DC MOTOR

INTRODUCTION:

The principle of conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy by

Electromagnetic means was demonstrated by the British scientist Michael Faraday in
1821 and consisted of a free-hanging wire dipping into a pool of mercury. A
permanent magnet was placed in the middle of the pool of mercury. When a current
was passed through the wire, the wire rotated around the magnet, showing that the
current gave rise to a circular magnetic field around the wire. The DC motor are very
useful where wide range of speed and good speed regulation is required such as
electric traction.

DC motor Figure 1

Selection of DC Motor :

Choosing DC motor and associated equipment for a given application requires

consideration of several factors.

Speed Range :

If field control is to be used, and a large speed range is required, the base speed must
be proportionately lower and the motor size must be larger. If speed range is much
over 3:1, armature voltage control should be considered for at least part of the range.
Very wide dynamic speed range can be obtained with armature voltage control.
However, below about 60% of base speed, the motor should be DC rated or used for
only short periods.

Speed Variation with Torque :

Applications requiring constant speed at all torque demands should use a shunt wound
DC motor. If speed change with load must be minimized, a DC motor
regulator, such as one employing feedback from a tachometer, must be used. When
the DC motor speed must decrease as the load increases, compound or series-wound
DC motors may be used or a DC motor power supply with a drooping volt-ampere
curve could be used with a shunt-wound DC motor.

Reversing :

This operation affects power supply and control, and may affect the DC motor's brush
adjustment, if the DC motor cannot be stopped for switching before reverse operation.
In this case, compound and stabilizing DC motor windings should not be used, and a
suitable armature-voltage control system should supply power to the DC motor.

Duty cycle :

Direct current motors are seldom used on drives that run continuously at one speed
and load. Motor size needed may be determined by either the peak torque requirement
or heating.

Peak torque :

The peak torque that a DC motor delivers, is limited by that load at which damaging
commutation begins. DC motor brush and commutator damage depends on sparking
severity and duration. Therefore, the DC motor's peak torque depends on the duration
and frequency of occurrence of the overload. DC motor peak torque is often limited
by the maximum current that the power supply can deliver.

DC motors can commutate greater loads at low speed without damage. NEMA
standards specify that machines powered by DC motors must deliver at least 150%
rated current for 1 minute at any speed within rated range, but most DC motors do
much better.

Heating :

DC motor temperature is a function of ventilation and electrical/mechanical losses in

the machine. Some DC motors feature losses, such as core, shunt-field, and
brushfriction losses, which are independent of load, but vary with speed and excitation.
The best method to predict a given DC motor's operating temperature is to use
thermal capability curves available from the DC motor manufacturer.

If curves are not available, DC motor temperature can be estimated by the power - loss
method. This method requires total losses versus load curve or an efficiency curve.
For each portion of the duty cycle, power loss is obtained and multiplied by the
duration of that portion of the cycle.

The summation of these products divided by thetotal cycle time gives the DC motor's
average power loss. The ratio of this value to thepower loss at the motor rating is
multiplied by the DC motor's rated temperature riseto give the approximate temperature
rise of the DC motor when operated on that dutycycle.

Cut Section View of DC Motor Figure 2

Direct current machines are energy transfer devices. These machines can function as
either a motor or a generator. DC motors and generators have the same basic
construction, differing primarily in the energy conversion.

To better understand the operation and construction of DC machines, a few basic

terms and purpose of each of the following components of a DC machine.

1. Armature
2. Rotor
3. Stator
4. Field

1. Armature :

The purpose of the armature is to provide the energy conversion in a DC machine. In

a DC generator, the armature is rotated by an external mechanical force, such as a
steam turbine. This rotation induces a voltage and current flow in the armature.

Thus, the armature converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. In a DC motor, the
armature receives voltage from an outside electrical source and converts electrical
energy into mechanical energy in the form of torque.

2. Rotor :
The purpose of the rotor is to provide the rotating element in a DC machine. In a DC
generator, the rotor is the component that is rotated by an external force. In a DC motor,
the rotor is the component that turns a piece of equipment. In both types of DC
machines, the rotor is the armature.

Rotor of DC motor Figure 3

3. Stator :

The stator is the part of a motor or generator that is stationary. In DC machines, the
purpose of the stator is to provide the magnetic field. The stator is provided by a
permanent magnet.

Stator with Yoke Stator withWinding

Figure 4 Figure 5

4. Field :

The purpose of the field in a DC machine is to provide a magnetic field for producing
either a voltage (generator) or a torque (motor). The field in a DC machine is
produced by either a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. Normally,
electromagnets are used because they have an increased magnetic strength, and the
magnetic strength is more easily varied using external devices. In Figure 4 and 5 the
field is provided by the stator.

