A study of the effects of the stator slots wedges material on the behavior of an induction machine

The opening of the slots in the electrical motors distorts the waveform of the field in the air-gap and produces high order harmonics, which causes increased losses, torque pulsations and reduction of the efficiency of the machine. In this paper the effect of the closure of the slots of an asynchronous motor using wedges to reduce the flux pulsation is performed. Wedges of different materials have been used and their influence on the performance characteristics of the machine is investigated. The electromagnetic torque, the currents and losses in the machine have been calculated and discussed using the 2D finite element model of the motor.