A New Method for the Accurate Prediction of On-Load Power Factor in Two-Pole Induction Motors Considering Shaft Eddy Currents

An accurate prediction of medium-voltage induction motor (IM) power factor in rated conditions is important in the design stage to verify the machine compliance with specifications according to international testing standards. Laboratory and industrial experiences suggest that significant errors in full-load power factor calculation can result for two-pole IMs in particular, due to the eddy currents induced in the solid-steel shaft at rated slip. Such eddy currents are responsible for rejecting the main flux into rotor laminated yokes causing an increase in their saturation and, hence, in the required magnetizing current with respect to no-load conditions. This article proposes a method to study the phenomenon through a combination of analytical and simplified Finite Element (FE) calculations as a computationally-efficient alternative to conventional FE simulations. The results of the proposed approach are experimentally assessed by comparison with measurements on a set of built and tested medium-voltage two-pole IMs of different sizes, showing very good accuracy and computational performance.