SSRG International Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (SSRG-IJEEE) – volume 2 Issue 3

March 2015
Modelling and Simulation of Armature-Controlled Direct
Current Motor Using MATLAB
Jide Julius Popoola 1 , Oladele Joshua Oladejo ,2 and Charity Segun Odeyemi3
1 Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
2 Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
3 Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria

ABSTRACT : Technology at present needs faster important issues in modeling is model validity,
and easier means of controlling equipment with few which is the process of simulating the model under
numbers of components. One of such equipment is known input conditions and comparing model
the direct current (DC) motor, whose speed is output with system output [1].
directly proportional to the supply voltage. Using
Basically, simulation of a system is the
this established relationship between the speed and
the supply voltage, this paper investigates the operation of a model of the system, which can be
effects of different loads and inputs on the output reconfigured and experimented with. Thus,
response of the armature controlled direct current operation of the model can be studied in order to
motor. The aim is to establish relationship between infer some details on the properties concerning the
the speed of DC motor and the load torque at behavior of the actual system or its subsystem.
different voltages as well as investigating the Generally, according to [1], simulation is a tool to
performance of closed-loop systems when different
evaluate the performance of a system, either
voltages are applied to the armature circuit of the
motor when a constant voltage is supplied to the existing or proposed, under different configurations
field circuit of the motor. The study was carried out of interest and over long periods of real time.
in two stages. The first stage involved Hence, for this armature controlled DC
mathematical modeling of the system while the motor modeling, the analysis was carried out using
second stage centered on the simulation of an both the step and impulse responses. All the data
armature controlled direct current motor using
based on internal circuit of the modeled armature
Simulink environment in MATLAB. The
performance analysis of the modeled system shows controlled DC motor for this study were analyzed
that usage of feedback enhances the p erformance both by control system design calculation and by
of the transient response of the armature controlled MATLAB software.
DC motor. In addition the result obtained shows In order to enhance both the understanding
that at different input voltages, the speed the DC and proper presentation of the study reported in this
motor is inversely proportional to the load torque. paper, the remaining parts of this paper are
organized as follows. In Section II, in depth
Keywords - Model, DC motor, Back emf, DC information on DC motor such as its principle of
motor classifications, Electrical and mechanical operation, classification and different meth ods of
variables controlling the speed of DC motors were presented.
Section III provides in detail, the methodology
I. INTRODUCTION used in carrying out the study reported in this
The universe we live undergoes continual
paper. The results obtained are presented,
change. This change is not always apparent if the
interpreted and discussed in Section V while the
time scale is long as experienced in some
conclusions made are presented in Section V.
geological processes. However in engineering
where situations that are time-dependent are
II. D IRECT CURRENTOTOR M
important, ideal description of objects or processes
The DC motor is one of the first machines
must include proper timing. This kind of
devised to con vert electrical power into mechanical
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SSRG International Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (SSRG-IJEEE) –
volume 2 Issue 3 March 2015
electromagnet. The repellent and attractive
electromagnetic forces of the magnets provide the
torque that causes the motor to turn. It also consists
of one set of coils, called armature winding, inside
a set of permanent magnets, called the stator.
Applying a voltage to the coils produces a torque in
the armature, resulting in motion.
The principle of operation on a DC motor
as shown in Figure 1 requires a DC voltage source.
When the two ends of the coil are connected across
a DC voltage source, it will cause current, I, to flow
through it. Hence, a force is exerted on the coil as a
result of the interaction of magnetic field and
electric current. The force on the two sides of the
coil is such that the coil starts to move in the
direction of force. Figure 1: Torque production in a DC motor [6]
In a DC motor, several such coils are
wound on the rotor, all of which experience force,
resulting in rotation. The greater the current in the
wire, or the greater the magnetic field, the faster the
wire movement because of the greater force
created. At the same time, torque is being produced
as the conductors are moving in a magnetic field.
At different positions, the flux linked with it
changes, which causes an electromagnetic force
(emf) to be induced as shown in Figure 2. This
Figure 2: Induced voltage in armature winding of
voltage is in opposition to the voltage that causes DC motor [6]
current flow through the conductor and is referred
to as a counter-voltage or back emf. Basically, there are three types of DC
The value of current flowing through the motors. The two commonly criteria usually use in
armature is dependent upon the difference between
classifying them are their characteristics and the
the applied voltage and this counter-voltage. The
current due to this counter-voltage tends to oppose connection
of their exciting windings or circuits.
the very cause for its production according to Based on these criteria, the three common types
Lenz’s law. It results in the rotor slowing down are: shunt, series and compound motors.
such that the force created by the magnetic field In shunt DC motor, only one exciting
equals the load force applied on the shaft. Then the winding, which is connected across the armature
system moves at constant velocity. Basically, the terminals and is thus in parallel or in shunt with the
operation of DC mot or is based on the principle
armature. The field winding consists of a large
that when a current carrying conductor is placed in
a magnetic field, the conductor experiences a force. number of turns of fine wire on each pole, and
This force according to [5], plays an important role usually the windings on all the poles are connected
to produce a powerful torque. The magnitude of the in series in one circuit. The current in the field
force is given mathematically in [5] as; depends upon the line voltage and upon the
F BIl …………………………… (1) resistance of the field winding. The resistan ce of
where B is the flux density in Weber per square the field winding is purposely made high so that the
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20
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SSRG International Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (SSRG-IJEEE) –
volume 2 Issue 3 March 2015
winding consists of a few turns of thick wire on 3.1 ARMATURE CONTROLLED DC M C
IRCUIT
OTOR
each pole, and the windings on all poles are DIAGRAM REPRESENTATION
connected in series. The current in the field This stage focus was on development of
depends upon the load and is thus large with heavy an armature controlled DC motor as shown in
load and small with light load. The resistance of the Figure 3 with torque and rotor angle.
field winding is purposely made low so that the
loss of voltage and power in that circuit will be
small. According to [7], the only thing that limits
the speed of a series motor is the amount of load
connected to it.
The third class known as the compound or
cumulative motor has both a series winding and a
shunt winding on each pole, which are wound and
connected so that the two windings assist each
other in the protection of magnetism. It is a Figure 3: Armature-controlled DC motor [10]
combination of a shunt and a series motor. The
compound-wound motor has two excitation
In Figure is3, the Rresistance of the
windings, both on the main field poles. According a

