Introduction to Electric Power and Machines - ECE3720

Introduction to DC Machines
DC machines use dc voltages and currents to establish the magnetic field and operate using only dc quantities.
The field winding is normally placed on the stator and is therefore stationary. The armature winding is placed on
the rotor and forms the rotating part of the machine. This is the part in which voltage is induced.
Generation of voltage is based on rotating a winding in a dc magnetic field and generation of torque is based
on the interaction of two dc fields that are displaced by a certain angle.

Establishment of a stationary field

The following figure shows the schematic diagram of a simple dc-machine stator. Note that the field winding
has constant current and therefore has a constant strength and also shows no rotation, i.e., it is a stationary field.
The net impact of the stator (field) winding is to establish magnetic NS poles as shown.

Quadrature axis


N S

Direct axis

x x

Note that if we move around the periphery of the stator, the following pattern of the magnetic field will be
observed. The transitions between NS poles correspond to gaps between pole faces. In practice theses gaps are
quite small, i.e., the pole faces cover the majority of the periphery.

B
N N

S S

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 Introduction to Electric Power and Machines - ECE3720

Induction of voltage
We know that moving a conductor with length l at a speed v in a magnetic field of flux density of B would
induce a voltage e = Blv in the conductor (if the conductor cuts the flux lines). Therefore for the coil shown below,
which rotates in the magnetic field of the stator, the induced voltage will be as shown below.

Note that the induced voltage is essentially equal to e( )  eside1  eside2 . Also note that the each of the two
sides will alternatively be placed under N and S poles. That is why the output voltage waveform is an alternating
voltage despite our effort to design a dc machine!

In order to come up with a dc output, a mechanical rectifier is employed. The operation of this rectifier, which
is also referred to as the commutator, is explained below.

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 Introduction to Electric Power and Machines - ECE3720

Commutator action
Note that either of the sides of the coil that is under the N pole of the stator field will experience a positive
induced voltage. Similarly the side under S pole will have a negative voltage. This gives incentive to draw positive
voltage from whichever conductor that is under N pole and negative voltage from the conductor under S pole.

Slip rings

Commutator
N S segments

+ e12 -

The voltage etot extracted as shown above will have only one polarity, and is shown in the following figure.
Note that the output voltage is unidirectional and has a non-zero average (dc component).

e tot

etot (ave)

In practice the rotor has more than one coil and the coils are placed on the rotor (in series) so that they are
slightly shifted relative to each other. This will generate more replicas of the above voltage and thus results in a
less ripple in the output voltage.

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 Introduction to Electric Power and Machines - ECE3720

Expressions for the induced voltage and the developed torque

Induced voltage:
The induced voltage in a conductor moving in a magnetic field is given by e = Blv. In a dc machine, the
movement is in the form of rotation at an angular speed of m. We also assume that the flux generated per pole is
equal to . One can easily see that the flux density B and the linear speed v are proportional to  and m,
respectively. Therefore, it is qualitatively possible to see that the induced voltage in the armature of a dc machine
can be expressed as EA  Km , where K is a constant determined by the structure of the machine.

Developed torque:
To obtain an expression for the developed torque we consider one turn to begin with. Each side of the turn
shown is a conductor of length l carrying current IA in a magnetic field of density B. The force applied to each side
is F = BIAl.

The torque applied to the single turn shown above is equal to T  2 rF  BI Al . Following the same argument
given above for the induced voltage one can see that the torque applied to the current carrying armature can be
expressed as T  I A . It is possible to show that the constant of proportionality is the same as the one in the
expression for the induced voltage, i.e., T  K I A .

The magnetization curve of a dc machine

The strength of the poles of a dc machine with wound poles can be adjusted by changing the current passing
through the field winding. Note that the poles can also be established using permanent magnets, in which case the
poles’ flux cannot be adjusted.

Obviously, the magnetic material of the core can be saturated and since we have EA  Km , the armature
voltage (even with no current through the armature winding) will experience saturation when the current through

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 Introduction to Electric Power and Machines - ECE3720

the field is high enough. Note that a typical open-circuit characteristic curve for a dc machine will look like the
following.

