Using the Instantaneous Power of a Free Acceleration Test for Squirrel-Cage Motor Parameters Estimation

A new parameters determination method for squirrel-cage induction motors is presented. As a main contribution, the method uses the instantaneous electrical power and the mechanical speed measured in a free acceleration test to estimate the double-cage model parameters. The parameters are estimated from the machine impedance calculated at several points. At speed points where the double-cage effect is significant, i.e., between the zero speed point and the maximum torque point, the machine impedance is evaluated by the instantaneous power method, and at speed points where the double-cage effect is not significant, i.e., between the maximum torque point and synchronism, the machine impedance is evaluated by a dynamic-model-based linear least-square method. The proposed method has been applied to obtain the parameters of three motors tested in the laboratory. To check the method accuracy, the steady-state torque and current-slip curves predicted by the estimated parameters are successfully compared with those measured in the laboratory.