DC Machine Drive

Theory
The systems used for motion control are called drives. The drives used for electrical motors are known as elec-
trical drives. Motor control is required for a large number of industrial and domestic applications such as those
used in transportation systems, rolling mills, paper mills, textile mills, fans, pumps, robots, washing machines,
etc. Today, the industrial sector has increased demand for process automation in all areas. Automation results
in better quality, increased production and reduced costs. Depending on the application, the drives are either
of fixed speed or of variable speed.
The variable speed drives, till a couple of decades back, had various limitations such as poor efficiency, large
sizes, lower speeds, etc. However, the advent of power electronics has led to better conditions, and today we
have variable drive systems which are not only smaller in size but also have very high efficiency and reliability.
They meet all the demands of various industries.
DC motors have been used in variable speed drives for a long time. The variable control characteristics of
dc motors have contributed to their extensive use in industry. A dc motor can provide high starting torque
which is required for traction drives. Control over a wide speed range, both below and above the rated speed
can be easily achieved. The methods of speed control are simpler and less expensive than those of alternating
current (ac) motors. Primarily the drive systems can be divided into two groups: dc drive systems and ac drive
systems. The invention of power control systems has led to the advent of dc drive systems for most of the early
variable speed requirements. Based on simple construction and ease of control, this technology has been almost
perfected as far as the controller is concerned.
This example illustrates a simple D.C machine drive which controls the armature terminal voltage to control
the speed of the rotor. Here the speed is at a user defined reference value which is set using the variable
input. The speeds above the base speed can be achieved by reducing the field current. In this case, field is kept
constant. Speed control below the base speed is achieved by varying the armature terminal voltage. Appropriate
armature terminal voltage to be maintained is computed from the speed control and torque control Feedback
loop. The control scheme is shown in Figure below
However, with only speed control feedback scheme, it is not possible to limit the dynamic armature current
magnitude. Further, torque control is also desirable. In order to incorporate the feature of limiting Ia within a
desirable range, the current control loop is added. When the error in speed is more, the armature voltage order
increases. Consequently, the armature current and the output torque increase which tend to increase the speed.
This current is fed back to the drive control circuit which reduces the voltage order and hence the current is
controlled. The current/torque control response of the drive is faster than the speed response of the motor due
to inertia and hence the speed is able to settle to the reference value at steady state

Figure 1: BLOCK Diagram

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MATLAB Simulation
Simulation model:
Figure below shows the speed control of separately excited DC motor model and PWM generation model.

Figure 2: DC Motor Drive

Figure 3: Pulse width modulation

Setting parameters for various blocks used:

1. Solver type (model configuration parameters  solver)

(a) Type: Fixed-step

(b) Solver: discrete
(c) Fixed-step size: 50e-6

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 (d) Simulation time: 5 s
2. Powergui (Simulink Library Browser  Simscape  SimPowerSystems  Powergui)
(a) Simulation type: discrete
(b) Sample time (s): 50e-6
3. DC voltage source (Simulink Library Browser  Simscape  SimPowerSystems  Electrical sources 
DC voltage source)
(a) Amplitude(V):
i. Vf: 50
ii. Va: 130
4. Universal bridge (Simulink Library Browser  Simscape  SimPowerSystems  Power Electronics 
Universal Bridge)
(a) Number of bridge arms: 2
(b) Snubber resistance Rs (Ohms): 1e6
(c) Snubber capacitance Cs (F): inf
(d) Power Electronic device: IGBT/diodes
(e) Ron (Ohms): 5e-3
(f) Forward voltages [ Device Vf(V) , Diode Vfd(V)]: [0 0]
(g) [T f (s), T t(s)] : [1e − 6, 2e − 6]
5. DC machine (Simulink Library Browser  Simscape  SimPowerSystems  Machines  DC machine)
(a) Mechanical input: speed w
(b) Field type: Wound
(c) Armature resistance and inductance [Ra (ohms) La (H) ]: [ 0.5 0.1]
(d) Field resistance and inductance [Rf (ohms) Lf (H) ]: [ 25 1.5]
(e) Field-armature mutual inductance Laf (H) : 0.2387
6. Discrete PI Controller (Simulink Library Browser  Simulink  Discrete  Discrete PID Controller)
(a) Controller: PI
(b) Form: Parallel
(c) time domain: discrete-time
(d) Integrator method: Trapezoidal
i. for Werror:
A. P: 0.605
B. I: 15.125
C. Upper saturation limit: 1.25
D. Lower saturation limit: -1.25
ii. for Iaerror:
A. P: 9.622
B. I: 48.11
C. Upper saturation limit: 10000
D. Lower saturation limit: -10000
7. Discrete time integrator (Simulink Library Browser  Simulink  Discrete  Discrete time integrator)
(a) Integrator method: Integration: Trapezoidal
(b) Gain value: 1
(c) Sample time (-1 for inherited): 50e-6
(d) Upper saturation limit: 500
(e) Lower saturation limit: -500
8. Repeating Sequence: (Simulink Library Browser  Simulink  Sources  Repeating Sequence)
(a) Time values: [0 0.5e-3 1e-3 1.5e-3 2e-3]
(b) Output values: [0 1 0 -1 0]

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Simulation Results:
Figure below shows the speed and speed reference in per unit; armature and field currents and Vab.