Note that the curve shows a small amount of residual voltage at zero field and that is because the poles retain
their magnetic properties even in the absence of current. Of course, this residual voltage will diminish if the
machine is not used for a prolonged period of time.

Configuration of dc machine windings

The field and armature windings of dc machines could be connected in a variety of ways resulting in drastically
different characteristics for dc motors and generators. Generally, the field winding can be one or a combination of
the following two types:

1. Shunt field, which is characterized by having a small current and a large number of turns;
2. Series field, which is characterized by having a large current and a small number of turns. The series field
normally carries the armature current or a combination of armature and shunt field currents.

Various combinations of dc machine windings are shown below.

Separately-excited dc machine Series-connected dc machine

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 Introduction to Electric Power and Machines - ECE3720

Shunt field

Series field

Shunt-connected dc machine (Short) compound dc machine

Shunt field

Series field

(Long) compound dc machine

In the following we will look at some dc motors and generators. Note that:
1. Motors convert electrical energy into mechanical energy;
2. Important output quantities for motors are the speed and torque;
3. Generators convert mechanical energy to electrical energy;
4. Important output quantities for generators are the voltage and current.

DC generators
We start our discussion of dc generators by looking at the most basic configuration of such generators, i.e., the
separately excited dc generator. In this configuration, the field is established through a dedicated circuit and is
maintained independently of the armature circuit. Note that the analysis of such a machine can be extended to
cover permanent magnet machines as well, in which the field is constant.

The equations are as follows:

Field circuit: VF  (RF  Radj )I F

Armature circuit: E A  ( R A  RL ) I A  R A I A  VT

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 Introduction to Electric Power and Machines - ECE3720

We also note that the armature back emf is equal to EA  Km

For generators, the relationship between the terminal voltage and the terminal current (armature current) is
referred to as the external characteristics, which is the armature equation in this case.
Note: The brushes usually cause a small voltage drop (1-2 V). Normally we combine this with the RA and avoid
complication.

Based on what we found above, the terminal voltage of the machine when it is rotated at a constant speed and
has a constant field current will be as follows. Note that it resembles the characteristics of a battery with an
internal voltage of EA and series resistance of RA. Note that the induced voltage EA can be adjusted through
changes in the speed of rotation and the field current.

In practice however, the current that passes through the armature will change the overall impact of the field
current, even if the field has no electrical connection to the armature. The interaction is therefore a magnetic
phenomenon, and is known as the armature reaction (AR); we will discuss it briefly in the following section.

Armature reaction (AR)

The field of a dc machine when there is no armature current is shown below (on the left). Now with the
armature current flowing, the overall picture of the filed will be different and is shown below on the right.

X
Bf
x Bf
x

N S
x

N x
x
x
x S
x x
X
Magnetic neutral plane

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 Introduction to Electric Power and Machines - ECE3720

Note that the field of the armature interacts with the actual field of the machine. It increases the mmf for half
of the pole face and decreases it for the other half. Since the field winding usually places the poles at the knee
point of the magnetization curve, any extra mmf would cause saturation. In other words, half of each pole face is
driven into saturation (with no extra gain in field strength) and other half is reduced in terms of its field density.

Therefore, the armature mmf results in an overall decrease in the field of the machine thus reducing the flux
and therefore the induced back emf. Altogether the armature reaction causes a decrease in the field of the
machine. Therefore, in the case of a separately excited machine, the modified terminal characteristics will be as
follows.

Shunt generator
The schematic diagram of a shunt generator is shown below.

When the machine is disconnected from the network (i.e., IL = 0), the field and armature currents are equal.
Since the armature resistance is much smaller than the field's, we can ignore its impact:
EA  ( RF  Radj ) I F , also we have EA  Km  f ( I F ) (which is represented by the magnetization curve).

The intersection of these two determines the no-load operating point of the machine (point A). Also note that
if the field resistance is too high, there will be no intersection with any significant voltage. For a critical value of
the field resistance the line will mainly lie on the linear portion of the magnetization curve.

