Validation of thermal and electrical model for induction motors using fiber Bragg gratings

This works presents the simulation and validation of the thermal, electrical and mechanical models of a three-phase induction motor (TIM). Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are used to measure stator temperature and validate the thermal model. The knowledge of the relationship between losses and temperature variation in the TIM makes a simulation of the motor possible. To determine losses in the TIM an equivalent electrical circuit in arbitrary reference frame is used, which combines a traditional model with the more usual modeling of losses in the stator iron. The thermal study of the motor is performed using an equivalent thermal circuit formed by thermal capacitances and thermal conductivities that are separately considered for the stator and rotor. The losses calculated with the electrical and mechanical models are the input parameters for the thermal model. The simulation of the electrical model produces an error of approximately 4.2% when determining the Joule effect losses in the motor when compared to the experimentally obtained results. The simulation of the mechanical model presents an error of 0.2% for the losses due to friction and ventilation. The stator and rotor temperature, obtained with the thermal model, presented a high correlation with the measured values. The thermal model presents a maximum error of 0.75 degrees C when one compares them to the average experimental values of temperature in the stator during the temperature transient behavior. When the temperature in the stator reaches steady state, the experimental and simulated results converge to the same values. The use of FBGs to measure temperature in the machine allowed a thermal model to be developed, which also uses the mechanical losses of the machine and is the main contribution of this work. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.