DC MACHINES

INTRODUCTION
 Dc machines are one part of electrical machines used for energy conversions systems.
 it is versatile and extensively used in industry.
 DC machines can work as generators and motors.

I. DC Generator
 Converts mechanical energy to electrical energy
 diesel engine

 Turbine (steam) source of mechanical power (prime mover)

 AC motor
 Means of supplying electrical power to industrial and domestic consumers

 But there is almost no modern use of DC machines as generators

 Presently all the land based electrical power networks are AC systems of generation, transmission and
distribution.

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 II. DC Motors
 Convert electrical energy to mechanical energy

 Drives a mechanical load

 Are finding increasing applications, especially where large magnitude and precisely
controlled torque is required.

Used in :

 Rolling mills in overhead cranes & for traction purposes, linked fork lift trucks,
electric vehicles and electric trains.

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 Advantages

 It can meet the demand of loads requiring high starting torque

 High accelerating and decelerating torque

 Speed can be controlled in a wide range

 Provides quick reversal

Disadvantages
 The complexity of the construction, mainly due to the use of carbon brush with
commutator segments contact.

 Arcing and sparking due to commutator segments that reduces the reliability of the
machine.

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Construction
The basic parts of DC machines are:
1. shaft
A. Stator (stationary part) 2. end-bearings
B. Rotor (Rotating part ) 3. Commutator
4. brushes
5. armature
6. main-pole
7. main-pole field winding
8. frame
9. end-shield
10. ventilator
11. basement
12. bearings

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 Stator consists of
Stator Frame (name plate, terminal box, basement):
provides support for the machines, provides for the pole flux & carries half of it.
Stator core ( yoke mechanical, support)
Stator pole
Field winding ( produce stator magnetic flux i.e. main flux)
Commutating poles( inter poles (improving commutation )), avoids spark b/n brush
& commutator
Compensating windings:- in large DC machines only, placed in the slots connected in
series with armature windings, cancels armature reaction and flux weakening.
Brush:- attached to stator end covers made up of Carbon, graphite & to collect the
current from the commutator

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 B. Rotor
The rotating part of the machine where electromechanical energy conversion
takes place.
It consists of :
Rotor core
Armature winding:- consists of large no. of coils, each coil having
one or more turns, embedded in rotor slots. each side of the turn is
called conductor.
Rotor shaft
Bearings to support the rotor shaft
Commutator :- mounted on the shaft, insulated each other.
Convert AC to DC (mechanical rectification )
Keeps the rotor MMf stationary in space
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Yoke
 The outer frame of a DC motor is a hollow cylinder made up of cast steel or
rolled steel is known as yoke.

The yoke serves following two purposes:

 It supports the field pole core and acts as a protecting cover to the machine.
 It provides a path for the magnetic flux produced by the field winding.
Magnetic Field System
 The magnetic field system is the stationary part of the machine. It
produces the main magnetic flux in the motor. It consists of an even number of
pole cores bolted to the yoke and field winding wound around the pole core.
 The field system of DC motor has salient poles i.e. the poles project
inwards and each pole core has a pole shoe having a curved surface.
The pole shoe serves two purposes
i. provides support to the field coils
ii. reduces the reluctance of magnetic circuit by increasing the cross-
sectional area of it.
 The. pole cores are made of thin laminations of sheet steel which are
insulated from each other to reduce the eddy current loss
 The field coils are connected in series with one another such that when
the current flows through the coils, alternate north and south poles are
produced.
Pole and Pole Core
 The pole of the DC machine is an electromagnet and the field winding is winding
among pole. Whenever field winding is energized then the pole gives magnetic flux.

Pole Shoe
 enlarge the region of the pole. Because of this region, flux can be spread out within the
air-gap as well as extra flux can be passed through the air space toward armature.
Armature Core
 mounted on the shaft and rotates between the field poles.
 has slots on its outer surface and the armature conductors are put in these slots.
 made up of soft steel laminations which are insulated from each other and
tightly clamped together.
 In small machines, the laminations are keyed directly to the shaft, whereas in
large machines, they are mounted on a spider.
 The laminated armature core is used to reduce the eddy current loss.