Figure 4: Output wave forms of Speed, Torque, armature current, field current

PSCAD Simulation
Simulation model

Figure 5: DC motor using H-Bridge

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 Figure 6: Control Circuit

Setting parameters for various block used

1. Run time setting (Right click  project settings  run time settings)

(a) Duration of run = 5 s

(b) Solution Time Step = 50 × 10− 6 s
2. Voltage source (Master Library  Sources  [single phase voltage source model 2])

(a) Source Impedance: Ideal

(b) Source Type: DC
(c) Magnitude = 130 V (Armature Voltage)
(d) Magnitude = 50 V (Field Voltage)
(e) Ramp up Time = 0 s

3. IGBT (Master Library  HVDC Facts  IGBT)

(a) Enable Snubber Circuit: No

(b) Interpolated pulse: No
4. Diode (Master Library  HVDC Facts  Diode)

(a) Enable Snubber Circuit: No

5. Two winding DC Machine (Master Library  Machines  Two winding DC Machine)

(a) Magnetizing Data: Exponential Equation
(b) Saturated noload voltage: 1.1 pu
(c) Saturated Constant: 0.55 pu
The d.c motor component simulates the output electrical torque (Te ) based on the input angular speed
(ωm ) and the corresponding input parameters like field current, armature current and voltage as defined
above. Angular speed is a function of dynamic torque developed by the motor as mentioned in Equation
1. Z
1
ωm (s) = (Te − TL − Bωm )dt (1)
J
Where, the ‘B’ is the coefficient of friction set to zero in this case, TL is the load torque set as constant
and ‘J’ is the moment of inertia. This equation simulates the rotational dynamics of the rotor and is
modeled in PSCAD as shown in above Figure 5. The generated electrical torque (Te ) is the p.u. output

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 from the d.c motor component. It is multiplied by the base torque to get the actual torque in N-m. The
base torque is given by Equation 2.

Vrated × (Ia )rated

Trated = (2)
ωrated
Where, the rated voltage and current are defined in the motor component as 100 V, 20 A and the rated
angular speed is taken as 188.5 rps. The load torque is taken as constant at 0.5 p.u. and is converted to
N-m by multipling it with Trated . The load torque can be changed to different constant values using
variable input slider component and the user interface control panel (Components >> ControlP anel).
These two components can be linked by pressing ctrl key on the key board and clicking and dragging the
input slider onto the control panel. The multiplier and divider components are also used .
The signal (Te − TL − Bωm ) generated using summing/differencing junctions
(M aster Library >> CSM F >> [sumjct]) is fed to the integral block
(M aster Library >> CSM F >> [integral]) and multiplied by 1/J to get the actual angular speed in
rps. The p.u. value ωm is fed as input to the motor component. Hence the rotational dynamics of the
rotor for a constant torque load is simulated.

6. Integrator (Master Library  CSMF  Integrator)

(a) Resettable: No
(b) Time constant: 1 s
(c) Upper limit = 500
(d) lower limit = -500

7. Slider (Master Library  I/O Devices  Slider)

(a) Step load
i. Maximum value = 1
ii. Minimum value = 0
iii. Initial value 0.5
(b) Speed Reference
i. Maximum value = 1
ii. Minimum value = 0
iii. Initial value = 0.5
8. PI control of Speed (Master Library  CSMF  PI)
(a) Proportional gain = 0.605
(b) Integral time constant = 0.04 s
(c) Maximum limit = 1000
(d) Minimum limit = -1000

9. Hard Limiter (Master Library  CSMF  Hard Limiter)

(a) Upper Limit = 1.25
(b) lower Limit = -1.25
10. PI control of Current (Master Library  CSMF  PI)

(a) Proportional gain = 9.622

(b) Integral time constant = 0.2 s
(c) Maximum limit = 10000
(d) Minimum limit = -10000
11. Real constant ( Master Library  Miscellaneous  Real and integer constants )
(a) Real Constant Value = -1

12. Signal generator ( Master Library  CSMF  Signal generator )

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 (a) Frequency of the signal = 500 Hz
(b) Maximum Output level = 1
(c) Minimum Output level = -1
13. Comparator ( Master Library  CSMF  comparator )

(a) Output Type : Level

14. Logic inverter ( Master Library  LOGICAL  Logic inverter )

Output wavefroms

Figure 7: Output wave forms of Speed, Torque, armature current, field current

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Matlab Machine Model Representation
Here we are replacing PSCAD machine model by MATLAB machine model.

