I.

TITILE
THE DIRECT CURRENT MOTOR, PART 1

II. MATERIALS
DC MOTOR/ GENERATOR MODULE EMS 8211
POWER SUPPLY MODULE (0-120Vdc) EMS 8821
DC METERING MODULE EMS 8412
(20/ 200 V, 500 Ma, 2.5 A)
CONNECTION LEADS EMS 8941

III. DISCUSSION OF THEORY

DC Motor
A direct current (dc) motor is an electric machine that converts electrical energy to mechanical
energy. Dc motors are motion components that take electrical power in the form of direct current
(or some manipulated form of direct current) and convert it into mechanical rotation. The motors
do this through the use of magnetic fields that arise from the electric currents to spur rotation of
a rotor fixed with an output shaft. Output torque and speed depends on the electrical input and
motor design.

Parts of DC Motor
DC motor namely consists of two major parts, that is,

i. Stator: This is the stationary part which keeps the field windings, gets the supply and forms
the outside portion of the motor. The DC motor’s stator consists of 2 or more magnet pole
pieces and that too permanent. Here, a coil is wounded on a magnetic component to form
the stator.
ii. Rotor: This is the inner rotating part which carries out the mechanical rotations. This part
consists of windings connected to the external supply circuit via commutators.
Ferromagnetic materials are used in the construction of stator and rotor and an air-gap
separates the parts.

Other subsidiary parts are

i. Yoke: Yoke consists of a magnetic frame that is made up of steel or cast iron and is an
important component of stator. This forms the protective coating/covering for the inner
sensitive parts of the DC motor and supports armature. Yoke houses the field winding and
magnetic poles thereby supporting the field system.
ii. Poles: Inner walls of the yoke have magnetic poles fitted to it with screws. Magnetic poles
construction basically uses two parts, pole core and pole shoe, which uses hydraulic
pressure to stack together and followed by attaching to the yoke. The purpose of pole core,
with a smaller cross sectional area, is to hold back the pole shoe onto the yoke and the pole
shoe is meant to spread flux that is produced over the air gap in between the rotor and the
stator so as to reduce any losses due to reluctance. Pole shoe with a cross-sectional area
 relatively larger than pole core comprises of slots for carrying field windings that is meant to
produce field flux.
iii. Field windings: Field windings are made by wounding field coils over the slots belonging to
the pole shoes. As the current flows through the coils, the adjacent poles produce opposite
polarities. Electromagnets are formed by the field winding which produces flus around the
field within which armature of DC motor rotates and which results in the cutting of flux.
iv. Armature winding: The rotor is attached with the armature winding and due to the rotation
of rotor, the windings are subjected to magnetic fields that are altering during its path of
rotation and thereby results directly in magnetic losses. Therefore, rotor is created from
armature core, which in fact is made of several silicon steel laminations having low
hysteresis so as to reduce magnetic losses such as eddy current loss and hysteresis loss.
Armature core cylindrical structure is formed by stacking together the laminated steel
sheets. Copper is usually used for making windings.

Slots are found in the armature core which is made of the same material as that of core on
to which the windings of copper wire with several turns are distributed over the whole
periphery of the armature core uniformly. Fibrous wedges are used to shut the slot openings
so as to avoid the conductor from moving out caused due to the high amount of centrifugal
force that is produced during the armature rotation in the presence of magnetic field and
supply current.

v. Commutator: Commutator is a cylindrical form of structure that is made from stacking

together copper segments and mica used for the insulation between each other. In electric
motors, electrical switch, that is rotary, have a moving part called the commutator which is
meant to reverse the direction of current flowing between the external circuit and rotor. The
purpose of commutator is to bring the supply current to the armature winding, which is
placed in the rotor, from the mains via the brushes in the DC motor. Commutator has long
life when compared to number of breaks and makes in a circuit in case of a normal
operation.
vi. Brushes: Graphite or carbon structures are used to make the brushes for the DC motor that
is held in contact with the rotating commutator. The electric current is relayed from the
external circuit to the commutator by the brushes which then flow to the armature winding.
So, the brush and commutator setup is meant for the transmission of power to the rotor from
the static electrical circuit.

Types of DC Motors
Geared DC Motors:
Geared motors tend to reduce the speed of the motor but with a corresponding increase in
torque. This property comes in handy, as DC motors can rotate at speeds much too fast for an
electronic device to makes use of. Geared motors commonly consist of a DC brush motor and a
gearbox attached to the shaft. Motors are distinguished as a geared by two connected units. It
has many applications due to its cost of designing, reduces the complexity and constructing
applications such as industrial equipment, actuators, medical tools and robotics.

Speed Reduction in Geared DC Motor:

Speed reduction in gears comprises of a little gear driving a larger gear. There may be few sets
of these reduction gear sets in a reduction gear box. Sometimes the objective of using a gear
motor is to reduce the rotating shaft speed of a motor in the device being driven, for example in
a small electric clock where the tiny synchronous motor may be turning at 1,200 rpm however is
decreased to one rpm to drive the second hand and further reduced in the clock mechanism to
drive the minute and hour hands. Here the amount of driving force is irrelevant as long as it is
sufficient to overcome the frictional impacts of the clock mechanism.

