1922 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS, VOL. PAS-89, NO.

8, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

)q 0

Stator Winding Systems with Reduced Vibratory

Forces for Large Turbine-Generators
, ARCLES H. HOLLEY, FELLOW, IEEE, AND DAVID .WILLYOUNG, SENIOR MEMBER, IEEE

~;vi~
pGE WITh EQUtL
4A$bstract-It is shown that electromagnatQallaq9WdceP vibra- 1.5 * 3600 RPM
0Ury forces on the stator windings of large turbine-generators
can be substantially reduced by using winding arrangements that
A 1 800 RPM BROWNS FY.

permit an increased number of stator slots. Three methods for do- 0 DRESDEN 2* I SANDY
ing this without increasing the generator voltage are described: 0.8 ,BRUNNER IS.
delta-connected windings, a new three-phase winding system using CARDINAL
variable-pitch coils, and a "multi-three-phase" system using a (n 0.6
six-phase generator, six buses, and a six-phase-three-phase power ° / BULL RUN
conversion in the generator stepup transformers. p Generator voltages J *CHUBU
-j~~~~~~~~~~~
0.4-
may be equal to, or slightly lower than, present levels. In some cases
bus and transformer costs may be slightly higher, but this will be H03 ASNTABULA
more than offset if the generator availability (over the life of the EAST LAKE
equipment) is increased by even a few days because of the reduced JOPPA OMBY
duty. Additional benefits in the generator design, in operating 0.2 A
characteristics, and in the ability to build larger kVA ratings are WAUKEG *&KEARNY
described. *DELAWARE
GEORGIA
°!ESSEX
45 50 55 60 65 70
INTRODUCTION
YEAR OF SHIPMENT
OVER THE PAST 25 years the ratings of the largest
turbine-generators put into service have risen prodigiously. Fig. 1. Historical plot of landmark units.
Fig. 1 shows the ratings and the shipment dates of a few of the
landmark units built during this interval. Today's large ratings
have been justified from a system security viewpoint by a generators. A related winding pattern that produces higher volt-
continuously growing system base and from an economic view- ages and lower currents than would otherwise be obtained from
point by their economies of scale and reduced operational costs conventional technology, with essentially the same electromag-
per unit of output. However, the increased risk of local "brown- netic forces on the armature bars, is also described. The latter is
outs" when one of these mammoth units is not available, andt currently being used for several large four-pole generators in the
high cost of purchasing replacement power, indicate thatje 1000- to 1300-MVA class where higher voltage designs have
keyno
..a~1ity~rrrweoe the te itheir design. been the preferred economic or commercial choice.
This paper suggests: 1) that the best way to build very large Another approach to reducing the vibratory forces on the
generators is with arrangements that reduce the intense electro- windings is to use delta-connected phases. The program of the
magnetically induced forces on the stator winding, using present- authors' company in this area is described.
day, or even slightly lower, voltage levels, even when this raises Finally, the paper discusses multi-three-phase unit systems,
bus costs a bit; 2) that the generator designer should be given which offer another route for producing lower-risk central
free choice of voltage whenever possible so that he can provide station generators of very large rating. In particular, we note
machines with the lowest risk parameters; and 3) that economic the unique advantages of the six-phase, 30°-offset unit system
evaluations should be based on consideration of the entire unit whenever the kVA rating or transmission voltage is so high that
system, including generator, isolated phase buses, and stepup a three-phase single-tank, stepup transformer cannot be used.
transformer, with suitable weighting for the reliability parame- The possibility of combining the FP/C developments with
ters in each equipment, so that the total complex of cost-risk multi-three-phase arrangements for generators of even larger
factors is minimized. ratings at some future time is discussed.
The paper describes several new stator winding arrangements To support these discussions, expressions for the electromag-
with a "fractional number" of poles per circuit (FP/C windings), netic forces on the windings in terms of generator kVA and volt-
which have been developed to reduce the electromagnetic forces. age rating are derived. Equations are also given for the voltage
These designs use standard three-phase buses, but bus currents unbalance between circuits for the new FP/C winding patterns.
tend to be somewhat higher than for conventionally connected Winding developments and proposals that were made when
indirect-cooled (iron-cooled) generators were approaching their
upper limits of capability are similar to the developments
Paper 70 TP 187-PWR, recommended and approved by the described here. In 1954 Harrington and McElligott [1] discussed
Rotating Machinery Committee of the IEEE Power Group for
presentation at the IEEE Winter Power Meeting, New York, the advantages for such applications of windings with more
N. Y., January 25-30, 1970. Manuscript submitted September paralleled circuits per phase than could be obtained with con-
17, 1969; made available for printing November 21, 1969. ventional technology. They called these multiple-circuit wind-
The authors are with the Generator Department, General Electric
Company, Schenectady, N. Y. 12305. ings, but it is felt that the term FP/C windings (fractional
 HOLLEY AND WILLYOUNG: STATOR WINDING SYSTEMS FOR TURBINE-GENERATORS 1923

TABLE I
NUMBERS OF POLES PER CIRCUIT

Two Four
Circuits Poles Poles
1 2* 4*
2 1* 2*
3 2/3t 4/3
4 1/2t 1*
6 1/3t 1/3t
* Conventional technology.
t FP/C design.
poles-per-circuit windings) is better, since it excludes the con-
ventional systems (see Table I). Seventeen two-pole indirect-
cooled FP/C generators totaling 3 880 000 kVA have been
built by the authors' company. All these units used 72 stator (a)
slots and unusual winding patterns that permitted either four
circuits per phase [2] or three circuits per phase [3]. These
units have an excellent per service record. Tests made on the
original prototypes in each case confirmed that currents, circu-
lating between circuits, were as predicted and trivial.
Generator designs with more than one set of phase-displaced
three-phase output, recombined into three-phase power by the
transformer system, were also discussed in [1]. The specific
generator and transformer arrangements needed for multi- (b) (c)
three-phase systems using two three-phase sets with a 300 Fig. 2. Normal turbine-generator phase belts and electrical
phase-angle displacement between them, or three three-phase connections.
sets with 200 phase-angle offsets have been described [41, [5].
The advantages of these combinations in reducing generator Basic Design Relations
rotor surface losses have been discussed [6], and methods for
fault protection have been studied [7]. Such systems have not Appendix I gives a very brief development of the basic design
yet been used, probably because of the extra bus and trans- relations for a generator with any number of phases. Equation
former costs. This first cost penalty is much smaller for very (4) shows that the kVA rating is proportional to the product of
large ratings or high transmission voltages, where single-tank the flux, the armature reaction MMF per pole, the number of
three-phase transformers will not usually be available. poles, and the electrical frequency. Higher rating can be obtained
only by increasing the product of flux and armature reaction.
Since flux densities can be increased very little using economically
GENERATOR DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS available magnetic materials, the flux can be increased only by
increasing the magnetic areas; that is, the generator diameter or
Conventional Winding Connections length.
Large modern turbine-generators are built with two-layer Although much progress has been made int improving the
lap windings and six phase belts of series-connected coils per generator cooling to permit higher armature reaction MMF,
pole pair, as shown in Fig. 2. The coils are usually "short pitched" the growth in kVA ratings has not been achieved by this means
to about 5/6 (1500 electrical), as shown, to reduce the fifth and alone since it is also the route of rapidly rising losses, increasing
seventh magnetomotive force (MMF) harmonics. Moderate electromagnetic forces, reduced transient overload capability,
deviations from 5/6 pitch ratio can be tolerated to adjust the increased excitation requirements, and increased transient re-
voltage slightly, but major deviations produce major penalties actance. Instead, the generator flux and armature reaction have
in rotor pole face losses and surface heating. The generated been expanded more or less proportionally to maintain efficiency
voltages of the six phase belts are 600 apart electrically as shown and produce the present-day levels of terminal characteristics.
in Fig. 2(a), where only the bottom-bar voltages are shown for The basic point, however, is that as ratings have increased
clarity. The phase-belt windings are then connected with the rapidly, the flux has also increased substantially.
proper polarity to produce three-phase output. Since the gener-
ated voltages and reactances of all phase belts of the same phase Relative Voltage
are identical (for generators with an integral number of slots Higher flux implies higher voltage if the number of coils in
per pole per phase), the belts may be connected in series, Fig. series and their pitch is not changed (see (2)). Pitch factor has
2(b), or in parallel, Fig. 2(c). Thus conventional armature relatively little effect so that the relative voltage for a given
winding technology permits two-pole generators with one or two flux can be estimated with good accuracy merely from the
circuits per phase, whereas four-pole generators can be con- series turns per circuit Natlckt. For one-turn coils, the latter is
nected with one, two, or four circuits per phase. Table I shows related to the number of armature slots by (5). This relation
where these conventional arrangements, characterized by an is shown graphically for three-phase windings on Fig. 3, where
integral value of poles per circuit, fit relative to the FP/C the only meaningful values along the abscissa are the integer
windings and the four-pole three-circuit combination. multiples of the number of phases. This chart can also be used
1924 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1970

