SQUIRREL CAGE

MOTORS
Before the widespread industrial use of
electricity, the individual machines in a
manufactory for example were powered
by flat leather belts from a roof -mounted
network of rotating shafts and pulleys,
driven in turn by a centralised power
source - perhaps a waterwheel or a steam
engine. The whole power distribution
system was mechanical. Napier & Sons
engineering works shown in this
photograph circa 1910 was typical in
resembling a forest of belts which were
inefficient, unreliable, dangerous and limited in the power which could be transferred to a
single machine.
We take it for granted nowadays that we can power a machine by its own dedicated electric
motor, often energised from the AC mains. Indeed it is difficult to imagine how modern
industrial plant - say an extensive conveyor system - could operate satisfactorily if powered
throughout by mechanical energy from a centralised engine.
This chapter on squirrel cage electric motors, together with the following chapters dealing
with V-belts, gears and brakes, concentrates on the problem of safely powering machines. The
electrical theory which underpins the motors is hardly mentioned - we concentrate on the
mechanical aspects.
Squirrel cage motors
get their name from
the appearance of
early rotors. They
are the most
common type of
industrial AC
electric motor, being
rugged and
requiring neither a
separate DC power
source nor
slip-rings. They are
essentially constant
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speed devices when
energised by a
constant frequency AC supply, however electronic speed control is available.
The majority of industrial squirrel cage motors are foot mounted Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled
(TEFC) as shown here, in which the motor internals are isolated from the surrounding
environment by shaft seals etc, thus minimising the ingress of dust and moisture. The
inevitable heat generated by I
2
R losses in the internal windings is transferred to the surrounds
by air circulation within the casing together with
cooling air blown by an integral fan along fins on
the casing's exterior.
A variety of forms other than TEFC meet
specialised needs - motors may be dust
protected, ignition proof and so on. A flange-
rather than foot- mounted motor with shaft
extension is illustrated. Integral brakes or
gearboxes also are available - suppliers' brochures should be consulted for full details.
Squirrel cage motors are not without their drawbacks, notably
during starting when current drain is high. Mechanical aspects
will be stressed here - we are interested mainly in how to
select a motor to drive a given mechanical load - but it is
essential to appreciate in broad terms the thermal -electrical
behaviour when selecting a motor, since the winding
temperature dictates the life that results, as suggested by the
sketch. It is the motor's heat dissipation capability dictated by
heat transfer and the integral fan which to a large extent
determines the motor's maximum continuous mechanical power rating for winding
temperatures commensurate with an acceptable life.
Characteristic of a steady load and of a motor
A load needs a torque T to drive it at speed nL. A load which is
predominately frictional in nature requires a constant (speed-independent)
torque; conversely a hydrodynamic machine such as a centrifugal fan or
pump needs a torque which varies approximately as the square of the speed. Before an
economic motor can be selected to drive a load, the load's steady state torque-speed
characteristic should be known - this may be generalised by :
( 1a ) T = T0 + T1 ( nL /no ) + T2 ( nL /no )
2
+ . . . etc.
in which no is some convenient
reference speed and T
0
, T
1
and T
2
are constant
properties of the load, dictated by the type and size of
the load. We will neglect third and higher orders here.
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Most practical loads are modelled by two terms at most
in ( 1a), thus a characteristic with non-zero T2 and with
T
0
= T
1
= 0 might represent an axial flow fan's
approximate behaviour.
More often than not a load is driven through a speed reducerbased on gears, or belt &
pulleys, chain & sprockets or other mechanism. A speed reducer is usually provided not
to reduce speed but to increase torque. A car's gears eg. are necessary to amplify engine
torque and so provide high torque at the road wheels to accelerate the car or to move it uphill
against gravity - if speed reduction were the only goal then it could be achieved without a
speed reducer simply by easing up on the accelerator pedal.
