Chapter 1

Alternating and rotating magnetic

elds
This chapter deals with the distribution along the airgap of the magnetic eld due to the stator current.
At rst a single coil is considered, yielding an alternating magnetic eld. Then a polyphase winding is
studied, so as a rotating magnetic eld is achieved.
1. Magnetic potential due to a single coil
Consider the elementary twopole machine of Fig.1.1(a), including a single coil only, of n
t
turns. The
coil may be considered as one phase of a polyphase winding with one slot per pole per phase, i.e. q=1,
and n
cs
conductors in the slot.
Figure 1.1: One coil winding and reference axis
1.1. Current references
The dot and the cross of each coil side means the reference current direction. When the coil carries a
positive current

I, the coil current n
cs

I leaves the sheet towards the reader in the coil side marked by
the dot, while the coil current n
cs

I enters within the sheet in the coil side marked by the cross.
When the winding carries a positive current, the magnetic eld lines (or lines of force) occur as
sketched in Fig. 1.2. Each line of force is linked with all n
cs
turns. The direction of the eld lines is
associated to the direction of the current of the coil with the rule of the right hand.
Remark. Sometimes the coil is represented by means of the symbol shown in Fig.1.1(b). The
symbol is posed along the axis of the phase. A positive current yields eld lines in the direction of
the arrow associated at the coil symbol. The positive direction of the current of the coil is associated
with the rule of the right hand.
0
1. Magnetic potential due to a single coil
Figure 1.2: One coil winding and magnetic eld lines
1.2. MMF and magnetic potential
The line integral
_
Hdl is the same for all lines of force. Applying the Amperes theorem, it is the MMF
n
cs

I. Assuming a negligible magnetic drop along the iron paths, the stator surface in front the airgap
assume a magnetic potential, as sketched in Fig. 1.3. The magnetic potential is
U
s
(
s
) = +

U with

2p
<
s
<

2p
U
s
(
s
) =

U with

2p
<
s
<
3
2p
(1.1)
where

U is n
cs

I/2.
Figure 1.3: Distribution of the magnetic potential along the stator periphery
The square waveform can be expressed by means of the Fourier series expansion. It results
U
s
(
e
s
) =

n
cs

I
2
sin(p
s
+ /2) (1.2)
It is worth noticing that, the harmonics in Eqn. (1.4) are space harmonics, produced by the same
current. The fundamental harmonic of such a distribution is
U
s1
(
s
) =
2n
cs

cos(p
s
) (1.3)
Let us observe that the number of series conductors per slot n
cs
can be replaced by the ratio between
the number of the series conductors per phase and the number of poles, i.e. n
cs
= N
s
/(2p).
1
Alternating and rotating magnetic elds
Remark. According to the reference faxis, the Fourier series expansion of a square waveform
can be expressed as
f() =

sin()
If the reference axis is the f

axis, then the angle has to be replaced by the angle + /2. Thus
the square waveform can be expressed as
f

() =

sin( + /2)
Figure 1.4: Fourier series harmonic waveforms
1.3. Phase winding formed by more than one coil
Let us consider a phase winding formed not only by one coil, as in Fig. 1.1, but formed by various
seriesconnected coils. The stator magnetic potential waveform is not more squared, but it is a stepped
waveform. It can be expressed by means of the Fourier series expansion as
U
s
(
s
, t) =

