Effect of capacitive auxiliary winding on a three- phase induction motor performance behaviour

Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of a capacitive three-phase auxiliary winding on the target variables of a threephase squirrel cage induction motor (SCIM). The three-phase auxiliary winding is only magnetically coupled to the stator main winding. The three-phase SCIM is modelled using 2D Finite Element Method (FEM). The flux density distribution is numerically computed through the magnetostactic solver, and the other target variables of interst such as the efficiency, power factor and torque are obtained through ac magnetic-transient solver. A conventional 4 kW, 50-Hz, and 4-pole three-phase SCIM is modified to accommodate both main and auxiliary windings in the stator slots. The results obtained from Finite Element Analysis (FEA) are compared with results from experimental measurement. From both simulation and experimental results, it is noted that the capacitive auxiliary winding has not only enhanced the power factor, but it also has a significant impact on the efficiency, torque and other electromagnetic parameters of the three-phase SCIM