If a load is driven through an ideal speed reducer of ratio R
(1), then the speed of the reducer's input shaft is n = n
L
R,
while the torque on this shaft necessary to drive the load is TL =
T/R since the power fed into the ideal reducer ( nTL ) must
equal to the output power ( n
L
T ) transferred from the reducer to the load. The steady state
torque -speed characteristic of the load referred to the reducer's input shaft is therefore, from
( 1a) :
( 1b ) T
L
= { T
0
+ T
1
( n/Rn
o
) + T
2
( n/Rn
o
)
2
} / R
The losses from practical speed reducers are normally around 5%, though gear efficiency can
exceed 99% whereas the efficiency of a hydrostatic speed reduction may not reach 70%.
Losses are neglected in ( 1b). The effects of cyclic load variation are examined below.
Turning now to the motor - a squirrel cage motor may be regarded
simplistically as a stator winding through which AC flows thus causing an
EMF to rotate at synchronous speed,n
s
given by n
s
=
2frequency/number of poles. The number of poles depends upon the
electrical build - two, four, six or eight pole motors are available, however
the most common machines are four pole, with a synchronous speed of 1500 rev/min when
supplied at 50 Hz.
If this simplistic motor were ideal and there was no external drag on the rotor then the rotor
would be pulled around by the EMF also at synchronous speed, however when an external
brake is applied to the rotor shaft it slows down to some speed n which is less than
synchronous. The proportional drop in speed is called the slip,s, given by s = ( ns - n )/ns .
Clearly the greater the braking torque applied externally to the rotor (ie. the torque developed
by the motor), the greater the slip and the lower the rotor speed. If there is no slip then there
is no torque developed by the motor.
The complete torque -speed characteristic for a typical
squirrel cage motor shown here demonstrates this
increase in torque as the slip increases from zero - ie. as
the motor speed decreases from synchronous. At
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starting the speed is zero, the slip is unity and the
starting torque is Ts. The torque of a small motor may
decrease monotonically from starting, without a
distinct minimum or maximum.
Full load refers to the maximum continuous torque Tf that a motor can generate without
overheating - a motor can operate continuously only at points on the characteristic between
full load and synchronism.
The attached data for ABB motors is typical of the information published by manufacturers.
Some notable features of the data include :
Motor torque is approximately proportional to the square of the supply voltage.
The general truism that "efficiency increases with size"is reflected by the high efficiency
and small full load slip achieved by the large motors listed here.
The system inertia (of which the tabulated rotor
inertia is a part) is relevant to starting, as may be
appreciated by the variation of current in a typical
motor illustrated here. The starting current is
around seven times the full load current, so the I
2
R losses at starting are some fifty times the full
load losses - and the motor's cooling sytem can
handle only the full load losses over an extended
period without overheating. It is therefore
necessary when selecting a motor to ensure that
the time of acceleration does not exceed the
manufacturer's tabulated limit - the DOL time,
when the motor is connected Direct On Line (as
opposed to other current -reducing starting techniques).
The maximum shaft load tabulated refers to a radial load right at the end of the shaft
and a 40 khr L10 ball bearing life; a load closer to the drive-end bearing can exceed this
limit, and roller bearings may be fitted to some motors to increase capacity.
Motor dimensional information is also available.
The determination of motor acceleration requires the complete torque -speed characteristic
similar to the curve above - the discrete performance data tabulated above is not sufficient.
The complete characteristic is usually available from the motor supplier on request, but
lacking this the following torque -speed approximation is useful :-
( 2 ) TM = Tb / ( 1 + ( sb - s )
2
( a/s - b s
2
) ) ; s = 1 - n / ns
in which s
b
and T
b
(the slip and torque at break-down ie. at maximum
torque), a and b are all constant properties of the motor. The tabulated values have been
chosen to fit ( 2) to the manufacturer's performance data together with an estimated pull-up
(minimum) torque of T
s
- ( T
b
-T
s
)/2. Elementary theory predicts b = 0.