1.0

.8 ')
0
(r
U-
I-i
0 .7 am
Li

.6 !E
-LJ
Li

LiJ
.5 .

4fLi
Fig. 4. Cross-slot flux distribution and resulting forces on
.4 stator bars.

.3
30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 E

NUMBER OF STATOR SLOTS, Ns

Fig. 3. Relative voltages and vibratory forces produced by gen-
erator windings (three-phase machines of constant pitch).

to estimate the relative voltage for six-phase machines by recog-

nizing, from (5), that a four-circuit three-phase generator,
for example, will have the same number of series turns per
circuit as a two-circuit six-phase machine and the voltage will
be only slightly higher (about 3 percent) because of the better
winding distribution factor Kd.
The phase windings of large turbine-generators are almost
universally wye connected. In Fig. 3 the relative voltages that
delta-connected windings would produce is also shown, being
merely 1/-\/3 or 57.7 percent of those for wye-connected units. Fig. 5. Model used in evaluating stator bar wedging systems.
The wye connection has well-known advantages for grounding
and neutral protection of the generator and because triplen
harmonic currents cannot flow. Nonetheless, for very large
generators where the problem is to avoid excessive voltage
without reducing the number of stator slots beyond the point
where the vibratory forces on the armature conductors are
excessive or stator slot harmonic fluxes are prohibitive, delta-
connected machines offer one attractive line of development.
To get experience and confirm calculations on the behavior of
large delta-connected machines, in cooperation with the South
Carolina Electric and Gas Company, the authors' company in
1969 has shipped a 454-MVA delta-connected generator to
their Wateree station. To our knowledge this is roughly ten
times larger than any other delta-connected unit that has been
built and is the first large delta application to be made in more
than 20 years. Measurements will be made of the triplen cur-
rents circulating around the delta and of various effects caused by Fig. 6. System for lateral and radial wedging of armature bars.
them. Space does not permit a detailed discussion of the many
special effects that should be recognized in applying delta-con-
nected windings, except to state that great care must be taken ever, if third harmonic currents are properly controlled, delta con-
to insure that the third harmonics in the gas-gap flux wave are nections are attractive since they permit a greater number of pos-
minimized for all conditions of operation, since the delta presents sible choices of voltage. (This can be seen in Fig. 3 from the greater
a low impedance path to third harmonic current. If significant density of points along the relative voltage curves for delta
third harmonic current flows, extra losses appear in the armature connections than along the curves for wye connections in any
strands, on the rotor surface, and in the stator teeth, together with region of the chart.) This would permit generators with lower
sizable increases in the electromagnetic forces on the armature vibratory forces on the windings to be built with essentially no
windings, particularly in the end regions. These effects are not change in the line-line voltages, or currents in the isolated phase
present in the FP/C windings or multi-three-phase systems. How- buses.
HOLLEY AND WILLYOUNG: STATOR WINDING SYSTEMS FOR LARGE TURBINE-GENERATORS 1925

Armature Bar Forces i a, KVAX

The remaining curve on Fig. 3, labeledFB, shows the relative
electromagnetic force on the slot sections of the armature con- M;K KVA(I-x)
Feu KVA(2-2X)
ductors of a generator of fixed rating, physical size, and armature
reaction as the number of stator slots is varied. Fig. 4 shows the 3.0
origin of these forces in the interaction of the armature bar cur- A. R
rents and the cross-slot flux they produce. Because the force is w~~~~~~
proportional to the current squared, it pulsates sinusoidally be-
tween zero and a maximum at twice fundamental frequency
(usually 120 Hz), if the current has no harmonics. Its direction is
always toward the bottom ofthe slotwhen the current in the two X.]
bars is in phase. Some idea of the potential for self-destruction of
the armature windings and the need for properly designed systems .0 -.
W
.
for clamping, vibration suppression, and a sound internal stator
bar construction may be obtained from realizing that the arma-
ture bars would vibrate through more than 80 mils (2 mm)
peak to peak at 120 Hz if they were suspended in free space and -RELATIVE KVA
subjected to oscillating forces equal to those experienced by
the top bars in the slots of some large turbine-generators. Fig. 7. Variation of vibratory forces with rating for different rate-
Fatigue duty accumulates at more than 10 million cycles per up expansion philosophies.
day due to these forces.
Experience and extensive tests have shown the need for
eliminating radial clearance in the stator slots and for applying
lateral and radial clamping forces to avoid vibration. Fig. 5
shows a model that has been used for several years to study slot
vibration suppression methods. Fig. 6 shows the combined
system of side-pressure ripple springs and radial-pressure wedg-
ing proved adequate at present bar force levels.
Appendix I develops expressions showing the nature of the
armature bar slot forces in terms of the basic generator rating
and proportions. Equations (11) and (12) show that the electro-
magnetic forces on the conductors vary as the armature reaction
MMF squared and inversely with stator bore diameter and num-
ber of stator slots. (These predominant variations are modified
to a small extent by adjustments required in the slot width to
pitch ratiob,lb,,, which must be made to avoid excessive tooth
tip densities, but these modifications are not important in gain-
ing an understanding of the problem.)
If generators of larger rating had been built merely by in-
creasing the armature reaction, the flux would have stayed Fig.8. Electromagnetic
end
model used in studies of stat or
windings.
constant, as (4) requires, and bar forces would have risen with
the square of the generator kVA. Fortunately, this has not been
done and probably should not be done in the future even if more Extensive analytical and experimental studies have been
effective cooling systems that would permit higher rateup are made by the authors' company to develop an optimum armature
perfected. Rather, the flux and armature reaction should be winding and supporting structure capable of sustaining all these
increased simultaneously, although not necessarily in direct forces. Some idea of the magnitude of this effort may be obtained
ratio. Fig. 7 shows how bar forces increase with kVA if different from
rateup expansion philosophies are followed. Note from the curve modelsFig.that8, has been usedjustin this program. A more compre-
which shows one of the large electromagnetic
marked constant MAR10 that if the flux and armature reaction hensive description of this work is given in [8]. Much progress
are increased in linear proportion, the forces rise only as the has been made, so that the level of allowable electromagnetic
first power of the kVA. forces has been continuously increasing. Nonetheless, regardless
Electromagnetic forces in the slots during normal operation of the level of quality and integrity of the winding and sup-
are not the only forces of concern, of course. Substantial vibratory porting structure, the duty can be reduced significantly in many
forces also act on the armature end winding during steady-state cases by using the winding connections described here, and this
operation. These will vary in somewhat the same way as the slet should inherently act to increase generator reliability.
forces as machine design parameters are changed, but their
exact calculation is far more complex.
The windings must also be designed to withstand short- Generator Size and Armature Overload Capability
circuit forces that could be 100 or more times as large as the If the thickness of ground-wall insulation is always chosen to
steady-state forces, depending on the peak values of subtran- maintain a fixed dielectric stress, regardless of the generator
sient currents squared, modified by the less-than-linear increase voltage, then an index of the space required at the inner cir-
in generator flux densities due to saturation and induced currents cumference of the stator to provide insulation is obtained by
in the flux shields and other metallic parts. multiplying the relative voltage level by the number of stator
1926 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1970

