Also referred to as asynchronous motors, induction motors are one type of alternating current (AC) electric motors in which the electrical power is supplied to the motor’s rotor by means of the principle of electromagnetic induction. The induction motor’s rotor is the part that it uses in order to convert electrical energy into the mechanical energy used to power equipment or machinery components.
Related Categories
Some advantages of induction motors compared to other similar motors such as synchronous motors are that induction motors have a very rugged, durable construction, are designed without brushes and are capable of controlling their own speed. Often utilized in residential applications such as washing machines, dishwashers, fish tanks, refrigerators and more, induction motors are becoming the most frequently utilized type of electric motor in industrial manufacturing and processing applications as well as other industries including: construction, for use in building equipment such as power tools including arm saws, table saws and more; electronics, used for powering electronic equipment such as microprocessors and various drive systems; automotive, for use in either stand-alone propulsion systems, such as in electric vehicles, or in combination with an internal combustion engine, such as in hybrid electric vehicles; and marine, used to power the electrical systems of shipping vessels.
Induction motors are actually fairly simple constructions as single-phase motors, when they began to become poly-phase motors their construction becomes correspondingly more complex. The two main components of an induction motor are the stationary stator and the rotating armature, also referred to as a rotor. An external part of the motor, the stationary stator functions as the field magnet for the induction motor. It is able to perform this function because of field coils that are attached to the stator itself and that are used to energize it. As the non-stationary part of the induction motor, the rotor receives power directly from the power source, which is typically a direct current (DC) source even though the motor is type of AC motor. The rotation of the rotor is caused as the result of the magnetic field of the induction motor as well as wires that are arranged in order to provide torque to the axis of the rotor. Interacting with the magnetic field of the stator, the rotating magnetic field produces resultant torque which enables the conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy. Although single-phase induction motors are often used, three-phase induction motors are much more common in industrial applications.