Armature Winding
 The insulated conductors are put into the slots of the armature core. The
conductors are suitably connected.
 This connected arrangement of conductors is known as armature winding.
 There are two types of armature windings are used – wave winding and lap
winding.
Commutator
 mechanical rectifier which converts the alternating voltage generated in
the armature winding into direct voltage across the brushes.
 The commutator is made of copper segments insulated from each other by
mica sheets and mounted on the shaft of the machine .
 The armature conductors are soldered to the commutator segments in a
suitable manner to give rise to the armature winding.

Brushes
 The brushes are mounted on the commutator and are used to inject the current
from the DC source into the armature windings.
 The brushes are made of carbon and is supported by a metal box called brush
holder.
 The pressure exerted by the brushes on the commutator is adjusted and maintained
at constant value by means of springs.
 The current flows from the external DC source to the armature winding through
the carbon brushes and commutator.
 Working Principle
 When it is connected to an external source of
DC supply, the field coils are excited developing
alternate N and S poles and a current flows
through the armature windings.

 All the armature conductors under N pole

carry current in one direction (say into the plane of
the paper), whereas all the conductors under S pole
carry current in the opposite direction (say out of DC Motor (two pole)
the plane of the paper).

 As each conductor carrying a current and is placed in a magnetic field,

hence a mechanical force acts on it.
 By applying Fleming’s left hand rule, the force on each conductor is tending to
move the armature in anticlockwise direction. The force on all the conductors add
together to exert a torque which make the armature rotating.

 When the conductor moves from one side of a brush to the other, the current in the
conductor is reversed and at the same time it comes under the influence of next pole of opposite
polarity. As a result of this, the direction of force on the conductor remains the same.
 Therefore, the motor being rotating in the same direction.
 Working Principle
 Consider a single loop DC generator (as shown in the figure), in this a single turn loop
‘ABCD’ is rotating clockwise in a uniform magnetic field with a constant speed.
 When the loop rotates, the magnetic flux linking the coil sides ‘AB’ and ‘CD’ changes
continuously. This change in flux linkage induces an EMF in coil sides and the induced
EMF in one coil side adds the induced EMF in the other.

DC Generator

The EMF induced in a DC generator:

1. loop is in position-1: generated EMF is zero because, the movement of coil sides is parallel to
the magnetic flux.
2. When the loop is in position-2, the coil sides are moving at an angle to the magnetic flux and
hence, a small EMF is generated.
3. When the loop is in position-3, the coil sides are moving at right angle to the magnetic flux,
therefore the generated EMF is maximum.
1. When the loop is in position-4, the coil sides are cutting the magnetic flux at an angle, thus a
reduced EMF is generated in the coil sides.
2. When the loop is in position-5, no flux linkage with the coil side and are moving parallel to
the magnetic flux. Therefore, no EMF is generated in the coil.
3. At the position-6, the coil sides move under a pole of opposite polarity and hence the polarity
of generated EMF is reversed. The maximum EMF will generate in this direction at position-
7 and zero when at position-1. This cycle repeats with revolution of the coil.

 It is clear that the generated EMF in the loop is alternating one.

 It is because any coil side (say AB) has EMF in one direction when under the influence of
N-pole and in the other direction when under the influence of S-pole.
 Hence, when a load is connected across the terminals of the generator, an alternating
current will flow through it.
 Now, by using a commutator, this alternating emf generated in the loop can be converted
into direct voltage. We then have a DC generator.
 Derive an expression for the e.m.f. generated in a d.c. generator.

