DC Motor Operation 

By on

Coils of wire on the rotor carry a d.c. current which generates a magnetic field. A stator magnetic field is created using either permanent magnets or electrical field windings.

Any current-carrying conductor placed within an external magnetic field experiences a force. Torque is produced in the motor by this mechanism.

As a d.c current provides a constant magnetic field, this needs to change each half revolution and is called commutation. Commutation is typically accomplished by metal brushes against the contacts. Where a field winding is used to generate the stator magnetic field, different motor characteristics can be obtained depending on how this winding is connected.

Operation Principals 

DC Motor Operation PrincipalsFor the equivalent circuit the parameters are given by:

 

myElectrical EquationWhere:

myElectrical Equation       - lap winding

myElectrical Equation -       wave winding

given that

  • n = number of conductor
  • p = number of pole pairs
  • ω = motor speed, rad s-1
  • φ = flux per pole, Wb
  • T = torque Nm
and

myElectrical Equation

The power input to armature is given by:      myElectrical Equation

The armature power loss is given by:           myElectrical Equation

The output power is given by:                         myElectrical Equation

The torque is given by:                                     myElectrical Equation

Typically, IaRa is ±3% of Va and the power dissipated in field winding ±3.5% of the motor rating.

Field Windings

Permanent magnets or field windings of a dc motor provide the necessary magnetic fields for the motor to operate(often call excitation):

  • permanent magnets - provides a continuous and constant magnetic field by the use of permanently magnetized materials (typically on only the smallest motors)
  • separately excited - separate windings and power supply provide the magnetic field for the motor
  • shunt winding - this is connected in parallel with the motor armature to provide the excitation
  • series winding - this is connected in series with the motor armature to provide the excitation
  • compound winding - is a hybrid between shunt and series where to field windings are connected both in parallel and in series with the armature

Characteristics of DC Motors

 

Speed Control of DC Motors

Separately excited, shunt

  • Constant power drive - Ia,Va is held constant and If varied
  • Constant torque If is held constant and Ia, Va varied

DC Converter output Voltages

Semi converter,       myElectrical Equation         [DC converter equations do not look correct.  Please can someone check.]     

Full converter, myElectrical Equation - with infinite inductive filtering


Steven McFadyen's avatar Steven McFadyen

Steven has over twenty five years experience working on some of the largest construction projects. He has a deep technical understanding of electrical engineering and is keen to share this knowledge. About the author

myElectrical Engineering

comments powered by Disqus



Mobile Phones (Brick to Implant)

The mobile phone was born in 1973. They were the size of a brick and weighed a couple of kg, making them difficult to fit into your pocket. At a few thousand...

ABB Technical Guides - Motor Operation

ABB has produced a range of technical guides that offer concise explanations of the major technologies and technical issues in low voltage AC drives. ...

Generator Sizing & Operation Limits

When selecting a generator, there are inherent limits on the active and reactive power which can be delivered. Generators are normally sized for a certain...

Lightning Protection and Earth Electrode Resistance

Most installations involve some form of lightning protection system which is connected to an earth electrode.  The function of the earth electrode is to...

Battery Sizing

This article gives an introduction to IEEE 485 method for the selection and calculation of battery capacity.

Paternoster Lifts

These lifts were first built in 1884 by J. E. Hall and called a paternoster ("Our Father", the first two words of the Lord's Prayer in Latin) due to its...

Cables for MV Power Distribution - Earthed versus Unearthed Systems

Power cables can basically be classified into earthed and unearthed cables, where earthed and unearthed refer to the application for which the cable is...

UPS Battery Sizing

Various techniques exist to enable the correct selection of batteries for UPS applications.  The procedure described below is one of the more common. ...

1,000 kV UHV First for China

At the beginning of the year China put the world's first 1,000 kV UHV transmission system into operation. Transmitting power at over a million volts is...

Cable Trumps

Bored at work and would rather be playing trump card game with you son. The next best thing (or not) maybe the online cable trump card game from AEI Cables...

Have some knowledge to share

If you have some expert knowledge or experience, why not consider sharing this with our community.  

By writing an electrical note, you will be educating our users and at the same time promoting your expertise within the engineering community.

To get started and understand our policy, you can read our How to Write an Electrical Note