=1,3,5,...
4

k
w
N
s

I
2p
sin(p
s
+ /2) (1.4)
where k
w
is the winding factor corresponding to the harmonic of order . It considers the ratio
between the geometric sum and the arithmetic sum of the contribution of each coil. The winding factor
is introduced to take into account the dierent space position of the coils under the same pole and,
therefore, their dierent contribution to the magnetic potential distribution.
1.4. The distribution of conductor density
Instead of the eective distribution of conductors within the slots, it is convenient to consider a slotless
stator having a conductive sheet of innitesimal thickness placed on its inner stator surface. In this
conductive sheet there is an equivalent distribution of conductor density that yields the same magnetic
eect in the machine, as shown in Fig. 1.5. In particular, the equivalence is done so as to obtain the
same distribution of magnetic potential along the airgap.
Fundamental distribution. Let us consider the fundamental harmonic of the magnetic potential
distribution given by (1.3). The distribution of conductor density along the airgap that yields this
magnetic potential is
n
d1
(
s
) = n
d1
sin(p
s
)
=
2k
w
N
D
sin(p
s
)
(1.5)
whose measure unit is [m
1
].
2
1. Magnetic potential due to a single coil
Figure 1.5: Distribution of conductor density
Harmonic distribution. Similarly, the harmonics of the stator magnetic potential distribution
correspond to harmonic distributions of conductors along the airgap. For the generic harmonic order
, the distribution is given by
n
d
(
s
) =
2k
w
N
s
D
cos(p
s
+ /2) (1.6)
Comparing (1.6) with (1.5), the harmonic winding factor k
w
replaces k
w
, and the period of the
waveform is divided by .
Complete distribution of conductor density. Finally, the complete distribution of conductors
is given by the sum ao all the harmonics, as
n
d
(
s
) =

=1,3,5,...
2k
w
N
s
D
cos(p
s
+ /2) (1.7)
At last, let us note that in the integerslot windings, which are commonly used in threephase machines,
only harmonics of odd order exist.
1.5. The electric loading
The distribution of conductor density refers to the model of the innitesimal conductive sheet of
Fig. 1.5(b). When this distribution carries the current

I, there is a linear current distribution along the
stator inner circumference, expressed as
K
s
(
s
) = n
d
(
s
)

I (1.8)
=

2k
w
N
s
D

I cos(p
s
+ /2)
whose measure unity is [A/m]. This linear current density is commonly called electric loading.
The electric loading in (1.8) depends on the spatial angle
s
(due to the spatial distribution of the
conductors along the stator circumference) and on the time t (since the current may vary with the time).
In order to compute the main machine performance, it is common to use the fundamental distribution
of the electric loading. The sinusoidal distribution of the fundamental electric loading is shown in
Fig. 1.6. It can be expressed as
K
s1
(
s
) =
2k
w
N
s
D
sin(p
s
)

I (1.9)
3
Alternating and rotating magnetic elds
Figure 1.6: Distribution of the fundamental harmonic of the electric loading
1.6. The magnetic potential from the electric loading
From the electric loading, the magnetic potential can be computed as the integral along the arc in front
to the airgap, which is
U
s
(
s
) =
_
K
s
(
s
)
D
2
d
s
(1.10)
It is worth noticing that the integral ends are not denite, since the functions are periodic.
Referring to the complete distribution of electric loading, the magnetic potential results in
U
s
(
s
) =

k
w

N
s
p

I sin(p
s
+ /2)
that shows that the magnetic potential is inversely proportional to the harmonic order .
Fig. 1.7 shows the distribution of electric loading and of the corresponding stator magnetic potential
of a twopole machine. The Fourier series expansion is limited to the harmonic of 35th order. For this
reason the electric loading is limited. Theoretically, since the coil side is considered to be of innitesimal
thickness, the overall current of each coil side is concentrated in one point, and the peak of electric
loading results to be innite.
360 270 180 90 0
10
5
0
5
10
K
s
(

s
)



[
k
A
/
m
]
360 270 180 90 0
10
5
0
5
10
U
s
(

s
)



[
A
]
Angle
s
(mechanical degrees)
Figure 1.7: Distribution of electric loading and magnetic potential of a fourpole winding with one slot
per pole per phase (D=70 mm, p=2, n
cs
=10,

I=1 A) and = 1, 2, ..., 35.
4
2. MMF due to a threephase winding
1.7. Alternating current
Let us suppose now that the current is an alternating function of the time, given by
i(t) =

