Question

Elaborate the standard construction details of AC generator.

Answer 1

Construction:

Alternator consists of two major parts, namely stator and rotor. As their names suggest, stator is stationary while rotor rotates inside the stator. In any standard construction of commercial alternators, the armature winding is mounted on stator and the field magnet on rotor. The construction details of stator, rotor and various other components involved in them are given below.

1. Stator:
   The stationary part which has armature windings mounted in it is called stator. It has three components, namely stator frame, stator core and armature winding.
   
2. Stator core:
   Stator core or armature core is made up of iron or steel alloy. It is a hollow cylinder and is laminated to minimize eddy current loss. The slots are cut on inner surface of the core to accommodate armature windings.

3. Armature winding:
   Armature winding is the coil, wound on slots provided in the armature core. One or more than one coil may be employed, depending on the type of alternator. Two types of windings are commonly used. They are (i) single-layer winding and (ii) double-layer winding. In single-layer winding, a slot is occupied by a coil as a single layer. But in double-layer winding, the coils are split into two layers such as top and bottom layers.
   

4. Rotor:
   Rotor contains magnetic field windings. The magnetic poles are magnetized by DC source. The ends of field windings are connected to a pair of slip rings, attached to a common shaft about which the rotor rotates. Slip rings rotate along with rotor. To maintain a connection between the DC source and field windings, two brushes are used which. continuously slide over the slip rings.
   

There are 2 types of rotors used in alternators:

1. Salient pole rotor:
   The word salient means projecting. This rotor has a number of projecting poles having their bases riveted to the rotor. It is mainly used in low-speed alternators.
2. Cylindrical pole rotor:
   This rotor consists of a smooth solid cylinder. The slots are cut on the outer surface of the cylinder along its length. It is suitable for very high-speed alternators.
   The frequency of alternating emf induced is directly proportional to the rotor speed. In order to maintain the frequency constant, the rotor must run at a constant speed. These are standard construction details of alternators.