8.3.3 WOUND-ROTOR MOTORS
Wound rotor motors get their name from the fact that their rotors are made up of wire windings connected to a commutator ring and brushes much like a generator armature (Fig. 8.13). The commutator ring allows for external connection to specific windings in the rotor via the brushes. Depending on design, the brushes are connected to external resistances during starting or short-circuited. The brushes connect only selected windings on the rotor. These selected windings can be shifted with respect to the stator windings. The stator winding current induces a current in the shifted rotor windings. This produces a magnetic field in the rotor that is offset from the stator poles. The fields from the two currents oppose each other and thus produce a torque. These motors have excellent starting torque and low starting currents. Therefore, they are commonly used for frequent starting and stopping of heavy inertial loads. However, these motors are more expensive than split-phase or capacitor motors and also require more maintenance because of brush and commutator wear. Two types of wound-rotor motors used for agricultural applications are discussed in more detail in the following paragraphs.
Repulsion-start induction-run (RS-IR) motors start as repulsion motors but switch to operate as induction motors. At a predetermined speed, the commutator is lifted to eliminate wear and then all of the rotor windings are short-circuited via a centrifugal switch to give the equivalent of a squirrel cage winding. The repulsion-start induction-run motors are the most common type of wound-rotor motors.
Repulsion (R) motor is a term often used for all wound-rotor motors. However, a true repulsion motor is a type in which the brushes short-circuit only selected windings on the commutator in such a manner that the magnetic field axis of the rotor is shifted from the magnetic axis of the stator all of the time (Fig. 8.14). Unlike the RS-IR motor, a true repulsion motor starts and runs based on repulsion. The commutator is not removed and the rotor bars are not short-circuited. The speed of this type of motor is controlled by the load and position of the commutator brushes. This type of motor is sometimes referred to as a variable-speed motor. It is also reversible by changing the angle of the commutator with respect to the stator poles.