies sinu-
soidally in space. There are two N peaks and two S peaks, but the transition from N
to S occurs in a smooth sinusoidal way, giving rise to the term ‘flux wave’. The
distance from the center of one N pole to the center of the adjacent S pole is called
the pole-pitch, for obvious reasons.
Staying with Figure 5.1(b), we note that after one-quarter of a cycle of the
mains frequency, the flux wave retains its original shape, but has moved round
the stator by half a pole-pitch, while after half a cycle it has moved round by a full
pole-pitch. If we had plotted the patterns at intermediate times, we would have
discovered that the wave maintained a constant shape, and progressed smoothly,
advancing at a uniform rate of two pole-pitches per cycle of the supply. The term
‘traveling flux wave’ is thus an appropriate one to describe the air-gap field.
For the 4-pole wave here, one complete revolution takes two cycles of the
supply, so the speed is 25 rev/s (1500 rev/min) with a 50 Hz supply, or 30 rev/s
(1800 rev/min) at 60 Hz. The general expression for the speed of the field (which is
known as the synchronous speed) Ns, in rev/min is
120f
Ns ¼ (5.1)
p
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 145

Table 5.1 Synchronous speeds, in rev/min

Pole-number 50 Hz 60 Hz
2 3000 3600
4 1500 1800
6 1000 1200
8 750 900
10 600 720
12 500 600

where p is the pole-number. The pole-number must be an even integer, since for
every N pole there must be an S pole. Synchronous speeds for commonly used
pole-numbers are given in Table 5.1.
We can see from the table that if we want the field to rotate at intermediate
speeds, we will have to be able to vary the supply frequency, and this is what
happens in inverter-fed motors, which are dealt with in Chapter 7.

2.1 Production of rotating magnetic field

Now that we have a picture of the field, we turn to how it is produced. If we inspect
the stator winding of an induction motor we find that it consists of a uniform array
of identical coils, located in slots. The coils are in fact connected to form three
identical groups or phase-windings, distributed around the stator, and symmetrically
displaced with respect to one another. The three phase-windings are connected
either in star (wye) or delta (mesh), as shown in Figure 5.2.
The three phase-windings are connected to a balanced 3-phase a.c. supply, and
so the currents (which produce the m.m.f. that sets up the flux) are of equal
amplitude but differ in time-phase by one-third of a cycle (120 ), forming
a balanced 3-phase set.

2.2 Field produced by each phase-winding

The aim of the winding designer is to arrange the layout of the coils so that each
phase-winding, acting alone, produces an m.m.f. wave (and hence an air-gap flux

Figure 5.2 Star (wye) and delta (mesh) connection of the three phase-windings of a
3-phase induction motor.
146 Electric Motors and Drives

wave) of the desired pole-number, and with a sinusoidal variation of amplitude with
angle. Getting the desired pole-number is not difficult: we simply have to choose
the right number and pitch of coils, as shown by the diagrams of an elementary
4-pole winding in Figure 5.3.
In Figure 5.3(a) we see that by positioning two coils (each of which spans one
pole-pitch) 180 apart we obtain the correct number of poles (i.e. 4). However, the
air gap field – shown by only two flux lines per pole for the sake of clarity – is
uniform between each go and return coil-side, not sinusoidal.
A clearer picture of the air-gap flux wave is presented in the developed view in
Figure 5.3(b), where more equally spaced flux lines have been added to emphasize
the uniformity of the flux density between the ‘go’ and ‘return’ sides of the coils.
Finally, the plot of the air-gap flux density underlines the fact that this very basic
arrangement of coils produces a rectangular flux density wave, whereas what we are
seeking is a sinusoidal wave.

Figure 5.3 Arrangement (a) and developed diagram (b) showing elementary 4-pole,
single-layer stator winding consisting of four conductors spaced by 90 . The ‘go’
side of each coil (shown by the plus symbol) carries current into the paper at the
instant shown, while the ‘return’ side (shown by the dot) carries current out of the
paper.

We can improve matters by adding more coils in the adjacent slots, as shown in
Figure 5.4. All the coils have the same number of turns, and carry the same current.
The addition of the extra slightly displaced coils gives rise to the stepped waveform
of m.m.f. and air-gap flux density shown in Figure 5.4. It is still not sinusoidal, but is
much better than the original rectangular shape.
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 147

Figure 5.4 Developed diagram showing flux density produced by one phase of
a single-layer winding having three slots per pole per phase.

