Motors

INTRODUCTION

• Motors convert electrical energy into mechanical

energy.
• Motors work on the principles of electromagnetism.
• When a current carrying conductor is brought under
the influence of a magnetic field, it experiences
mechanical force.
• Instead, if a current carrying coil is placed in the
magnetic field, the forces acting on the two sides of
the coil form a couple resulting in rotation.
• The direction of force acting on the conductor is given
by Fleming’s left hand rule,
Current carrying conductor Magnetic Flux lines

Field Pole
Field Pole

Thumb- Motion
Forefinger-Field
Middle Finger-Direction of current flow
Types of motors

Broadly divided into

• DC Motors
– Operated on Direct Current Supply,
• AC Motors
– Operated on Alternating Current supply.
• Synchronous motors
• Induction motors
• DC motors
– Magnetic flux is produced by stationary field poles
and rotating armature conductors, carry the
current.
• Synchronous motors
– Field poles, the rotating member, supply the
magnetic field flux and stationary part,the stator
conductors carry current.
• Induction motors
– Three phase AC supply given to the stator winding
which produces a rotating field cutting the rotor
conductors thereby inducing an emf in them
– Shorted rotor bars establish a current.
DC Motors:

Constructional features:
• Outer frame or Yoke
– Provides mechanical support for the field poles
– Acts a protecting cover for the whole machine.
– Provides a path for magnetic flux produced by the
field poles.
– Made up of cast iron or cast steel or rolled steel.
• Main Poles:
– Consist of pole cores, pole shoes and field coils.
– Cores and shoes are made up of cast steel, forged
steel or steel laminations.
– Rectangular in cross sections and are bolted to
the frame or yoke.
Frame or Yoke
Field Core & Field Coil winding
Main Pole
Field coils:
• Wound with cotton-covered wires or enameled wires.
• Entire coil is wrapped with empire and cotton tapes,
impregnated with insulating compound and then
baked.
• Coil is put on to the field core and shoe.
• Field core is fixed to the frame through the bolts.
• Poles and field coils provide necessary magnetic flux
for the motoring action.
• Field coil consists of two distinct windings.
– Shunt windings having more number of turns of smaller
cross section designated as C-D, Z1-Z2, or X1-X2.
– Series windings have less number of turns and of same
cross section as that of armature conductors and are
designated as E-F or Y1-Y2 etc.
Frame for winding the Field Coil
Field Coil, Field Core and Pole Shoe
Armature:

• Core is made of soft iron/mild steel/silicon steel

stampings abut 0.4 to 0.6 mm thick.
• Core is laminated to reduce eddy currents.
• Laminations are keyed directly to the armature shaft
in smaller machines.
• In larger machines, they are keyed to the spider,
which in turn is keyed to the shaft.
• Core consists of slots in which the armature winding
is housed.
• Notched stampings are aligned to form the slot along
the length of the armature.
• Insulation is provided in the slot in which the windings
are placed.
Slot

Circular stamping of armature core

Lamination in segment form in case of large machines
Armature Core
Armature winding:

• Coils made of copper wires or strips in a particular

shape and inserted in the armature slot.
• Interconnection of the coils is done in a specified
manner.
• Coils are insulated from each other and are placed in
the slots, which in turn have the slot insulation.
• Conductors are held in position by wooden wedges at
the top of the slot.
• Each coil consists of certain number of turns with
considerable cross section and is connected to
commutator bars.
• Ends of armature windings are usually marked as A-
H, A-AA, and U1-U2 etc.
Commutator:
• It is the element, which sends current to the armature
winding of the motor.
• It is a cylindrical element made out of wedge shaped
high conductivity copper.
• In between each segment thin layer of mica insulation
is provided.
• The no. of segments is equal to the no. of coils.
Brushes:
• Link between the stationary and rotating elements.
• Ride on the rotating armature.
• Send current to the armature through the commutator.
• Rectangular in shape.
• Made of carbon, graphite, metal graphite, depending
on the surface speed of the commutator, current
handled etc
Construction of Commutator segment
Assembled Commutator segments
Parts of DC machine
Parts of a DC machine
Various parts of a DC machine
Bearings:

• Armature shaft rests on the bearings

housed in end shields.
• Generally radial ball bearings are used.
• Roller bearings are used for large motors.
• Bearings are packed with heavy oil or
grease for quieter operation and reduced
bearing wear.
• Wherever the sleeve bearings are used,
lubrication is carried out by oil reservoirs
from bearing bracket.
Connection of DC motors:
Shunt Motor:
• Separately excited shunt motor
• Self excited shunt motor
Series Motor
Compound motor
• Cumulatively compounded
– Short Shunt
– Long Shunt
• Differentially compounded
– Short Shunt
– Long Shunt
 Series Motor Shunt Motor