I sin(t) (1.11)
Then, both the electric loading distribution (1.8) and the stator magnetic potential distribution (1.4)
are alternating functions of the time. They maintain their spatial distribution, but their amplitude
varies with the time. They can be indicated as K
s
(
s
, t) and U
s
(
s
, t).
2. MMF due to a threephase winding
Let us consider the typical case of a three-phase winding, in which each phase windings are displaced
of 2/3 electrical radians. The conductor density distribution is the same for the threewindings, with
an angular displacement of 2/3 radian. They can be expressed as n
d
(
s
) for the rst phase (i.e. the
aphase), as n
d
(
s
2/3) for the second phase (i.e. the bphase), and n
d
(
s
4/3) for the third
phase (i.e. the cphase).
Fig. 1.8 shows the displacement of the winding of the three phases in a twopole machine together
with their three reference axes. The bphase axis is placed 2/3 electrical radians leading the aphase
axis, and the cphase axis is placed 2/3 electrical radians leading the aphase axis.
Figure 1.8: Displacement of the threephase winding in a twopole machine
The threephase winding currents have the same amplitude and are displaced by a phase angle of
2/3. They can expressed as
_
_
_
i
a
=

I cos(t)
i
b
=

I cos(t 2/3)
i
c
=

I cos(t 4/3)
(1.12)
where t is the time and is the electrical frequency in electrical radians per second. Let us note that
the sum of these three currents is zero, i.e. i
a
+ i
b
+ i
c
= 0.
Then, the electric loading distribution is given by
K
s
(
s
, t) = n
d
(
s
)i
a
+ n
d
_

2
3p
_
i
b
+ n
d
_

4
3p
_
i
c
(1.13)
By introducing (1.7) and (1.12) in (1.13), it results in
K
s
(
s
, t) =

2k
w
N
s
D

I
_
cos (p
s
+ /2) cos(t)+ (1.14)
+ cos
_
p
s
+ /2
2
3
_
cos
_
t
2
3
_
+ (1.15)
+ cos
_
p
s
+ /2
4
3
_
cos
_
t
4
3
_
_
(1.16)
5
Alternating and rotating magnetic elds
As said above, the harmonics in consideration are space harmonics. The space angle between two
adjacent phases of the winding is equal to 2/3 for the fundamental wave, and therefore to 2/3
for the th harmonic. The wave length of the th harmonic is 1/ times the wave length of the
fundamental.
As shown in (1.14), the th harmonic of the electric loading distribution due to a single phase, say
the hth phase, is given by
K
sh
=
2k
w
N
s

I
D
cos
_
p
s
+ /2 h
2
3
_
cos
_
t h
2
3
_
(1.17)
where h can assume the values 0, 1 and 2, for the rst, the second, and the third phase respectively.
Since cos cos =
1
2
[cos( ) + cos( + )], Eqn. (1.17) may be rewritten as
K
sh
=
k
w
N
s

I
D
_
cos
_
(p
s
+/2)t(1)h
2
3
_
+cos
_
(p
s
+/2)+t(+1)h
2
3
__
(1.18)
Assuming to be a positive as well as a negative number, the second term of (1.18) can be omitted [?],
and K
sh
results in
K
sh
=
k
w
N
s

I
D
cos
_
(p
s
+ /2) ( 1)h
2
3
t
_
(1.19)
Then, the resultant th harmonic of electric loading due to all three phases results in
K
s
=
k
w
N
s

I
D
m1

h=0
cos
_
(p
s
+ /2) ( 1)h
2
3
t
_
(1.20)
that, highlighting the terms that depend on h, can be rewritten as
K
s
=
k
w
N
s

I
D
_
cos((p
s
+ /2) t)
m1

h=0
cos
_
( 1)h
2
3
_
+ (1.21)
+ sin((p
s
+ /2) t)
m1

h=0
sin
_
( 1)h
2
3
__
Being an integer number, the sum of sines in (1.21) is always equal to zero, while the sum of cosines
in (1.21) is dierent from zero only when
( 1)
2
3
= k2 (1.22)
or
= 3k + 1 (1.23)
where k is any positive or negative integer including zero (i.e. k = 0, 1, 2, ...). The equation (1.23) is
also called the criterion of existence of the th harmonic [?]. When satises (1.23) the sum of cosines
is equal to 3, so that the electric loading distribution becomes
K
s
=
3k
w
N
s