It turns out that if we were to insist on having a perfect sinusoidal flux density
waveform, we would have to distribute the coils of one phase in a smoothly varying
sinusoidal pattern over the whole periphery of the stator. This is not a practicable
proposition, first because we would also have to vary the number of turns per coil
from point to point, and secondly because we want the coils to be in slots, so it is
impossible to avoid some measure of discretization in the layout. For economy of
manufacture we are also obliged to settle for all the coils being identical, and we
must make sure that the three identical phase-windings fit together in such a way
that all the slots are fully utilized. (See Plate 5.1)
Despite these constraints we can get remarkably close to the ideal sinusoidal
pattern, especially when we use a ‘two-layer’ winding (in which case the stator
slots may contain turns from more than one phase winding). A typical arrange-
ment of one phase is shown in Figure 5.5. The upper expanded sketch shows how
each coil sits with its ‘go’ side in the top of a slot while the ‘return’ side occupies
the bottom of a slot rather less than one pole-pitch away. Coils which span less
than a full pole-pitch are known as short-pitch or short-chorded: in this particular
case the coil pitch is six slots and the pole-pitch is nine slots, so the coils are short-
pitched by three slots.
This type of winding is almost universal in all but small induction motors, the
coils in each phase being grouped together to form ‘phase-bands’ or ‘phase-belts’.
Since we are concentrating on the field produced by only one of the phase-windings
(or ‘phases’), only one-third of the coils in Figure 5.5 are shown carrying current.
The remaining two-thirds of the coils form the other two phase-windings, as dis-
cussed below.
Returning to the flux density plot in Figure 5.5 we see that the effect of short-
pitching is to increase the number of steps in the waveform, and that as a result the
field produced by one phase is a fair approximation to a sinusoid.
The current in each phase pulsates at the supply frequency, so the field produced
by say phase A, pulsates in sympathy with the current in phase A, the axis of each
‘pole’ remaining fixed in space, but its polarity changing from N to S and back once
148 Electric Motors and Drives

Figure 5.5 Developed diagram showing layout of windings in a 3-phase, 4-pole, two-
layer induction motor winding, together with the flux density wave produced by one
phase acting alone. The upper detail shows how the coil-sides form upper and lower
layers in the slots.

per cycle. There is no hint of any rotation in the field of one phase, but when
the fields produced by each of the three phases are combined, matters change
dramatically.

2.3 Resultant 3-phase field

The layout of coils for the complete 4-pole winding is shown in Figure 5.6(a). The
‘go’ sides of each coil are represented by the capital letters (A, B, C) and the ‘return’
sides are identified by bars over the letters (A; B; C). (For the sake of comparison,
a 6-pole winding layout that uses the same stator slotting is shown in Figure 5.6(b):
here the pole-pitch is six slots and the coils are short-pitched by one slot.)
Returning to the 4-pole winding, we can see that the windings of phases B and
C are identical with that of phase A apart from the fact that they are displaced in
space by plus and minus two-thirds of a pole-pitch, respectively. Phases B and C
therefore also produce pulsating fields, along their own fixed axes in space. But the
currents in phases B and C also differ in time-phase from the current in phase A,
lagging by one-third and two-thirds of a cycle, respectively. To find the resultant
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 149

Figure 5.6 Developed diagram showing arrangement of 3-phase, two-layer windings

in a 36-slot stator. A 4-pole winding with three slots/pole/phase is shown in (a), and a 6-
pole winding with two slots/pole/phase is shown in (b).

field we must therefore superimpose the fields of the three phases, taking account
not only of the spatial differences between windings, but also the time differences
between the currents. This is a tedious process, so the intermediate steps have been
omitted and instead we move straight to the plot of the resultant field for the
complete 4-pole machine, for three discrete times during one complete cycle, as
shown in Figure 5.7.

Figure 5.7 Resultant air–gap flux density wave produced by a complete 3-phase,
4-pole winding at three successive instants in time.
150 Electric Motors and Drives

We see that the three pulsating fields combine beautifully and lead to a resultant
4-pole field which rotates at a uniform rate, advancing by two pole-pitches for
every cycle of the supply. The resultant field is not exactly sinusoidal in shape
(though it is actually more sinusoidal than the field produced by the individual
phase-windings), and its shape varies a little from instant to instant; but these are
minor worries. The resultant field is amazingly close to the ideal traveling wave and
yet the winding layout is simple and easy to manufacture. This is an elegant
engineering achievement, however one looks at it.

2.4 Direction of rotation

The direction of rotation depends on the order in which the currents reach their
maxima, i.e. on the phase-sequence of the supply. Reversal of direction is therefore
simply a matter of interchanging any two of the lines connecting the windings to
the supply.

2.5 Main (air-gap) flux and leakage flux

Broadly speaking the motor designer shapes the stator and rotor teeth to encourage
as much as possible of the flux produced by the stator windings to pass right down
the rotor teeth, so that before completing its path back to the stator it is fully linked
with the rotor conductors (see later) which are located in the rotor slots. We will see
later that this tight magnetic coupling between stator and rotor windings is necessary
for good running performance, and the field which provides the coupling is of
course the main or air-gap field, which we are in the midst of discussing.
In practice the vast majority of the flux produced by the stator is indeed main or
‘mutual’ flux. But there is some flux which bypasses the rotor conductors, linking
only with the stator winding, and known as stator leakage flux. Similarly not all the
flux produced by the rotor currents links the stator, but some (the rotor leakage
flux) links only the rotor conductors.
The use of the pejorative-sounding term ‘leakage’ suggests that these leakage
fluxes are unwelcome imperfections, which we should go out of our way to mini-
mize. However, while the majority of aspects of performance are certainly enhanced
if the leakage is as small as possible, others (notably the large and unwelcome current
drawn from the mains when the motor is started from rest directly on the utility
supply) are made much worse if the coupling is too good. So we have the somewhat
paradoxical situation in which the designer finds it comparatively easy to lay out the
windings to produce a good main flux, but is then obliged to juggle the detailed
design of the slots in order to obtain just the right amount of leakage flux to give
acceptable all-round performance. (In contrast, as we will see later, an inverter-fed
induction motor can avoid such issues as excessive starting current and, ideally, could
be designed with much lower leakage than its utility-fed counterpart. It has to be said,
however, that the majority of induction motors are still designed for general-purpose
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 151

