Princess Sumaya University for Technology

Electrical Engineering Department

Electric Machines Lab

Experiment No. 7
Three Phase Synchronous Motors

Group Number Student Name Student Number

Asaad Lahlouh 20201096

Basil Alsarayra 20191073
Yousra Hassan 20200188
Objectives:
 To understand the load characteristics of the synchronous motor.
 To understand the phase adjustment of the three phase synchronous motor,
and obtaining the V-curve.

Theory:
A synchronous electric motor is an AC motor in which, at steady state, the rotation of the shaft is
synchronized with the frequency of the supply current; the rotation period is exactly equal to an
integral number of AC cycles. Synchronous motors contain electromagnets on the stator of the
motor that create a magnetic field which rotates in time with the oscillations of the line current.
The rotor turns in step with this field, at the same rate.

The synchronous motor and induction motor are the most widely used types of AC motor. The
difference between the two types is that the synchronous motor rotates in exact synchronism with
the line frequency. In contrast the induction motor requires "slip", the rotor must rotate slightly
slower than the AC current alternations, to develop torque. Therefore small synchronous motors
are used in timing applications such as in synchronous clocks, timers in appliances, tape
recorders and precision servomechanisms in which the motor must operate at a precise speed.

Synchronous motors are available in sub-fractional self-excited sizes to high-horsepower

industrial sizes. In the fractional horsepower range; most synchronous motors are used where
precise constant speed is required. In high-horsepower industrial sizes, the synchronous
motor provides two important functions. First, it is a highly efficient means of converting
AC energy to work. Second, it can operate at leading, lagging, or unity power factor and
thereby provide power-factor correction.

Synchronous speed:
The mechanical speed which it is equal to the synchronous speed (in RPM) is given by:

120 f
n m=n s=
P

Synchronous speed can also be expressed in terms of angular speed by:

4 πf
ω s=
P

Where,
f : Frequency of the AC supply current in Hz.
P: is the number of poles per phase.
ω : is the angular speed expressed in rad/s

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Starting method:
Above a certain size, synchronous motors are not self-starting motors. This property is due to the
inertia of the rotor; it cannot instantly follow the rotation of the magnetic field of the stator. Since
a synchronous motor produces no inherent average torque at standstill, it cannot accelerate to
synchronous speed without some supplemental mechanism.

Large motors operating on commercial power frequency include a "squirrel cage" induction
winding which provides sufficient torque for acceleration and which also serves to damp
oscillations in motor speed in operation. Once the rotor nears the synchronous speed, the field
winding is excited, and the motor pulls into synchronization. Very large motor systems may
include a "pony" motor that accelerates the unloaded synchronous machine before load is
applied. Motors that are electronically controlled with variable frequency drive can be
accelerated from zero speed by changing the frequency of the stator current.

V Curves
V curve is the graph showing the relation of armature current as a function of field current in
synchronous machines. This curve is one of the most important characteristics for synchronous
machines. The purpose of the curve is to show the variation in the magnitude of the armature
current as the excitation voltage of the machine is varied so give us important information when
we use the synchronous motor as a power-factor correction device

Notes:
The synchronous motor first will start as induction motor by shorting the field winding, once the
rotor nears the synchronous speed, the field winding is excited, and the motor pulls into
synchronization. The wiring diagram is shown in Fig (1), there are sequence of steps that should
be followed to run the synchronous motor as follows:

1) Use the Y-Δ switch to short the field winding and energize the field winding with DC filed
current. connect the following terminals: DC+ --- L1 / DC- --- L2 / U2 --- J / W2 --- K
2) While the voltage knob is fully counterclockwise (i.e., zero output voltage) put the Y-Δ
switch to Y state and switch ON the three phase power supply.
3) Increase three phase power supply (Vs) gradually up to 200 V. The motor will start to rotate.
4) Increase the field DC voltage to about 20 V then change the Y-Δ switch state to Δ. If the
motor did not lock in to synchronism increase the field current.

The three phase meter take the lag power factor as a reference to the power factor measurement
(i.e, the positive measurement indicates lagging power factor, and the negative measurement
indicates leading power factor)

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Procedure:

A) Load Test:
1. Connect up the circuit in Fig 1.
2. Sure that the power meter in a 3-phase mode.
3. Start the synch. Motor as described above.
4. Set the field current of the synch. Motor to about 1A, and keep it constant through the
rest of this step. Start increasing the load current by varying the load attached to the PM-
Generator. Fill the Table below.
5. Repeat step three for If = 1, 1.5, 2 A respectively.
6. Make sure that the terminal voltage of the motor always 200 V, adjust to this value if
necessary

