Speed Control of DC Motors

By
Dr. Ungku Anisa Ungku Amirulddin
Department of Electrical Power Engineering
College of Engineering

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DC Drives Outline
Introduction to DC Drives
Separately Excited DC Motor
Speed Control Methods
Speed Control Strategy
Operating Modes
References

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Introduction
DC Drives – Electric drives employing DC
motors as prime movers
Dominated variable speed applications before
introduction of Power Electronic converters
Still popular even after Power Electronics
Advantage: Precise torque and speed control
without sophisticated electronics
Applications: Rolling mills, hoists, traction, cranes
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Introduction
Some limitations:
High maintenance (commutators & brushes)
Expensive
Speed limitations
Sparking
Commonly used DC motors
Separately excited
Series (mostly for traction applications)

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Separately Excited DC Motor
Ra La Lf Rf

ia +
+ if +

vt ea vf

_ _ _

Armature Field
circuit circuit
dia di f
va  Raia  La  ea v f  Rf if  Lf
dt dt
Te  Kia  K b ia Electromagnetic torque

ea  K  K b Armature back e.m.f.

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Separately Excited DC Motor
Motor is connected to a
load.
Therefore,
d
Te  J  B  TL
dt
where
TL= load torque
J = load inertia (kgm2)
B = viscous friction
coefficient (Nm/rad/s)
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Separately Excited DC Motor –
Steady State Condition
Time derivatives = 0. Therefore,
V
f  Rf I f (1)

 Ea  K b  K (2)

Va  Ra I a  Ea
 (3)
 Ra I a  K
 K b I a  KI a  B  TL (4)
Te
The developed power
Pd  Te (5)

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Speed Control Methods for
Separately Excited DC Motor V
intercept  a
From equation (3),  K
Va  Ra I a Va Ra  Te 
    
K K K   K  
Ra
Va Ra slope 
   T  K  2
K  K  2 e
Te

Three possible methods for speed control:

Armature voltage Va
Armature resistance Ra
Field flux  (by changing field resistance Rf)

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Speed Control Methods
– Va control
Va Ra
  T
K  K  2 e

Va
TL
K

Va ↓

Requires variable
DC supply

Te

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Speed Control Methods
– Ra control
Va Ra
  T
K  K  2 e


Va Ra
slope  TL
 K  2
Simple control
K
Losses in external resistor
 Rarely used.

Ra ↑

Te

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Speed Control Methods
–  control
Va Ra
  T
 K  K  2 e

TL

↓
Va
K Not possible for PM motor
Ra
slope 
 K  2
Normally employed for
speed above base speed

Te
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Speed Control Strategy for
Separately Excited DC Motor
Base speed base = Speed at rated Va, If and Ia
 = 0 to base  speed control by Va
 > base  speed control by flux weakening ()
T

Va control base  control

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Speed Control Strategy for
Separately Excited DC Motor
 = 0 to   speed control by V
base a
 >   speed control by flux weakening ( )
base
T  I   For maximum torque capability, I = I
a a a max
P = E I = (K)I = constant when  > 
d a a a base
in order to go beyond base,   (1/)
Per unit
quantities
Ia Va
1.0

If, Te, 

Va control base  control

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Speed Control Strategy
Per unit
quantities
Ia Va
1.0

If, Te, 


Va control base  control
Torque and power relations below and beyond base
P, T P
P =K 

Te
Te = KIa

constant torque constant power

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Speed Control of DC Motor –
Example
A 220 V, 500 A, 600 rpm separately excited motor has armature
and field resistance of 0.02 and 10  respectively. The load
torque is given the expression
TL = 200 – 2N,
where N is the speed in rpm. Speeds below the rated are
obtained by armature voltage control and speeds above the rated
are obtained by field control.
i) Calculate motor terminal voltage and armature current when
the speed is 450 rpm.
ii) Calculate field winding voltage and armature current when the
speed is 750 rpm. Assume the rated field voltage is the same as
the rated armature voltage.
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Operating Modes
Motoring
Back EMF Ea < Va
Ia and If are
positive
Motor develops
torque to meet load
demand (i.e. Te =TL )

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Operating Modes
Regenerative Braking
Motor acts as generator
Develops Ea > Va
Ia negative (flows back
to source)
If positive
Machine slows down
until Ea = Va
Used only when there
are enough loads to
absorb regenerated
power
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Operating Modes
Dynamic Braking
Similar to
regenerative
breaking
But Va removed,
replaced by Rb
Kinetic energy of
motor is dissipated
in Rb (i.e. machine
works as generator)
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Operating Modes
Plugging
Supply voltage Va is
reversed
Assists Ea in forcing
Ia in reverse
direction
Rb connected in
series to limit
current
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 Operating Modes -
Four Quadrant Operation
Note: In the figure, Eg = Ea

Q2 Q1
+Va , +Ea  +  +Va , +Ea  + 
-Ia  -T +Ia  +T
Power = -ve Power = +ve

Q3 Q4
-Va , -Ea  -  -Va , -Ea  - 
-Ia  -T +Ia  +T
Power = +ve Power = -ve

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References
Chapman, S. J., Electric Machinery Fundamentals, McGraw
Hill, New York, 2005.
Rashid, M.H, Power Electronics: Circuit, Devices and
Applications, 3rd ed., Pearson, New-Jersey, 2004.
Dubey, G.K., Fundamentals of Electric Drives, 2nd ed., Alpha
Science Int. Ltd., UK, 2001.
Nik Idris, N. R., Short Course Notes on Electrical Drives,
UNITEN/UTM, 2008.
Ahmad Azli, N., Short Course Notes on Electrical Drives,
UNITEN/UTM, 2008.

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