use, and in this respect they lose out in comparison with other forms of motor that are
specifically designed for operation with a drive.)
The weight which attaches to the matter of leakage flux is reflected in the
prominent part played by the associated leakage reactance in equivalent circuit
models of the induction motor (see Appendix 2). However, such niceties are of
limited importance to the user, so in this and the next chapters we will limit
references to leakage reactance to well-defined contexts, and, in general, where the
term ‘flux’ is used, it will refer to the main air-gap field.

2.6 Magnitude of rotating flux wave

We have already seen that the speed of the flux wave is set by the pole-number of
the winding and the frequency of the supply. But what is it that determines the
amplitude of the field?
To answer this question we can continue to neglect the fact that under normal
conditions there will be induced currents in the rotor. We might even find it easier
to imagine that the rotor conductors have been removed altogether: this may seem
a drastic assumption, but will prove justified later. The stator windings are assumed
to be connected to a balanced 3-phase a.c. supply so that a balanced set of currents
flow in the windings. We denote the phase voltage by V, and the current in each
phase by Im, where the subscript m denotes ‘magnetizing’ or flux-producing
current.
From the discussion in Chapter 1 we know that the magnitude of the flux wave
(Bm) is proportional to the winding m.m.f., and is thus proportional to Im. But what
we really want to know is how the flux density depends on the supply voltage and
frequency, since these are the only two parameters over which we have control.
To guide us to the answer, we must first ask what effect the traveling flux wave
will have on the stator winding. Every stator conductor will of course be cut by the
rotating flux wave, and will therefore have an e.m.f. induced in it. Since the flux
wave varies sinusoidally in space, and cuts each conductor at a constant velocity,
a sinusoidal e.m.f. is induced in each conductor. The magnitude of the e.m.f. is
proportional to the magnitude of the flux wave (Bm), and to the speed of the wave
(i.e. to the supply frequency f ). The frequency of the induced e.m.f. depends on the
time taken for one N pole and one S pole to cut the conductor. We have already
seen that the higher the pole-number, the slower the field rotates, but we found that
the field always advances by two pole-pitches for every cycle of the supply. The
frequency of the e.m.f. induced in the stator conductors is therefore the same as the
supply frequency, regardless of the pole-number. (This conclusion is what we
would have reached intuitively, since we would expect any linear system to react at
the same frequency at which we excited it.)
The e.m.f. in each complete phase winding (E ) is the sum of the e.m.f.s in the
phase coils, and thus will also be at supply frequency. (The alert reader will realize
152 Electric Motors and Drives

that while the e.m.f. in each coil has the same magnitude, it will differ in time phase,
depending on the geometrical position of the coil. Most of the coils in each phase-
band are close together, however, so their e.m.f.s – though slightly out of phase –
will more or less add up directly.)
If we were to compare the e.m.f.s in the three complete phase windings, we
would find that they were of equal amplitude, but out of phase by one-third of
a cycle (120 ), thereby forming a balanced 3-phase set. This result could have been
anticipated from the overall symmetry. This is very helpful, as it means that we need
only consider one of the phases in the rest of the discussion.
So we find that when an alternating voltage V is applied, an alternating e.m.f. E
is induced. We can represent this state of affairs by the primitive a.c. equivalent
circuit for one phase shown in Figure 5.8.

Figure 5.8 Simple equivalent circuit for the induction motor under no-load conditions.

The resistance shown in Figure 5.8 is the resistance of one complete phase-
winding. Note that the e.m.f. E is shown as opposing the applied voltage V. This
must be so, otherwise we would have a runaway situation in which the voltage V
produced the magnetizing current Im which in turn set up an e.m.f. E, which added
to V, which further increased Im and so on ad infinitum.
Applying Kirchhoff ’s voltage law to the a.c. circuit in Figure 5.8 yields
V ¼ Im R þ E (5.2)
We find in practice that the term ImR (which represents the volt-drop due to
winding resistance) is usually very much less than the applied voltage V. In other
words most of the applied voltage is accounted for by the opposing e.m.f. E. Hence
we can make the approximation
V zE (5.3)
But we have already seen that the e.m.f. is proportional to Bm and to f, i.e.
EfBm f (5.4)
So by combining equations (5.3) and (5.4) we obtain
V
Bm ¼ k (5.5)
f
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 153