to [8], in this type of DC motor the majority of the L inductance of the armature
armature,is the
a
flux results from the conventional shunt winding
winding, ia is the armature current, if
is the field
with additional excitation from series-connected
winding. current, eisa eis
the applied armature voltage,
b
Generally, DC motors are much more
is theTtorque developed by the
the back emf,
adaptable speed drives [4] than alternating current M

(AC) motors which are associated with a constant motor,

is the angular displacement of motor-
speed rotating field. Indeed one of the primary is theJ equivalent moment of inertia of
shaft,
reasons for the strong competitive position of DC motor shaft and load referred to the motor while
motors in modern industrial drives is the fine speed
is the fequivalent coefficient of motor and load
control. The speed of a DC motor according to [9]
is given as; referred to the motor shaft.

Ea I a Ra 3.2 DERIVATION OF THE SYSTEM QUATION

E
N K ………….. (2)
The activity in this stage involves the
development of both the electrical and mechanical
where, Ea I a Ra is the back emf eb .
variables in Figure 3. The variables of interest on
There are three methods of controlling the the electrical side are voltage and current while the
speed of DC motor: armature voltage speed variables of interest on the mechanical side are
control, field flux speed control and voltage torque and speed. The two basic equations relate
control. In this study, the armature method was these four variables and form the foundation of
employed. The modeling and simulating armature controlled DC motor analysis.
procedures involved in carrying out the study are According to [8], the developed torque by
presented in Section III. motor is defined mathematically as;
zp
T2 ia K…….
i (3)
III. M ODEL DEVELOPMENT a p t a p

In modeling the armature controlled DC

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21
SSRG International Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (SSRG-IJEEE) –
volume 2 Issue 3 March 2015
60 d2 d
n …………………………. (5) J f T……...
Kt (14)
ia
2 dt 2 dt
Substitute (5) into (4), to obtain
zp 3.3 DERIVATION OF THE SYSTEM QUATIONE
eb 2 Kb ……… (6) Taking the Laplace transform of (12), (13)
a p p
and (14) respectively, assuming zero initial
zp conditions;
where was denoted as Kb .
2 a Eb s K………………..
s s (15)
b
zp La s Ra Ia s Es E s (16)
…………
The factor is frequently referred to b
2 a
Js2
fs s T s K………
I s (17)
as torque constant Kt in (3) and voltage constant
t a

