LECTURE NOTES ON

ELECTRIC POWER ENGINEERING (EPE316B)

MODULE 3: DIRECT CURRENT (DC) MACHINES (PART C)

DR. UDOCHUKWU B. AKURU

Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment

Department of Electrical Engineering
 STUDY OBJECTIVES:

 To describe the construction and principle of operation of a DC

machines.

 To understand commutation in DC machines.

 To explain power flow and determine losses and efficiency in

DC machines.

 To distinguish between DC generators and motors and explain

their different types, operation and characteristics.

 To be able to perform basic analysis in DC machines.

DC Motors
 DIRECT CURRENT MOTOR
1. Describe, identify and explain the basic construction
2. Identify and determine the equivalent circuit
3. Describe and explain the magnetizing curve
4. Describe and explain the separately excited and shunt
motor: terminal characteristics and speed control
5. Describe, explain, analyze and calculate induced torque,
terminal characteristics, speed control of series motor
6. Describe, explain and analyze the torque speed
characteristics, speed control of the compounded DC motor
7. Identify and explain DC motor starter
8. Define and calculate the efficiency
 Introduction
• DC machines can be classified according to
the electrical connections of
• the armature windings
• the field windings
• different ways of windings, lead to different
operating characteristics.
 Introduction
• The field winding can be
• separately-excited
• Terminal of the windings fed from a separate voltage
source
• self-excited
• Terminal of the windings connected across the input
voltage terminal
• In self-excited machines, the field winding can be
connected with the armature winding in
– Series
– Parallel (shunt)
– Compound (combination of both)
 DC
machine

Separately Self Permanent

excited excited magnet

Series Shunt Compound

 Excitation
ϕ
N S

• How the magnetic field is created is called

the ‘excitation’.
• Any circuit that is used to create the flux
is called the ‘field excitation’
• There are different method to excite the
machine
– Self-excited
– Separately excited
 Permanent magnet
armature

commutator

EA
N EA S

brushes
 Permanent magnet DC Motors
• Permanent‐magnet motors are effectively separately excited 
dc motors with a constant field excitation.
• While they are manufactured in all ranges up to 100 hp (74.6 
kW), they are most commonly used in low‐power battery‐
supplied tools and appliances.
• There a number of advantages in their use:
1.They have a high efficiency because there is no field 
loss, and they are cool running.
2.They are lighter and physically smaller than a 
comparable shunt or separately excited motor.
3.They are more reliable since there is no field to burn 
out.
 Permanent magnet DC Motors
• There a number of advantages in their use:
4.They have good speed regulation.
5.They have a high dynamic braking capacity, which is 
easily achieved by shunting the armature leads.
6.They are easily controlled with thyristor controls.
7.They are less costly to manufacture, because the air gap 
is not critical. There are no field windings and the field 
poles can be produced in a multipole machine.
 Permanent magnet DC Motors
• There are also several disadvantages to their use in higher power 
applications:
1. The permanent‐magnet material may be demagnetized in one or 
more of the following ways:
a. Self‐demagnetization or aging.
b. By temperature change. Alnico magnets are relatively stable and 
there is very little change in the magnetic field strength with temperature 
increases. Ceramic magnets have a higher coercitivity, but show a reduction 
in magnetic field strength with increasing temperature, about six times that 
of Alnico.
c. Demagnetization of the permanent‐magnet material caused by 
armature reaction is not a problem with low‐power motors, since it requires 
armature currents in excess of 10 times full‐load rated current, although in 
some high‐power applications this has been a problem. It can be solved in 
larger motors by using interpoles and current limit control to ensure that 
excessive load currents are not permitted.
 Permanent magnet DC Motors
2. Commutation can be a problem since small permanent‐magnet motors do 
not have interpoles or compensating windings, and as a result arcing will occur 
between the brushes and the commutator. Careful design can minimize commutation 
problems.
• A major disadvantage is that in order to achieve the superior performance, the 
permanent‐magnet motor must be designed specifically for use with these 
materials (rare‐earth magnetic materials).
• This, combined with the high cost of materials, is restricting the use of these 
magnets to the low end of the power output range.
• The major advantages of using permanent‐magnet motors are:
1. They possess very high starting torques.
2. They are easily controlled.
3. They have linear speed‐torque characteristics over the entire torque range 
which, when operated at low speed, permits their submission for gear motors, thus 
eliminating the backlash problems associated with gearing.
 Separately excited
now using separate source from
battery, electromagnetic field is
created