where the constant k depends on the number of turns per coil, the number of coils
per phase and the distribution of the coils.
Equation (5.5) is of fundamental importance in induction motor operation. It
shows that if the supply frequency is constant, the flux in the air-gap is directly
proportional to the applied voltage, or in other words the voltage sets the flux. We
can also see that if we raise or lower the frequency (in order to increase or reduce the
speed of rotation of the field), we will have to raise or lower the voltage in
proportion if, as is usually the case, we want the magnitude of the flux to remain
constant. (We will see in Chapters 7 and 8 that the early inverter drives used this so-
called ‘V/f control’ to keep the flux constant at all speeds.)
It may seem a paradox that having originally homed-in on the magnetizing
current Im as being the source of the m.m.f. which in turn produces the flux, we
find that the actual value of the flux is governed only by the applied voltage and
frequency, and Im does not appear at all in equation (5.5). We can see why this is by
looking again at Figure 5.8 and asking what would happen if, for some reason, the
e.m.f. (E) were to reduce. We would find that Im would increase, which in turn
would lead to a higher m.m.f., more flux, and hence to an increase in E. There is
clearly a negative feedback effect taking place, which continually tries to keep E
equal to V. It is rather like the d.c. motor (Chapter 3) where the speed of the
unloaded motor always adjusted itself so that the back e.m.f. almost equaled the
applied voltage. Here, the magnetizing current always adjusts itself so that the
induced e.m.f. is almost equal to the applied voltage.
Needless to say this does not mean that the magnetizing current is arbitrary,
but to calculate it we would have to know the number of turns in the winding,
the length of the air-gap (from which we could calculate the gap reluctance) and
the reluctance of the iron paths. From a user point of view there is no need to
delve further in this direction. We should, however, recognize that the reluctance
will be dominated by the air-gap, and that the magnitude of the magnetizing
current will therefore depend mainly on the size of the gap: the larger the gap, the
bigger the magnetizing current. Since the magnetizing current contributes to
stator copper loss, but not to useful output power, we would like it to be as small
as possible, so we find that induction motors usually have the smallest air-gap
which is consistent with providing the necessary mechanical clearances. Despite
the small air-gap the magnetizing current can be appreciable: in a 4-pole motor, it
may be typically 50% of the full-load current, and even higher in 6-pole and
8-pole designs.

2.7 Excitation power and volt-amps

The setting up of the traveling wave by the magnetizing current amounts to the
provision of ‘excitation’ for the motor. Some energy is stored in the magnetic field,
but since the amplitude remains constant once the field has been established, no net
power input is needed to sustain the field. We therefore find that under the
154 Electric Motors and Drives

Figure 5.9 Phasor diagram for the induction motor under no-load conditions, showing
magnetizing current Im.

conditions discussed so far, i.e. in the absence of any rotor currents, the power input
to the motor is very small. (We should perhaps note that the rotor currents in a real
motor are very small when it is running light, so the hypothetical situation we are
looking at is not as far removed from reality as we may have supposed.)
Ideally the only source of power losses would be the copper losses in the stator
windings, but to this must be added the ‘iron losses’ which arise from eddy currents
and hysteresis in the laminated steel cores of rotor and stator. However, we have
seen that the magnetizing current can be quite large, its value being largely
determined by the air-gap, so we can expect an unloaded induction motor to draw
appreciable current from the supply, but very little real power. The volt-amps will
therefore be substantial, but the power-factor will be very low, the magnetizing
current lagging the supply voltage by almost 90 , as shown in the time phasor
diagram (Figure 5.9).
Viewed from the supply the stator looks more or less like a pure inductance,
a fact which we would expect intuitively given that – having ignored the rotor
circuit – we are left with only an arrangement of flux-producing coils surrounded
by a good magnetic circuit.

2.8 Summary
When the stator is connected to a 3-phase supply, a sinusoidally distributed, radially
directed rotating magnetic flux density wave is set up in the air-gap. The speed of
rotation of the field is directly proportional to the frequency of the supply, and
inversely proportional to the pole-number of the winding. The magnitude of the
flux wave is proportional to the applied voltage, and inversely proportional to the
frequency.
When the rotor circuits are ignored (i.e. under no-load conditions), the real
power drawn is small, but the magnetizing current itself can be quite large, giving
rise to a significant reactive power demand from the utility supply.

3. TORQUE PRODUCTION
In this section we begin with a brief description of rotor types, and introduce the
notion of ‘slip’, before moving on to explore how the torque is produced, and
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 155

investigate the variation of torque with speed. We will find that the behavior of the
rotor varies widely according to the slip, and we therefore look separately at low and
high values of slip. Throughout this section we will assume that the rotating
magnetic field is unaffected by anything which happens on the rotor side of the air-
gap. Later, we will see that this assumption is pretty well justified.

3.1 Rotor construction

Two types of rotor are used in induction motors. In both, the rotor ‘iron’ consists of
a stack of silicon steel laminations with evenly spaced slots punched around the
circumference. As with the stator laminations, the surface is coated with an oxide
layer which acts as an insulator, preventing unwanted axial eddy-currents from
flowing in the iron.
The cage rotor is by far the most common: each rotor slot contains a solid
conductor bar and all the conductors are physically and electrically joined together
at each end of the rotor by conducting ‘end-rings’ (Figure 5.10, plate 5.2 and see
also Figure 8.4). In the larger sizes the conductors will be of copper, in which case
the end-rings are brazed on. In small and medium sizes, the rotor conductors and
end rings may be of copper or die-cast in aluminum.
The term squirrel cage was widely used at one time and the origin should be
clear from Figure 5.10. The rotor bars and end-rings are reminiscent of the rotating
cages used in bygone days to exercise small rodents (or rather to amuse their human
captors).
The absence of any means for making direct electrical connection to the rotor
underlines the fact that in the induction motor the rotor currents are induced by the
air-gap field. It is equally clear that because the rotor cage comprises permanently
short-circuited conductor bars, no external control can be exercised over the
resistance of the rotor circuit once the rotor has been made. This is a significant
drawback which can be avoided in the second type of rotor, which is known as the
‘wound-rotor’ or ‘slipring’ type.