TABLE II
COMPARISON OF VOLTAGE, ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCE, AND
PERIPHERAL INSULATION FOR THREE-PHASE GENERATORS

Electro-
magnetic Peripheral Actual
Winding Voltage Force Insulation Insulation
Pattern (pu) (pu) Index (Fig. 9) 'Area
36Y2* 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
54Y3 1.0 0.667 1.50
60A2t 0.964 0. 60t 1.61
54A2 0.865 0.667$ 1.30
45Y3 0.833 0.80 1.04 1.01
60Y4 0.833 0.60 1.39
42A2 0.675 0.856t 0.79
48Y4 0.666 0.75 0.89 0.84
54Y6 0.500 0.667 0.75
* 36 slots, wye connected, two circuits per phase.
t 60 slots, delta connected, two circuits per phase.
$ Not including additional force contributions due to harmonic
currents flowing around the delta.

30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84
slots. This irndex is plotted on Fig. 9. From the points marked A NUMBER OF STATOR SLOTS, N8
and B it can be seen that, for the same flux and armature reaction,
a two-pole 48-slot four-circuit wye-connected FP/C generator Fig. 9. Insulation space index versus stator slots and circuits.
(48Y4) would require only 89 percent of the peripheral insulation
space that a conventional 36Y2 machine would need. Steady-
state electromagnetic force would be only 75 percent as much Alternate Courses
and the voltage would be two-thirds as high (see Fig. 3). The From Fig. 3, the dilemma of the designer working with only
48Y4 design will tend to be physically smaller than the 36Y2 be- conventional winding pattern technology is clear. At one ex-
cause less insulation space is needed. This gives the designer treme, if the flux is not changed as ratings are increased, the same
room for further maneuver. He may choose to use this to raise winding pattern and terminal voltage can be maintained, but
the flux and terminal voltage a bit for the 48Y4 design, keeping the risk parameters associated with vibratory forces will in-
the same core outside diameter that the 36Y2 would need. This crease as the square of the kVA (see Fig. 7), and generator
will reduce the armature reaction MMF and the electromagnetic efficiency and transient reactances will also deteriorate rapidly.
forces even more. If he increases the flux (and generator size) somewhat and
It does not follow that all generator designs with an increased maintains a fixed winding pattern, voltage will increase in direct
number of slots and circuits will be smaller units, however. The proportion, increasing the space occupied by insulation, and
60Y4 generator, designated as point C in Fig 9, requires more compounding the problems of providing corona grading and
insulation space and will tend to be bigger than the 36Y2 design electrical clearances. In addition, the active copper and coolant
(point B). Table II gives the relative voltage, bar force, periph- space in the armature winding may tend to be reduced if the
eral insulation index, and the actual insulation area ratios for physical size has not been increased very much, and this will in-
a variety of potential winding patterns for large liquid-cooled crease losses and reduce the winding transient overload capa-
generators. Although the vibratory forces are substantially bility (or require a further increase in physical size).
reduced relative to the 36Y2 reference design, the peripheral A third route is to raise the flux but reduce the number of
insulation space is higher in most cases, and these will tend to be stator slots to avoid excessive voltage, keeping the same number
physically bigger machines if the same transient overload mar- of phases and circuits per phase; but this increases the electro-
gins and efficiency are provided. The last column in Table II magnetic bar forces rapidly.
gives results from a particular design study where three gen- A fourth route is to use more slots and delta connect the
erators for a large rating were laid out for the same flux, arma- phases. This has advantages in certain circumstances, pro-
ture reaction, core length, and armature winding overload viding that circulating currents in the delta have been carefully
capability, using different terminal voltages. Comparison of the controlled.
last two columns shows that the index number based on pe- The final route is to let the flux and armature reaction increase
ripheral space, plotted in Fig. 9, is a reasonable estimator of the together in some preferred ratio, using more slots to reduce the
total insulation space needed in any actual design, despite many electromagnetic forces and more circuits per phase or more phases
additional practical factors that must be taken into account. to avoid excessive voltage. This not only reduces the levels of two
A few of the winding patterns in Table II show reduced bar parameters, voltage and vibratory force, which historically
forces and reduced insulation space requirements simultaneously. have been important measures of design risk, but for certain
These deserve particular attention for very large ratings, allowing slot and circuit combinations it offers additional advantages
the generator to be built with reduced vibratory duty and in- that may be of major importance for units of maximum rating.
creased efficiency, provided that one can devise a suitable These include improved armature overload capability, smaller
winding connection method that avoids excessive circulating size, reduced harmonic losses, reduced sensitivity to harmonics in
currents between the circuits or phases. Later sections will show the load current, and future growth potential. Technically
how this can be done. this appears to be by far the most desirable course. The stator
HOLLEY AND WILLYOUNG: STATOR WINDING SYSTEMS FOR LARGE TURBINE-GENERATORS 1927

current may be slightly higher than it would be for one of the

other alternates, but the assurance of greater reliability due to BOTTOM BAR / TOP BAR
COIL SIDES COIL SIDES
the reduced exciting forces should more than justify the rela-
tively small differences in the first cost of the isolated phase
buswork or transformers, as discussed later.
There may be instances perhaps, where a generator with
22 1 2 11 2 221 22 1 211 2 2
higher stator voltage has sufficient advantage so that con- I It. I
I I
1
I
21
I
a b c do f Ii
ventional winding technology is preferred, foresaking the k

advantages of lower vibratory forces just described. For smaller

ratings in particular there may be good justification for doing
this. Insulation development programs that will permit voltages
to increase beyond 26 kV, which is currently being used, have
already reached the prototype application stage in the authors'
company. Therefore, the choice of whether to use FP/C or (a)

