See also: Electric vehicle and Electric motor tion motors because of their xed speed characteristic.
An AC induction motor only generates useful amounts
of power over a narrow speed range determined by its
A traction motor is an electric motor used for propul-
sion of a vehicle, such as an electric locomotive or electric construction and the frequency of the AC power supply.
The advent of power semiconductors has made it possi-
roadway vehicle.
ble to t a variable frequency drive on a locomotive; this
Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehi- allows a wide range of speeds, AC power transmission,
cles such as electric multiple units and other electric vehi- and rugged induction motors without wearing parts like
cles such as electric milk oats, elevators, conveyors, and brushes and commutators. [1]
trolleybuses, as well as vehicles with electrical transmis-
sion systems such as diesel-electric, electric hybrid vehi-
cles, and battery electric vehicles. 2 Transportation applications
AC induction motors and synchronous motors are simple Traditionally, these were series-wound brushed DC mo-
and low maintenance, but are awkward to apply for trac- tors, usually running on approximately 600 volts. The
1
2 2 TRANSPORTATION APPLICATIONS
availability of high-powered semiconductors (such as cars/trams and diesel electric drilling rigs for many years.
thyristors and the IGBT) has now made practical the use It consists of two parts, a rotating armature and xed
of much simpler, higher-reliability AC induction motors eld windings surrounding the rotating armature mounted
known as asynchronous traction motors. Synchronous around a shaft. The xed eld windings consist of tightly
AC motors are also occasionally used, as in the French wound coils of wire tted inside the motor case. The ar-
TGV. mature is another set of coils wound round a central shaft
and is connected to the eld windings through brushes
which are spring-loaded contacts pressing against an ex-
2.2.1 Mounting of motors tension of the armature called the commutator. The com-
mutator collects all the terminations of the armature coils
Before the mid-20th century, a single large motor was and distributes them in a circular pattern to allow the cor-
often used to drive multiple driving wheels through rect sequence of current ow. When the armature and
connecting rods that were very similar to those used on the eld windings are connected in series, the whole mo-
steam locomotives. Examples are the Pennsylvania Rail- tor is referred to as series-wound. A series-wound DC
road DD1, FF1 and L5 and the various Swiss Crocodiles. motor has a low resistance eld and armature circuit. Be-
It is now standard practice to provide one traction motor cause of this, when voltage is applied to it, the current is
driving each axle through a gear drive. high due to Ohms law. The advantage of high current
is that the magnetic elds inside the motor are strong,
producing high torque (turning force), so it is ideal for
starting a train. The disadvantage is that the current ow-
ing into the motor has to be limited, otherwise the supply
could be overloaded or the motor and its cabling could be
damaged. At best, the torque would exceed the adhesion
and the driving wheels would slip. Traditionally, resistors
were used to limit the initial current.
7 References
[1] Andreas Steimel Electric Traction - Motive Power and En-
ergy Supply: Basics and Practical Experience Oldenbourg
Industrieverlag, 2008 ISBN 3835631322 ; Chapter 6 In-
duction Traction Motors and Their Control
8 Bibliography
British Railways (1962). Section 13: Traction
Control. Diesel Traction Manual for Enginemen
(1st ed.). British Transport Commission. pp. 172
189.
9 External links
Deconstructing a traction motor - Associated
Rewinds (Ireland) Limited
10.2 Images
File:Class_181_traction_motor2.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Class_181_traction_motor2.jpg
License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: PetrS.
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nal artist: ?
File:Ge_6-6_I_407_Krokodil.jpeg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Ge_6-6_I_407_Krokodil.jpeg Li-
cense: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?