Figure 5.10 Cage rotor construction. The stack of pre-punched laminations is shown
on the left, with the copper or aluminum rotor bars and end-rings on the right.
156 Electric Motors and Drives

Figure 5.11 Schematic diagram of wound rotor for induction motor, showing sliprings
and brushes to provide connection to the external (stationary) 3-phase resistance.

In the wound rotor, the slots accommodate a set of three phase-windings very
much like those on the stator. The windings are connected in star, with the three
ends brought out to three sliprings (Figure 5.11). The rotor circuit is thus open, and
connection can be made via brushes bearing on the sliprings. In particular, the
resistance of each phase of the rotor circuit can be increased by adding external
resistances, as indicated in Figure 5.11. Adding resistance can be beneficial in some
circumstances, as we will see.
Cage-rotors are usually cheaper to manufacture, and are very robust and reliable.
Until the advent of variable-frequency inverter supplies, however, the superior
control which was possible from the slipring type meant that the extra expense of the
wound rotor and its associated control gear was frequently justified, especially for
high-power machines. Nowadays comparatively few are made, and then only in large
sizes. But many old motors remain in service, so they are included in Chapter 6.

3.2 Slip
A little thought will show that the behavior of the rotor depends very much on its
relative velocity with respect to the rotating field. If the rotor is stationary, for
example, the rotating field will cut the rotor conductors at synchronous speed,
thereby inducing a high e.m.f. in them. On the other hand, if the rotor was running
at the synchronous speed, its relative velocity with respect to the field would be
zero, and no e.m.f.s would be induced in the rotor conductors.
The relative velocity between the rotor and the field is known as the slip speed.
If the speed of the rotor is N, the slip speed is Ns  N, where Ns is the synchronous
speed of the field, usually expressed in rev/min. The slip (as distinct from slip speed)
is the normalized quantity defined by

Ns  N
s ¼ (5.6)
Ns

and is usually expressed either as a ratio as in equation (5.6), or as a percentage. A slip of

0 therefore indicates that the rotor speed is equal to the synchronous speed, while
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 157

a slip of 1 corresponds to zero speed. (When tests are performed on induction motors
with their rotor deliberately held stationary so that the slip is 1, the test is said to be
under ‘locked-rotor’ conditions. The same expression is often used loosely to mean
zero speed, even when the rotor is free to move, e.g. when it is started from rest.)

3.3 Rotor-induced e.m.f. and current

The rate at which the rotor conductors are cut by the flux – and hence their induced
e.m.f. – is directly proportional to the slip, with no induced e.m.f. at synchronous
speed (s ¼ 0) and maximum induced e.m.f. when the rotor is stationary (s ¼ 1).
The frequency of the rotor e.m.f. (the slip frequency) is also directly propor-
tional to slip, since the rotor effectively slides with respect to the flux wave, and the
higher the relative speed, the more times in a second each rotor conductor is cut by
an N and an S pole. At synchronous speed (slip ¼ 0) the slip frequency is zero, while
at standstill (slip ¼ 1), the slip frequency is equal to the supply frequency. These
relationships are shown in Figure 5.12.

Figure 5.12 Variation of rotor-induced e.m.f. and frequency with speed and slip.

Although the e.m.f. induced in every rotor bar will have the same magnitude and
frequency, they will not be in phase. At any particular instant, bars under the peak of the
N poles of the field will have maximum positive voltage in them, those under the peak
of the S poles will have maximum negative voltage (i.e. 180 phase shift), and those in
between will have varying degrees of phase shift. The pattern of instantaneous voltages
in the rotor is thus a replica of the flux density wave, and the rotor-induced ‘voltage
wave’ therefore moves relative to the rotor at slip speed, as shown in Figure 5.13.
All the rotor bars are short-circuited by the end-rings, so the induced voltages
will drive currents along the rotor bars, the currents forming closed paths through
the end-rings, as shown in the developed diagram (Figure 5.14).
In Figure 5.14 the variation of instantaneous e.m.f. in the rotor bars is shown in
the upper sketch, while the corresponding instantaneous currents flowing in the
158 Electric Motors and Drives

Figure 5.13 Pattern of induced e.m.f.s in rotor conductors. The rotor ‘voltage wave’
moves at a speed of sNs with respect to the rotor surface.

Figure 5.14 Instantaneous sinusoidal pattern of rotor currents in rotor bars and end-
rings. Only one pole-pitch is shown, but the pattern is repeated.

rotor bars and end-rings are shown in the lower sketch. The lines representing
the currents in the rotor bars have been drawn so that their width is proportional
to the instantaneous currents in the bars.

