Basrah University

College of Engineering
Electrical Engineering Department

Electric Circuits Analysis

Asst. Lect: Hamzah Abdulkareem Asst. Lect: Mohamed Jasim

Chapter Four
Part 1

Three Phase Circuits

 Three Phase System

 Balanced Three-Phase Voltages
 Balanced Wye-Wye Connection
 Balanced Wye-Delta Connection
 Chapter Four
Three Phase Circuits

4.1 Three Phase System

The three-phase system is an economical way of bulk power transmission over long distances and
for distribution. The three-phase system consists of a three-phase voltage source (with phase equal
to 120° between them ) connected to a three-phase load by means of transformers and
transmission lines. Three-phase systems are important for at least three reasons. First, nearly all
electric power is generated and distributed in three-phase, at the operating frequency of 60
Hz in the United States or 50 Hz in some other parts of the world. When one-phase or two-
phase inputs are required, they are taken from the three-phase system rather than generated
independently. Even when more than three phases are needed—such as in the aluminum industry,
where 48 phases are required for melting purposes—they can be provided by manipulating the
three phases supplied. Second, the instantaneous power in a three-phase system can be
constant (not pulsating), as we will see in the next section . This results in uniform power
transmission and less vibration of three-phase machines. Third, for the same amount of power,
the three-phase system is more economical than the single phase. The amount of wire required
for a three-phase system is less than that required for an equivalent single-phase system.

4.2 Balanced Three-Phase Voltages

Three-phase voltages are often produced with a three-phase ac generator (or alternator) whose
cross-sectional view is shown in Fig. 4.1. The generator basically consists of a rotating magnet
(called the rotor) surrounded by a stationary winding (called the stator). Three separate windings
or coils with terminals 𝑎 − 𝑎− , 𝑏 − 𝑏 − & 𝑐 − 𝑐 − and are physically placed 120° apart around the
stator. As the rotor rotates, its magnetic field “cuts” the flux from the three coils and induces
voltages in the coils. Because the coils are placed 120° apart, the induced voltages in the coils are
equal in magnitude but out of phase by 120° as shown in Fig. 4.2. A three-phase system is
equivalent to three single-phase circuits. The voltage sources can be either wye-connected as
shown in Fig. 4.3(a) or delta-connected as in Fig. 4.3(b).
 Fig 4.1 A three-phase generator.

Fig 4.2 The generated voltages are apart 120° from each
other.

Fig 4.3 Three-phase voltage sources: (a) Y-connected source, (b) ∆ -connected
source..
Let us consider the wye-connected voltages in Fig. 4.3(a) for now. The voltages 𝐕𝐚𝐧 , 𝐕𝐛𝐧 and
𝐕𝐜𝐧 are respectively between lines a, b, and c, and the neutral line n. These voltages are called
phase voltages. If the voltage sources have the same amplitude and frequency 𝛚 and are out of
phase with each other by 120° the voltages are said to be balanced. This implies that

…(4.1)

Since the three-phase voltages are 120° out of phase with each other, there are two possible
combinations. One possibility is shown in Fig. 4.4(a) and expressed mathematically as

Where 𝑉𝑝 is the effective or rms value of the phase

voltages. This is known as the abc sequence or
positive sequence.

The other possibility is shown in Fig. 4.4(b), it

called acb and is given by

Fig 4.4 Phase sequences: (a) abc or

positive sequence, (b) acb or negative
sequence.
Like the generator connections, a three-phase load can be
either wye-connected or delta-connected, depending on
the end application. Figure 4.5(a) shows a wye-connected
load, and Fig. 4.5(b) shows a delta-connected load. The
neutral line in Fig. 4.5(a) may or may not be there,
depending on whether the system is four- or three-wire.
(And, of course, a neutral connection is topologically
impossible for a delta connection.). A wye- or delta-
connected load is said to be unbalanced if the phase
impedances are not equal in magnitude or phase.

For a balanced wye-connected load,

… (4.2)
Fig 4.5. Two possible three-phase load
For a balanced delta connected load, configurations:(a) Y-connected load, (b)a
∆-connected load.
… (4.3)

Where 𝒁𝒀 & 𝒁∆ are the load impedance per phase.

As it has mentioned before, the relationship between Y & ∆ is

So we know that a wye-connected load can be transformed into a delta connected load, or vice
versa.

Since both the three-phase source and the three-phase load can be either wye- or delta-
connected, we have four possible connections:

A- Y-Y connection
B- Y-∆ connection
C- ∆-∆ connection
D- ∆-Y connection
A- Balanced Wye-Wye Connection

We begin with the Y-Y system, because any balanced

three-phase system can be reduced to an equivalent Y-Y
system. Therefore, analysis of this system should be
regarded as the key to solving all balanced three-phase
systems. Consider the balanced four-wire Y-Y system of
Fig. 4.6, where a Y-connected load is connected to a Y-
connected source. Where 𝑍𝑠 , 𝑍𝑙 & 𝑍𝐿 are source
impedance, line impedance and load impedance
respectively, let 𝑍𝑌 is the total impedance, and as 𝑍𝑁 is
Fig 4.6. A balanced Y-Y system, showing
the neutral (which is small value, the we can neglected), the source, line, and load impedances.

the new system is shown in Fig. 4.7 :-

𝑍𝑌 = 𝑍𝑠 + 𝑍𝑙 + 𝑍𝐿 … (4.4)

Assuming the positive sequence, the phase voltages (or

line-to neutral voltages) are

… (4.5)

The line-to-line voltages or simply line voltages

𝑉𝑎𝑏 , 𝑉𝑏𝑐 & 𝑉𝑐𝑎 and are related to the phase voltages. For
Fig 4.7. Balanced Y-Y connection.
example,

