DESIGN OF ELECTRICAL

MACHINES

EE 3105
 Design
1. Output Equation:

Power developed by armature Pa  Co D 2 L.n kW (1)

Where, Co   2 Bav ac 10 3 (2)
Maximum flux density Bg  Bav / K f  Bav /
Where, K f  field form factor
  ratio of pole arc to pole pitch.
Hence, Co   2Bg ac 10 3 (3)
Now, Pa  P /  for generator and Pa  P for motors
1.1: Choice of Average Flux Density:
Some factors which specifically relevant to DC machine
are:
1. Flux density in teeth:
Flux density in air gap  flux density in armature teeth 
 Value is chosen such that the flux density at the
root of teeth does not exceed a value of 2.2
Wb/m2 otherwise the required value for teeth
becomes extensively large which in turn
increases field copper loss and cost of copper.
 Also with higher flux density core losses would
increase.
2. Frequency:
Frequency of reversal of armature in the magnetic field
p.n
f 
2
f  core loss in armature and teeth 

Hence, high value of flux density for air gap

should not be chosen for high frequency machine.
3. Size of machine:

• It is possible to use increased value of flux density

as the size of machine increases.
D  width of tooth 
• This permits the use of higher value of flux
density without causing saturation in the machine.
1.2: Choice of Ampere Conductors per meter length:
Some factors which specifically relevant to dc machine
are:
1. Temperature Rise:
ac  temperature rise 
• High value of ac can be used for the machine using
insulating material which can withstand high
temperature.
• The type of cooling and enclosure also determine the
choice of ac.
2. Speed of Machine:
• If speed is high and ventilation is better, greater
loss can be dissipated.
• High value of ac can be used for high speed machine.
3. Voltage:
• For high voltage machine, larger space is required for
insulation and hence there is less space for conductors.
• Therefore, as the voltage rating of machine
increases, a small value of ac can be chosen.
4. Size of Machine:
• As size of machine ↑ D ↑ which provides more
space for accommodating conductors.
• Hence for large machine, the higher value of ac
can be chosen.
 Table-A: Approximate values of ‘Bg’
Output kW Bg Wb/m2 Output kW Bg Wb/m2
5 0.58 500 0.92
10 0.65 1000 0.96
50 0.78 2000 0.98
100 0.82 5000 1.05
200 0.87 10000 1.15

5. Armature Reaction:
• Higher value of ac causes higher value of armature
MMF. Hence under loading condition, the greater
distortion of field form results in large reduction in
main flux.
• To prevent this, the field should be made stronger
which causes increase in the cost of conductors.
6. Commutation:
ac = IzZ / πD. For having ac ↑ either Z ↑ or D ↓.
Reason regarding larger value of Z:
• If a machine having no. of coils ↑ no. of turns in a
coil ↑ hence, inductance of coil ↑ as it proportional
to square of no. of turns.
• Therefore with large value of ac results in higher
inductance.
Reason regarding smaller value of D:
• If a machine having D↓ space for teeth ↓ flux density
in teeth ↑.
• Therefore to accommodate conductor, deeper slots
are used which results in higher value of inductance.
• Thus with larger value of ac results in higher value of
inductance of coils.
• Now the reactance voltage in coils which under go
commutation is proportional to the inductance. Thus,
the reactance voltage is high with larger value of ac.
• The reactance voltage delays the commutation and
hence the large value of ac worsens the commutation.
Table-B: Approximate values of ‘ac’
Output kW ac Output kW ac
5 15000 500 35000
10 17500 1000 40000
50 25000 2000 43000
100 27500 5000 49500
200 31000 10000 51000
2. Selection of Number of Poles:
The following parameters to be considered while selecting
number of poles.
(i) Frequency:
p.n
The frequency of reversal f 
2
If p ↑ f ↑ which gives ↑ in iron losses in teeth and core.
• Generally, value of ‘f’ lies between 25 to 50 c/s, but
may be more in certain cases viz. high speed series
machine designed with low air gap density.
• In certain cases, ‘f’ might be a deciding factor in the
choice of number of poles.
• In case of 2 pole turbo alternator the ‘f’ becomes high
which gives rise to excessive iron losses.
(ii) Weight of Iron Parts:
The selection of poles affects the weight of various parts of
magnetic circuit.
(a) Yoke Area:
Let, total flux T around the air gap remains constant.