Series DC Motor:
Series motor is a DC series motor where field winding is connected internally in series to the
armature winding. The series motor provides high starting torque but must never be run without
a load and is able to move very large shaft loads when it is first energized. In series motors, the
field windings are associated in series with the armature. The field strength varies with
progressions in armature current. At the time its speed is reduced by a load, the series motor
advances more excellent torque. It can also radiate more easily the heat that has built up in the
winding due to the large amount of current being carried. Its speed shifts considerably between
full-load and no-load. When load is removed, motor speed increases and current through the
armature and field coils decreases. Unloaded operation of large machines is hazardous.

Shunt Motor:
Shunt motors are shunt DC motors, where the field windings shunted to or are connected in
parallel to the armature winding of the motor. The shunt DC motor is commonly used because
of its best speed regulation. Also hence both the armature winding and the field windings are
presented to the same supply voltage, however there are discrete branches for the stream of
armature current and the field current.
A shunt motor has somewhat distinctive working characteristics than a series motor. Since the
shunt field coil is made of fine wire, it cannot produce the large current for starting like the series
field. This implies that the shunt motor has extremely low starting torque, which requires that the
shaft load be quite little.

Characteristics of DC Motor

 The armature winding is connected to a DC source.

 The armature current interacts with the magnetic flux produced by the field coils, causing a
torque on the rotor. This machine will rotate in the counterclockwise direction.
 The field coils produce a north pole on the left and a south pole on the right. The current in
the armature coil also produces a magnetic field, with a south pole at the top of the machine
and a north pole at the bottom.
IV. DATA AND RESULTS

V. OBSERVATION
The key piece in this experiment is the direct current motor, the direct current motor that was
used in the experiment is set up in a way that the dc motor can be connected as a shunt, series
or compound motor with the use of connecting leads between the terminals on the front panel
with the use of the equipment we were able to witness a dc motor and its parts together with its
characteristics on its own, while in action and while it is connected as a shunt, series or
compound motor. In the parts of the dc motor, during the experiment we saw that copper
windings, this might be because of its low resistance to current and thus lower power losses.
We also observed other parts like the stator and the rotor or the armature which is designed to
carry the direct current setting up a magnetic field. The copper windings in the armature
develops a toque while carrying the current and results in the turning of the motor. We were also
able to identify and count and the commutators, the stator poles and locate the brushes and the
windings together with its connection to the terminals. After locating the parts, we were also able
to observe what the dc motor does through connecting it as a shunt, series and compound.
While doing the experiment and while doing the experiment we made sure not to turn the power
on while doing the connections for safety measures.

VI. CONCLUSION
The dc motor is a machine comprised of many parts each with its different functions and roles
that enables it to work for it to be able to transform electric energy into mechanical energy in
form of rotation. The movement of the dc motor is created by the physical behaviour of
electromagnetism. The parts along with its number and location used for the direct current
motor also have a purpose to why it works efficiently.

VII. QUIZ
1. What would be the shunt field current of your motor if the shunt field winding is excited
by 120Vdc?
- 𝐼𝑠 = 120/266.7
= 0.45 A

2. If a current of 3Adc flows in the series field winding of your motor, what would the
resultant voltage drop be?
- The resultant voltage drop would be 5.1 V. As, 3 x 1.7 = 5.1 V.

3. If the rheostat were connected in series with the shunt field winding and the combination
placed across a 120Vdc line, what shunt field current variations could be obtained from
your motor?

𝐼𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚= 120
= 0.24 𝐴𝑑𝑐
𝐼𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚= 120 = 0.44 𝐴𝑑𝑐
500 266.7

4. All of the windings and even the commutator of your motor are made of copper. Why?
- Copper is the best base metal for conducting electricity. It is helpful to less the voltage
drop at winding. Using a poorer metal can cause a lot of power lose and heat
generation.

5. Why are the brushes of your motor made of carbon rather than copper?
- Carbon is softer than copper, so it will not damage the commutator.
- It has a negative temperature coefficient of resistance.

6. If the series field winding of your motor was connected directly across the 120Vdc
supply:
a) What current would flow?
- 9 Amps

b) What would the power loss be (in watts)?

- 1,080.0027 W

c) Is this power loss entirely given up as heat?

- No

d) What do you think would happen to the winding if the current were sustained for
a few minutes?
- It would create combustion

7. What is meant by a “nominal current” or “nominal voltage”?

- Nominal current or nominal voltage is a rated value.

8. If the armature winding and the series field winding of your motor were connected in
series across a 120Vdc source, what would the starting current be?
- 1.5 A

9. In your motor, is the armature (plus brushes) resistance substantially the same for every
rotational position of the armature?
- Yes
Explain.
- This is because voltage and current are the ranging factors while resistance remains
constant