Dictionary of Electrical Engineering

Commonly used terms in the Electrical industry.

hysteresis motor
any of a variety of single-phase AC motors that use the hysteresis properties of hard magnetic materials to develop torque. Stator windings of a hysteresis motor can be of any design that produces a rotating flux within the machine. Motion of the rotating flux over the rotor magnetizes the hard magnetic material on the rotor; however, the hysteresis characteristics of the material cause the alignment of magnet flux to lag the rotating stator flux. This misalignment produces rotor torque. Because of the nature of the torque production, hysteresis motors operate at synchronous speed and have a constant torque characteristic, which permits them to synchronize any load that they
can accelerate.