Electromechanical interaction in rotordynamics of cage induction motors

Eccentric rotor motion induces an unbalanced magnetic pull between the rotor and stator of cage induction motors. Recently, a linear parametric model of this eccentricity force due to the arbitrary rotor motion was presented. The purpose of this study is to combine this electromagnetic force model with a simple mechanical rotor model, and further, to demonstrate the rotordynamic response induced by this electromechanical interaction. An electromechanical rotor model is derived on the basis of the Jeffcott rotor with two additional variables for the harmonic currents of the rotor cage. Applying this model, the rotordynamic effects of electromechanical interaction were studied. Three induction motors were used in the numerical examples. The electromechanical parameters of these motors were estimated from the numerical simulations carried out separately. The results obtained show that the electromechanical interaction may decrease the natural frequencies of the rotor, induce additional damping or cause rotordynamic instability. These interaction effects are most significant in motors operating at or near the first bending critical speed. Excluding the potential rotordynamic instability, the numerical results indicate that the electromechanical interaction reduces effectively the unbalance response close to the first bending critical speed.