𝟏 √𝟑
𝐕𝑎𝑏 = 𝑽𝒂𝒏 − 𝑽𝒃𝒏 = 𝑽𝑷 ∠𝟎° − 𝑽𝑷 ∠−𝟏𝟐𝟎° = 𝑽𝑷 (𝟏 + + 𝒋 ) = √𝟑 𝑽𝑷 ∠𝟑𝟎° … (4.6)
𝟐 𝟐

𝐕𝑏𝑐 = 𝐕𝐛𝐧 − 𝐕𝐜𝐧 = 𝐕𝐏 ∠ − 𝟏𝟐𝟎° − 𝐕𝐏 ∠𝟏𝟐𝟎° = √𝟑 𝐕𝐏 ∠ − 𝟗𝟎° … (4.7)

𝐕𝑐𝑎 = 𝐕𝐜𝐧 − 𝐕𝐚𝐧 = 𝐕𝐏 ∠𝟏𝟐𝟎° − 𝐕𝐏 ∠𝟎° = √𝟑 𝐕𝐏 ∠ − 𝟐𝟏𝟎° … (4.8)

Thus, the magnitude of the line voltages 𝑉𝐿 is √3 times the magnitude of the phase voltages 𝑉𝑃
or 𝑽𝑳 = √𝟑 𝑽𝑷 … (4.9)
Also the line voltages lead their corresponding phase
voltages by 30° . Figure 4.8(a) illustrates this. Figure
4.8(a) also shows how to determine 𝐕𝐚𝐛 from the phase
voltages, while Fig. 4.8(b) shows the same for the three
line voltages. Notice that 𝐕𝑎𝑏 leads 𝐕𝑏𝑐 by 𝟏𝟐𝟎° and 𝐕𝑏𝑐
leads 𝐕𝑐𝑎 by 𝟏𝟐𝟎° so that the line voltages sum up to zero
as do the phase voltages.

Applying KVL to each phase in Fig. 4.7, we obtain the

line currents as

… (4.10)
Fig 4.8. Phasor diagrams illustrating
We can readily infer that the line currents add up to zero, the relationship between line voltages
and phase voltages.

While the line current is the current in each line, the phase current is the current in each phase of
the source or load. In the Y-Y system, the line current is the same as the phase current. We will
use single subscripts as shown in Fig 4.9 for line currents because it is natural and conventional
to assume that line currents flow from the source to the load. So the current will be

… (4.11)

Fig 4.9. A single-phase equivalent

circuit.
Example 4.1/ Calculate the line currents in the three-wire Y-Y system of Fig. 4.10.

Fig 4.10. For Example 4.1

B- Balanced Wye-Delta Connection

The balanced Y-delta system is shown in Fig. 4.11, where

the source is Y-connected and the load is ∆ -connected.
There is, of course, no neutral connection from source to
load for this case. Assuming the positive sequence, the
phase voltages are again

Fig 4.11. Balanced Y-∆

connection.
… (4.12)

As shown in Section 12.3, the line voltages are

… (4.13)

The above equation is showing that the line voltages are equal to the voltages across the load
impedances for this system configuration. From these voltages, we can obtain the phase currents
as

… (4.14)

These currents have the same magnitude but are out of phase with each other by 𝟏𝟐𝟎° .

The line currents are obtained from the phase currents by applying KCL at nodes A, B, and C.
Thus,

… (4.15)

Since 𝑰𝑪𝑨 = 𝑰𝑨𝑩 ∠−𝟐𝟒𝟎°

… (4.16)

Thus, the magnitude of the line current 𝐼𝐿 is √3 times the magnitude of the phase current 𝐼𝑃 or

𝑰𝑳 = √𝟑 𝑰𝑷 … (4.17)
Where

&

Also, the line currents lag the corresponding phase

currents by 𝟑𝟎° assuming the positive sequence. Figure
4.12 is a phasor diagram illustrating the relationship
between the phase and line currents.

Fig 4.12. Phasor diagram

illustrating the relationship
between phase and line currents.
Example
An alternative way of analyzing the Y- ∆ circuit is to transform the ∆-connected load to an
equivalent Y-connected load. Using the below transformation formula ,

… (4.17)

After this transformation, we now have a Y-Y system as in Fig. 4.7. The three-phase Y- ∆ system
in Fig. 4.11 can be replaced by the single phase equivalent circuit in Fig. 4.13. This allows us to
calculate only the line currents. The phase currents are obtained using Eq. (4.17) and utilizing the
fact that each of the phase currents leads the corresponding line current by 𝟑𝟎° .

Fig 4.13. A single-phase equivalent

circuit of a balanced Y-∆ circuit.
Example 4.2/ A balanced abc-sequence Y-∆ connected source with 𝑽𝒂𝒏 = 𝟏𝟎𝟎∠𝟏𝟎° 𝑽 is
connected to a ∆ -connected balanced load ( 8 + 𝑗4)Ω per phase. Calculate the phase and line
currents.
 Home Works

H1:- If 𝑽𝒂𝒃 = 𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝒗 in a balanced Y-connected three phase generator, find the phase voltages,
assuming the phase sequence is:

A- abc B- acb

H2:- Obtain the line currents in the three-phase circuit of Fig. 4.14.

Fig 4.14. For H1.

H3:- A balanced positive-sequence Y-∆ connected source with 𝑽𝒂𝒏 = 𝟐𝟒𝟎∠𝟎° 𝑽 is connected to
a ∆ -connected balanced load ( 2 − 𝑗3)Ω per phase. Calculate the line voltage and the line
currents.

H4:- A balanced Y-Y four-wire system has phase voltages

The load impedance per phase is and the line impedance per phase is Solve for the line currents
and neutral current.