3.4 Torque
The axial currents in the rotor bars will interact with the radial flux wave to produce
the driving torque of the motor, which will act in the same direction as the rotating
field, the rotor being dragged along by the field. We note that slip is essential to this
mechanism, so that it is never possible for the rotor to catch up with the field, as there
would then be no rotor e.m.f., no current, and no torque. The fact that motor action is
only possible if the speed is less than the synchronous speed explains why the induction
machine is described as ‘asynchronous’. Finally, we can see that the cage rotor will
automatically adapt to whatever pole-number is impressed by the stator winding, so
that the same rotor can be used for a range of different stator pole-numbers.
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 159

3.5 Rotor currents and torque – small slip

When the slip is small (say between 0 and 10%), the frequency of induced e.m.f. is
also very low (between 0 and 5 Hz if the supply frequency is 50 Hz). At these low
frequencies the impedance of the rotor circuits is predominantly resistive, the
inductive reactance being small because the rotor frequency is low.
The current in each rotor conductor is therefore in time-phase with the e.m.f.
in that conductor, and the rotor current-wave is therefore in space-phase with the
rotor e.m.f. wave, which in turn is in space-phase with the flux wave. This situation
was assumed in the previous discussion, and is represented by the space waveforms
shown in Figure 5.15.
To calculate the torque we first need to evaluate the ‘BIrlr’ product (see equation
(1.2)) in order to obtain the tangential force on each rotor conductor. The torque is
then given by the total force multiplied by the rotor radius. We can see from
Figure 5.15 that where the flux density has a positive peak, so does the rotor current,
so that particular bar will contribute a high tangential force to the total torque.
Similarly, where the flux has its maximum negative peak, the induced current is
maximum and negative, so the tangential force is again positive. We don’t need to
work out the torque in detail, but it should be clear that the resultant will be given
by an equation of the form
T ¼ kBIr (5.7)

where B and Ir denote the amplitudes of the flux density wave and the rotor current
wave, respectively. Provided that there are a large number of rotor bars (which is
a safe bet in practice), the waves shown in Figure 5.15 will remain the same at all
instants of time, so the torque remains constant as the rotor rotates.
If the supply voltage and frequency are constant, the flux will be constant (see
equation (5.5)). The rotor e.m.f. (and hence Ir) is then proportional to slip, so we
can see from equation (5.7) that the torque is directly proportional to slip. We must
remember that this discussion relates to low values of slip only, but since this is the
normal running condition, it is extremely important.

Figure 5.15 Pattern of air-gap flux density, induced e.m.f. and current in cage rotor
bars at low values of slip.
160 Electric Motors and Drives

The torque–speed (and torque–slip) relationship for small slips is thus approx-
imately a straight line, as shown by the section of line AB in Figure 5.16.
If the motor is unloaded, it will need very little torque to keep running –
only enough to overcome friction in fact – so an unloaded motor will run with
a very small slip at just below the synchronous speed, as shown at A in
Figure 5.16.
When the load is increased, the rotor slows down, and the slip increases, thereby
inducing more rotor e.m.f. and current, and thus more torque. The speed will settle
when the slip has increased to the point where the developed torque equals the load
torque – e.g. point B in Figure 5.16.
Induction motors are usually designed so that their full-load torque is
developed for small values of slip. Small ones typically have a full-load slip of 8%,
large ones around 1%. At the full-load slip, the rotor conductors will be carrying
their safe maximum continuous current, and if the slip is any higher, the rotor
will begin to overheat. This overload region is shown by the dotted line in
Figure 5.16.
The torque–slip (or torque–speed) characteristic shown in Figure 5.16 is
a good one for most applications, because the speed only falls a little when the
load is raised from zero to its full value. We note that, in this normal operating
region, the torque–speed curve is very similar to that of a d.c. motor (see
Figure 3.9).

Figure 5.16 Torque–speed relationship for low values of slip.

3.6 Rotor currents and torque – large slip

As the slip increases, the rotor e.m.f. and rotor frequency both increase in direct
proportion to the slip. At the same time the rotor inductive reactance, which was
negligible at low slip (low rotor frequency), begins to be appreciable in
comparison with the rotor resistance. Hence although the induced current
continues to increase with slip, it does so more slowly than at low values of slip, as
shown in Figure 5.17.
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 161

Figure 5.17 Magnitude of current induced in rotor over the full (motoring) range of
slip.

At high values of slip, the rotor current also lags behind the rotor e.m.f. because
of the inductive reactance. The alternating current in each bar reaches its peak well
after the induced voltage, and this in turn means that the rotor current wave has
a space-lag with respect to the rotor e.m.f. wave (which is in space-phase with the
flux wave). This space-lag is shown by the angle fr in Figure 5.18.
The space-lag means that the peak radial flux density and peak rotor currents no
longer coincide, which is bad news from the point of view of torque production,
because although we have high values of both flux density and current, they do not
occur simultaneously at any point around the periphery. What is worse is that at
some points we even have flux density and currents of opposite sign, so over those
regions of the rotor surface the torque contributed will actually be negative. The
overall torque will still be positive, but is much less than it would be if the flux and
current waves were in phase. We can allow for the unwelcome space-lag by
modifying equation (5.7), to obtain a more general expression for torque as

T ¼ kBIr cos fr (5.8)

Equation (5.7) is merely a special case of equation (5.8), which only applies under
low-slip conditions where cosfr z1:

Figure 5.18 Pattern of air-gap flux density, induced e.m.f. and current in cage rotor
bars at high values of slip. (These waveforms should be compared with the corre-
sponding ones when the slip is small, see Figure 5.15.)
162 Electric Motors and Drives

Figure 5.19 Typical complete torque–speed characteristic for motoring region of cage
induction motor.