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Matching a motor to a given steady load
We now consider a motor connected to a load. The load may incorporate
a speed reducer, or it may not (R=1) - in either case the load
characteristic is given by ( 1b). When energised, the motor torque TM
must always exceed the torque absorbed by the load TL since the excess torque Tnet = TM -
TL is necessary to accelerate the system of motor -plus -load until the system settles at a
steady running speed nr where torque equilibrium obtains, ie. TM = TL = Tr , and the two
characteristics ( 1b) and ( 2) intersect. It is unlikely that
an accurate solution for the running speed will be
necessary since Code specifications allow for a
tolerance of 20% on the full load slip - if a precise
running speed were required then a motor or control
system more sophisticated than the DOL started
squirrel cage would be used.
As noted previously, full load refers to the maximum
torque which a motor can develop on a continuous
basis, and is dictated largely by the motor's inbuilt cooling system. The running point
sketched here is therefore NOT suitable for extended periods because winding
temperatures would increase leading to insulation breakdown. If continuous duty is called for
then Tr Tf .
At its most basic therefore, the task of selecting a motor to drive a given continuous load is one
of choosing a motor whose rated continuous output (ie. full load power) exceeds the load
demand and transmission losses. However in many cases the optmum selection will require
more thorough investigation, as the following example illustrates.
Squirrel cage motors are termed 'constant speed' because their steep characteristic in the
operating region around full load results in large excursions in torque demand being
accomodated by small variations of motor speed. Since the approximate motor characteristic (
2) is usually fitted to full- and no- load (synchronism) it is a fair approximation in the
continuous operating region below full load.
Theoretically, driving a load at low speed may be carried out equally well by a directly
coupled low speed motor or by a high speed motor and speed reducer. In practice the high
speed motor / reducer option is very often the cheaper for a number of reasons :
A motor's mass is approximately proportional to the torque it develops as suggested by
the trends graphed below - for example the mass of a 200 kW four pole machine is
about half that of an eight pole machine which generates the same power at half the
speed. Costs obviously are related to mass.
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An electric motor is much more
complex than a gearbox for example,
and its power density (kW/m
3
) is less
since it relies on EMF rather than on
highly stressed metal teeth for torque
generation. So it makes economic
sense to develop torque in a
mechanical transformer rather than
in an electro -mechanical transducer
such as a motor. However there is a
limit to this arguement ( why are two pole machines not more common ? ) and the real
costs of various solution candidates must be compared before any optimum can be
selected.
It is seldom prudent to rigidly connect together
nominally coaxial power transmitting shafts - of motor
and load or of anything else - since real misalignment
gives rise to untoward bending stresses and vibration.
Misalignment to some extent is inevitable due to
tolerances in initial assembly, to load- or thermally-
induced support movement, to shaft bending under load,
and so on.
Misalignment is allowed for by connecting the shafts by a
shaft coupling - some of the many types of coupling are shown below ( click here to see
more ). Each half- coupling is connected rigidly to one of the two shafts by key, contracting
friction bush, or by other means. The motor and drive assembly is then adjusted to minimise
the initial misalignment (see eg. tutorial problem #9) the motor is then tightened down and
the half couplings are finally connected together by a dismountable flexible element.
The choice of coupling depends
on the speed and energy level of
the connected machines, on the
degree of misalignment which the
coupling can tolerate, on the
torsional vibration level present,
and so on. Thus the flexible spider
coupling might be expected to
cater for greater misalignment
than the gear coupling, and also to
provide more damping - but the
torque capacity of the gear
coupling would be much greater
than that of the flexible spider because the metal gear teeth are much stronger than the
rubber spider.
Shaft alignment is important also when driving through belts. The plan view here shows a
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motor equipped with a belt pulley and mounted on slide rails which are fixed. During
installation the motor can slide on the rails and is positioned by the
two adjusting screws so that the belt is correctly tensioned and the
motor axis is perpendicular to the belt length (if it isn't perpendicular
then the belt might run off the pulley). When adjustment is complete
the motor is secured to the rails.
The opposing orientation of the adjusting screws should be noted.
So far we have considered only uniform loads, it's now appropriate to look at non-uniform
loads.
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Copyright 1999-2005 Douglas Wright
l ast updated May 2005

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