=Fip'~~~~f -xi
multi-three-phase windings versus conventional windings with
still higher voltages can be made freely.
Referring to Fig. 3, the historical evolution of generators as
ratings have progressed has been from single-circuit wye-
connected units with multiturn coils, to units with single-turn
coils, to double-circuit units with a moderate number of slots, (b)
to double-circuit generators with a minimum number of slots.
Fig. 10. EP/C winding used for 72-slot two-pole four-circuit iron-
Certain large four-pole units have used four circuits per phase. cooled generators. (a) Winding pattern. (b) Phasor sum for cir-
In other words, the number of series turns per circuit has pro- cuits I and 2.
gressively diminished as ratings have increased in order to
achieve the optimum voltage in each case. The FP/C and
multi-three-phase designs are merely the logical extension of this to provide suitable coolant passage proportions. This increases
sequence. the electrical angle between slots and reduces the number of
coils available to group into separate circuits within a phase
FP/C WINDINGS belt, rapidly reducing the probability that a satisfactory winding
pattern of the previous FP/C type can be found. In addition,
Nonconductor-Cooled Arrangements the problems of interconnecting coils that do not fall in regular
Eleven of the 17 FP/C generators built by the authors' sequence are more complicated because the conductors are larger,
company have used a 72-slot two-pole four-circuit winding. the series loop or coil-end connections must be conductor cooled
These units have ranged in rating from 147 to 282 MVA, have a (unless they are very short or very large in effective current
combined output of 2600 MVA, and have amassed more than carrying area), and additional mechanical and electrical clear-
110 years of service experience, following installation of the ances must be provided for the water hoses and fittings. On the
first FP/C unit at the Delaware station of the Philadelphia other hand, the higher reactance levels that inherently charac-
Electric Company in 1953. terize conductor-cooled generators will tend to reduce the
Fig. 10 shows the winding pattern of one of the six phase belts circulating current components associated with unbalances in
(recall Fig. 1) for these units. This pattern is repeated six times generated voltage.
around the stator periphery. Two circuits, designated 1 and 2 To meet these problems, new forms of FP/C windings have
in Fig. 10, are connected in parallel in each phase belt, and the been developed [9] in which individual half-coils (armature
opposite phase belts are connected in parallel. This gives four bars) rather than entire coils are assigned to different circuits.
paralleled circuits per phase for these two-pole generators. Fig. This has provided the additional degree of freedom needed to
10(b) shows how the sum of the generated voltage phasors for hold circulating currents to trivial levels even when the number
each coil add for circuits 1 and 2. For this particular winding, of stator slots is very low. For example, for the 48-slot four-
the total phasor voltages for circuits 1 and 2 are identical in circuit two-pole winding, the no-load voltage unbalance be-
phase angle and differ in magnitude by less thani 0.25 percent ween circuits is less than 0.125 percent (0.00121 pu) and circu-
(0.00233 pu). lating current at full load for a unit of about 1200 MVA is less
The problem of selecting the optimum, or at least a satis- than 1 percent of rated circuit current.
factory winding pattern, from the myriad number of possi- Altering the circuit sequence for the bottom layer relative to
bilities certainly is not simple. Not only must the generated the top-layer coil sides changes the pitch of the individual coils
voltage in each circuit be essentially the same, but the reactances throughout the phase belt, although the average pitch remains
must be nearly equal so that the circuits load equally. Since the the same. The pitch changes can be made at the series loop
mutual reactance between circuits depends on the coil pitch, connections in such a way that all armature bars of the same
certain winding patterns may be suitable for one pitch and not layer can be the same, and hence interchangeable. The already
for another. large number of possible circuit combinations is squared when the
coil-side patterns are individually varied, and this magnifies the
Liquid-Cooled Armature Arrangements problem of selecting the best pattern. Fortunately, it has been
The use of FP/C windings for liquid-cooled stator windings found that when the top-layer coil sides are arranged in inter-
has required additional developments beyond those needed in changed order from the bottom-layer coil sides, a substantial
their earlier applications in iron-cooled generators. Generally the reduction in the electrical unbalance occurs. Therefore, once the
slots in liquid-cooled generators are fewer in number and wider, best uniform-pitch pattern is found, it can be improved by
1928 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1970

