Induction motor analysis considering both harmonics and end effects using combination of 2D and 3D finite element method

Abstract

The paper presents a numerical method for analyzing induction motors considering magnetic saturation, harmonics, and leakage flux, and voltage drop of end-rings. The end effects are estimated by a 3D linear analysis using phasor and edge finite elements. As a result, a 2D nonlinear time-stepping finite element formulation is modified to estimate the magnetic saturation and the harmonics. The method takes the electromagnetic fields at the ends of the motor into account using limited computer resources. From comparisons between the results of the analysis and experiments, it is clarified that the method can estimate torque, currents and harmonic magnetic fields with enough accuracy.