DC Motors

DC Motors

• A DC motor or Direct Current Motor converts electrical energy

into mechanical energy. A direct current (DC) motor is a fairly
simple electric motor that uses electricity and a magnetic field to
produce torque, which turns the rotor and hence give mechanical
work.
• A DC motor consists of an stator, an armature, a rotor and a
commutator with brushes. Opposite polarity between the two
magnetic fields inside the motor cause it to turn. DC motors are
the simplest type of motor and are used in household appliances,
such as electric razors and in electric windows in cars.
 Basic working principle of motor

• When a current carrying conductor is moved in a magnetic field, a

force is produced in a direction perpendicular to the current and
magnetic field directions. Lorentz’s force law, which relates force
on a conductor to the current in the conductor and the external
magnetic field, in vector form is:

where= force vector (conductor per unit length)

current vector
magnetic field vector
 Right Hand Rule

• The right hand rule illustrates the relationship between all these
vectors. The right hand rule suggests that if your right-hand
index finger points in the direction of the current and your
middle finger is aligned with the field direction, then your
extended thumb (perpendicular to the index and middle fingers)
will point in the direction of the force.
Construction of DC Motor
 Components of DC Motor
Yoke
• It is outer cover of dc motor also called as frame. It provides
protection to the rotating and other part of the machine from
moisture, dust etc. Yoke is an iron body which provides the
path for the flux to complete the magnetic circuit. It provides
the mechanical support for the poles. It is made up of low
reluctance material such as cast iron, silicon steel, rolled steel,
cast steel etc. Reluctance is the property of a magnetic circuit
of opposing the passage of magnetic flux lines.
 Components of DC Motor
Poles, Pole Core and Pole Shoe
• Poles are electromagnet, the field winding are wound on it.
• It produces the magnetic field when field winding is excited.
• The construction of pole is done using the lamination of
particular shape to reduce the power loss due to eddy current.
• Pole shoe is an extended part of a pole. Due to its typical
shape, it enlarges the area of the pole, so that more flux can
pass through the air gap to armature.
• It also uses low reluctance magnetic material such as cast steel
or cast iron is used for construction of pole and pole shoe.
 Components of DC Motor
Poles, Pole Core and Pole Shoe
 Components of DC Motor
Field Winding
• The coil wound on the pole core are called field coils.
• Field coils are connected in series to form field winding.
• Current is passed through the field winding in a specific
direction, to magnetize the poles and pole shoes. Thus
magnetic flux is produce in the air gap between the pole shoe
and armature. Magnetic flux is defined as the number of
magnetic field lines passing through a given closed surface. It
provides the measurement of the total magnetic field that
passes through a given surface area.
• Field winding is also called as exciting winding.
• Material used for conductor is copper.
• Due to the current flowing through the field winding alternate
N and S poles are produced.
 Components of DC Motor
Field Winding
 Components of DC Motor
Armature Core
• Armature core is a cylindrical drum mounted on the shaft.
• It is provided with large number of slots all over its periphery
and it is parallel to the shaft axis.
• Armature conductors are placed in these slots.
• Armature core provides low reluctance path to the flux
produced by the field winding.
• High permeability, low reluctance cast steel or cast iron
material is used.
• Laminated construction of iron core is used to minimize the
eddy current losses.
 Components of DC Motor
Armature Winding
• Armature conductor is placed in a armature slots present on
the periphery of armature core.
• Armature conductor are interconnected to form the armature
winding.
• When armature winding is connected to a voltage source, then
due to current flowing in the conductor, a magnetic field is
produced. This magnetic field interacts with the magnetic field
of field winding and as a result, the motor rotates.
• Armature winding is suppose to carry the entire load current
hence it should be made up of conducting material such as
copper.
 Components of DC Motor
Armature Winding
 Components of DC Motor
Commutator
• A commutator is a rotatory electrical switch that reverses the
direction of current between the rotor and the external circuit
periodically.
• It is a cylindrical drum mounted on a shaft along with the
armature core. It is made up of large number of wedge shaped
segments of hard drawn copper.
• These segments are insulated from each other by thin layer of
mica.
• Armature winding are tapped at various points and these
tapping are successively connected to various segments of the
commutator.
• It helps to produce unidirectional torque. It is made up of
copper and insulating material between the segments is mica.
Components of DC Motor
Commutator
 Components of DC Motor
Brushes
• Current is conducted from the armature to the external load by
the carbon brushes which are held against the surface of the
commutator by springs.
• Function of brushes: To collect the current from the
commutator and apply it to the external load in generator, and
vice versa in motor.
• Brushes are made of carbon and they are rectangular in shape.
 Components of DC Motor
Back EMF
• In case of DC motor when the armature winding of dc motor
starts rotating in the magnetic flux produced by the field
winding, it cuts the lines of magnetic flux and induces the emf
in the armature winding.
• According to Lenz’s law (The law that whenever there is an
induced electromotive force (emf) in a conductor, it is always
in such a direction that the current it would produce would
oppose the change which causes the induced emf.), this
induced emf acts in the opposite direction to the armature
supply voltage. Hence this emf is called as back EMF.
 Components of DC Motor
Back EMF
• The back emf is defined as:

where = Speed in rpm

= Flux per pole
= Total number of armature conductors
= Number of slots x Number of
Conductors/slot
= number of pole
= area of cross-section of conductor
= back emf
 Components of DC Motor
Voltage and Power Equations
• The equivalent circuit of armature of DC motor is given as
follows:

Multiplying both sides by , we get

 Components of DC Motor
Voltage and Power Equations

where = electrical power supplied to the motor

= electrical equivalent of mechanical
power produced by motor
= power loss in armature winding
 Components of DC Motor
Torque and Speed Equations:
• Mechanical power required to rotate the shaft of the motor is
given as
where = Torque in Newton meter
= angular velocity in radian per
second
• Gross mechanical power produced by motor on electrical side
is given as .
• Equating electrical power and mechanical power, we get:

where =
 Components of DC Motor
Torque and Speed Equations:

• Rearranging the above equation for , we get:

• Since are constant, we get:

• Thus torque produce by the DC Motor is proportional to the

main field flux and armature current
 Types of DC Motors
DC Series Motor
• In this type of DC motor the armature and field windings are
connected in series.
• The resistance of the series field winding is much smaller
than armature resistance
• The flux produced is proportional to the field current but
∝
• Thus flux can never become constant in dc series motor as
load changes and also gets changed
• Thus dc series motor is not a constant flux motor.
 Types of DC Motors
DC Series Motor
 Types of DC Motors
DC Series Motor
• We know that for DC motors:

But since , thus , so we get

and

Since
 DC Series Motor
Characteristics of DC Series Motor
• To study the performance of the DC series motor various
types of characteristics are to be studied.
1. Torque Vs Armature current characteristics.
2. Speed Vs Armature current characteristics.
3. Speed Vs Torque characteristics.
 DC Series Motor
Torque Vs. Armature Current Characteristics
• Torque developed in any dc motor is
∝
• In a series motor, as field windings also carry the armature
current, ∝ up to the point of magnetic saturation. Hence,
before saturation,
∝
 DC Series Motor
Torque Vs. Armature Current Characteristics
• After saturation, is almost independent of hence ∝ only. So
the characteristic becomes a straight line.
• So we conclude that (prior to magnetic saturation) on heavy
loads, a series motor exerts a torque proportional to the square
of armature current.
 DC Series Motor
Speed Vs. Armature Current Characteristics
• Since we know that:

• Change in , for various load currents is small and hence may

be neglected for the time being. With increased , also
increases. Hence, speed varies inversely as armature current.
 DC Series Motor
Speed Vs. Torque Characteristics
• It is found from above that when speed is high, torque is low
and vice-versa.
• It is clear that series motor develops high torque at low speed
and vice-versa.
• It is because an increase in torque requires an increase in
armature current, which is also the field current. The result is
that flux is strengthened and hence the speed drops.
 Types of DC Motors
DC Shunt Motor
• In DC Shunt motor, armature and shunt winding are connected
parallel to supply voltage. The resistance of shunt winding is
larger than the resistance of armature winding.
• Since and both remains constant the remains essentially
constant, as field current is responsible for generation of flux.
thus ∝
• So shunt motor is also called as constant flux motor
• As we know that:
 Types of DC Motors
DC Shunt Motor
 Types of DC Motors
DC Shunt Motor
• Since ∝ , as is constant so is also constant and we get the
following relationship for DC Shunt motor:

and
∝∝
 DC Shunt Motor
Characteristics of DC Shunt Motor
• To study the performance of the DC shunt Motor various
types of characteristics are to be studied.
1. Torque Vs Armature current characteristics.
2. Speed Vs Armature current characteristics.
3. Speed Vs Torque characteristics.
 DC Shunt Motor
Torque Vs. Armature Current Characteristics
• Since we know that:
 DC Shunt Motor
Speed Vs. Armature Current Characteristics
• Since we know that:

After removing constant terms and rearranging, we get:

∝∝
 DC Shunt Motor
Speed Vs. Torque Characteristics
• From the above two characteristics of dc shunt motor, the
torque developed and speed at various armature currents of dc
shunt motor may be noted.
• If these values are plotted, the graph representing the
variation of speed with torque developed is obtained.
• This curve resembles the speed Vs current characteristics as
the torque is directly proportional to the armature current.
 Types of DC Motors
DC Compound Excited Motor
• The DC compound motor is a combination of the series motor
and the shunt motor. It has a series field winding that is
connected in series with the armature and a shunt field that is
in parallel with the armature. The combination of series and
shunt winding allows the motor to have the torque
characteristics of the series motor and the regulated speed
characteristics of the shunt motor.
• Some types of compound excited motor are:
1. Long Shunt Compound Excited Motor
2. Short Shunt Compound Excited Motor
 Compound Excited Motors
Long Shunt Compound Excited Motor
• In case of long shunt compound wound DC motor, the shunt
field winding is connected in parallel across the series
combination of both the armature and series field coil.
 Compound Excited Motors
Long Shunt Compound Excited Motor
• Let E and be the total supply voltage and current supplied to
the input terminals of the motor. And , , be the values of
current flowing through armature resistance , series winding
resistance and shunt winding resistance respectively.
• We know that in case of shunt motor:

• And in case of series motor:

• Therefore, the equation for current will be as follows:

• The voltage will be given as follows:

+
 Compound Excited Motors
Short Shunt Compound Excited Motor
• In case of short shunt compound wound DC motor, the shunt
field winding is connected in parallel across the armature
winding only. And series field coil is exposed to the entire
supply current, before being split up into armature and shunt
field current
 Compound Excited Motors
Short Shunt Compound Excited Motor
• Here also let, E and be the total supply voltage and current
supplied to the input terminals of the motor. And , , be the
values of current flowing through armature resistance , series
winding resistance and shunt winding resistance respectively.
• Since the entire supply current flows through the field
winding, we can say that:

• And in case of shunt motor:

• The voltage will be given as follows:

+
 Compound Excited Motors
Short Shunt Compound Excited Motor
• But we also know that:

• Therefore, the final equation will be as follows:

 Compound Excited Motors
Cumulative Compounding of DC Motor
• A compound wound DC motor is said to be cumulatively
compounded when the shunt field flux produced by the shunt
winding assists or enhances the effect of main field flux,
produced by the series winding.
 Compound Excited Motors
Differential Compounding of DC Motor
• A compound wound DC motor is said to be differentially
compounded when the flux due to the shunt field winding
diminishes the effect of the main series winding. This
particular trait is not really desirable, and hence does not find
much of a practical application.
 Speed Control of DC Motors

• The speed equation of dc motor is

• But the resistance of armature winding or series field winding

in dc series motor are small.
• Therefore the voltage drop or across them will be negligible
as compare to the external supply voltage V in above
equation.
• Therefore:
since V > > > >
 Speed Control of DC Motors

• Thus we can say

1. Speed is inversely proportional to flux .
2. Speed is directly proportional to armature voltage.
3. Speed is directly proportional to applied voltage V.
• So by varying one of these parameters, it is possible to
change the speed of a dc motor
Flux Control Method
Solution
Solution
Solution
Armature or Rheostatic Control Method
Armature or Rheostatic Control Method
Solution
Solution