N S EA

This can also be done 
by not using a battery
 Self excited
Rf

Eg
Basic Construction 1
Field windings •Used to produce the required magnetic field by DC excitation.
•The conducting wire connected to the armature that energize the 
pole pieces. Field windings are connected in series or parallel. 
Armature  • where the e.m.f is induced.
windings •The coiled, insulated conductors surrounding the armature through 
which current is run to create a magnetic field. 
•Reversing the current flow through the armature windings in DC 
motors reverses motor rotation. 
Commutator • Functions to facilitate the collection of current from the armature.
• It rectifies/ converts the alternating current induced in the armature 
into unidirectional current. 
•It consists of segments insulated from each other by a thin layer of 
mica.
Brushes • function is to collect current from the commutator, and are usually 
made of carbon in the shape of a rectangular block.

Construction and Operations 5 18
• In the equivalent circuit, the
armature circuit is represented by an
ideal voltage source, EA and a
resistor RA.
• This representation is really the
Thevenin equivalent of the entire
rotor structure.
– Vbrush- brush voltage drop oppose
direction of current flow
– LF & RF- represented the field
coils, which produce the
magnetic flux
– Radj – represented the external
variable resistor to control the
amount of current in the field
circuit
 Simplified equivalent circuit

Armature
Field
circuit
circuit

• The brush drop voltage is left out since it

contributes only a tiny fraction, and
included in RA.
• Radj and RF is lumped, given by RF.
•Since the IF α F (F = NFIF) the
magnetomotive force and since
EA α Ø, it is customary to present
the magnetization curve as a plot of
EA versus field current for a given
speed ωm.
•To get the maximum possible
power, most motors and generators
are designed to operate near the
saturation point, on the
magnetization curve (at the knee of
the curve).
•This implies that a fairly large
increase in field current is often
necessary to get a small increase in
EA when operation is near full load.
Equation involved
 EA depends on 3 factors:

• Flux in the machine, ϕ

• Speed of the machine’s rotor, ωm
• Constant depending on the
construction of the machine
 τind depends on 3 factors:

• Flux in the machine, ϕ

• The armature current, IA in the machine
• Constant depending on the construction
of the machine
 Vsource

• A separately excited DC motor is a motor whose field circuit is

supplied from a separate constant-voltage power supply
• A shunt motor is whose field circuit gets its power directly
across the armature terminals of the motor.
• When the V = constant, there is no practical difference in the
behavior between separately excited and shunt motor.
 Equivalent circuit of separately
excited DC motor
IF IA IL

DC motor RF RA
IF= VF / RF VF VT
VT= EA + IARA LF + EA
IL = IA -
Equivalent circuit of DC shunt
motor
IA IL

IF
DC Motor RA
RF
IF= VT / RF
VT= EA + IARA VT
EA +
IL = IA + IF - LF
 Terminal characteristics
• Terminal characteristics of a machine is a
plot of the machine’s output quantities
versus each other
• For a motor, the output quantities are shaft
torque and speed
• So the terminal characteristics of a motor is a
plot of its output torque versus speed
Terminal Characteristics of Shunt
DC Motor

What happen when

the load on the
shaft is increased?
Explanation in page 471 of
Prescribed text*

*Electric machinery Fundamental, 5th Ed. 
McGRAW‐HILL, by Stephen J. Chapman
Terminal Characteristics of Shunt
DC Motor
τind - ωm Characteristics
Terminal Characteristics of Shunt
DC Motor
Ta– Ia Characteristics
Ta  I a
Speed control of Shunt Motor

1. Adjusting the field resistance, Rf

(to control ϕ)
2. Adjusting the terminal voltage, VT
applied to the armature
3. Inserting a resistor in series with
the armature circuit (power
wasteful).
 Speed control of Shunt Motor…
• The two most common methods of shunt motor
speed control are field resistance variation and
voltage variation, since insertion of a resistor is a
very wasteful method of speed control, since the
losses are large.
• In field resistance control, the lower the field
current, IF the faster it turns, the higher IF, the
slower it turns.
• If a motor is operating at its rated terminal voltage,
power, and field current, then it will be running at
rated speed, also known as base speed.
 Speed control of Shunt Motor…