I
D
cos ((p
s
+ /2) t) (1.24)
Eqn. (1.23) refers to a general threephase winding, including both harmonics of odd and even order.
However, the common windings are designed in such a way they do not yield even harmonics. Therefore,
in this cases, Eqn. (1.23) is often replaced by = 6k + 1. Table 1.1 reports the harmonic orders of the
electric loading considering the case of a generic threephase winding as well as the case of the typical
threephase winding without even harmonics.
6
3. Flux density distribution produced by the stator current
Table 1.1: Harmonic orders of the electric loading of a threephase winding
general case
backward speed forward speed
ref. number k ... -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 ...
harmonic order = 3k + 1 ... -8 -5 -2 1 4 7 10 ...
common winding type
backward speed forward speed
ref. number k ... -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 ...
harmonic order = 6k + 1 ... -17 -11 -5 1 7 13 19 ...
The sign of indicates the direction of rotation of the corresponding harmonic: the harmonics with
positive sign travel in the same direction of the fundamental wave (forward direction) and those with
negative sign travel in the opposite (backward) direction. Let be the electric frequency of the currents,
that is, t is substituted for p
m
in (1.12). Then the velocity of the th harmonic wave with respect
to the stator is
v

=

p

(1.25)
remembering that has to be considered with sign.
Complete electric loading distribution. The nal distribution of the electric loading along the
stator circumference is
K
s
=

3k
w
N
s

I
D
cos ((p
s
+ /2) t) (1.26)
and the corresponding distribution of the magnetic potential along the stator periphery is obtained by
(1.10), resulting is
U
s
=

k
w
N
s

I
2p
sin((p
s
+ /2) t) (1.27)
Fig. 1.9 shows the distribution of electric loading and of the corresponding distribution of the stator
magnetic potential. They are due to a threephase winding, according to the time instant t=0. A
fourpole machine is considered. Similarly Fig. 1.10 shows the same distributions, according to t=/2.
As above, the Fourier series expansion is limited to the harmonic of 35th order. For this reason the
peaks of the electric loading distribution are limited.
3. Flux density distribution produced by the stator current
Let us consider a smooth rotor, as that sketch in Fig. 1.2, characterized by an airgap of constant
thickness g. Then the airgap ux density distribution is given by
B
s
(
s
) =
U
s
(
s
)
g
(1.28)
=

0
g

k
w
N
s

I
2p
sin(t (p
s
+ /2)) (1.29)
The fundamental harmonic is
B
s
(
s
) =

0
g
3

k
w
N
s

I
2p
sin(t (p
s
+ /2))
=

0
g
3

k
w
N
s

I
2p
cos (t p
s
) (1.30)
7
Alternating and rotating magnetic elds
360 270 180 90 0
20
10
0
10
20
K
s
(

s
)



[
k
A
/
m
]
360 270 180 90 0
20
10
0
10
20
U
s
(

s
)



[
A
]
Angle
s
(mechanical degrees)
Figure 1.9: Distribution of electric loading and magnetic potential of a fourpole threephase winding
with one slot per pole per phase (t=0, D=70 mm, p=2, n
cs
=10,

I=1 A) and = 1, 2, ..., 35.
4. Flux linked by the winding
In this section, we focus on the computation of the ux linked by the winding of one phase, which is
described by the distribution of conductor density (1.7). It will be shown that the harmonics of the ux
linkage exists only if these harmonics exist in the conductor density distribution.
In the ux linkage computation, it is more convenient to refer to the winding turns. These can be
simply obtained by the conductors: the distribution of the turn density is considered equal to the
distribution of the conductor density divided by 2.
Let us refer to the airgap ux density distribution expressed in the stator reference frame as
B
g
(
s
) =

