CHAPTER 10

ELECTRIC DRIVES
Introduction
Electrical drives form a continuously developing branch of science and technology,
which dates back from mid-19th century and plays an increasingly important
role in industry and common everyday applications. This is so because every day
we have to do with dozens of household appliances, office and transportation
equipment, all of which contain electrical drives.
In the
same manner, industry and transport to a large extent rely on the application of
electrical drive for the purposes of effective and precise operation. The electrical
drives have taken over and still take on a large share of the physical efforts that
were previously undertaken by humans as well as perform the type of work that
was very needed but could not be performed due to physical or other limitations.
This important role taken on by the electrical drive is continuously expanding and
the tasks performed by the drives are becoming more and more sophisticated and
versatile.
Electrical drives tend to replace other devices and means
of doing physical work as a result of their numerous advantages. These include a
common accessibility of electrical supply, energy efficiency and improvements in
terms of the control devices, which secures the essential quality of work and fit in
the ecological requirements that apply to all new technology in a modern society
. The up-to-date electrical drive has become more and more intelligent, which
means fulfillment of the increasingly complex requirements regarding the shaping
of the trajectories of motion, reliable operation in case of interference and in the
instance of deficiency or lack of measurement information associated with
the executed control tasks. This also means that a large number of
components are involved in information gathering and processing, whose role is to
ensure the proper operation, diagnostics and protection of the drive. The reasons
for such intensive development of electrical drives are numerous and the basic
reason for that is associated with the need of intelligent, effective, reliable and
undisturbed
execution of mechanical work. Such drives are designed in a very wide
range of electrical capacity as electromechanical devices with the power rating
from [mW] to [MW]. Additionally, the processes are accompanied by multiparameter
motion control and the primary role can be attributed to speed regulation
along with the required levels of force or torque produced by the drive. The
present capabilities of fulfilling such complex requirements mostly result from the
development of two technological branches, which made huge progress at the end
of the 20th century and the continuous following developments. One of such areas
involves the branch of technological materials used for the production of electrical
machines and servomotors.
What is meant here is the progress in the technology
of manufacturing and accessibility of inexpensive permanent magnets, in particular
the ones containing rare earth elements such as samarium (Sr) and neodymium
(Nd). In addition, progress in terms of insulation materials, their service lives and
small losses for high frequencies of electric field strength, which result from control
involving the switching of the supply voltage. Moreover, considerable progress
has occurred in terms of the properties of ferromagnetic materials, which are
constantly indispensable for electromechanical conversion of energy. The other
branch of technology which has enabled such considerable and quick development
of electrical drive is the progress made in microelectronics and power electronics.
As a result of the development of new integrated circuits microelectronics has
made it possible to gather huge amount of information in a comfortable and inexpensive
way, accompanied by its fast processing, which in turn offers the application
of complex methods of drive control. Moreover, up-to-date power electronics
markets new current flow switches that allow the control over large electric power
with high frequency thus enabling the system to execute complex control tasks.

This occurs with very small losses of energy associated with switching, hence
playing a decisive role in the applicability of such devices for high switching frequencies.
The versatility and wide range of voltages and currents operating in the
up-to-date semiconductor switches makes it possible to develop electric power
converters able to adapt the output of the source to fulfil the parameters resulting
from instantaneous requirements of the drive. Among others this capability
has led to the extensive application of sliding mode control in electrical drive
which very often involves rapid switching of the control signal in order to follow
the given trajectory of the drive motion.
Such extensive and effective possibility of the development of electrical drives,
which results from the advancements in electronics and a rapid increase in the
application
range of the actuating devices, has given rise to the area of mechatronics.

Electric Drive System

In many of the industrial applications, an electric motor is the most important component. A
complete production unit consists primarily of three basic components; an electric motor, an energytransmitting device and a working machine.
An electric motor is the source of motive power. An energy transmitting device delivers
power from electric motor to the driven machine (or the load); it usually consists of shaft, belt, chain,
rope etc. A working machine is the driven machine that performs the required production process.
Examples of working machines are lathes, centrifugal pumps, drilling machines, lifts, conveyer belts,
food mixer etc. An electric motor together with its control equipment and energy transmitting devices
forms an electric drive. An electric drive together with its working machine constitutes an electricdrive system.

Fig. 10.13 Electric drive system

Fig. 10.13 shows an electric drive system. The electric drive, consisting of electric motor, its
power controller and energy transmitting shaft is also indicated in Fig. 10.13. Electric drives are
mainly of two types: DC drives and AC drives. The two types differ from each other in that the motive
power in DC and AC drives is provided by DC motor and AC motor respectively.

