Electric machines (looking for books)

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around seeking recommendations for books on electrical machinery, particularly focusing on theoretical and mathematical concepts relevant to electrical engineering. Participants express their experiences with various texts and share insights into the historical context of electrical machine theory.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses a need for rigorous literature on electrical machinery, emphasizing the importance of understanding fundamental concepts before moving to approximations.
  • Another participant suggests that the choice of books may depend on whether the reader prefers more formulas or diagrams, sharing a historical text that they found helpful.
  • A participant mentions discovering "The performance and design of direct current machines" by Albert Edmund Clayton, highlighting its discussion on air gap reluctance and the experimental verification of mathematical approaches.
  • There is a reference to the Carter coefficient and its application in modern design, noting that numerical methods like FEM are now used for more accurate calculations.
  • One participant suggests exploring IEEE articles for more advanced material and mentions the usefulness of textbooks from the 1940s for their balance of theory and practical applications.
  • Another participant shares a link to a book authored by a former teacher, indicating its relevance to the discussion.
  • Several participants mention specific authors and titles, including Ion Boldea's works and a biography of Steinmetz, as potentially valuable resources.
  • There are requests for free access to certain books, with discussions about copyright and availability.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of preferences for types of literature, with no consensus on specific books. Some participants agree on the value of historical texts, while others seek modern resources. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the best materials for learning about electrical machinery.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the limitations of their current educational resources and the challenges in finding high-quality literature on electrical machinery. There are mentions of the historical development of electrical machine theory and the evolution of teaching methods over time.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for electrical engineering students, educators seeking teaching resources, and professionals interested in historical and theoretical perspectives on electrical machinery.

debelino
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Please help me, this is my last hope. I am an el. engineer student and i need GOOD books on electrical machinery. My proffesor is more a good repairman than a great scientist who could teach me about all the theoretical (matematical and physical) concepts which have led to modern design process and calculation methods in the el. machinery industry sector. I want to learn as much as i can (publically available knowledge) first to get the fundamental concepts on deep lvl of understanding. I am not stupid to think that todays developers use directly Maxwells equations for engineering calculations, but it is very important for my brain to learn first rigurous mattematics and physics of a process and then to be introduced to various approximations and simplifications and why they can be applied on the concrete problem.
Books like "Fitzgerald & Kingsley's Electric Machinery" that are highly recommended are of no help...
My IQ is estimated 140+(deviation 15), I am generally good in mathematics/physics (considered a genius in the field of calculus/geometry), so I am not afraid of difficult literature.
I hope someone can recommend me a book(probably a set of books).

if you don't know of a book that could help me on this topic, but know some great lterature on other power engineering topics, i would be grateful if you recommended it.
Im sorry for mistakes, english is not my first language
 
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I'm not sure whether you are asking for books with more formulas or with more diagrams...

My poor alleged brain must start with a physical picture and from that the formulas are pretty intuitive.

I found this book really helpful, it was written while academia was still figuring out how to teach electrical theory and practice. I rescued from a library that was being demolished the 1901 edition, available here for reading
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951000936579f;view=1up;seq=11

and it's back in print now try a search.

The style of writing is 19th century, but I'm a Melville fan so loved it. References to Steinmetz an Tesla are in present tense brcause they were contemporaries of the author.

Good luck

old jim
 
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Thx for answering Jim.
I found out about this book yesterday when I was searching on this forum for books, unsatisfied with what I found I started this thread. Its interesting to find out how people were looking on el. machines more than a 100 years ago, but a lot of theory and solutions for practical EM problems were unknown, so...

Few hours ago I found "The performance and design of direct current machines" by Albert Edmund Clayton and it has a promising start.
For example: in the part where he explains the air gap reluctance, he immediately mentiones that for the flux distribution in inter-polar region no simple calculation is posible..."to determine the "fringing" effect much experimental work has been done, and F.W. Carter attacked the problem mathematically", he says that his mathematics have been verified experimentally and that most of designers use his results. He didn explaine in detail what Carter did, but thanks to his mentioning I searched for Carters work and found extremely scientific approach on this subject.
I foud out that due to the fringing effect, magnetic flux in the air gap of electrical machines is reduced. This leads to enlarged effective air gap length. Currently, the Carter coefficient is applied to compensate the slot effects. This coefficient is calculated with respect to the slot dimensions and air gap length, using Carter formulas and corresponding curves. These curves are taken by solving the two dimensional Laplace equation for voltage, and cannot be accurate (errorless) completely. Nowadays, using FEM (finite element method) packages of numerical methods, slot effects on the air gap flux distribution are calculated carefully. Using the ANSYS package, these effects are studied. Using the results of these studies and comparing them with the Carter method, the Carter coefficient is modified.

As an example of a good book I would mention "Introduction to Electrodynamics" - David Griffiths (with the exeption on divergence, curl and gradient explanation...he didnt even mention how to derive it, I was forced to search other sources, and the curl operator was nowhere to find so only after I derived it myself it was clear to me why they are even used in EM theory and Stocks and divergence theorem were intuitive)
 
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Aha so you are looking for better formulas...