Table 1

I f ( A) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
n 1501 1502 1501 1501 1501 1501 1501 1501
P 89.7 103.2 117.65 131.4 146.2 160.3 174.7 188.2
1.0 Ia 0.303 0.333 0.371 0.407 0.442 0.475 0.514 0.553
Power 0.846 0.888 0.921 0.943 0.963 0.976 0.986 0.992
Factor lead lead lead lead lead lead lead lead
n 1501 1501 1501 1501 1501 1501 1501 1501
P 103.3 117.6 123.9 139.2 157.7 171.6 186.9 196.9
1.5 Ia 0.573 0.590 0.606 0.626 0.646 0.669 0.687 0.715
Power 0.52 0.571 0.621 0.666 0.709 0.746 0.783 0.821
Factor lead lead lead lead lead lead lead lead
n 1503 1501 1501 1501 1501 1501 1501 1501
P 126.4 142.1 152.6 161.9 180.2 187.9 205.5 217.1
2.0 Ia 0.925 0.930 0.940 0.950 0.966 0.982 0.996 1.001
Power 0.395 0.473 0.471 0.504 0.545 0.576 0.61 0.642
Factor lead lead lead lead lead lead lead lead

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Results:

1) Draw on the same graph paper the characteristic curves Ia vs P of each excitation
current according to table above.

Ia Vs. P
1.2

0.8
If = 1.5(A)
Ia (A)

0.6 If = 1.5(A)
If = 2(A)
0.4

0.2

0
80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240
P (W)

2) Draw on the same graph paper the characteristic curves of the P.F vs P of each
excitation current according to table above.

P.F Vs. P
1.2

0.8
If = 1(A)
0.6 If = 1.5(A)
P.F

If = 2(A)
0.4

0.2

0
80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240
P (W)

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 B) V-curve:
1. Connect up the circuit in Fig 1..
2. Sure that the power meter in a 3-phase mode
3. Start the synch. Motor as described above.
4. Set the field current of the synch. Motor to about 1.9 A. set the load current to about
0.5A. Start decries the field current of the motor in steps to match that in Table 2.
5. Make sure that the terminal voltage of the motor always 200 V, adjust to this value if
necessary

Note that when the machine, is excited, if the excitation current falls below a certain
value the operation becomes unstable. This will limit the minimum value of the
excitation current. If this happens while conduction the test turn off the power
supply immediately.

Table 2

If 1.9 1.7 1.5 1.3 1.1 0.9 0.7 0.5 IL

P 161.34 152.1 143.7 137.6 133.2 129.5 126.1 127.35
Ia 0.892 0.75 0.62 0.512 0.426 0.375 0.387 0.471
0.5 A
Power 0.53 0.586 0.665 0.776 0.896 0.995 0.937 0.768
Factor lead lead lead lead lead lag lag lag
P 2321.6 217.9 213.5 206.2 201.26 198.8 201.1 -
Ia 0.976 0.853 0.746 0.656 0.594 0.578 0.643 -
1A
Power 0.684 0.747 0.827 0.91 0.983 0.994 0.90 -
Factor lead lead lead lead lead lag lag
P 297.34 286.5 280.7 274.1 271.2 - - -
Ia 1.073 0.968 0.877 0.811 0.787 - - -
1.5 A
Power 0.801 0.86 0.924 0.979 0.999 - - -
Factor lead lead lead lead lag

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Results:

1) Plot on the same graph paper, V-Curves for each load. Assign the motor excitation status
(over, under exited regions).

Ia Vs. If
1.2

0.8
IL = 0.5(A)
0.6 IL = 1(A)
Ia

IL = 1.5(A)
0.4
Under excitation Over excitation
0.2

0
0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1
If

2) Plot on the same graph paper, PF vs I f for each load. Draw with the absolute value of the
power factor then assign the lagging, unity and leading regions.

P.F Vs. If
1.2

0.8
IL = 0.5(A)
0.6 UnityUnityUnity IL = 1(A)
Ia

IL = 1.5(A)
0.4
Lagging Leading
0.2

0
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
If

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Figure 1

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Conclusion
Synchronous motors have the ability to operate at different power factors. As the
motor load increases, the armature current rises regardless of the level of
excitation, while the speed remains constant, unaffected by the load. With
increasing load, the power factor becomes progressively more lagging, eventually
reaching unity.

The V-curve illustrates the relationship between the stator current and field
current at various constant load levels. At no load, the V-curve is plotted as a
graph of armature current versus field current, gaining its characteristic V-shaped
appearance. In cases of both under excitation and overexcitation, the power
factor moves closer to unity as the load grows. However, the variation in power
factor with load is more pronounced than the change in armature current in these
conditions.

For motors operating under normal excitation, the increase in load leads to a
more significant change in armature current compared to the power factor, which
tends to shift toward a lagging condition. A graph showing the relationship
between power factor and field current at different load levels reveals that a
synchronous motor achieves unity power factor at full load. Conversely, when
operating without load, the motor runs with a leading power factor.