Cumulative Compound Motor-Long shunt Differential Compound Motor-Long Shunt

 Supply

Differential Compound Motor- Short Shunt

Cumulative Compound motor- Short Shunt
Identification of terminals in a DC machine:

• The brushes are to be lifted

• Terminals are to be discretely held.
• Resistance is measured with multimeter.
• Winding with higher resistance is the shunt
field
• Winding with lower resistance is the series
field.
• Putting back the brushes and again measuring
the resistance would give the total resistance of
armature and the series winding.
Testing of armature:

The common faults that can occur in a motor

are
• Ground faults
– Grounded coil
– Grounded commutator segment
• Short circuits
– Short-circuited coils
– Short circuit in the commutator segments
• Open circuits
– Open circuit in the coils.
Methods of identifying the faults:

Ground faults:
• It is the measurement of insulation resistance of the winding.
• Indicates how healthy is the insulation of the winding wires.
• Indicates whether there is any winding wire coming in contact
with the body of the motor.
Methods
• Visual inspection of the armature coils.
• De-solder the coils one by one and check the armature every
time for ground fault.
• Applying a low voltage DC across the brushes .
– Connect a milli-voltmeter across the commutator segment and
shaft.
– Move the lead from one segment to other
– There will be no indication in the milli volt meter when the lead is
touched to the segment to which the grounded coil is connected.
• When the armature is available in dismantled
condition
– Using a series test lamp. Light glows when the
commutator is touched to the grounded coil.
– Measuring the resistance between each segment.
Lower value indicates short while the higher value
indicates high resistance joint or an open coil.
• Test of Grounded commutator segments :
– Isolate the winding from the commutator
– Check the commutator segments by using a series
lamp touching the leads to the segment and the
shaft.
– If no light is observed during testing that segment is
considered to be good.
Short circuit:

• Low voltage is applied across the brushes

– Milli voltmeter is placed across the adjacent
commutator segments.
– Voltage will be nearly equal for all the segments in
a sound armature.
– In the case of shorted coil the voltage drop will be
nearly zero.
• Test for shorted commutator segments:
– Using a series lamp and touching the adjacent
commutator segments
– The glowing of the lamp indicates short between
them.
Open Circuit in the coil:

• A voltage is applied across the brushes

– Voltage drops across each adjacent commutator
segments are measured
– Drop would be equal.
– High value indicates open circuit.
• A battery a rheostat an ammeter and two test
prongs connected in series can also be used.
– The prongs are held at two opposite points on the
commutator,
– Armature is rotated gently.
– The ammeter will show zero when the prongs
pass over the broken coils.
Testing of armature by using Growler:

• Used for locating grounded, short or

open circuit coils in armatures.
– Works on the principle of a transformer
– It consists of a coil of wires wound around
an H- shaped iron core and is connected to
220 VAC supply.
– Armature is placed on the growler and
gently rotated. A Hacksaw blade piece is
kept on the top of the armature on the
diametrically opposite side will start
chattering when the shorted coil is passing
over.
• A milli voltmeter is connected across the shaft and
the top commutator segment, will show the reading
when it is a sound coil.
• By rotating the armature and every time touching the
top commutator bar with the mill voltmeter lead
continue the test.
• If the meter shows no deflection, that particular coil is
faulty.
Open circuited coil
• Can be located by mounting the armature on the
growler and using a milli voltmeter
• Voltage across the adjacent commutator bars should
be measured by gently rotating the armature.
• When the milli voltmeter bridges the two bars
connected to the open coil, the meter pointer will not
deflect. All other bars will give a deflection
Testing the Armature using Growler
Testing of Field Coils:

Ground Fault:
• Using a series lamp by touching the test leads across
the winding terminal and the body of the machine
• Using an insulation tester also the insulation resistance
between the body of the machine and the winding can
be measured. Low resistance indicates the grounded
field.
• If the particular field coil, which is having the insulation
failure or ground fault, is to be located the individual
field coils should be disconnected and individually
• Low voltage DC current is passed through the field
coils, Voltage drop is measured across each field coil it
should be equal if the coils are healthy.
Open circuit:

• Coil having the break would show full

voltage across its terminals when
checked by passing low DC current
• Healthy Field coils coils would show
equal voltage drops.
Sparking:

• Discolouring of segments is the

indication of Sparking between the
commutator and brushes
• Major causes for sparking are:
– Machine may be overloaded
– Brushes may be sticking in holders
– Spring pressure may not be sufficient
– Brushes may be burnt on the edges
– Commutator surface may be rough or having high
bars.
– Commutator surface may be dirty and oily.
– Grade of carbon brushes may be incorrect.
– Mica may be high in the slots. Brushes will wear out
rapidly with high mica.
– Pressure on some brushes may be more resulting in
their overloading accompanied by sparking
– Brushes may be too loose in the holders and
vibrating.
– Pigtails may be loose in some of the brushes
– Brushes may have been disturbed from their position
of proper commutation or may not have been
correctly positioned.
– Due to defects in the armature and field circuits.
Maintenance of commutators:
• Should be kept clear and free of dirt and carbon dust
by blowing and cleaning regularly.
• Should be wiped occasionally with canvas pad fixed
to the end of wooden strip.
• The colour of the commutator surface may vary from
straw to deep chocolate.
• Excessive blackening will indicate either incorrect
grade of carbon brushes or excessive pressure on
the brushes, or both.
• Bluish colour will indicate overheating or incorrect
grade of brushes.
• Brushes should fit properly in their holders and be
free to move
• Ensure correct brush pressure.
• Brush pressure can be measured with the help of a
spring balance.
• Brush pressure should be 120 to 170 grams per square
centimeter for light metalised carbon and graphite
brushes and 200 to 350 grams per square centimeter for
heavy metalised brushes.
• Check for broken pigtail, loose pigtail or damaged
contact surface.
• Loose at the connection results in the introduction of
high resistance in the circuit.
• Pigtails should be uniformly hot and retain their natural
copper colour. Discoloration would indicate overheating.
• The brush contact surface should be smooth and
polished and make contact on the full face.
• Fine scratch lines on the commutator would indicate
stuck carbon or metal particles on the brush faces.
• Mica in between the segments should be about 1-1.5
mm. below the commutator surface.
• High mica will cause arcing, can break the brushes
and lead to noisy operation.
• Slight bevel on slot edges will improve commutation.
• A uniform ridge all round commutator surfaces
indicates incorrect staggering of brushes.
• If the commutator develops rough surface, it should
be polished with a grinding stone.
• If the surface is too much uneven, turning the surface
on a Lathe followed by grinding polishing and
undercutting is also recommended.
• Eccentricity can be checked with a dial indicator and
should not exceed 0.05 mm.
• Carbon brushes, should be properly bedded on the
periphery of the commutator during replacement.
• Never apply any lubricant to the surface of
commutator; it can be occasionally wiped with a
Vaseline soaked cloth.
• Blackening of all the bars indicates poor adjustment of
the commutating field or incorrect brush pressure
• Blackening groups of bars at regular intervals may
result from the same cause or poor brush contact.
• Blackening at irregular intervals indicates rough and
wavy commutator
• Noisy brushes are caused by a rough commutator,
high brush friction high mica fins or too much
clearance between the commutator and brush holders.
Undercutting mica insulation between the commutator segments
Permanent magnet DC motors:

• The magnetic field is provided by having permanent

magnets, instead of having field winding and its supply.
• Usually, small capacity motors are made in this type.
Alnico, ceramic or rare earth cobalt magnets are used.
Advantages:
• Excitation power supplies not needed.
• Reliability is improved as there are no excitation circuits.
• No chance of over speeding due to field failure
• Efficiency and cooling are improved by elimination of
power loss the exciting field.
• Torque vs. current characteristic is more nearly linear.
• Suitable where totally enclosed motor is required for a
continuous excitation duty cycle.
• Total system cost may become less
Disadvantages:
• Field control cannot be exercised.
• Overloads may cause partial demagnetization that
changes motor speed and torque characteristics.
• Motor is somewhat larger and more expensive than
an equivalent shunt wound motor.
DC servomotors:

• They are normally permanent magnet, printed

circuit and moving coil motors.
• These are high performance motors
• Used as prime movers in CNC machinery and
applications where starts and stops must be
made frequently and accurately.
• Lighter in weight
• Low inertia armatures and respond quickly to
excitation voltage changes.
• Designed to have very low armature
inductance and have low electrical time
constant, which sharpens motor response to
command signals.
Dismantling and assembly of motors:

• Remove the pulley or the pinion, using a pulley puller

to avoid damage of flanks of the pulley
• Unequal pulling of the pulley may damage the key,
pulley or shaft.
• Mark the proof marking on the end shield and the
body, if it is not available already.
• Disconnect the wires at the brush holders leading to
the terminal block and field winding with suitably
marking.
• Take out the carbon brushes from the brush holders
and lift the brush holder springs.
• Loosen the fasteners of the end shields or end
covers of the machine by using appropriate
tools
• Do not use hammer or this purpose as it may
damage the end cover.
• Now ensuring that the armature does not rub
the field poles, slowly pull out the armature.
• With help of a wooden mallet or lead hammer
slightly tap the cover to loosen it from the body.
• Now the armature along with the fan and
bearings is available.
• The bearings and fan can be removed by using
appropriate pullers if needed.
• The armature and field are now available for
necessary check up individually.
Assembly of Bearings
Alignment of couplings