Lap Winding and Wave Winding

Introduction

The insulated conductors in an armature slot is known as an armature winding. In armature winding, the conversion of power takes places, i.e., in the case of the generator the mechanical power is converted into an electrical energy and in the case of a motor the electrical energy is converted into mechanical energy.

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The armature winding is mainly classified into two types, i.e., the lap winding and the wave winding.

What is Lap Winding

In Lap winding, the finishing end of coil is connected to a commutator segment and to the starting end of the adjacent coil situated under the same pole and so on, till the coil has been completed. This coil laps back with its succeeding coils.

What is Wave Winding

In wave winding, one end part of the coil is joined to the beginning end part of another coil which has a similar polarity like the first coil. These coils are joined in the waveform and thus it is named as wave winding. The conductor of this winding is divided into two parallel paths.

Difference Between Lap Winding and Wave Winding

S.No	Lap Winding	Wave Winding
1	The back and front pitch are odd and of opposite sign. But they cannot be equal. They differ by 2 or some multiple thereof.	The back and front pitch are odd and of same sign.
2	Bothe YB and Yf should be nearly equal to a pole pitch	Bothe YB and Yf should be nearly equal to a pole pitch and may be equal or differ by 2
3	The average pitch Y_{A}=\frac{Y_{B}+Y_{F}}{2}. It equals to pole pitch = Z/P	Average pitch must be an integer and is given by Y_{A}=\frac{Z\pm 2}{P}
4	Commutator pitch, Yc= ±m (where m = plex)	Commutator pitch, Yc= YA
5	Resultant Pitch is even. YR=YB – YF	Resultant Pitch YR=YB+YF
6	The number of parallel paths = mP (Where m= plex, P=number of Poles)	The number of parallel paths = 2m (Where m= plex, P=number of Poles)

Read Also

1. Armature Winding | What is armature winding
2. Construction of DC Generator
3. Simple Loop Generator | Generator