Electrical Machines I

WEEK 5: DIRECT CURRENT MOTOR

I. Operation Principle of DC motor
A same DC machine can be used as a motor or generator. Construction of a DC motor is same as that of a DC
generator, however, the former converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.

The principle of working of a DC motor is that "whenever a current carrying conductor is placed in a
magnetic field, it experiences a mechanical force". The direction of this force is given by Fleming's left hand
rule and it's magnitude is given by F = BIL. When armature windings are connected to a DC supply, current flows
in the winding. Magnetic field is provided by field winding excitation. In this case, current carrying armature
conductors experience force due to the magnetic field, and this force will produce a torque to rotate the armature,
thus rotating the machine shaft.

When the armature of the motor is rotating, the conductors

are also cutting the magnetic flux lines and hence
according to the Faraday's law of electromagnetic
induction, an emf induces in the armature conductors. The
direction of this induced emf opposes the supplied armature
current (Ia), hence it’s called Back emf and given by
the emf equation of DC generator;
𝑍𝑃
EA = 𝐾∅𝜔𝑚 , where K= 2𝜋𝐴
 𝑃∅𝐼𝑎
2- Mechanical Torque Production: Hence, 𝑇𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 = 2𝜋𝑎

Torque per conductor;

Total torque developed in armature;
𝑇𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 = 𝑟𝐹 = 𝑟𝐼𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝐿𝐵 𝒁𝑷
where, 𝑟: the distance from the conductor axis to the force point, 𝐹: 𝑻𝑨 = 𝟐𝝅𝒂 ∅𝑰𝒂 = K∅𝑰𝒂 .
force applied on conductor, 𝐼𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 : the conductor current, Where Z: total number of conductors
𝐿: Conductor length, 𝐵: magnetic field density

If there are a current paths in the machine, then the total armature
current Ia is split among these paths, so the current in a single
conductor is;
𝐼
𝐼𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 = 𝑎𝑎
Then the torque per conductor is given by;
𝑟𝐼𝑎 𝐿𝐵
𝑇𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 =
𝑎

The total flux (P∅ ) acting on the armature conductor is given by;
Ea = 𝐾∅𝜔𝑚 Ea 𝐼𝑎 = 𝐾∅𝜔𝑚 𝐼𝑎
𝑃∅ = 𝐵𝐴𝑐 =𝐵2𝜋𝑟𝐿
Where ∅ is the flux per pole, P is total no of poles, and 𝐴𝑐 is the
Hence, Ea 𝐼𝑎 = 𝑇𝑎 𝜔𝑚 = Pdev
conductor area facing the pole
III. Power flow diagram
DC motors take in electric power and produce mechanical power. The efficiency of a DC machine is defined by

𝐼𝐴2 𝑅𝐴 +𝐼𝐹2 𝑅𝐹
IV. DC motor types
DC motors are usually classified of the basis of their excitation configuration, as follows -
•Separately excited (field winding is fed by external source)
•Self excited -
• Series wound (field winding is connected in series with the armature)
• Shunt wound (field winding is connected in parallel with the armature)

Separately excited Shunt Series

𝑉𝑠 = 𝐸𝐴 +𝐼𝐴 𝑅𝐴 𝑉𝑠 = 𝐸𝐴 +𝐼𝐴 𝑅𝐴 𝑉𝑠 = 𝐸𝐴 +𝐼𝐴 (𝑅𝐴 +𝑅𝑆 )

𝐼𝑠 = 𝐼𝐴 𝐼𝑠 = 𝐼𝐴 + 𝐼𝐹 𝐼𝐴 = 𝐼𝑆
𝑉𝐹 𝑉𝑠
𝐼𝐹 = 𝐼𝐹 =
𝑅𝐹 𝑅𝐹
Speed Regulation, (SR)
a- Separately Excited DC motor: Field and armature
Ia
Field is excited from separate DC source, 𝑉𝑓 . Field resistance is high. The field current can be calculated as:

𝑉𝑓
Ra

𝐼𝑓 =
If

𝑅𝑓
Vt

A separately excited dc motor is a motor whose field circuit is supplied from a Vf