Principle of DC Machine :

It is based on the principle that when a current-carrying conductor is placed in a

magnetic field, it experiences a mechanical force whose direction is given by
Fleming's Left-hand rule and whose magnitude is given by
Force, F = B I L Newton
Where,
B is the magnetic field in weber/m2,
I is the current in amperes and
L is the length of the coil in meter.
The force, current and the magnetic field are all in different directions. Poles of a
magnet, an upward force will move one wire up and a downward force will move the
other wire down. So the wire does not get twisted. This arrangement also makes sure
that at the current always passes down on the right and back on the left so that the
rotation continues. This if electric current flows through two copper wires that are
between this how a simple electric motor is made.

A DC machine can operate as a motor or as a generator. This kind of machine is

usually realized as an internal rotor/external-pole machine. The ring-coat-shaped
housing of the machine is also used as a magnetic yoke for the magnetic field through
the armature and poles. The excitation winding (field winding) is located directly on
the main poles of the stator. A current that flows in this winding generates the main
field. Since the machine is operated with DC current the magnetic field in the stator is
constant and so all iron parts of the stator can be made of massive material.

Nevertheless the main poles and the commutating poles are often laminated because
of easier manufacture. Modern DC machines, used in closed-loop controlled drives,
with a fast change in armature current and main field consist of one completely
laminated magnetic circuit. A massive iron construction would strongly in sequence
the dynamics and the efficiency of the machine due to the appearance of eddy
currents.

The rotating part of the machine holds on its shaft the armature with the
commutator. Since the alternating flux flows through the armature, iron parts must be
built from laminated mutually insulated and slotted magnetic steel sheets. The coils of
the armature winding are placed in the slots; their ends are connected to the
commutator segments. The current is fed into the commutator by carbon brushes. As
the rotor revolves, conductors revolve with it. The brushes contact the commutator
segments.

Operating behaviour of the DC machine :

In sequence This result in a constant direction of the armature held due to the
commutation. The magnetic flux of the armature is ideally vertical to the direction of
the main held. Due to this coagulation there is no induced voltage at the turn
connected to brushes.

This area is called the neutral zone. When the load of the machine increases, the
armature held is no more collectible and causes a shift of the neutral zone because of
the superposition of main field and Armature field: The main field is distorted and
(because of the effects of saturation) weakened.

This interference between the main field and the armature cross field, which causes a
loss of torque, can be reduced using a compensating winding in the stator of the DC
machine. The conductors of this compensating winding are arranged in axial slots of
the main pole. The compensating winding is connected in series to the armature, so
that the total magnetic flux under one pole with compensating conductors and
armature conductors create no magnetic field transverse to the main pole.

The shift ofthe neutral zone also causes brush are because commutation doesn't take
place in the neutral zone anymore: the windings carry an induced voltage greater than
zero when short-circuited by the commutator. This results in faster deterioration of the
commutator. Large machines are therefore equipped with additional commutating
poles.

Their coils are connected in series to the armature winding. The commutating
poles generate a counter field in the area of the short-circuited armature conductor in
such a way that voltages induced by this field compensate the ones resulting from the
commutation of the armature currents, so that a commutating free of sparks is
achieved.

Figure 6
Voltage Equation of DC motor

Let in a d.c. motor (See Fig below),

V = applied voltage

Eb = back e.m.f.

Ra = armature resistance

Ia = armature current

Since back e.m.f. Eb acts in opposition to the applied voltage V, the net voltage across
the armature circuit is V- Eb. The armature current Ia is given by;

Ia = (V – Eb)/ Ra

or V = Eb + IaRa ……………………………..(i)

This is known as voltage equation of the d.c. motor.

Power Equation of DC motor

If Eq.(i) above is multiplied by Ia throughout, we get,

VIa = EbIa +I2aRa

VIa= electric power supplied to armature (armature input)

EbIa = power developed by armature (armature output)

I2aRa = electric power wasted in armature (armature Cu loss)

Thus out of the armature input, a small portion (about 5%) is wasted as a I2aRa and the
remaining portion EbIa is converted into mechanical power within the armature.

Condition For Maximum Power

The mechanical power developed by the motor is Pm= EbIa

Now Pm=VIa -I2aRa

Since, V and Ra are fixed, power developed by the motor depends upon armature
current. For maximum power, dPm/dIa should be zero.

dPm/dIa = V – 2IaRa

or IaRa = V/2

Now, V = Eb + IaRa =Eb + V/2

therefore Eb= V/2

Hence mechanical power developed by the motor is maximum when back e.m.f. is
equal to half the applied voltage.

Limitations

In practice, we never aim at achieving maximum power due to the following reasons:

(i) The armature current under this condition is very large—much excess of rated
current of the machine.

(ii) Half of the input power is wasted in the armature circuit. In fact, if we take into
account other losses (iron and mechanical), the efficiency will be well below 50%.