Figure 8: Ckt with matlab machine model

Representation of machine

Figure 9: Machine Representation

In PSCAD there are two types of projects : Library and Case projects.

Case project: Case projects (or simply ‘cases’) are where most work is performed in PSCAD. case project
may be compiled, built and run. Simulated results can be viewed directly within the project through on-line
meters and/or plots. Case projects are saved with the file extension ‘*.pscx.’
Library project: Library projects are used primarily to store definitions. Instances of definitions stored in a
library, can be used within any case project. Library projects are saved with the file extension ‘*.pslx.’

Machine modeling in PSCAD: Go to the Component Wizard and create a module as shown below Fig.
10. Enter the number of ports and click on the Add ports. Enter the data has shown in Fig. 11 .

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Figure 10: Picture view of component wizard

Figure 11: Component Wizard 1

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Click on the finish button and drag the component to the main page. Double click on it and connect the
circuit as shown below Fig. 12.

Figure 12: Inside the Motor Block

Here again we have to create an internal block by using component wizard.

Figure 13: picture view of component wizard

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 Figure 14:

Figure 15: Intenal circuit diagram

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Note :
1. All the basic elements are available in the components .
2. Gain block , Summing/differencing , Square , Divider ,Trigonometric Function Blocks are available in
CSMF ( Master Library  CSMF )
3. In order to plot a graph just click on the signal name and change the name and connnect it to the Output
channel then right click on it go to graph pane / controls / meters and then click on add overlay graph
with signal.

Output wave forms:

Figure 16: Output wave forms of Speed, Torque, armature current, field current

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PSIM Simulation
Circuit Overview
Figure illustrates the PSIM model for DC Motor drive using H-bridge dc-dc converter.

Figure 17: Power Circuit using available model in PSIM

Figure 18: Control Circuit

Setting parameters for various blocks used

1. Simulation Control (Simulate  Simulation Control)
(a) Time step = 50 × 10−6
(b) Total time = 5
2. IGBT [IGBT1,IGBT2,IGBT3,IGBT4]
(a) Transistor Resistance = 0.005
3. DC Machine [DC1] (Elements  Power  Motor Drive Module  DC Machine)
(a) Ra = 0.5
(b) La = 0.1
(c) Rf = 25
(d) Lf = 1.5
(e) Moment of Inertia = 0.005
(f) Vt(rated) = 100
(g) Ia(rated) = 20
(h) n(rated) = 1800

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 (i) If(rated) = 2
(j) Torque Flag = 1
4. Mechanical-Electrical Interface [M2E1] (Elements  Power  Mechanical Loads and Sensors  Mechanical-
Electrical Interface)

5. DC Current Source [Tload] (Elements  Sources  Current  DC Current Source)

6. Triangular wave voltage generator [VTRI]

(a) V peak to peak = 2
(b) Frequency = 500
(c) Duty Cycle = 0.5
(d) DC Offset = −1
7. PI

(a) PI1
i. Gain = 0.605
ii. Time constant = 0.04
(b) PI2
i. Gain = 9.622
ii. Time constant = 0.2
8. Limiter[LIM1]
(a) Lower Limit = −1.25
(b) Upper Limit = 1.25

9. Label [Ia,P1,P2,P3,P4,Wm,V c](Edit  Place Label)

10. Resistance Capacitor branch [RC1,RC2,RC3,RC4] (Elements  Power  RLC branches  RC)
11. On-Off Controller [ON1,ON2,ON3,ON4] (Elements  Other  Switch Controllers  On-Off Controller)

12. Voltage Controlled [VVCVS1](Elements  Sources  Voltage Controlled)

Simulation Plots

Figure 19: a)Speed reference(pu) and Actual speed(pu) b)Electromagnetic Torque(N m) c)Field current(A)
(d)Armature current(A)

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 Acknowledgments

This work was carried out at IIT Bombay as a part of the project “Simulation Centre for Power Electronics
and Power Systems,” through the National Mission on Power Electroincs Technology (NaMPET), Phase 2,
sponsored by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Govt. of India.

This specific document was contributed by

• V. Sai Suresh ( saisuresh60@gmail.com )

• Shrikant Mali ( bb.shrikant@gmail.com )

• Sandeep V. Nair ( sandeepvnair89@gmail.com )
• Ajinkya Sinkar ( ajinkyasinkar@gmail.com )

References

1. M.H. Rashid, Power Electronics:Circuits, Devices & Applications, Pearson Publication 2009
2. M.B. Patil, V. Ramanarayanan and V.T. Ranganathan, Simulation of Power Electronic Circuits, Narosa
Publishing House 2009

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