2-pole machine:
T/4
Flux per pole = T / 2.

At the yoke this flux divides

T/2 T/2 itself into two parts i.e. yoke
has to carry the flux of T / 4.

T/4
4-pole machine:

T/8 Flux per pole = T / 4.

T/4 T/8

At the yoke this flux divides

T/4 T/4
itself into two parts i.e. yoke
has to carry the flux of T / 8.

T/4 T/8 Thus, if the no. of poles are

T/8
doubled, the flux carried by
yoke becomes halved.

1
In general, the flux carried by yoke 
no. of poles
(b) Armature Core Area:
• The flux per pole in armature divides into two parts in armature
core
• For 2-pole machine flux / pole = T/4
• For 4-pole machine flux / pole = T/8

• As armature is rotating, the increased value of pole increases iron

losses [for stationary core, this does not matter].
Let, Bc = flux density in armature core;
f = frequency of flux reversals
n = speed in rps
A2 & A4 = equal area of core for 2-pole and 4-pole machines.
 Eddy Current Loss
2-pole machine: 2
 p.n 
Eddy current loss in armature core  Bc f  Bc 
2 2 2

 2 
2
 T   2  n   T 2 n 2 
2

        
2 
 4 A2   2   16 A2 
4-pole machine: 2
 p.n 
Eddy current loss in armature core  Bc f  Bc 
2 2 2

 2 
2
 T   4  n 
2
 T 2 n 2 
        
2 
 8 A4   2   16 A4 
• The eddy current loss in the armature is irrespective of number of
poles and the armature area has to be kept constant.
• In case, the area of core is decreased for higher number of poles,
the eddy current loss in core would increase.
 Hysteresis Loss
2-pole machine:
 p.n 
Hysteresis loss in armature core  Bc f  Bc 
2 2

 2 
2 2
 T   2  n   T  n
         
 4 A2   2   A2  16
4-pole machine:
 p.n 
Hysteresis loss in armature core  Bc f  Bc 
2 2

 2 
2 2
 T   4  n   T  n
         
 8 A4   2   A4  32
• The hysteresis loss decreases with increase in number of poles.
• To keep constant value of hysteresis loss, the area of armature
core can be decreased with larger value of poles.
• By increasing the number of poles the weight of iron in armature
core can be decreased.
(c) Overall Diameter:
• The height of pole in a machine depends upon the number of
poles.

• With higher value of no. of poles size of poles decreases.

• Hence, larger value of poles decreases the overall diameter of am

machine.
(iii) Weight of Copper:
(a) Armature Copper:
It can be classified into two categories.
 Active copper: Portion of conductors responsible for production
of EMF or torque and is embedded in the slots.
 Inactive copper: Portion of conductors in the overhang which
just provides a connection between the
active portion of conductors and does not take
part in the energy conversion.
(b) Field Copper:

Length of mean turn

• As number of pole increases length of mean turn of conductor

decreases which reduces the weight of copper used in field
winding.
• It can be summarized the weight of copper for armature and
field decreases with increase in number of poles.
 (iv) Length of Commutator:
Consider two lap wound machine, one with 2-pole and another
with 4-pole. I Ia
Ib 
a

2
S N
Ia/4 I /4 Ia
Ia/2 a Ib 
2
N S Ia/4 Ia/4
Ia/2 Ia
Ib  N
2 S
Ia
Ib 
2

Ia

Two brush arms Four brush arms

Ia Ia
Current in each parallel path is I z  Current in each parallel path is I z 
2 4
Current in each brush is I b  2 I z  I a Ia
Current in each brush is I b  2 I z 
2
Generalizing,
1
Brush current, I b   area(size) of brush
p
No. of poles  No. of brushes  area of each brush 
thickness of brushes  & length of brushes  length of commutator 
overall length of machine 
(v) Labour Charges:
(a) Armature Coils:
 .n.Z . p Z
E  [ p. & n assumed to be constant]
a a
Z
In a lap winding a  p E  or Z  E. p
p
If p  Z  armature coils  no. of commutator segments 
(b) Field Coils:
If p  field coils 