TABLE III
FOUR-POLE THREE-CIRCUIT WINDING

Pole Number
Circuit I II III IV
1 X x
2 X X
3 X X

zero. Note that quadrature unbalance in the individual coil-

side voltages is converted to in-phase unbalance (Fig. 11) and
vice versa (Fig. 12).
The 48Y4 two-pole winding pattern, which seems particu-
Fig. 11. New FP/C phase-belt winding pattern with interchanged larly attractive, uses a winding sequence 12212112 for the top
circuit sequence for top- and bottom-bar coil sides, developed for
48-slot two-pole four-circuit liquid-cooled generator. Also shown coil sides and 21121221 for the bottom bars, converting a small
are generated voltage phasors for this class of winding (voltage phase-angle unbalance of close to 0.5 percent in each coil-side
unbalance greatly exaggerated for clarity). group to an in-phase unbalance of less than 0.125 percent for the
total.
~~~7r(I -P)
Three-circuit two-pole windings require that at least one of the
circuits appears opposite both poles, but otherwise the same
VB8 c VT I principles can be applied.
Val PHASE

Four-Pole Three-Circuit Windings

Because four-pole generators permit one, two, or four circuits
BARS VT2 V-TI 4 per phase to be paralleled with conventional winding con-
nections, the need for FP/C windings is not as acute as for two-
pole units. However, considerable benefit has been obtained
Fig. 12. Generated voltage phasors for second class of FP/C
from a three-circuit four-pole winding pattern, which has been
windings using interchanged circuit sequence for top- and bottom- developed to fill the large voltage gap between two-circuit and
bar coil sides (voltage unbalance greatly exaggerated for clarity). four-circuit windings. The same principles and techniques used
for two-pole FP/C windings have been applied. Each circuit of
any selected phase is located under two poles, with two of the
interchanging the circuit sequence for the top and bottom phase belts containing only one circuit, as Table III illustrates.
bars of each phase belt. This minimizes coil connection problems.
An example of this new winding arrangement is shown in
Fig. 11. This is the pattern for the 48Y4 two-pole winding already MULTI-THREE-PHASE WINDINGS
discussed. The outer sectors represent the top and bottom bar
phase belts of the shaded phase C of Fig. 2. The assignment of Instead of bringing the circuit voltages and reactances into
the eight top-bar coil sides and the eight bottom-bar coil sides precise alignment so that they can be paralleled inside the
to circuits 1 or 2 is indicated. It can be seen that in moving generator, the alternate proposal has been made of bringing out
clockwise through the top-bar phase belt the sequence en- more phases (or windings) and converting the output to balanced
countered is identical to that encountered in moving clockwise three-phase power in the external transformer system. This is
through the bottom-bar phase belt after interchanging circuit 1 most easily done if the several generator outputs are grouped in
for circuit 2, and vice versa. three-phase sets.
Fig. 11 also shows the voltage phasors (with the unbalance Many methods for obtaining a phase or magnitude adjust-
voltage between circuits greatly exaggerated for clarity) for this ment of voltages in a transformer system are known, including
winding pattern. Appendix II gives an analysis of this phasor zigzag connections, windings with additional connection taps
diagram along with an analysis for Fig. 12, which applies to a for phase shifting, and autotransformer connections for mag-
somewhat different case. It is shown that any winding pattern nitude adjustment. However, studies have shown that it is
of this nature, in which the circuit sequence for the top and technically and economically impractical to apply most of these
bottom bars is interchanged, can be analyzed in terms of the sum special arrangements in the main stepup transformers for large
of a phasor diagram like Fig. 11 and one like Fig. 12. ratings.
For both cases, however, the same: improvement factor is Another alternative is to interpose a small phase-shifting
obtained [(18), Appendix II] permitting the following general transformer between the generator and stepup bank. The per-
statement: The physical act of interchanging the phase-belt unit kVA of such a unit [10] would be
coil-side sequence for one layer relativS to the other corre-
sponds to operating on the voltage unbalance for each layer alone - (sin -) [sin (60 - )]
by the factor j cot (pitch X 7r/2). For 5/6 pitch, this corre-
sponds to a multiplier of 0.268 90°, and if the coils were full where 4 is the phase-shifting angle.
pitched (which should not be done in 600 phase-belt generators The kVA rating of this auxiliary transformer can be mini-
because of pole face loss), the unbalance would be reduced to mized by making o, the phase-angle difference, small. This might
 HOLLEY AND WILLYOUNG: STATOR WINDING SYSTEMS FOR LARGE TURBINE-GENERATORS 1929

monies present are the 11th and 13th, 23rd and 25th,'.
Since each harmonic magnitude is reduced by the reciprocal of
its harmonic order (plus K,0Kd4 factors) and the l1th and 13th
-
harmonics can be largely pitched out by using about 11/12 coil
pitch, it is evident that this generator will have a very low
Ii harmonic MMF content. Benefits accrue due to reduced steady-
6-PHASE GEN. DELTA-WYE, 3-PHASE state pole face losses, increased unbalanced load capability,
WYE - WYE
TRANSFORMERS
POWER reduced sensitivity to load current harmonics, and reduced
duty in other areas of the generator. Such generators should be
Fig. 13. 30° phase-displaced multi-three-phase generator-bus- particularly attractive for feeding power to a dc transmission
transformer system for three-phase power generation.
grid because of their reduced sensitivity to harmonics in the line
current that might be introduced by the rectifier system.
be done, for example, by locating separate three-phase windings A final interesting feature of this system is that the 300 phase-
in alternate slots in the generator so that is the electrical angle belt generator permits an increased coil pitch approaching
between slots; or might be further reduced by applying FP/C 1800. Consequently, if FP/C windings with interchanged circuit
techniques to each of the windings, whose output is then ex- sequences for the top and bottom coil sides are used, j cot (pr/2)
ternally phase shifted into three-phase alignment. Although approaches zero. This provides a means for balancing the
these methods appear technically feasible, any added equip- generated circuit voltages in machines with still fewer series
ment at this location is unattractive. The same can be said turns per circuit, and, in effect, more circuits per phase on
about using small autotransformers between the generator and the Fig. 3 chart. Such combinations are not needed now, but
the main transformer to correct magnitude differences between they provide a means to maintain present generator voltage
two sets of in-phase three-phase generator output.
levels up to kVA ratings of two or more times the ratings that are
A far more attractive arrangement is that shown on Fig. 13, presently being contemplated. In other words, the combination
where the normal 300 phase shift provided by a wye-delta has growth potential.
transformer bank is used to reduce a six-phase, 30°-offset
generator output to three-phase power. No additional kVA is ECONOMICS
needed in the transformers, but the low-voltage winding of the Estimating the true economic balance between alternate
delta-wye section should have -V/3 times as many turns as its systems will always involve human judgment. First costs of
wye-wye mate. This transformation has been widely used in the equipment can be compared, but they are only a part of the
past to transform three-phase power to six-phase power for picture; the capitalized value of identifiable differences in loss
rectification [10]. can be added in; differences in installation cost, if any, can be
Cost penalties might be anticipated because it appears that included. Something might be added for differences in steady-
two three-phase transformer banks are necessary, or because the state or transient operating characteristics in terms of "value to
different turn ratios make it difficult to provide a spare unit. the system," but the capitalized value of differences in reli-
This is not so, however, for ratings where single-tank three-phase ability between designs for large ratings made at different levels
transformers are unavailable because of MVA or high-side (extrapolations) of the design/risk parameters, even when the
voltage requirements. In these circumstances, single-phase designs are made by the same manufacturer, must be a matter of
transformers are usually favored over two half-size three-phase judgment. Unfortunately these uncertain reliability factors can
units. dominate in the cost equation, and if they are incorrectly esti-
Single-phase transformers can be built with the low-voltage mated this may not be evident for many years. Nonetheless,
winding on one leg having V/3 times as many turns as that on cost judgments are necessary, and first cost and capitalized
the other leg, with the concentric high-voltage windings on each losses will probably continue to be given unrealistically high
leg connected in parallel. In Fig. 13 this means that transformer weighting relative to reliability parameters, since they at least
windings 1, II, III, and IV are located in one single-phase trans- can be compared to several significant figures.
former tank. A spare transformer can to be provided using only Delta-connected and FP/C generators will use conventional
one extra tank, just as in the normal case. The largest rating for transformers and busing practices, of course, and, as already
which single-tank three-phase transformers can be obtained shown, the differences in cost and arrangement of single-phase
varies greatly with the high-side voltage, but the combination transformers for the -multi-three-phase system of Fig. 13 will be
of large ratings and high transmission voltages already pre- minimal. Therefore, the principal first cost differences may come
cludes their use in many cases. Here the economics of this down to those between 1) higher-current/lower-voltage buses
system are close to a standoff, even on a first cost basis, crediting for delta-connected and FP/C generators versus 2) twice as
nothing for the primary advantage of improved reliability or many buses of half this current capacity for the multi-three-
for the additional improved generator characteristics to be phase system versus 3) higher-voltage/lower-current three-
described next. phase buses for conventionally wound higher-voltage generators.