Substitute inE(15)sin (16) to obtain;

Kb in equation (6). Since Kb Kt , a new
b

constant, K , which is defined in [8] as; La s Ra I a s Es K.….s (18)

s
b
zp
K Kt Kb ………… (7)
2 a I subject
Make the s of the formula in (18) to
a
obtain;
Since the field strength is fixed, the flux
per pole is merged with K to yield another E s Kb s s
p
Ia s …… (19)
constant, K, which is expressed mathematically La s Ra
as;
Substitute (19) in (17) to obtain;

zp Kt E s Kt …....
Kb s (20)
s
K …………………… (8) Js2 fs s
2 a p
La s Ra
where K is
referred to as the machine constant.
Hence, (3) can be re-expressed as; Re-arrange (20) to obtain;

T Kia ……………………... (9)

s Js2 fs L s R KK s K
Es
a a t b t

Likewise, (6) can be re-expressed as;

eb K ………………………. (10)
Hence, the system transfer function is
For clarity purposes so that it will be easy expressed mathematically as;
to differentiate between electrical and mechanical
variables, the constant K in (9) and (10) are s Kt
Kt Kb ... (21)
replaced with and to obtain (11) and (12) Es Js2 fs La s Ra Kt Kb s s
respectively giving as follows;
T Kt ia …………………... (11)
3.2 CONVERSION OF TRANSFERUNCTION F TO
and
MODEL BLOCK
eb Kb ………………… (12) From (21), the block diagram for the
Applying Kirchhoff Voltage Law (KVL) in Figure armature controlled DC motor was developed. The
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22
SSRG International Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (SSRG-IJEEE) –
volume 2 Issue 3 March 2015

Es Kt 1 s
s Js f La s Ra
E s
b

Kb s
Figure 4: Block Diagram of an Armature
controlled DC motor

Figure 6: Plot of armature voltage against motor

speed

The steady state response as shown in

Figure 6 shows the variation in the speed as the
voltage increases. The result obtained as shown in
Figure 5: Model created in SIMULINK Toolbox
Figure 6 shows that the voltage-speed
of MATLAB
characteristics of armature controlled DC motor
speed increases with increase in voltage. This
implies that the speed of the DC motor is directly
IV. S IMULATION RESULTS AND
proportional to the armature voltage.
DISCUSSIONS
In addition, under the steady state
The simulated model was analyzed based
response, the variation of the torque speed
on its transient and steady state responses. The
characteristics for the DC motor at different
standard test input signals for transient response
armature voltages was examined. The obtained
were step function and impulse function. However,
result as shown in Figure 7 shows that at different
for the steady state response, the graphs of torque-
input voltages, the higher the speed the lower the
speed characteristics for different armature voltages
load torque. This implies that the speed of the DC
and armature speed characteristics were
motor at different voltages is inversely proportional
considered. The motor specifications are 3hp, 125V
and 1500rpm while its parameters: to the load torque. The Figure shows that the
torque-speed curve is shifted upward by increasing
Ra 0.6 , L 6 mH , J 0.093 kgm ,
a the armature voltage while the slope of the curve
K 0. 7274 , K 0.6, B 0.008 Nmrad 1
s .
1
remains constant as it is theoretically expected.
t b m

For the analyses, all the initial conditions

are assumed to be zero, so there is no current
flowing through the motor when it first started. The
values above were input into the model and
simulation took place. Th e respective results under
the steady state response and transient response are
presented in the following sub-sections.

