Electric Machines
So far, attention has been focused on the production of a magnetic
field and on its properties.
It is now time to examine the various ways in which an existing magnetic
field can affect its surroundings
The first major effect to be considered is called Faradays law. It is the
basis of transformer operation.
Faraday's law states that if a flux passes through a turn of a coil of wire, a
voltage will be induced in the turn of wire that is directly proportional to the
rate of change in the flux with respect to time.
where e ind is the voltage induced in the turn of the coil and Φ is the flux passing
through the turn. If a coil has N turns and if the same flux passes through all of
them, then the voltage induced across the whole coil is given by
The minus sign in the equations is an expression of Lenz’s law.
Lenz's law states that the direction of the voltage build up in the coil is such
that if the coil ends were short circuited, it would produce current that would
cause a flux opposing the original flux change.
Faraday's law is the fundamental property of magnetic fields involved
in transformer operation.
The effect of Lenz's law in transformers is to predict the polarity of the
voltages induced in transformer windings.
Eddy currents
A time-changing flux induces voltage within a
ferromagnetic core in just the same manner as it would in a
wire wrapped around that core.
These voltages cause swirls of current to flow within the
core, much like the eddies seen at the edges of
a river.
These eddy currents are flowing in a resistive material (the iron of the core), so
energy is dissipated by them. The lost energy goes into heating the iron core.
The amount of energy lost to eddy currents is proportional to the size of the
paths they follow within the core.
For this reason, it is customary to break up any ferromagnetic core that may
be subject to alternating fluxes into many small strips, or laminations.
An insulating oxide or resin is used between the strips. so that the current paths
for eddy currents are limited to very small areas.
Actual eddy current losses are proportional to the square of the
lamination thickness, so there is a strong incentive to make the
laminations as thin as economically possible.
Figure shows a coil of wire wrapped around an iron core. If the flux in the
core is given by the equation
Φ = 0.05 sin 377t Wb
If there are 100 turns on the core. what voltage is produced at the
terminals of the coil?
Of what polarity is the voltage during the time when flux is increasing in the
reference direction shown in the figure ?
TRANSFORMER
A transformer is a device that changes ac electric power at one voltage level to
ac electric power at another voltage level through the action of a magnetic
field.
It consists of two or more coils of wire wrapped around a common
ferromagnetic core.
These coils are not directly connected. The only connection between the coils
is the common magnetic flux present within the core.
One of the transformer windings is connected to a source of ac electric
power, and the second transformer winding supplies electric power to
loads.
The transformer winding connected to the power source is called
the primary winding or input winding.
The winding connected to the loads is called the secondary winding or
output winding.
If there is a third winding on the transformer, it is called the tertiary winding
TRANSFORMERS IMPORTANCE
The first power distribution system in the United States was a 120-V dc system
invented by Thomas A. Edison to supply power for incandescent light bulbs.
Edison's first central power station went into operation in New York City in
September 1882. Unfortunately, his power system generated and transmitted
power at such low voltages that very large currents were necessary to
supply significant amounts of power.
These high currents caused huge voltage drops and power losses in the
transmission lines, severely restricting the service area of a generating station.
The invention of the transformer and the concurrent development of ac
power sources eliminated forever these restrictions on the range and
power level of power systems.
Ac electric power can be generated at one central location, its voltage
stepped up for transmission over long distances at very low losses, and its
voltage stepped down again for final use.
Without the transformer, it would simply not be possible to use electric
power in many of the ways it is used today.