The six-phase generator for this system is simply built. Twelve A great many cost figures have been obtained for different
phase belts of 300 (electrical) with conventional lap windings are generator/bus/transformer configurations, using different gen-
used for each pole pair. Another important advantage then erator voltage levels. Conclusions are obscured somewhat by the
accrues. As shown in [11], the only phase-belt MMF harmonics value at which bus losses are evaluated [12], the bus length
produced by a polyphase winding are those whose order is (nq that is used, how station service transformers are located, the
1), where q is the number of phase belts per pole pair and n = bus rateup factor due to forced cooling, and so on. Nonetheless,
1, 2, 3, Thus, instead of having the usual 5th and 7th, the following observations are made, subject to verification for
11th and 13th, 17th and 19th, * harmonics, the only har- any particular application.
1930 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1970

1) The ANSI Standard for isolated phase bus [13] specifies 8) The multi-three-phase generator-bus-transformer system
110-kV basic insulation level (BIL) up to 24-kV generator volt- is closely competitive, even on a first cost basis, whenever the
age; 150-kV BIL is the next most common industry level above kVA rating or the transmission voltage is sufficient to preclude
this, and might be expected for generators in excess of 24 kV. the use of a low-cost three-phase single-tank transformer.
In going to 150 BIL, for the cases that were studied, there was a 9) Additional benefits accrue for both the FP/C and the
large increase in bus costs, along with a major increase in the multi-three-phase systems (for certain combinations of slots and
size and spacing of the buses. circuits). Higher generator efficiency, more armature transient
2) Buses with 120 BIL at costs intermediate between the 110- overload capability, and somewhat reduced physical size can be
and 150-BIL values have been available for application where the provided, in addition to the improved availability that should
rated generator voltage is 26 kV or less, but these are not specified result from lower winding vibration forces.
by the standards. 10) Further benefits are obtained in the multi-three-phase
3) There appears to be little consistent difference in total system because of: 1) reduced rotor surface losses and heating,
evaluated bus cost (first cost plus capitalized value of losses) 2) reduced generator sensitivity to harmonics in the load current,
between a three-bus system and a six-bus system of half the and 3) slightly better kVA utilization in the generator due to
current capacity per bus. improved pitch and distribution factors for the winding.
4) Total bus costs rise as the total current increases, as would 11) The multi-three-phase system should be particularly
be expected. Bus costs increments appear to be the chief deterrent advantageous in the future if the rectified output of turbine-
to the use of those FP/C or multi-three-phase generator designs, generators is used to supply power to a dc transmission network.
which deliver their output at higher current. These first cost In the more distant future, in synergetic combination with the
increments are the price of the increased reliability that should new, variable-pitch FP/C winding methods, it may permit
result. generators of much larger kVA rating to be built at voltage
5) Total evaluated bus cost differences, which result from levels no higher than those used today, and with the minimum
specific comparisons, are small relative to the total first cost of possible electromagnetic vibration stimulus of the windings.
the complex. These costs are trivial if the reduced level of 12) Whenever possible, the generator designer should be
electromagnetic forces in the generator is truly reflected in given free choice of voltage for a desired kVA rating so that he
higher generator availability. For example, if the cost of can optimize the design with respect to reliability, simplicity,
purchased power is 1.5 mils/kWh, the loss of one day's output efficiency, overload capability, terminal and operating char-
for a 1000-MW generator at 80-percent load factor is about acteristics, etc.
$29 000. 13) Economic comparisons should be based on the entire
It has also been concluded that there may be room for con- generator-bus-transformer complex, including heavy weighting
structive creativity in the station and bus designs to minimize for the factors indicative of generator availability and reli-
the evaluated bus cost adders if FP/C or multi-three-phase ability. These difficult availability-reliability factors should
generators are adopted widely. recognize: 1) the levels of the risk parameters in alternate
designs (i.e., electromagnetic forces, armature reaction MMF,
CONCLUSIONS etc.), 2) the extent of the extrapolation risk from a previous
experience base, 3) the degree of successful past experience for
1) FP/C, multi-three-phase, or delta-connected stator wind- each alternative, and 4) the level and quality of development
ings can be used to reduce the electromagnetic steady-state work expended to properly evaluate the anticipated service
vibratory forces in large turbine-generators. This should sig- conditions to insure reliable operation.
nificantly increase the already high generator reliability. 14) Based on the very high cost of generator unavailability,
2) The evaluated first cost (including bus loss evaluations) of these reliability considerations appear to far outweigh the dif-
the generator-bus-transformer complex tends to be slightly ferences in evaluated first cost between available alternates,
higher for the FP/C and multi-three-phase systems, relative to justifying the use of the best technical solution that can be
conventionally connected generators, but these increments in found.
first cost will be entirely offset by savings in the cost of replace-
ment power if the generator availability, over its lifetime, is
extended by even a few days because of the significantly lower APPENDIX I
vibratory excitation stimulus. BASIC RELATIONS FOR POLYPHASE GENERATORS
3) All three systems are under development, and are available Rating
for particular applications from General Electric Company.
4) Generators with higher terminal voltage, using conven- kVA = Vl,IVNO, X 10-3. (1)
tionally connected stator windings are also available, so the
choice of which system to use can be made freely. Phase voltage
5) The steady-state vibratory forces acting on the stator
windings vary inversely with the number of stator slots. The 2 Nat/ekt 'km. (2)
forces can therefore be reduced by using more armature bars V =24 KpKd AV2
connected appropriately into coils, circuits, and phases, as
described. Squarewave armature reaction per pole
6) These forces are also influenced in a major way by the basic
armature reaction MMF that is used in the generator design MAR = No, V2Ickt NatfcktNckt/f (3a)
(essentially a squared function). M2 N KpKd
7) A new method for connecting PP/C generator windings,
by means of variable-pitch coils, has been developed. It is N., Nat/ckt I4, (3b)
particularly suited to large liquid-cooled stators. V KpKd Np
HOLLEY AND WILLYOUNG: STATOR WINDING SYSTEMS FOR LARGE TURBINE-GENERATORS 1931

Combining (1), (2), and (3b) gives the kVA in terms of the APPENDIX II
basic magnetic design quantities VOLTAGE UNBALANCE IN FP/C WINDINGS WITH
INTERCHANGED CIRCUIT SEQUENCE
kVA = OmMARNV X 10-3 (4a)
For FP/C windings with two circuits per phase belt, two
Npv f important special cases can be identified. If the coil sides for
=
0.754qmMAR 2 60 (4b) circuit 1 in the top-bar phase belt occupy symmetrical positions
on either side of the top-bar phase-belt centerline (see Fig. 10),
For a two-layer lap winding with one-turn coils the sum of their generated voltage phasors must be along that
Ns = Nat/cktNckt/f,ONO (5) centerline. The remaining slot positions in the phase belt will be
occupied by circuit 2 conductors, which will also fall symmetri-
Slot Forces on Armature Conrductors (Fig. 4) cally on either side of this centerline and produce an "in-phase"
The differential force on the differential conductor element phasor sum that also lies along the centerline. Hence the generated
shown, carrying a differential current dl is given by (6), directed voltage contributions of the top-bar coil-side conductors in
according to Flemming's left-hand rule toward the bottom of the circuits 1 and 2 will be in phase with each other but may differ
slot: in magnitude. If uniform-pitch coils are used (Fig. 10), the same
will be true for the bottom coil sides and for the total circuit
dF = Bldl. (6) voltages. On the other hand, if the bottom-bar sequence is
interchanged, the phasor diagram of Fig. 12 results, and will be
The cross-slot flux density B equals ,uH, and H at any height analyzed later as case 2.
y measured along the current-carrying conductor is given by the The other important special case occurs when the coil-side
current below that height divided by the slot width b, provided conductors of circuits 1 and 2 in the top-bar phase belt are
that the MIMFs along the dotted flux paths in Fig. 4 are negligi- located to "image" each other about their combined center-
ble. This gives rise to the trapezoidal flux density distribution line. The sum of the top-bar coil-side phasors for each circuit
shown in Fig. 4 for a slot in which the top and bottom bar cur- will then have to be equal in magnitude, but may be displaced
rents are in phase, the case of highest force. in phase angle equally on either side of the top-bar phase-belt
The self-generated peak instantaneous force per unit length centerline. Phasors VT1 and VT2 in Fig. 11 are examples of this.
on the bottom conductor, by integration, is The effect of interchanging the circuit sequence for the bottom-
bar phase belt when the top-bar phasor sums for the two circuits
Fbot
Fb 2ektb L
/221 ckt2
7 have this equal-magnitude phase-displaced relationship will
now be analyzed (case 1).
The total top bar force is three times this. The total peak
force on the bottom bar, directed toward the bottom of the slot, Case 1
is therefore Two Circuits per Pole with Top-Bar Coil-Side Phase-Angle
Unbalance and Interchanged Bottom-Bar Sequence: In Fig. 11
Ftot'=
4YIckt'
bt (8) the magnitudes of VT1, VT2, VB1, and VB2 are equal. Call this
magnitude Vo. The resultant voltage for circuits 1 and 2 for top
and bottom coil sides are
To express this in terms of basic generator design parameters
and proportions, successively substitute from equations (9),
(10), (3b), and (5), to get (11). V1 = 2V0 sin (13)
2
7
ckt = rN,kt/ (9) V2 = 2Vo sin 2
(14)