• In armature voltage control, the lower the armature voltage,

EA the slower it turns; the higher the armature voltage, the
faster it turns.
• These two techniques of speed control are obviously
complimentary. Armature voltage control works well for
speeds below base speed, and field resistance or field current
control works well for speed above base speed.
• By combining the two speed-control techniques in the same
motor, it is possible to get a range of speed variations of up
to 40 to 1 or more.
• Shunt and separately excited DC motors have excellent
speed control characteristics.
 Equivalent circuit of DC series
motor
IS IL

DC Motor RA IA
IS = IA = IL VT
VT = EA + IA (RA + RS) +
EA -
Terminal characteristics of a DC
series motor
Equivalent circuit of DC series
motor
τind - ωm Characteristics
Terminal Characteristics of Series
DC Motor
Ta– Ia Characteristics
2
Ta  Ia
 Speed control of Series Motor

1. Change the terminal voltage, VT.

2. Inserting a series resistor into the motor
(power wasteful).
 Speed control of Series Motor
• Unlike the shunt DC motor, the only efficient way
to change the speed of series motor is to change the
terminal voltage, VT of the motor.
• If VT is increased, a higher speed (for a given
torque) is achieved.
• The speed of series dc motors can also be controlled
by insertion of series resistor into the motor circuit,
but it is very wasteful of power and is only used for
intermittent periods during the start-up of some
motors.
N.B. Students are to read up about the general control of DC motors – series, shunt,
compound, etc..
 Equivalent circuit of DC
compound motor
IL
RS LS

IF
DC Motor RA RF
IA
I L = IF + IA VT
VT = EA + IA (RA + RS) +
EA -
LF
Terminal characteristics of a DC
compound motor
Terminal characteristics of a DC
compound motor
τind - ωm Characteristics
Equivalent circuit of DC
compound motor
Ta– Ia Characteristics
 Speed control of Cumulatively
Compounded Motor

1. Change the field resistance, RF.

2. Change the armature voltage, EA.
3. Change the armature resistance, RA.
 Speed control of Cumulatively
Compounded Motor
• The techniques available in speed control in
a cumulatively compounded DC motor are
the same as DC shunt motor. The arguments
effect of changing RF and VA is similar to
shunt DC motor.
• Theoretically, the differentially compounded
dc motor could be controlled in similar
manner, but this motor is almost never used.
• When motor is at rest, there is not yet a back e.m.f.
• When the full supply voltage is applied, then the
starting current is very high because the armature
resistance, RA is very small.
• This excessive starting current will blow out fuses
and may damage the brushes too.
• To avoid this starting current, a resistance is inserted
in series with the armature and is gradually cut out as
the motor gains speed and develops the back e.m.f
which then regulates in speed. This is done with a DC
motor starter.
 Importance of DC Motor Starter
DC motor to needs a special control and protection
equipment in order to function properly. The purposes of
DC starter are:
1. To protect the motor against damage due to short circuits
in the equipment
2. To protect the motor against the damage from long-term
overloads.
3. To protect the motor against damage from excessive
starting currents.
4. To provide a convenient manner in which to control the
operating speed of the motor
To calculate the efficiency of a dc motor, the
following losses must be determined:

1. Copper losses
2. Brush drop losses
3. Mechanical losses
4. Core losses
5. Stray losses
 Speed Regulations
• DC motors are often compared by their
speed regulations.
• Speed Regulations (SR) of the motor is
defined by

nl  fl n nl  n fl
SR  x 100% or SR  x 100%
fl n fl
 Application of DC motors
Type  Advantages Application
Shunt  Provides constant speed Centrifugal pump, 
(Speed regulation is very good) machine tools, blowers 
Adjustable speed, medium  fans, reciprocating 
starting torque pumps, etc

Series  Variable speed motor which  Hoists, electric trains, 

changes speed drastically from  conveyors, elevators, 
one load condition to another electric cars, etc.
Has a high starting torque

Compound Variable speed motors. Rolling mills, heavy

It has a high starting torque  machine tools, 
and no‐load speed is  punches, etc.
controllable unlike in series 
motor.
THANK YOU

Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment

Department of Electrical Engineering