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7: Torque-speed
armature voltages
characteristics for
Page
three
23
SSRG International Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (SSRG-IJEEE) –
volume 2 Issue 3 March 2015
4.2 TRANSIENT RESPONSE
Similarly, the transient response of the
modeled armature controlled DC motor was
examined. The response shows how the use of
feedback helps in improving both the performance
and stability of the motor.
On performance analysis, the motor
performances under different values of Ka with
unit input were considered. The responses obtained
were shown graphically in Figures 8 - 10. In Figure
8, the amplitude starts at zero at time, t, equals
zero. However, as time, t, increases, the value of
amplitude tends to 1.649rps. By this, it takes 0.6
time unit for amplitude in Figure 8 to reach the
Figure 10: Response of the motor to a unit step
steady state value. It can also be seen from Figure 8
that the amplitude increased steadily without any input, at Ka 2.0
oscillation. Since the performance objective is to
have amplitude track the unit step, it is reasonable
to say that the modeled motor performs reasonably
well as expected though it a long time for
amplitude of Figure 8 to get to its steady state.
However, when the value of K a was increased in
Figure 9 and Figure 10, the responses become
faster. The responses now reach the steady state in
0.4 time unit and 0.2 time unit respectively. The Figure 11: Response of the motor to an

Ka imp ulse input, at Ka 0.7274

results show that as the value of is increasing,
the response rate is increasing.

Figure 12: Response of the motor to an

imp ulse input, at Ka 0.3
Figure 8: Response of the motor to a unit step input, at
Ka 0.7274

ISSN:
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1.0of the motor to a unit step performanceFigure
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In 13:
modeled
ulse
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input, at of K
to motor,
further its
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aevaluate
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Page
to
the24
an
SSRG International Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (SSRG-IJEEE) –
volume 2 Issue 3 March 2015
was also examined using impulse signal at different [5] M. Abdus Salam, Fundamentals of electrical
machines , Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi, 2005.
values of Ka . The responses obtained were shown
[6] B.M. Chen, Personal Course Website EG1108
in Figures 11 – 13. The graphs show the shapes Electrical Engineering Part 2- Chapter 4: DC ,Motors
2011, pp.
obtained for the three values of Ka were similar 1-19. Online [Available]:
http://vlab.ee.nus.edu.sg/~bmchen/courses/EG1108_DCmotors.
except that it took the responses different time units pdf. Accessed on 23 rd March, 2015.

to return to zero. For instance, while it takes about [7] S. L. Alerich, and W.N. Herman, Industrial motor
0.5 time units in Figure 11 when Ka 0.7274 , it control , Delmar Publishers, Fourth Edition, 1999.

takes infinitesimal time unit in Figure 12 when [8] H.A. Toliyat, and G.B. Kliman, Handbook of
Electric Motors , CRC Press, USA, 2004.
Ka 0.3000 while the response in Figures 13
[9] B.L. Theraja, and A.K. Theraja, A Textbook of
returns to zero immediately when the value of Electrical Technology
, S. Chand and Company Ltd, Twenty-
Ka 0.1000 . Third Edition, 2012.

On the stability of the motor, the speed of [10] I. J. Nagrath, and M. Gopal, Control Systems
the motor at when subjected to disturbance at Engineering
, New Age International Publisher, New Delhi, Fifth
Edition, 2011.
different values of Ka were observed. The results
obtained presented graphically above show that the
speed of the motor is directly proportional to the
value of Ka . The results also show that the initial
introduction of the disturbance causes a drop in the
speed of the motor. The result further shows that
disturbance does affect the speed of motor.

V. C ONCLUSION
In this paper, the simulation model of an
armature controlled DC motor was developed using
MATLAB/Simulink. The analysis and performance
evaluation of the developed motor show that the
simulated motor correctly predicts the effect of
armature voltage on the armature voltage-speed
characteristics and torque-speed characteristics of
the armature controlled dc motor. Furthermore, the
results of the study show that the speed of the DC
motor is directly proportional to the armature
voltage.

REFERENCES
[1] A. Maria, Introduction to modeling and simulation
studies, Proc. of the 1997 Winter Simulation Conf. Atlanta, GA,
Dec. 7-10, 1997, pp. 7-13. Online [Available]:
http://imap.acqnotes.com/Attachments/White%20Paper%20Intr
oduction%20to%20Modeling%20and%20Simulation%20by%2
0Anu%20Maria.pdf. Accessed on 6 th
February, 2015.

[2] K.B.T.M. Khalil, PI control of DC motor drive,

B.Sc. diss. Universiti Teknikal, Melaka, Malaysia, 2007. Online
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