In industrial processes, the speed of the drive needs to be varied in most of the applications. A
typical electric VSD (Variable Speed Drive) system consists of three basic components: the electric
motor, the power converter, and the control system. A typical electric VSD system consists of three
basic components: the electric motor, the power converter, and the control system, With recent
advances in power semiconductor and converter topologies, electric variable-speed drives are
witnessing a revolution in applications including computer peripheral drives, machine tools and
robotic drives, test benches, fans, pumps, and compressors, paper-mill drives, automation, traction,
and ship propulsion, and cement-mill and rolling-mill drives.
Drive topologies are mainly classified according to the motor they employ as DC motor drives and
AC motor drives.
Speed Control of DC Motor Drives: The DC motor consists of two basic parts: a stationary magnetic
field and a current-carrying coil on the armature. The force produced by the interaction of these two
components produces a torque that causes the armature to rotate. The stationary magnetic field is
produced by a permanent magnet for many small DC motors. Large and extended speed range motors
use an electromagnet to produce the stationary field permitting the drive to control the field strength.
The armature coils consists of a series of individual coils connected to the DC power source through a
commutator and brushes. As the armature rotates, the commutator switches successive coils into the
circuit to keep the armature coil and magnetic poles in the same relative position.
The field flux () is a function of the field current If and a proportionality constant kf . The
torque T produced is related to the field flux and armature current ia by the proportionality constant kt.
The speed of a DC motor is controlled by the torque produced by the motor and the torque required by
the load. When the motor torque exceeds the load requirement, the rotational speed of the motor
increases.
= kfIf
T= kt .. ia
The armature current is in response to the applied voltage V and is opposed by a countervoltage (ea) produced by the armature coil rotating through the stationary magnetic field and the
armature resistance (Ra). The counter-voltage produced by the armature is proportional to the strength
of the stationary field and the rotational speed (S). Below the rated base speed of the motor the current
in the stationary magnetic field coil is kept constant. Therefore, at values below base speed the DC
motors speed is a function of the applied voltage and resistive loss in the armature.
Hence, it is found that a DC motors speed is depends on armature voltage and field flux.
Where field flux is proportional to field current and again it is proportional to field voltage. Hence, by
varying the field or armature voltage we can vary the speed of DC motor. The variation in voltage can
be achieved by power electronic converters. A variety of power electronic converters are available and

a few power converters with its schematic to control speed of DC motor (separately excited) are
shown in Fig. 10.14.

(a)

(b)
Fig. 10.14 Schematic to control speed of DC motor (separately excited)
In Fig. 10.14 (a), speed control using controlled rectifier of a separately excited DC motor is
shown. A controlled rectifier converts AC to DC and the average output voltage of a converter can be
varied by varying the firing angle of the controlled rectifier.
In Fig. 10.14 (b), an uncontrolled rectifier followed by a chopper is used to control the speed
of a separately excited DC motor is shown. An uncontrolled rectifier converts AC to DC similar to
that of the conventional rectifiers using signal electronic components. The output of uncontrolled
rectifier is smoothened by a link capacitor. The smoothened output is fed to a chopper. Chopper is a

power electronic circuit which converts an uncontrolled DC to a controlled DC. By adjusting the duty
ratio of the chopper, the average output voltage varies; hence speed of the drive varies.
Speed control of AC drives: Induction machines have become the staple for electromechanical energy
conversion in todays industry; they are used more often than all other types of motors combined.
Several factors have made them the machine of choice for industrial applications vs. DC machines,
including their ruggedness, reliability, and low maintenance. The cage-induction machine is simple to
manufacture, with no rotor windings or commutator for external rotor connection. There are no
brushes to replace because of wear, and no brush arcing to prevent the machine from being used in
volatile environments. The induction machine has a higher power density, greater maximum speed,
and lower rotor inertia than the DC machine.
The induction machine has one significant disadvantage with regard to torque control as
compared with the DC machine. The torque production of a given machine is related to the crossproduct of the stator and rotor flux-linkage vectors. If the rotor and stator flux linkages are held
orthogonal to one another, the electrical torque of the machine can be controlled by adjusting either
the rotor or stator flux-linkage and holding the other constant. The field and armature windings in a
DC machine are held
orthogonal by a mechanical commutator, making torque control relatively simple. With an induction
machine, the stator and rotor windings are not fixed orthogonal to one another. The induction machine
is singly excited, with the rotor field induced by the stator field, further complicating torque control.
Until a few years ago, the induction machine was mainly used for constant-speed
applications. With recent improvements in semiconductor technology and power electronics, the
induction machine is seeing wider use in variable-speed applications.
Speed control of AC drives can be accomplished by adjusting the input voltage until the
machine torque for a given slip matches the load torque. However, the developed torque decreases as
the square of the input voltage, but the rotor current decreases linearly with the input voltage. This
operation is inefficient and requires that the load torque decrease with decreasing machine speed to
prevent overheating. In addition, the breakdown torque of the machine decreases as the square of the
input voltage. Fans and pumps are appropriate loads for this type of speed control because the torque
required to drive them varies linearly or quadratically with their speed.
The following are some of the widely used speed control methods for AC drives:
1. Stator voltage control
2. Slip power control
3. Variable-voltage, variable-frequency (Vf ) control
4. Variable-current, variable-frequency (If ) control
These methods are sometimes called scalar controls.
Stator voltage control: In this type of control method, the stator voltage of the AC motor is varied by
using either AC regulator or inverter. AC regulator is used to vary the average output voltage by

