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Working Principle Of Thermal Motor Protection Relay

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Working Principle Of Thermal Motor Protection Relay

Principle of operation
Thermal motor protection relays contain three bimetal strips together with a trip mechanism in a housing made of
insulating material. The bimetal strips are heated by the motor current, causing them to bend and activating the trip
mechanism after a certain travel which depends on the current-setting of the relay.
The release mechanism actuates an auxiliary switch that breaks the coil circuit of the motor contactor (Figure 1). A
switching position indicator signals the condition tripped.
A = Indirectly heated bimetal strips
B = Trip slide
C = Trip lever
D = Contact lever
E = Compensation bimetal strip
The bimetal strips may be heated directly or indirectly. In the first case, the current flows directly through the
bimetal, in the second through an insulated heating winding around the strip.
The insulation causes some delay of the heat-flow so that the inertia of indirectly heated thermal relays is greater at
higher currents than with their directly heated counterparts. Often both principles are combined.

For motor rated currents over approx. 100 A, the motor current is conducted via current transformers. The thermal
overload relay is then heated by the secondary
current of the current transformer.
This means on one hand, that the dissipated
power is reduced and, on the other, that the shortcircuit withstand capacity is increased.
The tripping current of bimetal relays can be set on
a current scale by displacement of the trip
mechanism relative to the bimetal strips so that
the protection characteristic can be matched to the
protected object in the key area of continuous duty.

Figure 1 - Principle of operation of a three pole thermally delayed bimetal motor

protection relay with temperature compensation

The simple, economical design can only

approximate the transient thermal characteristic of the motor.
For starting with subsequent continuous duty, the thermal motor protection relay provides perfect protection for the
motor. With frequent start-ups in intermittent operation the significantly lower heating time constant of the bimetal
strips compared to the motor results in early tripping in which the thermal capacity of the motor is not utilized.
The cooling time constant of thermal relays is shorter than that of normal motors. This also contributes to an
increasing difference between the actual temperature of the motor and that simulated by the thermal relay in
intermittent operation.
For these reasons, the protection of motors in intermittent operation is insufficient.

Temperature compensation
The principle of operation of thermal motor protection relays is based on temperature rise.
Therefore the ambient temperature of the device affects the tripping specifications. As the installation site and
hence the ambient temperature of the motor to be protected usually is different from that of the protective device it is
an industry standard that the tripping characteris-tic of a bimetal relay is temperature-compensated, i.e. largely
independent of its ambient temperature (see Figure 2 below ).
I = Overload as a multiple of the set current
= Ambient temperature
- Limit values under IEC 60947-4-1
This is achieved with a compensation bimetal strip that makes
the relative position of the trip mechanism independent of the
temperature.
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Sensitivity to phase failure

Figure 2 - Tripping tolerances for temperaturecompensated overload relays for motor rotection under
IEC 60947-4-1

The tripping characteristic of three-pole motor protection relays

applies subject to the condition that all three bimetal strips are loaded with the same current at the same time.

If, when one pole conductor is interrupted, only two bimetal strips are heated then these two strips must
alone produce the force required to actuate the trip mechanism. This requires a higher current or results in a
longer tripping time (characteristic curve c in Figure below).
Ie= Rated current set on the scale
t = Tripping time
From a cold state:
a = 3-pole load, symmetrical
b = 2-pole load with differential release
c = 2-pole load without differential release
From the warm state:
d = 3-pole load, symmetrical
If larger motors (10 kW) are subjected to these higher currents for a
longer time, damage should be expected.
In order to also ensure the thermal overload protection of the motor in
the cases of supply asymmetry and loss of a phase, high quality
motor protection relays have mechanisms with phase failure sensitivity
(differential release).
Resource: Low Voltage Switchgear and Controlgear Rockwell

Typical trip characteristics of a motor protection relay