=1

B
g
cos(p
s

) (1.31)
no matter if it is produced by the stator currents, rotor currents of permanent magnet.
Each ux density harmonic, e.g. of th order, forms a series of poles. The average value of the ux
density under one th pole is (2/)

B
g
, so that the magnetic ux of the th ux density harmonic
under the th pole is

=
2

B
g
DL
stk
2p
=

B
g

DL
stk
p
(1.32)
Referring to the harmonic of ux density distribution of order , we can compute the corresponding
magnetic ux across the surface dened by the angles
s
and
s
, as

(
s
) =
_

s

B
g
cos (
e
s

)
L
stk
D
2
d
s
(1.33)
where (L
stk
D/2)d
s
is the innitesimal inner surface of the stator. The magnetic ux (1.33) results in

(
s
) =

B
g
2 sin(p
s
) cos(

L
stk
D
p
(1.34)
This magnetic ux

(
s
) is linked by the harmonic distributions of turn density n
d
(
s
)/2, where
n
d
(
s
) is expressed in (1.6). The product of

(
s
) by the turns n
d
(
s
)/2 (D/2)d
s
represents the
innitesimal ux linked by the turns themselves, which is
d

(
s
)
n
d
(
s
)
2
D
2
d
s
(1.35)
8
4. Flux linked by the winding
360 270 180 90 0
20
10
0
10
20
K
s
(

s
)



[
k
A
/
m
]
360 270 180 90 0
10
5
0
5
10
U
s
(

s
)



[
A
]
Angle
s
(mechanical degrees)
Figure 1.10: Distribution of electric loading and magnetic potential of a fourpole threephase winding
with one slot per pole per phase (t=/2, D=70 mm, p=2, n
cs
=10,

I=1 A) and = 1, 2, ..., 35.
Then the ux linked with all the winding harmonic of th order is

=
_
2
0

(
s
)
n
d
(
s
)
2
D
2
d
s
(1.36)
=
_
2
0

B
g
sin(p
s

DL
stk
p
n
d
2
cos (p
s
+ /2)
D
2
d
s
It is worth noticing
1
. that the integral gives a results dierent from zero only when = Thus

=

B
g

k
w
N
s

DL
stk
2p
_
2
0
sin(p
s

) cos (p
s
+ /2)d
s
(1.37)
=
k
w

N
s

B
g
DL
stk
2p
sin(

)
The consideration of the note 1 and the resulting equation (1.37) yield an important remark, that
is, the winding can link only the harmonics of the ux density distribution that have a corresponding
harmonic of the distribution of conductor density. Any other harmonic of the ux density is not linked
by the winding.
From this consideration, an interesting hint for designing the winding is achieved. In order to reduce
the eect of a given ux density harmonic, the winding has to be designed so as that it does not include
that given harmonic. This is not always possible, as for the slot harmonics. In this case, the slot skewing
is adopted to cancel the eect of these harmonics.
Remark. One can get the same result considering that the number of the total conductors
of the th winding harmonic are N
s
= k
w
N
s
, so that the number of turns of the th winding
harmonic under the th pole is
k
w
N
s
2(2p)
1
The integral of the product of two orthogonal functions in a period is given by:

2
0
sin() sin()d = 0 if =
and

2
0
sin() sin()d = if =
This is valid for each Fourier series expansion that is formed by a sum of orthogonal functions.
9
Alternating and rotating magnetic elds
The magnetic ux of the th ux density harmonic under the th pole is

=

B
g
DL
stk
p
,
then the ux linked by the th winding harmonic under the th pole results in

=
k
w
N
s
2(2p)

B
g
DL
stk
p
=
k
w

2
N
s
2p

B
g
DL
stk
2p
and the peak of the total ux linked by the th winding harmonic can be computed as

= (2p)

