Relationship between the induced voltage of a rotor bar and the rotation characteristics of a high-temperature superconducting induction motor

Abstract

Although high-temperature superconducting induction motors have a simple structure, they are distinguished by their high efficiency and high power density. However, an accurate theoretical model that defines the primary electrical characteristics controlling the motor has not been established because of the nonlinear characteristics of high-temperature superconducting squirrel-cage rotor winding. As part of establishing such a model, an experiment was conducted to analyze the relationship between the induced voltage of the rotor bar in a high-temperature superconducting squirrel-cage rotor winding and stator-side quantities (voltage and transport current), as well as its rotation characteristics. A subject was a 1.5 kW class induction motor using Bi–Sr–Ca–Cu–O high-temperature superconducting rotor bars and the experiment was performed at a temperature and a frequency of 77 K and 60 Hz, respectively. The induced voltages of the rotor bars were measured by applying a rotating magnetic field and exhibited a distorted waveform characterized by a third-order harmonic in a magnetic flux flow state. Despite the distorted voltage waveform of the rotor bar, the stator transport current responsible for driving the induction motor remained unaffected and the motor initiated rotation in a slip rotation mode. From the above results, it was experimentally clarified that a stator voltage exceeding the critical current of the rotor bar must be applied when starting the induction motor. It was also shown that the rotor bar can be regarded as a constant resistance for a constant effective value of the stator current when transitioning the motor into a slip rotation state.