For most cage rotors, it turns out that as the slip increases the term cos fr reduces
more quickly than the current (Ir) increases, so that at some slip between 0 and 1 the
developed torque reaches a maximum value. This is illustrated in the typical torque–
speed characteristic shown in Figure 5.19. The peak torque actually occurs at a slip at
which the rotor inductive reactance is equal to the rotor resistance, so the motor
designer can position the peak torque at any slip by varying the reactance to resis-
tance ratio.

3.7 Generating – negative slip

When we explored the steady-state characteristics of the d.c. machine (see section 4
in Chapter 3) we saw that at speeds less than that at which it runs when unloaded the
machine acts as a motor, converting electrical energy into mechanical energy. But if
the speed is above the no-load speed (for example, when driven by a prime-mover),
the machine generates and converts mechanical energy into electrical form.
The inherently bi-directional energy converting property of the d.c. machine
seems to be widely recognized. But in the experience of the authors the fact that the
induction machine behaves in the same way is far less well accepted, and indeed it is
not uncommon to find users expressing profound scepticism at the thought that
their ‘motor’ could possibly generate.
In fact, the induction machine behaves in essentially the same way as the d.c.
machine, and if the rotor is driven by an external torque such that its speed is above the
synchronous speed (i.e. the slip becomes negative), the electromagnetic torque
reverses direction, and the power becomes negative, with energy fed back to the
utility supply. It is important to note that, just as with the d.c. machine, this transition
from motoring to generating takes place naturally, without intervention on our part.
When the speed is greater than synchronous, we can see from equation (5.6)
that the slip is negative, and in this negative slip region the torque is also negative,
the torque–speed curve broadly mirroring that in the motoring region, as shown in
Figure 5.20. We will discuss this further in Chapter 6, but it is worth noting that for
both, motoring and generating continuous operation will be confined to low values
of slip, as indicated by the heavy line in Figure 5.20.
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 163

Figure 5.20 Typical torque–speed characteristic showing stable motoring and gener-
ating regions.

4. INFLUENCE OF ROTOR CURRENT ON FLUX

Up to now all our discussion has been based on the assumption that the
rotating magnetic field remains constant, regardless of what happens on the
rotor. We have seen how torque is developed, and that mechanical output
power is produced. We have focused attention on the rotor, but the output
power must be provided from the stator winding, so we must turn attention to
the behavior of the whole motor, rather than just the rotor. Several questions
spring to mind.
First, what happens to the rotating magnetic field when the motor is working?
Won’t the m.m.f. of the rotor currents cause it to change? Secondly, how does the
stator know when to start supplying real power across the air-gap to allow the rotor
to do useful mechanical work? And finally, how will the currents drawn by the
stator vary as the slip is changed?
These are demanding questions, for which full treatment is beyond our scope.
But we can deal with the essence of the matter without too much difficulty. Further
illumination can be obtained from the equivalent circuit, which is discussed in
Appendix 2.

4.1 Reduction of flux by rotor current

We should begin by recalling that we have already noted that when the rotor
currents are negligible (s ¼ 0), the e.m.f. which the rotating field induces in the
stator winding is very nearly equal to the applied voltage. Under these conditions
a reactive current (which we termed the magnetizing current) flows into the
windings, to set up the rotating flux. Any slight tendency for the flux to fall is
immediately detected by a corresponding slight reduction in e.m.f. which is
164 Electric Motors and Drives

reflected in a disproportionately large increase in magnetizing current, which thus

opposes the tendency for the flux to fall.
Exactly the same feedback mechanism comes into play when the slip increases
from zero, and rotor currents are induced. The rotor currents are at slip frequency,
and they give rise to a rotor m.m.f. wave, which therefore rotates at slip speed (sNs)
relative to the rotor. But the rotor is rotating at a speed of (1  s)Ns, so that when
viewed from the stator, the rotor m.m.f. wave always rotates at synchronous speed,
regardless of the speed of the rotor.
The rotor m.m.f. wave would, if unchecked, cause its own ‘rotor flux
wave’, rotating at synchronous speed in the air-gap, in much the same way that
the stator magnetizing current originally set up the flux wave. The rotor flux
wave would oppose the original flux wave, causing the resultant flux wave to
reduce.
However, as soon as the resultant flux begins to fall, the stator e.m.f. reduces,
thereby admitting more current to the stator winding, and increasing its m.m.f. A
very small drop in the e.m.f. induced in the stator is sufficient to cause a large
increase in the current drawn from the supply because the e.m.f. E (see Figure 5.8)
and the supply voltage V are both very large in comparison with the stator
resistance volt-drop IR. The ‘extra’ stator m.m.f. produced by the large increase
in stator current effectively ‘cancels’ the m.m.f. produced by the rotor currents,
leaving the resultant m.m.f. (and hence the rotating flux wave) virtually
unchanged.
There must be a small drop in the resultant m.m.f. (and flux) of course, to alert
the stator to the presence of rotor currents. But because of the delicate balance
between the applied voltage and the induced e.m.f. in the stator the change in flux
with load is very small, at least over the normal operating speed-range, where the
slip is small. In large motors, the drop in flux over the normal operating region is
typically less than 1%, rising to perhaps 10% in a small motor.
The discussion above should have answered the question as to how the stator
knows when to supply mechanical power across the air-gap. When a mechanical
load is applied to the shaft, the rotor slows down, the slip increases, rotor currents
are induced and their m.m.f. results in a modest (but vitally important) reduction in
the air-gap flux wave. This in turn causes a reduction in the e.m.f. induced in the
stator windings and therefore an increase in the stator current drawn from the
supply. We can anticipate that this is a stable process (at least over the normal
operating range) and that the speed will settle when the slip has increased sufficiently
that the motor torque equals the load torque.
As far as our conclusions regarding torque are concerned, we see that our
original assumption that the flux was constant is near enough correct when the slip
is small. We will find it helpful and convenient to continue to treat the flux as
constant (for given stator voltage and frequency) when we turn later to methods of
controlling the normal running speed.
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 165

