Design of an induction machine with damper windings for noise and vibrations reduction

Abstract : Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a design method for induction machines including a three-phase damper winding for noise and vibrations reduction. Design/methodology/approach In the first part, the principle of the damper winding is recalled. The second part presents the iterative design method which is applied on a 4-kW pulse width modulation (PWM)-fed induction machine to study the impact of the additional winding on the geometry. In the third part, the finite-element method is used to validate the designed geometry and highlight the harmonic flux density reduction. Finally, some experimental results are given. Findings The study shows that the impact of the additional three-phase winding on the geometry and weight of the machine is low. Moreover, the proposed noise reduction method allows one to reduce the total noise level of a PWM-fed induction machine up to 8.5 dBA. Originality/value The originality of the paper concerns the design and characterization of a three-phase damper winding for a noiseless induction machine. The principle of this proposed noise reduction method is new and has been patented.