7rD3 bs, (10) Since these resultants are in phase, the generated voltage
Ns bos error between circuits is their algebraic difference
8y(KpK)
F tot t 8KvKd
8
2 MA2N.2 1
MAR'N'1 (11) AV = AV(V1 - V2) = 4V0cos 2 sin-.
~~pir .

(15)
NAD bs/bos
=
2
Another useful form can be obtained by substituting (4b) in Call the magnitude of the resultant voltage if there were no
(11): error VRO. It is given by (13) with 6 = 0. The pu voltage error
between circuits is therefore
tot - 4,u(KPKd)' MAR NP kVA X 103
T2f o NsD3 bs/bos (12) AV 2 sin 6/2
(16)
VRO tan pir/2
This shows that to a first-order approximation the bar forces
will rise linearly with kVA if the flux-armature reaction ratio is and is in phase with the average phase-belt voltage.
held constant and no other factors in (12) are changed. If the circuit sequence had not been interchanged (i.e., uni-
In practice the slot width-pitch ratio b,/b0, must be changed form coil pitch), the per voltage difference between circuits 1
as either the total flux or the generator length is changed, to and 2 would be in quadrature with VRO, and given by
avoid various problems such as tooth tip saturation. This is a
modifying effect on conclusions drawn from the other factors AV = [
appearing in (11) or (12), but does not alter them. VRO = j[2 sin (8/2) ]. (17)
1932 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1970

The effect of interchanging the sequence of circuits is therefore where t is given by (27). Fortunately t is very small so that
(17) divided by (16):
a Ve pc r
-

sin - =tan - = -cot- (30)

interchange operator = j cot Pr 2 2 Vo 2
'

(18)
2
Hence the pu voltage unbalance, relative to a perfect winding
Case 2 pattern is [from (29) and (30) ]
Two Circuits per Pole with Top-Bar Coil-Side Magnitude ATV , 2Ve/Vo
Unbalance and Interchanged Bottom-Bar Sequence (Fig. 12): (31)
Because of interchanging, the magnitude of the top-bar phasor VRO atan p7r/2
sum for circuit 1 must equal that for the bottom-bar phasor If the bottom-bar coil sides had been connected normally
sum in circuit 2, and vice versa (uniform pitch) rather than in interchanged sequence, the two
1VT1l = IVB21, YVT2l = |VB1YI (19) resultants would have been
All these coil-side phasors lie either in the direction of the V, = 2(Vo - Ve) sin P7 (32)
centerline of the top-bar phase belt or the centerline of the bot- 2
tom-bar phase belt, as Fig. 12 shows. 7
In the triangle ABC, by the law of tangents 172 = 2 (Vo + Ye) sin
2
(33)
tan 1/2(C - A) VBI - VT1 (20) Combining these with (28) gives the pu unbalance for uniform
tan 1/2(C + A) VB1 + VT(2 pitch coils
Also
(C + A) = r(l-p). (21)
A\V
VO =V2VRO VI _ 22Ve,
_ -
(34)
VR0 VR0170e
The phase angle between resultants is Dividing (31) by (34) gives the interchange operator for this
t = [ir(1-p)-2A] = (C-A). (22) case. Rather surprisingly and by good fortune it comes out the
same as before, viz., (18).
Substituting these in (20) gives for the phase angle
Case 3
=2 tan-1 -{VB1-VTI tan( -p (23) General Case: Since the conductors in the top-bar coil-side
The sum of VT1 and VT2 must be a constant for a given total sequence of any FP/C winding with two circuits per pole can be
number of slots per phase belt. If the windings were perfectly split into two groups, which are either of the class 1 or class 2
divided between the two circuits to give two equal top bar type, and since the effect of transposing the circuit sequence is
phasors, this mean value V0, would be the same for each class, it is evident that interchanging the
bottom-bar circuit sequence will always reduce the generated
Vo VT1 + VT2 - VB1 + VB2 (24)
(4
voltage unbalance and rotate its phase by 900, according to
2 2 (18).
Let the deviations from this mean value be Ve, so that
GLOSSARY
VB1 = VT2 - VO + Ve (25) A, B, C angles triangle ABC, Fig. 13
in
VT1 = VB2 = VO Ve. (26) bs width of stator slot, meters
bo5 pitch of stator slots at stator inside diameter,
Substituting in (23) gives meters
B flux density, teslas
= 2tan -cot II. (27) D3 inside diameter of stator core, meters
vo 2
f frequency, Hz
If there were no voltage difference between circuits 1 and 2, F electromagnetic force, newtons
the resultant for the top and bottom coil-side phasors would be F' electromagnetic force, per unit length, N/m
H magnetic intensity, At/m
YR0 = 2V0 sin (28) I rms current, amperes
2 rms current per phase, atnperes
The actual voltage resultants for circuits 1 and 2 in Fig. 12 Jckt rms current per circuit, amperes
will have this same magnitude but will be displaced in phase j = V-1 = 1 z90o
angle from the centerline of the total phase belt by equal and KpKd product of pitch and distribution factors for
opposite amounts, t/2. windings
The voltage unbalance between the circuit resultants VY armature bar length, meters
and V2 is MAR peak value of square wave armature reaction per
pole, At
AV = j2VRo sin 2 (29) Nat/ckt number of armature turns per circuit
Nckt/o number of circuits per phase
HOLLEY AND WILLYOUNG: STATOR WINDING SYSTEMS FOR LARGE TURBINE-GENERATORS 1933

No, number of phase Discussion

NP number of poles
NS number of stator slots
p average pitch of coils in phase belt, decimal J. A. Oliver (American Electric Power Service Corporation, New
V rms voltage, volts York, N. Y.): I wish to thank the authors for presenting this im-
V<g, rms phase voltage, volts portant subject. The question of generator voltage obviously arises
whenever a new unit is purchased. The selection of a voltage rating
VTl VT2 rms phasor sum for top coil-side conductors in is not always simple. Both manufacturer and user are concerned
circuits 1 and 2, respectively, volts about reliability and, therefore, the magnitude of bar force is of
VB1, VB2 rms phasor sum for bottom coil-side conductors in concern. We have seen bar force magnitude increase from insignif-
circuits 1 and 2, respectively, volts icant values for conventionally cooled generators to 60 lb/in2 for
V1, V2 resultant voltages for circuits 1 and 2, respectively, conductor-cooled machines that are now in service.
An additional factor that should be considered was not discussed
volts in the paper. That is the matter of a spare generator stepup trans-
VO magnitude of average coil-side circuit voltage, volts former. This is not an incremental cost such as the difference in
VRO magnitude of resultant circuit voltage, volts cost of the generator bus for a lower generator voltage, but it is a
Ve phasor voltage difference between coil-side circuit major cost and a major factor concerning reliability.
The authors' winding variations of conventional wye connection,
voltage and Vo, volts FP/C connection, and delta connection can be very useful in ob-
AV phasor voltage difference between V, and V2, volts taining some degree of voltage standardization for different machine
y position coordinate, Fig. 4, measured along current- ratings so that a minimum number of spare transformers can be
carrying conductor only, meters used to protect a maximum number of generators, at the same time
phase angle between coil-side circuit voltages in considering the bar force problem.
As an example, we have managed to standardize on 26 kV for eight
Fig. 11, radians generators that involve five different machine designs and three
Iu magnetic permeability of space, H/m manufacturers. We have four General Electric 907-MVA 3600-
phase angle between resultant circuit voltages in r/min machines, one Westinghouse of the same rating, one GE
Fig. 12, radians 1280-MVA four-pole, one Brown Boveri 1333 MVA four-pole, and a
1300-MW cross-compound Brown Boveri set with generators rated
Om peak value of fundamental flux, Wb 722 MVA. All the two-pole machines are 2Y connected. The GE
angular frequency rad/s. four-pole has the authors' 3Y connection and the Brown Boveri
four-pole has a delta connection. The odd connections have been
used to reduce bar force from values around 90 lb/in to something
ACKNOWLEDGMENT less than 60 lb/in. By selecting 26 kV as a standard voltage for these
The earlier work and direct assistance of D. B. Harrington, machines, we have been able to obtain optimum coordination of
Generator Department, General Electric Company, in these spare generator stepup transformers so that each unit is covered.
Also, I would like to comment that although we should be con-
studies is gratefully recognized. The- help of N. Swerdlow of the servative in applying generators, we should not be overly cautious
Power Circuit Breaker Department, General Electric Company, about restricting generator voltage. If we take advantage of work
on isolated phase bus evaluations and R. E. Coates (retired) that is being done by manufacturers in improving dielectric and
and E. J. Sheely of the Power Transformer Department, General mechanical properties of insulation and take advantage of the
various winding connections described by the authors, perhaps in
Electric Company, is also gratefully acknowledged. the 1970's we will see some 30-kV machines.

REFERENCES Manuscript received February 2, 1970.

[1] D. Harrington and J. E. McElligott, "New developments in
armature winding arrangements for large turbine-generators,"
AIEE Trans. (Power App. Syst.), vol. 73, pp. 582-587, June
1954. L. T. Rosenberg (Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, Mil-
[2] H. D. Taylor, "Armature winding with four parallels per waukee, Wis.): The paper presents several interesting ways in
phase," U. S. Patent 2 778 962, 1957. which the magnetic forces acting upon each coil can be reduced. It
[3] D. B. Harrington, "Polyphase generator windings with three would appear that increasing the number of slots, regardless of which
parallel connected circuits per phase," U. S. Patent 3 152 273, of the alternatives is selected, would be most beneficial if the coils
1964. are held mainly by tightness against the slot walls. The bottom
[4] J. E. MeElligott, "Six-phase two-circuit generator," U. S.
Patent 2 731 576, 1956. and between-coil slot fillers would still be subject to high pulsating
[5] W. M. Johnson, "Electric power system," U. S. Patent 2 714- compression in pounds per square inch because the conductors are
700, 1955. narrower.
[6] P. Robert, J. Dispaux, and J. Dacier, "Improvement of turbo- The separate sequence of circuits in top and bottom layers is an
alternator efficiency," CIGRE, Rep. 124, June 1966. ingenious way of equalizing the voltage phasors of the parallel
[7] J. Dispaux and P. Robert, "The protection of alternators with circuits. Considering the massive conductors in large machines,
twelve-phase windings" (in French), Rev. Grn. Elec., vol. 76, and the very limited available end room, it may well be that the
pp. 355-368, March 1967. special connections will lengthen the bearing centers.