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 Introduction to Electric Power and Machines - ECE3720

EA

Increasing field res.

IF

When the generator is under load (shown below), the equations will be as follows.

I
R adj R F RA I + L
A

+ VT RL
IF EA
- -

E A  RA I A  VT
E A  Km
VT  ( RF  Radj ) I F
I A  IF  IL

If we ignore the armature reaction, the operating point can be obtained by (i) intersecting the third equation
with the magnetization curve and (ii) noting that at the operating point the two curves will have a difference of
RAIA.

EA

R A IA
(actual OP) B
A
(no-load OP)

Slope = RF + Radj

IF

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 Introduction to Electric Power and Machines - ECE3720

Example: dc machine calculations

A dc machine (10 kW, 250 V, 1000 rpm) has the following characteristics:
R A  0 .2 , R F  133 , shunt machine running at 1000 rpm with the following magnetization curve.

I F (A) 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.75 1.0 1.5 2.0

E A (V) 10 40 80 120 150 170 200 220 245 263

1. Find the voltage generated without any current in field winding.

2. If the no-load voltage is 250 V, find the field resistance.
3. If the generator is rotated at 800 rpm, find the no-load voltage for zero field control resistance.
4. For zero field control resistance, find the speed that makes the no-load voltage equal to 200 V.

Solution:
The magnetization curve at 1000 rpm is shown below.

1) The voltage generated at zero field current is obviously equal to 10 V and is due to the residual magnetism in
the core.

2) The no-load voltage is equal to the back emf. For a no-load voltage of 250 V, the corresponding field
current will be (using the linear approximation of the curve between the surrounding data points):

263  245
EA  ( I F  1.5)  245 ,
2 .0  1 .5

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E A  250 V  I F  1 .64 A

Note that the slope of the line that connects the origin to this point (the thick line on the graph) is equal to the
field resistance that puts the machine at that point:
RF + Radj = 250/0.64 = 152.44  Radj = 152.44 - 133 = 19.44 

3) For operation at 800 rpm, the voltage readings on the magnetization curve are multiplied by 0.8. For zero
field control resistance, the field equation will become E A  133 I F . This intersection of this line with the new
curve lies between (1.0 A, 0.8*220 = 176 V) and (1.5 A, 0.8*245 = 196 V). If we replace the curve with its linear
approximation between these two points and find its intersection with the field line, we get:

196  176
EA  ( I F  1.0)  176
1.5  1.0  E A  194 .5 V, I F  1 .46 A
E A  133I F

4) If the field control resistance is equal to zero, the field equation will become E A  133 I F . For a no load
voltage of 200 V, the field current should be 1.5 A.

We now note that for I F  1 .5 A, E A  245 V @ 1000 rpm, and E A  200 V @ N2. Since the voltage is
proportional to the speed we get N2 = 200/245*1000 = 816.3 rpm.

DC motors
Unlike dc generators, which have limited applications nowadays, dc motors have numerous applications in
cases where accurate speed control is required. They offer versatile characteristics and are fairly easily controlled.
Recently dc motors have seen new applications in the automotive industry where they are considered for small-
scale hybrid and electric vehicles.
Note that dc machines, even as motors, are becoming less popular as ac motor controls become more
widespread.

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 Introduction to Electric Power and Machines - ECE3720

Separately-excited dc motors
The following shows the schematic diagram of a separately-excited dc motor.

Note that we have

E A  Km  VT R I
  m   A A
VT  RA I A  E A  K K

We also note that the developed torque of the machine is given by T  Km . If we combine the above with
the expression found before, we get
VT RT
m   A 2
K K 
Therefore for a constant torque (note that in steady state the load and developed torque will match), and with
constant field flux and terminal voltage, we get the following relation.

m VT/(K )

Observations:
1. For a small armature resistance, the slope of the line is small and so the speed will essentially be
constant;
2. The armature reaction (AR), which causes an overall reduction in the field as the armature currents
increases (and naturally happens when the torque is higher), causes the speed to rise. In other words,
the AR helps the speed regulation improve.
3. Note that the same analysis as presented above will also apply to permanent magnets dc machines,
where the field is constant.