=
k
w

N
s

B
g
DL
stk
2p
.
The ux linkage of one phase, e.g. of the aphase, is computed as

a
=

k
w

N
s
2

B
g
DL
stk
p
sin(

) (1.38)
5. Rotor reference
Fig. 1.11 shows the rotor and the reference axes of the rotor with respect to the stator. It is worth to
remark that
According to the cylindrical coordinate system, the positive direction of rotation is the direction
of the increase of ;
There rotor position is individuated by the direct axis, or daxis. This axis corresponds to the
polar axis of the rotor. In case of noninert rotor the daxis corresponds to the North axis.
A second axis exist, in quadrature with the daxis. It is called quadrature axis, or qaxis. Com-
monly, the qaxis leads the daxis in the positive direction of rotation of /2 electrical radians.
The angle
m
individuates the rotor position with respect to the stator. Conventionally it is the
angle between the rotor daxis and the stator aphase axis.
Figure 1.11: Rotor reference d and qaxis
10
6. Synchronization of the stator current with the rotor
6. Synchronization of the stator current with the rotor
The aim of this section is to deal with the synchronization of the electric loading produced by the stator
with the rotor. This means that the threephase winding currents are changed according to the rotor
position. They can be expressed as
_
_
_
i
a
=

I cos(p
m
+
e
i
)
i
b
=

I cos(p
m
+
e
i
2/3)
i
c
=

I cos(p
m
+
e
i
4/3)
(1.39)
The angle p
m
is the electrical angle that indicates the rotor position. Then, when the rotor moves
at the speed
m
, the currents vary at the electrical frequency = p
m
. The angle
e
i
is the electrical
angle that indicates the phase angular displacement of the current with respect the rotor position. In
a synchronous machine the angle
e
i
is xed at steadystate, in such a way that the electric loading
distribution is synchronous with the rotor. Conversely, in an induction machine the angle
e
i
is varied
with an angular speed equal to the slip angular frequency.
The resulting electric loading is
K
s
=

3k
w
N
s

I
D
cos ((p
s
+ /2) p
m

e
i
) (1.40)
11
Alternating and rotating magnetic elds
7. Space phasor of the stator current
Let start from the threephase winding currents, given by
_
_
_
i
a
=

I cos(t +
e
i
)
i
b
=

I cos(t 2/3 +
e
i
)
i
c
=

I cos(t 4/3 +
e
i
)
(1.41)
in which the phase angle
e
i
has been added for the sake of having a more general expression.
The space phasor in reference frame is given by
i

=
2
3
_
i
a
+ i
b
e
j2/3
+ i
c
e
j4/3
_
(1.42)
from which
i

=
2
3
[i
a
+ i
b
cos(2/3) + i
c
cos(4/3)]
=

I cos(t +
e
i
) (1.43)
and
i

=
2
3
[i
b
sin(2/3) + i
c
sin(4/3)]
=

I sin(t +
e
i
) (1.44)
so that the resulting space phasor is
i

=

I
j(t+
e
i
)
(1.45)
Its direction corresponds to direction of the axis of the fundamental harmonic of the airgap ux density
(1.30) due to the stator currents (1.41).
The space phasor in d q reference frame is given by
i
dq
=
2
3
_
i
a
e

e
m
+ i
b
e

e
m
j2/3
+ i
c
e

e
m
j4/3
_
(1.46)
from which
i
d
=
2
3
[i
a
cos(
m
) + i
b
cos(
m
2/3) + i
c
cos(
m
4/3)]
=

I cos(t +
e
i

e
m
) (1.47)
and
i
q
=
2
3
[i
a
sin(
e
m
) + i
b
sin(
e
m
2/3) + i
c
sin(
e
m
4/3)]
=

I sin(t +
e
i

e
m
) (1.48)
so that the resulting space phasor is
i
dq
=

I
j(t+
e
i

e
m
)
(1.49)
In case of synchronous machine the currents are linked to the rotor position so that t =
e
m
, assuming
that the rotor position is
e
m
=0 at the time t=0. It results that the space vector has two constant
components
i
d
=

I cos(
e
i
) (1.50)
i
q
=

I sin(
e
i
) (1.51)
12