[8] C. V. Maughan, E. E. Gibbs, and E. V. Giaquinto, "Me-
chanical testing of high-voltage insulation systems," this issue, I agree with the authors that delta-connected generators should
pp. 1946-1954. give no problems provided circulating triple-frequency currents are
[9] D. M. Willyoung, "Multiple-circuit winding patterns for controlled and ground relay protection is provided by means other
polyphase dynamo-electric machines," U. S. Patent 3 408 517, than the generator neutral. To preserve the optimum stator coil
1968. pitch in many small delta-connected* units from the stray-loss
[10] J. Schaefer, Rectifier Circuits: Theory and Design. New York: standpoint, spacing of rotor slots was selected to minimize these
Wiley, 1965. triples. However, in very large machines it was found that more
[11] P. L. Alger, The Nature of Polyphase Induction Machines. output per pound could be attained in some cases by abandoning the
New York: Gordon and Breach, 1965.
[12] C. F. Paulus and J. H. Bellack, "Progress in generator leads: ideal rotor slot spacing. A delta connection is likely to involve some
economical application of forced cooling," IEEE Trans. Power sacrifice in such cases.
App. Syst., vol. PAS-88, pp. 175-181, February 1969.
[13] "Switchgear assemblies including metal-enclosed bus,." ANSI
Standard C37.20 (IEEE Publ. 27), 1965. Manuscript received February 12, 1970.
1934 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER APPARATUS AND SYSTEMS, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1970

Charles H. Holley and David M. Willyoung: We appreciate the end windings, the more successfully the electromagnetic forces can
supporting comments by Mr. Oliver and Mr. Rosenberg. Generator be transmitted to "mechanical ground" without excessive vibration
cooling improvements and variations therein have received the amplitudes.
lion's share of public discussion and attention as higher-rated Thus more stator slots and more armature bars are desirable not
conductor cooled generators have displaced conventionally cooled only because the force per inch can be reduced, but also because
machines. But the largely unheralded engineering struggle to main- better support per linear inch can be provided.
tain and improve armature winding reliability in the face of the Although the paper did not dwell on the electromagnetic forces
accompanying very large increase in electromagnetic driving forces, levels on the stator end windings, the relative ratios of increase
from the insignificant levels for conventionally cooled machines of for these forces are similar to those for the stator slot sections as
15 or 20 years ago to values in excess of 60 pounds per inch of slot generators have progressed from conventionally cooled units to
length for present-day units, as cited by Mr. Oliver, is a story of present-day designs, so that the same concerns and design con-
equal challenge, importance, and achievement. siderations apply here with equal force.
Our paper highlights just one of the areas of progress in the We expect that the penalties in deviating from the economically
understanding and control of these never-ceasing vibratory forces, optimum design will increase rather than decrease in the future,
now vastly increased in magnitude compared to past experience, just as they have been increasing over the past few years. The reason
which must be dealt with in producing large generators to the reli- for this can be seen by referring to Fig. 3 and recognizing that for
ability standards that are justified by the present high costs of the wye-connected generators the only admissible values of relative
generator unavailability. The winding vibration problem has been voltage are the integer values. The relative voltage values that have
controlled for present-day force levels despite the high driving been plotted for wye-connected generators are in fact merely the
forces, and we believe that by using new winding systems, such as number of series turns per circuit for each potential three-phase
described in the paper, further progress can be made in the develop- winding pattern. For example, for point A, dividing the 48 slots by
ment and application of highly reliable, economically justified, large three phases and by four circuits per phase gives four series turns per
generators. We believe, however, that the incessant and potentially circuit, which is the relative voltage value that has been plotted in
serious nature of the winding vibration problem should be fully Fig. 3. As ratings have increased the number of series-connected
recognized, and that even today these measures to reduce this duty turns has decreased, as we have discussed. Consequently the com-
can be fully justified by the reduced risk factors and greater anti- pensating changes that must be made in the electromagnetic pro-
cipated unit availability, even in those cases where this may impose portions of the generator in order to secure a particular voltage tend
slightly higher first costs for station buses or possibly for spare trans- to be correspondingly larger. For example, when generators typically
formers. had eight series turns per circuit, a 12.5-percent increase in generator
Mr. Oliver points out that it is highly desirable to standardize voltage could be made by either adding one series turn per
generator voltage to reduce initial investment costs for spare trans- circuit or by increasing the electromagnetic areas by 12.5 percent to
formers. He comments that his company has managed standardiza- accommodate more flux, and these two factors could be traded
tion on five different generator designs for eight generators from against each other to seek a particular voltage level. For present-day
three manufacturers. As indicated in the paper, generator designers designs that may have as few as only four series turns per circuit a
provide optimum designs when given a free choice of voltage, there- one-turn increase per circuit may correspond to a 25-percent change
fore this standardization may have resulted in eight generators, in electromagnetic area. Consequently this requires a much more
some of which do not have the optimum design for their own kVA serious reproportioning of the design and probably much more
rating. It is possible then that the reliability level of these generators serious deviations from optimum minimum-risk design conditions
may not be as high as they otherwise might be. This of course may be as well. This trend to even fewer series turns per circuit will continue,
difficult if not impossible to demonstrate since all manufacturers of we believe, making it increasingly costly to furnish or apply gen-
such costly and vital equipment do their best to provide the highest erators that represent off-optimum designs.
quality and performance levels. We are inclined to believe that if The real advantage of delta-connected designs is that they min-
this approach is carried too far on future machines, it may result in imize these problems of voltage selection since there are V3 times
the serious off-optimum design of some of the units. This in turn as many options in a given rating range.
would result in higher electromagnetic forces and perhaps higher Spare transformers for FP/C or delta-connected three-phase
generator losses than would otherwise be obtained, since the genera- generators present no new problems. Also, as noted in the paper, one
tor designer would be forced to depart from the design that he con- additional single-phase transformer will suffice to back up the
siders to be the most prudent and economical to build in order multi-three-phase unit system shown in Fig. 13. We have had
to provide a special voltage requirement. discussions with transformer designers about the feasibility of
Is it proper to compromise the design of the more complex and providing a "universal" spare single-phase transformer that could
costly equipment (the turbine-generator), for which spare units are be used to back up both a multi-three-phase unit system and a
not normally provided, in order to reduce the initial cost of "sparing" standard three-phase unit system of the same generator and trans-
a simpler and considerably less expensive equipment (the trans- mission voltage level. It appears that this could be done by utilizing
former)? This is a pertinent question in view of the fact that just a appropriate split windings and voltage taps on the low-voltage side,
few days' plant outage time could offset the initial cost of a spare but each potential application should be studied individually with
transformer. the manufacturer.
In view of the high cost of replacement power and the even higher In answer to Mr. Rosenberg's question, we have carefully studied
stakes to the power industry involved in maintaining unit reliability, the winding connections required for a great many FP/C windings
it appears that the purchaser, who must make the overall economic and find that generally they take no more space than is needed for
judgments, is well justified in giving maximum weighting to the normal series-loop and phase connections. If six-phase generators
reliability and duty-level aspects in comparing alternatives. are built with an increased winding pitch of about 11/12, as sug-
Mr. Rosenberg points out that the pulsating compressive stresses gested, the extra pitch will increase the stator end winding length
on the insulation and slot fillers are not necessarily reduced by using and bearing span a bit, but not seriously.
more stator slots, and this is true. However, tests have shown that Mr. Oliver notes that reductions of up to 50-percent in the vibra-
it is not these pulsating stresses in a solidly blocked and tight sys- tory driving forces on the windings of large generators can easily
tem that are of greatest concern. Rather it is the fretting, pounding, occur between designs. We believe that these ever-present high,
abraiding, progressively increasing vibration between parts in a 120-Hz forces deserve maximum consideration during design and
system with any looseness that may cause rapid deterioration. The application studies. We believe that the new winding arrangements
more "points of action" the supporting structure can apply to the described will be useful in minimizing winding vibrations and
windings through lateral and radial slot wedging, and through providing high reliability, and we hope that this general discussion
similar clamping, tying and blocking systems acting on the stator of the winding vibration problem that has accompanied the heat
removal problem, as higher rated generators have been developed,
has been helpful. Again we wish to thank Mr. Oliver and Mr. Rosen-
Manuscript received April 3, 1970. berg for their amplifying discussions.