A very simple electrical AC generator can be made by spinning magnets around a fixed stator coil. The changing magnetic field induces current in the stator winding.
It would seem that at a fixed frequency, this system is best modeled as a current source with some series resistance and inductance. Is this a good model?
If so, it would suggest that the behavior of the system in an open-circuit scenario would be to generate a very high voltage at the output pins with zero current flow. Conversely, in a short circuit scenario, it would run a fixed amount of current through the loop which would be dissipated as heat in the series resistance (stator wires).
Best Answer
It is generally accepted that synchronous machines are modeled as a sinusoidal voltage source in series with a synchronous reactance, Xs in series with an armature resistance, Ra. A line-to-neutral model of one phase of a three-phase machines is used to analyze a 3-phase machine.