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Example 1:
A 25-kW, 125 V, separately-excited dc machine is operated at a constant speed of 3000 rpm with a constant
field current such that the open-circuit armature voltage is 125 V. The armature resistance is 0.02 .
Compute the armature current, terminal power, electromagnetic power and torque when the terminal voltage is
(i) 128 V, and (ii) 124 V.

Solution:
2
n  3000 RA  0.02 Eoc  125 m  n 
60

Case 1) The terminal voltage is 128 V

VT  128 Since the machine is separately-excited and the field is constant, the OC voltage represents the internal back
emf of the machine (neglecting AR).

EA  Eoc EA  125

VT  EA
The armature current will be IA  IA  150 The machine is a motor, since the internal voltage is
RA less than the terminal voltage.

4
Pin  VT IA Pin  1.92  10

The power that goes through energy conversion process is 4

Po  EA  IA Po  1.875  10

Po
The torque on the shaft is T  T  59.683
m

Case 2) The terminal voltage is 124 V

EA  VT
VT  124 The machine will be a generator IA  IA  50
RA

The power that goes through energy conversion is 3

Pin  EA  IA Pin  6.25  10

The output power is 3

Po  VT IA Po  6.2  10

Pin
The torque on the shaft is T  T  19.894
m

Example 2:
A magnetization curve of a dc machine is given as follows for 1200 rpm. The machine is rated at 250 V and 25
kW.

IF (A) 0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

EA (V) 0 75 150 200 240 270

The machine is separately-excited and has an armature resistance of 0.14 . The machine is to be driven as a
generator and is rotated by a separate prime mover.

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1. What is the rated armature current of this machine?

2. At 1200 rpm, and with the armature current limited to its rated value, what is the power output of the
generator if the field current is (i)1.0 A, (ii) 2.0 A and (iii) 2.5 A.

Solution:
The magnetization curve of the machine at 1200 rpm is as follows:

T
 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 
Mag    RA  0.14
 0.0 75 150 200 240 270 

The rated values for the machine are as follows:

Pr
Pr  25000 VTr  250 IAr  IAr  100
VTr

Case 1) IF1  1.0 we will then have EA1  150

4
VT1  EA1  RA  IAr VT1  136 P1  VT1 IAr P1  1.36  10

Case 2) IF2  1.5 we will then have EA2  200

4
VT2  EA2  RA  IAr VT2  186 P2  VT2 IAr P2  1.86  10

Case 3) IF3  2.0 we will then have EA3  240

4
VT3  EA3  RA  IAr VT3  226 P3  VT3 IAr P3  2.26  10

Case 4) IF4  2.5 we will then have EA4  270

4
VT4  EA4  RA  IAr VT4  256 P4  VT4 IAr P4  2.56  10

Example 3:
A 220 V shunt motor has an armature circuit resistance of 0.2  and field resistance of 110 . At no-load the
motor takes 5 A and runs at 1500 rpm. If the motor draws 52 A at rated voltage and rated load, calculate the
motor rated speed and its rated shaft torque. The rotational losses at no-load and full-load are the same. Neglect
AR.

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Solution:
VT  220 RA  0.2 RF  110

No load conditions: INL  5 NNL  1500 Full load current: IFL  52

The equivalent circuit of the machine is as follows:

VT
The field current is equal to: IF  IF  2
RF

The remaining portion of the input current goes through the armature IA_NL  INL  IF IA_NL  3

The internal back emf is equal to EA_NL  VT  IA_NL RA EA_NL  219.4

No load rotational losses are as follows: Prot  EA_NL IA_NL Prot  658.2

Under rated load, the armature current will be IA  IFL  IF IA  50

and the internal back emf will be EA  VT  RA  IA EA  210

Since the field is kept constant and the AR is neglected, the speed remains entirely proportional to the voltage, so

EA 3 2
NFL  N NFL  1.436  10 so FL  NFL FL  150.35
EA_NL NL 60

EA  IA  Prot
The useful torque on the shaft is T  T  65.459
FL

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