Voltage induced in a single phase

The rotor in the generator illustrated above produces a flux which passes radial
ly from the rotor surface into the stator. The circumferential variation of this
radial flux density around the rotor can be described using

where α is the angle around the surface. If the rotor of the machine rotates at con
stant speed Ï t then the flux density seen at a position α0 on the stator will be given
by

Using the generator law

the voltage induced in each side of the coil can be obtained. Considering the co
nductor at α0=0, the velocity of the conductor with respect to the flux is down (th
e flux density is moving up relative to the conductor), the flux density is left
to right, the cross product is parallel with the conductor. If we take the cond
uctor to be oriented with positve direction out of the page then the induced vol
tage is given by

Relating linear velocity to angular velocity

the induced voltage becomes

For the return side of the conductor at α0=Ï ,

Therfore, the total voltage induced in the loop formed by the two conductors is

Now, if there are NT loops forming a coil,

Noting that the area enclosed by the coil is given by 2rl the voltage can also b
e written as

A multi-coil machine
In the simple example with only one coil, there is a significant waste of space
in the machine. It is possible to add additional coils to the stator and make fu
ll use of the available space. If there are Ncoils coils, all capable of carryin
g equal current, I the maximum available power is given by

.
Unfortunately, to access this power, each coil would need to be connected to a l
oad by its own transmission line. This is unacceptably expensive for a transmiss
ion and distribution system. As an alternative, all the coils could be connected
togtether in series to form a single phase voltage. If all the coils are connec
ted in series the total available voltage is given by the phasor summation of th
e individal coil voltages:

and the available power is

In the case where Ncoils is large, the series connected power is 2/Ï times the avai
lble maxiumum power (about 64%).
A Three-phase machine
Clearly some compromise between generator utilization and power delivery cost mu
st be reached. This compromise is the three-phase power system. In a three-phase
generator, there are still many coils in the machine, but the coils are now con
nected in three distinct groups, called phases. Noting that the sum of all the c
oil voltages must equal the sum of the phases, the rms phase voltage can be obta
ined:

Now, if each phase is connected to a load by its own transmission line, the tota
l available power is given by

and if the number of coils is large:

General 3-phase voltages

In general in the course we will think of a three-phase winding as being made up
of only three coils, separated by 120 degrees. However, it is important to real
ise that a real machine has many coils which are grouped in to three phases. As
shown above, the fundamental voltage induced in a phase comprised of a number of
distributed coils will be slightly lower than that produced by a single coil wi
th the same total number of turns. Distributed windings can also reduce the magn
itude of higher harmonics which may be induced in a coil. Detailed infomration a
bout distributed windings is beyond the scope of the course, more information ca
n be found in the appendices of the textbook.