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LABORATORY EVALUATION OF THE EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT IMPEDANCES.

Three tests are required to evaluate the impedances of the equivalent circuit of a polyphase
induction motor:
1. Stator DC resistance measurement.
2. No-load test.
3. Blocked-rotor test.

Since an "equivalent" circuit is being developed, and only the three line terminals of the
stator winding are brought out, one is free to assume either that the winding is connected in a Y
configuration, or that it is connected in a configuration. It is easier to deal with a Y circuit, so
that is the usual assumption. Thus, for example, the DC resistance between any two terminals of
the winding is taken to be twice the resistance of one stator phase.

1. DC resistance test.

Two terminals of the induction motor are connected to a DC supply through a circuit
breaker, ammeter and a load box. The load box is used to limit the current through the motor. Its
resistance is adjusted to bring the current to roughly the rated value, and the voltage across the two
terminals of the motor is measured.
1 VDC
Then r1 .
2 I DC

Since V1 (Figure 1) is DC, x1 = xm = 0, and the rotor impedance is not coupled to the stator.

2. Blocked-rotor test.

For this test, the motor shaft is clamped so that it cannot turn. The motor terminals are
connected to a 3-phase supply. The rotor becomes the secondary of a transformer operating at the
supply frequency. However, in normal operation the frequency of the rotor currents is s*60 or
60s, which is about 2 Hz. Since these machines have deep bars, a 60 Hz blocked-rotor test would
yield a value of r2 which is too high. Reduced frequency is recommended by many authors, and
by the IEEE standards. We will use a supply frequency of 15 Hz to obtain a value of r2 more
nearly correct for full load calculations. This supply frequency produces a rotor current
distribution similar to full-load conditions, and still permits the AC transducers to output stable
readings. Transducers are provided to measure line voltage, the three line currents, and power
(two wattmeter method). Current will be limited to the rated value. The measured quantities will
be designated Vbr, Ibr, Pbr. These measurements permit the calculation of the blocked-rotor
impedance, Zbr.

Approximation: Under the assumption, s = 1, the current thru xm is quite small, compared to I2,
and will be neglected. Thus it is assumed that:
I1br = I2br ,
and as a result,
V1br
Zbr Rbr jx br .
I1br

It must be realized that we are attempting to construct a 60 Hz equivalent circuit, while the blocked
rotor test is performed at another frequency (say, fbr). The sum of actual reactances (for the 60 Hz
circuit) x1 + x2 will be obtained by

x1 x2 60

xbr fbr
where xbr is the reactance calculated by the test. To split x1 and x2 from the sum, note that the
lab machine is a general purpose machine of NEMA Design B so that
x1 = 0.4 (x1 + x2)
and
x2 = 0.6 (x1 + x2).

3. No-load test

The motor is operated free of any shaft load for this test. The motor is connected to a 3-
phase AC line with instrumentation provided to measure line voltage, line currents, and power.
An AC source of rated voltage and rated frequency is used and the terminal line voltage (Vnl),
average line current (Inl), input power (Pnl), and no-load impedance Znl) are determined.

Since the slip is nearly zero, r2/s is very large and thus the outer branch of the equivalent
circuit can be considered open circuited. This assumption can be employed for calculations. We
have, then,
Znl = r1 + j x1 + j xm

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