• It can be summarized the labour charges increases with

increase in no. of poles because more coils to wind, insulate and
connect to commutator and there are more commutator
segments to insulate and assemble, more poles to assemble and
more field coils to wind.
(vi) Flash over:
• For the same diameter commutator, with increase in field poles
the distance between two adjacent brushes decreases and this
increase the possibility of flashover between two adjacent
brushes.
• To avoid this the diameter of commutator will have to be
increased with increase in number of poles.
(vii) Distortion of Field Form:
Armature mmf per pole
ac ac  .D AC 1
ATa   pole pitch     Armature mmf 
2 2 p 2p p
If p  armature mmf  distortion of field flux 
• The distortion causes poor commutation conditions and
reduction in flux induces lower value of emf.
• To avoid this the compensating winding is used which
complicates the construction and increases cost of machine.
Summarizing the advantages of having larger number of
poles:
There is reduction in….
 Weight of armature core and yoke
 Cost of armature and field conductors
 Overall length and diameter of machine
 Length of commutator
 Distortion of field forms under load conditions
The disadvantages of having larger number of poles:
There is an increase in….
 Frequency of flux reversals
 Labour charges
 Possibility of flash over between brush arms
3. Core Length:
The following parameters to be considered while selecting
a value of core length.
(i) Cost:
With large core length, the manufacturing cost is less because
the proportion of inactive copper to active copper is smaller.

(ii) Ventilation:
With large core length the ventilation becomes difficult
because the central portion of core tends to attain a high temperature.
 Limiting values for core length:
The voltage in a conductor at no load ez  Bav L.Va
7.5 Va= armature peripheral speed
 For a limiting case : Bav L.Va 
Tc N c Tc= turns per coil
Nc= no. of coils between adjacent
7.5
L  segments
BavVaTc N c = 1 for simplex lap winding
= p/2 for simplex wave winding

Taking a case of lap winding: Nc= 1 and Tc= 1.

 Maximum permissible conductor emf at no load ez  7.5 V
7.5
 Limiting (max) value of core length, L 
BavVa
for normal design Bav  0.7 Wb/m 2 and Va  30 m/s
7.5
 Limiting (max) value of core length, L   0.36 m
0.7  30
4. Armature Diameter:
The following parameters to be considered while selecting
a value of armature diameter.
(i) Peripheral Speed:
• It lies between 15 to 50 m/s but the value should not be exceed
more than 30 m/s otherwise rotor offers excessive centrifugal
forces which flies away the overhangs of the winding.
(ii) Pole Pitch:
• The pole pitch obtained after selecting a suitable diameter, may
be used as a check for the no. of poles.

Poles Pole pitch mm

2 Up to 240
4 Between 240 to 350-400
6 Between 350 to 400-450
Above 6 450-500
Limiting values for armature diameter:
Output, P  E.I a 10 3 kW
Z
Now, E  ez
a
 Z Ia
 P   ez  I a 10  ez Z 10 3  ez . .D.ac 10 3
3

