Investigation of Induction Motor Rotor Bar Shapes for Energy Efficient Ceiling Fan Application

In this paper, effect of rotor design modifications on the performance parameters of a ceiling fan induction motor is investigated using finite-element analysis (FEA). Initially, the FEA simulation platform and modelling procedure are benchmarked using experimental results from a commercial ceiling fan motor. The same platform is used to study the influence of different rotor bar shapes on the performance indices of the motor. Nine different bar geometries are considered, including symmetric and asymmetric shapes. Correspondingly, the stator parameters such as number of turns in auxiliary winding and the value of series capacitor are also modified to find the appropriate operating condition. It is found that for the same amount of aluminium, the choice of rotor bars shape can affect the efficiency by 4-5%.