Rf
Ea
separate constant-voltage power supply, while a shunt dc motor is a motor whose
field circuit gets its power directly across the armature terminals of the motor.
When the supply voltage to a motor is assumed constant, there is no practical
difference in behavior between these two machines.
 External source is connected to armature 𝑉𝑡 to provide the electric energy Separately excited DC machine
needed to drive the load.
 Relative to the field, the armature carries a much higher current than that of
the field. The armature resistance 𝑅𝑎 is smaller than 𝑅𝑓 .
 Field current is usually between 1%-10% of rated armature current. The field
and armature voltages are usually the same magnitude.
 The emf 𝐸𝑎 and current 𝐼𝑎 are related as:
𝑉𝑡 − 𝐸𝑎
𝐼𝑎 =
𝑅𝑎
 Ia

i- Separately Excited DC motor:

Ra
 Using the torque expression instead of force, and using angular speed If

instead of 𝑣, 𝐸𝑎 and 𝑇𝑑 can be written as:

Vt

Rf
𝑛 𝑍 𝐼𝑎 𝑍 Vf
𝐸𝑎 = ф P 𝑇𝑑 = ф P
Ea
x x
60 𝑎 2𝜋 𝑎

𝐸𝑎 = 𝑘𝜑𝜔 𝐼𝑎 =
𝑉𝑡 − 𝐸𝑎 Separately excited DC machine

𝑇𝑑 = 𝑘𝜑𝐼𝑎 𝑅𝑎 Ia= armature conductor current

E= induced emf in conductor
Ф= flux (proportional to field current)
Speed – torque equation is thus: K= constant dependent on machine (poles,
parallel paths, number of conductors)
𝑉𝑡 − 𝐸𝑎
𝑇𝑑 = 𝑘𝜑 𝐼𝑎
𝑅𝑎
 Ia
a- Separately Excited DC motor:
Ra

𝑉𝑡 − 𝐸𝑎 If

𝑇𝑑 = 𝑘𝜑
𝑅𝑎 𝐼𝑎
Vt

Rf
Vf Ea

 By substituting 𝐸𝑎 and re-writing:

𝑉𝑡 − 𝑘𝜑𝜔
𝑇𝑑 = 𝑘𝜑 𝐸𝑎
Separately excited DC machine
𝑅𝑎
ia= armature conductor current
E= induced emf in conductor
 Thus ω can be re written as: Ф= flux (proportional to field current)
𝑉𝑡 𝑅𝑎 K= constant dependent on machine (poles,
𝜔= − 2
𝑇𝑑 parallel paths, number of conductors)
𝑘𝜑 𝑘𝜑
This is a straight line relation ship Due to loading, speed decreases as
load increases
a- Separately Excited DC motor:
Ia

𝑉𝑡 𝑅𝑎
Ra
If

𝜔= − 2
𝑇𝑑
𝑘𝜑 𝑘𝜑 Vt

Rf
𝑇𝑑 Vf
 The speed- current equation can be obtained if is replaced by 𝐼𝑎 : Ea
𝑘𝜑

𝑉𝑡 𝑅𝑎 𝐼𝑎
𝜔= −
𝑘𝜑 𝑘𝜑 Due to
Separately excited DC machine

loading
 At no-load, armature current is equal to zero. Hence the no-load
speed can be calculated using any of the above ω equations by
Speed
setting the no-load current and load torque equal to zero:
due to
load
No -load
speed 𝑉𝑡 𝑅𝑎
𝜔0 = ∴ ∆𝜔 = 2
𝑇𝑑
𝑘𝜑 𝑘𝜑
 Ia

a- Separately Excited DC motor: Ra

 For large motors, 𝑅𝑎 is very small because the armature carries higher current and If

the cross section of the wire must be large. For these motors, ∆𝝎 is very small. Vt