changing the firing angle. Both schemes of speed control methods are illustrated in Fig. 10.15. Fig.
10.15 (a) shows the speed control using an uncontrolled rectifier and is followed by an inverter.
Induction motor is fed with the output of the inverter. By varying the output voltage of the inverter,
the speed of the induction motor varies.
In Fig. 10.15 (b), the voltage input to the induction motor is varied by an AC voltage
regulator.

(a)

(b)
Fig. 10.15 Speed control methods of AC drives
Slip power control: Variable-speed, three-phase, wound-rotor (or slip-ring) induction
motor drives with slip power control may take several forms. In a passive scheme, the rotor power is
rectified and dissipated in a liquid resistor or in a multi-tapped resistor that may be adjustable and
forced cooled. In a more popular scheme, which is widely used in medium- to large-capacity pumping
installations, the rectified rotor power is returned to the ac mains by a thyristor converter operating in
naturally commutated inversion mode.
In this scheme, the rotor terminals are connected to a three-phase diode bridge that rectifies
the rotor voltage. This rotor output is then inverted into mains frequency ac by a fully controlled
thyristor converter operating off the same mains as the motor stator.
The converter in the rotor circuit handles only the rotor slip power, so that the cost of the
power converter circuit can be much less than that of an equivalent inverter drive, although at the
expense of the more expensive motor. The dc link current, smoothed by a reactor, may be regulated by
controlling the firing angle of the converter in order to maintain the developed torque at the level
required by the load. The current controller (CC) and speed controller (SC) are also indicated in Fig.

10.16. The current controller output determines the converter firing angle from the firing control
circuit (FCC).

Fig. 10.16 Static Scherbius drive scheme of slip power control

The motor speed can be controlled by adjusting the firing angle . By varying a between 180 0
and 900, the speed of the motor can be varied from zero to full speed, respectively.
For a motor with low rotor resistance and with the assumptions taken earlier, it can be shown
that the developed torque of the motor is given by:
T = 3P(Vs/s)id 3Pmid Nm
where id is the dc link current.
Thus, the inner torque control loop of a variable-speed drive using the Scherbius scheme
normally employs a dc-link current loop as the innermost torque loop.
Variable-Voltage, Variable-Frequency (Vf ) Control: When an induction motor is driven from an
ideal ac voltage source, its normal operating speed is less than 5% below the synchronous speed,
which is determined by the ac source frequency and the number of motor poles. With a sinusoidally
modulated (SPWM) inverter, indicated in Fig. 10.17, the supply frequency to the motor can be easily
adjusted for variable speed.

Fig. 10.17 Vf drive with SPWM inverter

If rated air-gap flux is to be maintained at its rated value at all speeds, the supply voltage V1
to the motor should be varied in proportion to the frequency f1. This type of control is widely
referred to as the Vf inverter drive. Control of the stator input voltage V1 as a function of the
frequency f1 is readily arranged within the
inverter by modulating the switches T1T6. At low speed, however, where the input voltage V1 is
low, most of the input voltage may drop across the stator impedance, leading to a reduction in airgap
flux and loss of torque.
Variable-CurrentVariable-Frequency (If ) Control: In this scheme, medium- to large-capacity
induction motors are driven from a variable but stiff current supply that may be obtained from a
thyristor converter and a dc link inductor as indicated in Fig. 10.18. The frequency of the current
supply to the motor is adjusted by a thyristor converter with auxiliary diodes and capacitors. The
diodes in each inverter leg and the capacitors across them are needed for turning off the thyristors
when current is to be commutated from one to the next in sequence.

Fig. 10.18 DC-link current-source thyristor inverter drive