synchronous motor
is an AC motor in which, at steady state, the rotation of the shaft is synchronized with the frequency of the supply current; the rotation period is exactly equal to an integral number of AC cycles. Synchronous motors contain multiphase AC electromagnets on the stator of the motor that create a magnetic field which rotates in time with the oscillations of the line current. The rotor with permanent magnets or electromagnets turns in step with the stator field at the same rate and as a result, provides the second synchronized rotating magnet field of any AC motor. A synchronous motor is only considered doubly fed if it is supplied with independently excited multiphase AC electromagnets on both the rotor and stator.The synchronous motor and induction motor are the most widely used types of AC motor. The difference between the two types is that the synchronous motor rotates in exact synchronism with the line frequency. The synchronous motor does not rely on current induction to produce the rotor’s magnetic field. By contrast, the induction motor requires “slip”, the rotor must rotate slightly slower than the AC current alternations, to induce current in the rotor winding. Small synchronous motors are used in timing applications such as in synchronous clocks, timers in appliances, tape recorders and precision servomechanisms in which the motor must operate at a precise speed; speed accuracy is that of the power line frequency, which is carefully controlled in large interconnected grid systems.
Synchronous motors are available in sub-fractional self-excited sizes to high-horsepower industrial sizes. In the fractional horsepower range, most synchronous motors are used where precise constant speed is required. These machines are commonly used in analog electric clocks, timers and other devices where correct time is required. In high-horsepower industrial sizes, the synchronous motor provides two important functions. First, it is a highly efficient means of converting AC energy to work. Second, it can operate at leading or unity power factor and thereby provide power-factor correction.
Type
Synchronous motors fall under the more general category of synchronous machines which also includes the synchronous generator. Generator action will be observed if the field poles are “driven ahead of the resultant air-gap flux by the forward motion of the prime mover”. Motor action will be observed if the field poles are “dragged behind the resultant air-gap flux by the retarding torque of a shaft load”.
There are two major types of synchronous motors depending on how the rotor is magnetized: non-excited and direct-current excited.
Non-excited motors Single-phase 60 Hz 1800 RPM synchronous motor for Teletype machine, non-excited rotor type, manufactured from 1930 to 1955.
In non-excited motors, the rotor is made of steel. At synchronous speed it rotates in step with the rotating magnetic field of the stator, so it has an almost-constant magnetic field through it. The external stator field magnetizes the rotor, inducing the magnetic poles needed to turn it. The rotor is made of a high-retentivity steel such as cobalt steel, These are manufactured in permanent magnet, reluctance and hysteresis designs:
Reluctance motors
These have a rotor consisting of a solid steel casting with projecting (salient) toothed poles. Typically there are fewer rotor than stator poles to minimize torque ripple and to prevent the poles from all aligning simultaneously—a position which cannot generate torque. The size of the air gap in the magnetic circuit and thus the reluctance is minimum when the poles are aligned with the (rotating) magnetic field of the stator, and increases with the angle between them. This creates a torque pulling the rotor into alignment with the nearest pole of the stator field. Thus at synchronous speed the rotor is “locked” to the rotating stator field. This cannot start the motor, so the rotor poles usually have squirrel-cage windings embedded in them, to provide torque below synchronous speed. The machine starts as an induction motor until it approaches synchronous speed, when the rotor “pulls in” and locks to the rotating stator field.
Reluctance motor designs have ratings that range from fractional horsepower (a few watts) to about 22 kW. Very small reluctance motors have low torque, and are generally used for instrumentation applications. Moderate torque, integral horsepower motors use squirrel cage construction with toothed rotors. When used with an adjustable frequency power supply, all motors in the drive system can be controlled at exactly the same speed. The power supply frequency determines motor operating speed.
Hysteresis motors
These have a solid smooth cylindrical rotor, cast of a high coercivity magnetically “hard” cobalt steel.This material has a wide hysteresis loop (high coercivity), meaning once it is magnetized in a given direction