The motors are considered as a constant speed machine Rf

Vf Ea

𝑉𝑡 𝑅𝑎 𝑉𝑡 𝑅𝑎 𝐼𝑎
∵𝜔= − 𝑇 𝜔= −
𝑘𝜑 𝑘𝜑 2 𝑑 𝑘𝜑 𝑘𝜑
Separately excited DC
Speed
𝜔 = 𝜔0 − ∆𝜔 Speed
machine
Load
Load

ω0
ω0
ω
Operating Motor
ω
Operating point
point
Current
Torque Ia
Tm
Speed- current characteristics
Torques – speed characteristics
Separately excited
Separately excited
Speed Control of Separately excited and shunt DC Motors 𝑉𝑡 𝑅𝑎
𝜔= − 2
𝑇𝑑
𝑘𝜑 𝑘𝜑
1. Adjusting the voltage applied to the armature without changing the voltage applied to the field. Hence,
the flux is kept constant. This can be applied to separately excited motors only.
Hence, at a certain load, since the flux is fixed, increasing the armature voltage , increases the motor speed
𝑉𝑠
2. Adjusting the field resistance 𝐼𝐹 = (and thus the field flux). This can be applied to separately excited and shunt
𝑅𝐹
motors
Hence, for a constant supply voltage, at a certain load, increasing the flux decreases the motor speed.

3. Inserting a resistor in series with the armature current. This can be applied to separately excited and shunt motors
Hence, for a constant supply voltage and fixed flux, at a certain load, increasing 𝑅𝐴 decreases the motor speed
II. Series motor
In the DC series motor, the flux is directly proportional to the armature current. As the motor load increases, the armature
current increases hence the flux increases ∅ = 𝑐𝐼𝑓 = 𝑐𝐼𝐴
Torque vs. armature current
𝑇𝑑𝑒𝑣 = 𝐾∅𝐼𝐴 ≫≫≫ 𝑇𝑑𝑒𝑣 = 𝐾𝐼𝐴2
The developed torque is directly proportional to the square of the armature current and the Tdev-IA curve is parabola for smaller
values of IA. Series motors exhibit high torque than shunt/separately excited motor

Speed vs. armature current

𝑉𝑠 (𝑅𝐴 +𝑅𝑓 )
𝑉𝑠 = 𝐸𝐴 +𝐼𝐴 (𝑅𝐴 +𝑅𝑓 ) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐸𝐴 = 𝐾𝐼𝐴 𝜔𝑚 »» 𝑉𝑠 = 𝐾𝐼𝐴 𝜔𝑚 + 𝐼𝐴 (𝑅𝐴 +𝑅𝑓 ) »» 𝜔𝑚 = −
𝐾𝐼𝐴 𝐾
Hence, the speed is inversely proportional to the armature current as shown in the speed-armature current curve. When armature
current is very small the speed becomes dangerously high. That is why a series motor should never be started without some
mechanical load
Torque vs. speed
𝑇𝑑𝑒𝑣 𝑉𝑠 (𝑅𝐴 +𝑅𝑓 )
𝑇𝑑𝑒𝑣 = 𝐾𝐼𝐴2 ≫≫ 𝐼𝐴 = »» 𝜔𝑚 = −
𝐾 𝐾 𝑇𝑑𝑒𝑣 𝐾
For series motor, the speed is inversely proportional to the square root of the torque
Speed Control of series Motors
𝑉𝑠 (𝑅𝐴 +𝑅𝑓 )
𝜔𝑚 = −
𝐾𝐼𝐴 𝐾

1. Adjusting the supply voltage applied

2. Inserting a series resistor into the motor circuit

Applications

• Separately excited DC motors are often used as actuators in trains and automotive traction applications.

• For their constant speed characteristics, shunt DC motors are used in fixed speed applications such as fans.

• Since the series motors can give high torque per ampere (since their toque is directly proportional to the square of
armature current), they can be used in applications that require high starting torque. Examples of these applications
include; starter motors in cars, and elevator motors.
Questions
Derive the torque equation in D.C. motors

Draw the torque speed, torque current, speed current characteristics of separately,
shunt and series dc motor. Indicate how to plot these characteristics

Explain the methods of speed control for:

•Shunt / separate dc motor
•Series dc motor

Mention the applications of series and shunt motors