3. Windings

3.1 Role

Windings are used to carry electrical currents inside the machine. A distinction is made between field windings, armature windings and the windings of asynchronous machines.

• Field windings carry the currents required to magnetize the machine. They are used in DC machines, synchronous machines and commutator AC motors. They may consist of conductors wound on salient poles located on the stator (DC machines) or rotor (synchronous machines); alternatively, they may consist of conductors forming a concentric winding located in slots on the periphery of the rotor (smooth rotor synchronous machines).

• Armature windings are made up of conductors distributed in slots around the periphery...