DC motors

University of Technology
Electrical Engineer
Second stage

Types and applications of the DC motors.

Under the supervision of Dr. Fadhil Abbas

Preparation Ali Khalid Raheem

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DC motors

Types of DC Motors:
A DC motor (direct current motor) has a lot of applications in today’s field of engineering and
technology. From electric shavers to automobiles – DC motors are everywhere. To cater to this wide
range of applications – different types of DC motors are used depending on the applicaition.
The types of DC motor include:
 Permanent Magnet DC Motor (PMDC Motor)
 Separately Excited DC Motor
 Self Excited DC Motor
 Shunt Wound DC Motor
 Series Wound DC Motor
 Compound Wound DC Motor
 Short shunt DC Motor
 Long shunt DC Motor
 Differential Compound DC Motor

We will now discuss in detail the various different types of DC Motors.

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1-Separately Excited DC Motor

As the name suggests, in case of a separately excited DC motor the supply is given separately to the
field and armature windings. The main distinguishing fact in these types of DC motor is that, the
armature current does not flow through the field windings, as the field winding is energized from a
separate external source of DC current as shown in the figure beside.

From the torque equation of DC motor we know Tg = Ka φ Ia So the torque in this case can be varied
by varying field flux φ, independent of the armature current Ia

2-Permanent Magnet DC Motor

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The permanent magnet DC motor (also known as a PMDC motor) consists of an armature
winding as in case of an usual motor, but does not necessarily contain the field windings. The
construction of these types of DC motor are such that, radially magnetized permanent magnets are
mounted on the inner periphery of the stator core to produce the field flux.
The rotor on the other hand has a conventional DC armature with commutator segments and
brushes. The diagrammatic representation of a permanent magnet DC motor is given below.

The torque equation of DC motor suggests

Here φ is always constant, as permanent magnets of required flux density are chosen at the time of
construction and can’t be changed there after.

For a permanent magnet DC motor

Where, Ka1 = Ka.φ which is another constant. In this case, the torque of DC Motor can only be
changed by controlling the armature supply.

3-Self Excited DC Motor

In case of self excited DC motor, the field winding is connected either in series or in
parallel or partly in series, partly in parallel to the armature winding. Based on this, self
excited DC Motors can be classified as:

1-Shunt wound DC motor

2-Series wound DC motor
3-Compound wound DC motor

Let’s now go into the details of these types of self excited DC motor.

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DC motors

1-Shunt Wound DC Motor:

In case of a shunt wound DC motor or more specifically shunt wound self excited DC
motor, the field windings are exposed to the entire terminal voltage as they are connected
in parallel to the armature winding as shown in the figure below.
To understand the characteristic of these types of DC motor, lets consider the basic
voltage equation given by,

[Where, E, Eb, Ia, Ra are the supply voltage, back emf, armature current and armature
resistance respectively]

[since back emf increases with flux φ and angular speed ωω]
Now substituting Eb from equation (2) to equation (1) we get,

The torque equation of a DC motor resembles,

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DC motors

This is similar to the equation of a straight line, and we can graphically

representing the torque speed characteristic of a shunt wound self excited DC
motor as

The shunt wound DC motor is a constant speed motor, as the speed does not vary here
with the variation of mechanical load on the output.

2:Series Wound DC Motor

In case of a series wound self excited DC motor or simply series wound DC motor, the
entire armature current flows through the field winding as its connected in series to the
armature winding. The series wound self excited DC motor is diagrammatically
represented below for clear understanding.

Now to determine the torque speed characteristic

of these types of DC motor, lets get to the torque
speed equation.

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From the circuit diagram we can see that the voltage equation gets modified to

Where as back emf remains Eb = kaφω

Neglecting saturation we get,

[since field current = armature current]

From equation (5) and (6)

From this equation we obtain the torque speed

characteristic as

In a series wound DC motor, the speed varies with load.

And operation wise this is its main difference from a
shunt wound DC motor.

3-Compound Wound DC Motor:

The compound excitation characteristic in a DC
motor can be obtained by combining the operational
characteristic of both the shunt and series excited
DC motor. The compound wound self excited DC
motor or simply compound wound DC motor
essentially contains the field winding connected
both in series and in parallel to the armature
winding as shown in the figure below:

The excitation of compound wound DC motor can

be of two types depending on the nature of compounding.

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DC motors

Cumulative Compound DC Motor

When the shunt field flux assists the main field flux, produced by the main field connected in series
to the armature winding then its called cumulative compound DC motor.

Differential Compound DC Motor

In case of a differentially compounded self excited DC motor i.e. differential compound DC motor,
the arrangement of shunt and series winding is such that the field flux produced by the shunt field
winding diminishes the effect of flux by the main series field winding.

The net flux produced in this case is lesser than the original flux and hence does not find much of a
practical application.

The compounding characteristic of the self excited DC motor is shown in the figure below.

Both the cumulative compound and differential

compound DC motor can either be of short
shunt or long shunt type depending on the nature
of arrangement.

Short Shunt DC Motor

If the shunt field winding is only parallel to the armature winding and not the series field winding
then its known as short shunt DC motor or more specifically short shunt type compound wound DC
motor.

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The circuit diagram of a short shunt DC motor is

shown in the diagram below.

Long Shunt DC Motor

If the shunt field winding is parallel to both the armature winding and the series
field winding then it’s known as long shunt type compounded wound DC motor
or simply long shunt DC motor.

The circuit diagram of a long shunt DC motor is shown in the diagram below.

Applications of DC Motors:
The main applications of the three types of direct current motors are given below.

Series Motors
The series DC motors are used where high starting torque is required and variations in speed are
possible. For example – the series motors are used in the traction system, cranes, air compressors,
Vaccum Cleaner, Sewing machine, etc.

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Shunt Motors
The shunt motors are used where constant speed is required and starting conditions are not severe.
The various applications of DC shunt motor are in Lathe Machines, Centrifugal Pumps, Fans,
Blowers, Conveyors, Lifts, Weaving Machine, Spinning machines, etc.

Compound Motors
The compound motors are used where higher starting torque and fairly constant speed is required.
The examples of usage of compound motors are in Presses, Shears, Conveyors, Elevators, Rolling
Mills, Heavy Planners, etc.

The small DC machines whose ratings are in fractional kilowatt are mainly used as control device
such in techno generators for speed sensing and in servo motors for positioning and tracking.

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References:

1. N. Mohan, Electric Machines and Drives: A First Course, Wiley, 2012.

2. A. Veltman, D.W.J. Pulle, and R.W. DeDoncker, Advanced Electrical Drives: Analysis,
Modeling, Control, Springer, 2011.

3. J.L. Kirtley, Electric Power Principles: Sources, Conversion, Distribution, and Use, Wiley,
2010.

4. A. Veltman, D.W.J. Pulle, and R.W. DeDoncker, Fundamentals of Electrical Drives, Springer,
2007.

5. I. Boldea and S.A Nasar, Electric Drives, CRC Press, 2nd ed. 2006.

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