It has to be admitted, however, that at high values of slip (i.e. low rotor speeds),
we cannot expect the main flux to remain constant, and in fact we would find in
practice that when the motor was first switched on to the utility supply (50 or
60 Hz), with the rotor stationary, the main flux might typically be only half what it
was when the motor was at full speed. This is because at high slips, the leakage fluxes
assume a much greater importance than under normal low-slip conditions. The
simple arguments we have advanced to predict torque would therefore need to be
modified to take account of the reduction of main flux if we wanted to use them
quantitatively at high slips. There is no need for us to do this explicitly, but it will be
reflected in any subsequent curves portraying typical torque–speed curves for real
motors. Such curves are of course used when selecting a motor to run directly from
the utility supply, since they provide the easiest means of checking whether the
starting and run-up torque is adequate for the job in hand. Fortunately, we will see
in Chapter 7 that when the motor is fed from an inverter, we can avoid the
undesirable effects of high-slip operation, and guarantee that the flux is at its
optimum value at all times.

5. STATOR CURRENT–SPEED CHARACTERISTICS

To conclude this chapter we will look at how the stator current behaves,
remembering that we are assuming that the machine is directly connected to
a utility supply of fixed voltage and frequency. Under these conditions the
maximum current likely to be demanded and the power factor at various loads are
important matters that influence the running cost.
In the previous section, we argued that as the slip increased, and the rotor did
more mechanical work, the stator current increased. Since the extra current is
associated with the supply of real (i.e. mechanical output) power (as distinct from
the original magnetizing current which was seen to be reactive), this additional
‘work’ component of current is more or less in phase with the supply voltage, as
shown in the phasor diagrams (Figure 5.21).
The resultant stator current is the sum of the magnetizing current, which is
present all the time, and the load component, which increases with the slip. We can
see that as the load increases, the resultant stator current also increases, and moves
more nearly into phase with the voltage. But because the magnetizing current is
appreciable, the difference in magnitude between no-load and full-load currents
may not be all that great. (This is in sharp contrast to the d.c. motor, where the no-
load current in the armature is very small in comparison with the full-load current.
Note, however, that in the d.c. motor, the excitation (flux) is provided by a separate
field circuit, whereas in the induction motor the stator winding furnishes both the
excitation and the work currents. If we consider the behavior of the work
components of current only, both types of machine look very similar.)
166 Electric Motors and Drives

Figure 5.21 Phasor diagrams showing stator current at no-load, part-load and full-load.
The resultant current in each case is the sum of the no-load (magnetizing) current and
the load component.

The simple ideas behind Figure 5.21 are based on an approximation, so we

cannot push them too far: they are fairly close to the truth for the normal operating
region, but break down at higher slips, where the rotor and stator leakage reactances
become significant. A typical current locus over the whole range of slips for a cage
motor is shown in Figure 5.22. We note that the power factor is poor when the
motor is lightly loaded, and becomes worse again at high slips, and also that the
current at standstill (i.e. the ‘starting’ current) is perhaps five times the full-load
value.
Very high currents when started direct-on-line are one of the worst features of
the cage induction motor. They not only cause unwelcome volt-drops in the supply
system, but also call for heavier switchgear than would be needed to cope with
full-load conditions. Unfortunately, for reasons discussed earlier, the high starting

Figure 5.22 Phasor diagram showing the locus of stator current over the full range of
speeds from no-load (full speed) down to the locked-rotor (starting) condition.
Induction Motors – Rotating Field, Slip and Torque 167

Figure 5.23 Typical torque–speed and current–speed curves for a cage induction
motor. The torque and current axes are scaled so that 100% represents the continu-
ously rated (full-load) value.

currents are not accompanied by high starting torques, as we can see from
Figure 5.23, which shows current and torque as functions of slip for a general-
purpose cage motor.
We note that the torque per ampere of current drawn from the mains is typically
very low at start-up, and only reaches a respectable value in the normal operating
region, i.e. when the slip is small. This matter is explored further in Chapter 6, and
also in Appendix 2.