 a a
P  10 3
D 
ez . .ac
Assume, limiting values for ac  40,000 and ez  7.5 V
P  10 3
D   0.001P meter
  40,000  7.5
5. Pole Proportion:
Cross section of poles should be
circular to keep the length of mean
turn of the field coil minimum.
This requires a solid casting of bp
poles and results in increased core
loss, delayed response and
commutation problem. b
(pole arc)
In square section, bp = L.
As, bp= 0.45τ to 0.55τ hence a pole has short length.
Some manufacturer uses L=2bp.
Thus, we have L/τ = 0.45 to 1.1 (usually it lies between 0.7 to 0.9).
6. Length of Air gap:
(i) Armature reaction:
• To prevent excessive distortion of field form by armature
reaction, the field mmf must be made large compared to
armature mmf.
• To achieve large value of field mmf, the air gap should be
made large.
• The increased field mmf results in increase in size and cost of
machine.
(ii) Circulating Currents:
• The air gap in multipolar lap wound machine should be large.
• If air gap is small, a slight irregularity in air gap would result
in large circulating currents.
(iii) Pole Face Losses:
• If the length of air gap is made large, the variation in air gap
flux density due to slotting is small.
• Hence, the pulsation loss in the pole face decreases if the air
gap length increases.
(iv) Noise:
• Operation of the machine with larger air gap is quite.
(v) Cooling:
• Larger value of air gap offers better cooling of a machine.
(vi) Mechanical Consideration :
• The smaller value of air gap results in possibility of
appreciable unbalanced magnetic pull developing and
causing the rotor to foul with the stator.
• The length of air gap should be large to prevent any such
possibility.
Estimation of air gap length:
MMF required for air gap of salient pole machine is
ATg  800,000 Bg K g l g
ac
and armature mmf/pole ATa  (i)
2
The value of gap mmf  0.5 to 0.7 of armature mmf
The usual value is 0.55.
ac
 ATg  (0.5 to 0.7) ATa  (0.5 to 0.7) (ii)
2
Equating (i) and (ii)
(0.5 to 0.7)ac
lg 
1600,000 K g Bg
The gap contraction factor K g may be assumed as 1.15.
Usually the value of air gap length lies between 0.01 to 0.015 of pole pitch.
7. Pole Face Profile:
• To improve the commutation
conditions, the flux density in air gap
must decrease gradually from
maximum value under the centre of the lg
pole to zero on the interpolar axis. 1.5 to 2 lg
. ψ.τ
5
• A field form (air gap flux distribution curve) 0.1  .
that drops off abruptly from maximum 2
value to zero leads to commutation
difficulties and magnetic noise.
• To achieve a good field form, the length of air gap should not
be uniform under the entire pole face (or pole arc) but the
face must be shaped to give a gradually increasing distance
towards the pole tips.
• The air gap length at the pole tips is generally 1.5 to 2 times
the gap length at the centre.
 Example
A 5 kW, 250 V, 4 pole, 1500 rpm shunt generator is designed to have a square pole
face. The loadings are:
Average flux density in the gap = 0.42 Wb/m2. ac per meter = 15,000
Find the main dimensions of the machine. Assume full load efficiency = 0.87 and
ratio of pole arc to pole pitch = 0.66

5 1500
Armature Power Pa   5.75 kW ; Speed n   25 r.p.s
0.87 60
Output Co - efficient Co   2 Bav .ac.10 3   2  0.42  15000  10 3  62.1
Pa 5.75
 D L
2
  3.7 10 3 m 2
Co n 62.1 25
core length L
For a square pole face,  1 or 1
pole arc  .
 .D  .D
or L   0.66   0.518 D  0.518D 2  3.7  10 3
p 4
 D  0.193 m and L  0.1 m
 Effect of Armature Reaction:

(a) Reduction in EMF:

Under saturation the value of flux pole decreases due to armature
reaction. This leads to decrease in the value of generated emf.
(b) Increase in Iron losses:
the maximum value of flux density in the teeth and pole shoes determines
the iron losses.
Owing to the distorting effect of armature reaction the value of density at
increasing load is higher. Therefore, iron losses in teeth are greater on
load.

(c) Sparking and Ring fire:

The armature reaction increases the maximum value of gap density and
therefore the maximum voltage between adjacent segments at load is
higher than at no load. If this voltage goes beyond 30 V, the possibility of
spark between adjacent segments increases and may lead to ring fire.
(d) Delayed Commutation:
For good commutation, the coils which undergo commutation should not
have any generated EMF, hence the density at neutral axis should be zero.
Due to AR, the density in interpolar axis has a small finite value which
generates small amount of EMF in a coil that undergo commutation of a
polarity which tries to maintain the current in the original direction.
The commutation means the reversal of current from one direction to a
direction opposite to the original.
The armature reaction has a tendency to maintain current in its original
direction and thus delays commutation.
 Reduction of Effect of Armature Reaction:
(a) Increase in the Length of Air Gap:
If a machine having an air gap constant value over the whole of the pole
arc, the armature teeth working at a high degree of saturation and
saturation would be more in the teeth under leading pole tip. This would
result in serious reduction in total flux per pole.
The distorting effect of AR can be reduced if the reluctance of the path of
the cross magnetizing field is increased. Hence if the air gap length at the
pole tips is increased, the effect of AR can be decreased.
Increasing the length of air gap at the pole tips is known as chamfering
of pole faces.

lg
1.5 to 2 lg .τ
. ψ
0 .15  .
2
(b) Increasing Reluctance of Pole tips:
The distorting effect of AR can be reduced by increasing the reluctance
of the pole tips.
It can be achieved by the special construction for shoes. In this type of
construction, leading and trailing pole tips portions of laminations are
alternately omitted.
(c) Compensating Winding:
It is used to neutralize the effect of AR.
These windings are concentric type and housed in axial slots in the pole
faces.