STEADY STATE ELECTROMAGNETIC ANALYSIS OF THE SQUIRREL CAGE INDUCTION MOTOR

Abstract

This paper deals with the steady-state electromagnetic analysis of a squirrel cage induction motor (IM) and evaluates the squirrel cage IM’s performance at different rotor positions, supplied voltages, rotor slips, and at different operating conditions of the no-load and the blocked-rotor cases. The squirrel cage IM's electromagnetic torque characteristic is analyzed to determine the base squirrel cage rotor’s initial position relative to the stator, where the electromagnetic torque is constant over a cycle. The results are used to define the initial rotor position for further steady state analysis, ensuring accurate electromagnetic torque performance analysis at different rotor positions. The squirrel cage IM’s performance at varying slip values is computed to explore its efficiency under different load conditions. Thus, the steady-state analysis computes key performance characteristics, including electromagnetic torque, current, losses and efficiency of the squirrel cage IM as a function of slip. The slip adjustment determines the operational efficiency and electromagnetic torque under rated load conditions and identifies the optimal slip value where the squirrel cage IM operates at maximum efficiency. A parametric study is carried out when the supplied voltage is varied at different operating conditions, and the study provides insights into the squirrel cage IM’s performance during startup and under locked rotor conditions to develop accurate equivalent circuit models and optimizing the squirrel cage IM’s design for various operational scenarios.