Experiment No.

1
Open-Circuit Saturation Curve of an Alternator

Group No:
7
Leader:
Angeles, Vince Aedrian
Group Members: Caliwag, Angela C.
Zaldivar, Nathaniel G.

Grades

Date Submitted: January 20, 2015

Open-Circuit Saturation Curve of an Alternator

Angeles, Vince Aedrian.#1, Caliwag, Angela C.#2,
Zaldivar, Nathaniel G.#3,
#

Department of Electrical Engineering, Mapua Institute of Technology

Muralla St., Intramuros, Manila, Philippines
1

vaangeles@mymail.mapua.edu.ph
accaliwag@mymail.mapua.edu.ph
3
ngzaldivar@mymail.mapua.edu.ph
2

Abstractan alternator is an AC generator. In this documentation, the

open-circuit curve of an alternator will be shown and observed. The
main objective is to observe the relationship between the average
voltage and the field current and to record the necessary data for the
saturated curve of open-circuit. Still keeping in mind the hysteresis,
we expect that the graph shows a curve that has a different increasing
and decreasing graph. And as the experiment was done, it was found
out that the field current is directly proportional to the average
voltage. And that there is a hysteresis in the field.

I. METHODOLOGY
Our first experiment in EE108L aims to obtain the necessary
data for the open-circuit saturation curve of an alternator.
We used the following equipment for this experiment:

FH2 MkIV Test Bed

FH50
FH100
DMM
DC Ammeter
R1
V3
Connecting Wires

Figure 2 Circuit for Rotor

The circuit consists of two parts, one for the stator and the
other for the rotor. For the stator, the windings are connected in
delta where a voltmeter is connected in each phase. For the rotor,
the poles are connected in wye where R and Y are shorter and is
connected in series with a DC ammeter. To be able to measure the
line voltage, a voltmeter is placed in parallel with line BY The
circuit is connected to a 110 V source.

To be able to perform the experiment we connected the circuit

given by our instructor as shown in figures 1 and 2.

Figure 3 Set up

The additional connection in the circuit is the constant

connections for the supply of the prime mover.

Figure 1 Circuit for Stator

After connecting the circuit, we considered the initial setting

wherein we must set the speed to 1800 rpm. However, the
maximum in speed in our Test Bed is 1500 rpm. The resistance is
also initially set to infinity.

To be able to obtain and measure the data required we vary the

value of the resistance. As we very the resistance, the values of the
field current and line voltages changes. From 0V we slowly
increase the resistance up to 20 V. The parameters are measured
from 0V then 20V to 100V with an increment of 10V.
After reaching the maximum voltage we reverse the process by
measuring from the maximum voltage to 0V.
II. RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS
Ef
0
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
0

If
0
80
140
180
230
270
310
360
400
430
380
340
300
260
220
160
130
80
0

Vab
2.7
60
85
110
135
155
170
180
190
195
188
185
165
150
135
110
85
55
5

Vbc
2.7
60
85
110
135
155
170
180
190
195
188
185
165
150
135
110
85
55
5

Vca
2.7
60
85
110
135
155
170
180
190
195
188
185
165
150
135
110
85
55
5

Vave
0
60
85
110
135
155
170
180
190
195
188
185
165
150
135
110
85
55
5

Table 1 Relationship between Parameters

250
200
150
100
50
0

50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Graph 1

If vs. Vave

From the experiment, as the value of series resistance(R1)

was varied, the value of Ef changed from minimum to maximum.

At R1 equal to infinity, Ef was zero(minimum) while at R1 close to

0V, Ef was 100V(maximum). As the values for Ef from 0V to 100V
was recorded, it was observed that the value for If was increasing
from 0mA to 430mA.
When the Ef was decreased from max to min it was
observed that the relationship of it to If is different as to when it
was increasing. The trend of the graph when it was increasing is
different when it was decreasing.
Regarding the values of Vab, Vbc and Vca, they are all equal
in magnitude to each other. Furthermore, it increases/decreases as
Ef increases/decreases. For the Vave, it is just the same to the three
voltages since those three are simply equal.
III. CONCLUSION
After analyzing the results, it was found out that the
average voltage increases as the field current increases. This to say,
the average voltage is directly proportional to the field current.
Also, when the voltage reached the maximum voltage, another set
of trials was done wherein the field current will be decreased, it
was found out that the values when the field current is decreasing is
different from that when increasing. Thus, it can be therefore
concluded that there is hysteresis. It was also found out that the
magnitude for the three phases are all equal.
Therefore, in an open-circuit alternator, the curve does not
follow back the path.

IV. SCANNED PICTURES OF PDS