Understand that at my level it was a rare occasion to even meet people who worked at the level of sophistication you describe.
I had the good fortune to meet and work briefly with two generator industry experts but that was unusual.

debelino said:
Its interesting to find out how people were looking on el. machines more than a 100 years ago, but a lot of theory and solutions for practical EM problems were unknown, so...
That's the truth. I think interpoles weren't invented yet...and Steinmetz had just applied complex arithmetic to AC circuits...
It's interesting to see how they struggled back then for words to explain concepts, and to realize just how much compression of information has gone into today's curricula. Exposition is a science of its own.

Were i on a search like yours i'd peruse IEEE articles (you should join , student rate isn't prohibitive and your school library probably has access) and write to authors who strike you as promising.

I found textbooks from the 1940's most useful, they had a balance of practical applications and comprehensible math.

You sound like someone who might write such a book ---- best wishes to you, sir !

old jim
 
Thank you for quick answers
Im surely going to search for IEEE articles of my interest and it would be a great help if u could give me some links.
Its very dissapointing to be able to find 40+ lecture tutorial on semiconductor theory and pn junction on youtube, but nothing of simmilar lvl on el. machinery...

And its nice that you mentioned Tesla. I feel very proud when i hear his name because we belong to the same nation(born 200 km away from his birthplace). It feels amazing to read a book that was written in time when The God of Lightning - Nikola Tesla, one of the greatest minds in modern history and the greatest inventor of all time, was doing his mindblowing experiments.
 
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You'll also enjoy "Modern Jupiter " published by ASME. It's a biography of Steinmetz, the "other" genius.
 
jim hardy said:
My poor alleged brain must start with a physical picture and from that the formulas are pretty intuitive.

Jim Jim Jim Jim Jim! If there were ever a time when I could honestly suspect there were people running around without a brain you would be one of the last people I would suspect to have the gray matter absent.
 
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Ahhh you guys are too kind. The author of this book was a grad student in early 1960's.

https://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9780849385810

9780849385810.jpg

He taught my machinery class and was an exceptional teacher, best i encountered.. I'd see what else he's published. I think he's at Auburn now,
http://www.eng.auburn.edu/~gross/
 
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I cannot find this book to download for free, if anyone knows where to get it free-post it here please, or if anyone has it in e form send to debelino@gmail.com.
 
  • #10
I think it's recent enough to be still under copyright.

Abe books has it in paperback for under $15.
 
  • #11
See Ion Boldea books(3 books I looked at library found interesting-1. Electcrical Machine 2. Variable Speed Generators 3.EM analysis using FE). Then one IEEE book-Modeling and High performance control of Electrical Machine. another book by Salon on 'Finite Element Analysis of Electrical machine' is really good. Ion Boldea Book(3rd one) is also good on this topic.
 
  • #12
debelino said:
Please help me, this is my last hope. I am an el. engineer student and i need GOOD books on electrical machinery. My proffesor is more a good repairman than a great scientist who could teach me about all the theoretical (matematical and physical) concepts which have led to modern design process and calculation methods in the el. machinery industry sector. I want to learn as much as i can (publically available knowledge) first to get the fundamental concepts on deep lvl of understanding. I am not stupid to think that todays developers use directly Maxwells equations for engineering calculations, but it is very important for my brain to learn first rigurous mattematics and physics of a process and then to be introduced to various approximations and simplifications and why they can be applied on the concrete problem.
Books like "Fitzgerald & Kingsley's Electric Machinery" that are highly recommended are of no help...
My IQ is estimated 140+(deviation 15), I am generally good in mathematics/physics (considered a genius in the field of calculus/geometry), so I am not afraid of difficult literature.
I hope someone can recommend me a book(probably a set of books).

if u don't know of a book that could help me on this topic, but know some great lterature on other power engineering topics, i would be grateful if u recommended it.
Im sorry for mistakes, english is not my first language


This is the book that introduced the ideas to me: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0073529540/?tag=pfamazon01-20 It is not what I would call "rigorous." If you're really interested in trying to derive things from the Maxwell equations, it might be a good exercise to learn the basics and work backwards to the fundamental equations.

Good luck to you. :oldsmile:
 
  • #13
Debelino,

Your discussion on carter coefficient is interesting and to the point...I have gone through it using some good papers quantitively...remind me next week as I have to search my report and papers if you need...IEEE papers are really worth to read on your specific interest area.

regards,
 
  • #14
Sorry I have written wrong author for 3rd book in my post- Its not Ion Boldea on Electrical Machine Analysis,it's Nicola Bianchi book which I loved to read alongwith Salon Book. I know more books but all depends on what you like to read or learn so you have to scan through those books. If you are really want to discuss EM then in Linked-In there is group and some real experts from filed are there to comment.

Best of Luck
 

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