Let Φ= flux/pole in Wb ; Z = total number of armature conductors

P = number of poles ; N = speed of armature in r.p.m.
A = number of parallel paths Eg = e.m.f. of the generator = e.m.f./parallel path

Average emf generated per conductor = dΦ/dt (Volts)

Flux cut by one conductor in one revolution = dΦ = PΦ (Weber),

Number of revolutions per second (speed in RPS) = N/60

Therefore, time for one revolution = dt = 60/N (Seconds)

So, emf generated per conductor = dΦ/dt = PΦN/60 (Volts)

Since, the number of conductors in series per parallel path is, Z/A

P NZ A =2 ... for wave winding

Therefore,
Eg  = P ... for lap winding
60 A
1. Since the armature of a DC motor rotates in a magnetic field, an emf is induced in the
conductors of the armature due to electromagnetic induction (as in a generator).
2. This induced emf acts in the opposite direction to the applied voltage (according to
Lenz’s law) and hence is known as back emf or counter emf.
3. It is denoted by Eb and is given by,

P NZ A =2 ... for wave winding

Eb   Eb   = P ... for lap winding
60 A
The magnitude of the back emf is always less than the magnitude of the applied voltage

Developed Torque
The developed torque in armature is
Eb I a
T  T  k I a
m
T   Ia
 Types of DC Machines

The excitation of the DC machine is classified into two types namely separate excitation,
as well as self-excitation.
1. In a separate excitation type of dc machine, the field coils are activated with a
separate DC source.
2. In the self-excitation type of dc machine, the flow of current throughout the field-
winding is supplied with the machine.

DC machines are classified into four types:

i. Separately excited DC machine
ii. Shunt-wound/shunt machine.
iii. Series wound/series machine.
iv. Compound wound / compound machine.
Separately Excited
1. a separate DC source is utilized for activating the field coils.

Shunt Wound DC Machines

1. Field coils are allied in parallel through the armature.
As the shunt field gets the complete o/p voltage of a generator otherwise a motor supply
voltage, it is normally made of a huge number of twists of fine wire with a small field current
carrying.

Series Wound
1. The field coils are allied in series through the armature. As series field winding gets the
armature current, as well as the armature current is huge, due to this the series field
winding includes few twists of wire of big cross-sectional region.
Compound Wound
1. Includes both the series as well as shunt fields.
2. The series winding of the machine includes few twists of a huge cross-sectional
region, as well as the shunt windings, include several fine wire twists.
3. connection of the compound machine can be done in two ways.
 If the shunt-field is allied in parallel by the armature only, then the machine
can be named as the ‘short shunt compound machine’ &
 if the shunt-field is allied in parallel by both the armature as well as series
field, then the machine is named as the ‘long shunt compound machine’.
 Characteristic curves
(i) Torque vs. armature current,
(ii) Speed vs. armature current and
(iii) Speed vs. torque.
Eb
These characteristics are determined N T  Ia

 Torque and Armature Current Characteristics
It is the graph plotted between the armature torque and the armature current of
a DC motor. It is also known as electrical characteristics of the DC motor.

 Speed and Armature Current Characteristics

It is the graph plotted between the speed (N) and the armature current (Ia) of
a DC motor. This characteristic curve is mainly used for selecting a motor
for a particular application.

 Speed and Torque Characteristics

The graph plotted between the speed (N) and the armature torque (τa) for a
DC motor is known as the speed-torque characteristics. It is also known as
mechanical characteristics of DC motor.
 Characteristics of DC Shunt Motor

The shunt motors are the constant flux machines i.e. their magnetic flux remains
constant because their field winding is directly connected across the supply voltage
which is assumed to be constant.

 Torque and Armature Current Characteristics

The armature torque in a DC motor is directly proportional to the flux

and the armature current, i.e.,
 a   Ia   a  Ia    k 

1. Hence, the torque and armature current

characteristics of DC shunt motor is straight
line passing through the origin .
2. The shaft torque is less than the armature
torque which is represented by the dotted
line.
1. From the characteristics, it can be seen that a
very large current is required to start a
heavy load. Thus, the shunt motor should
not be started on heavy loads.
 Speed and Armature Current Characteristics
The Speed of a shunt DC motor is given by,

N Eb  V  I a Ra

Speed and Torque Characteristics

This is the curve plotted between the speed and the torque for various armature
currents. It can be seen that the speed of the shunt motor decreases as the load
torque increases.
 Characteristics of DC Series Motor

1. In a DC series motor, the field winding is connected in series with the armature
and hence carries the full armature current.
2. When the load on shaft of the motor is increased, the armature current also increases.
Hence, the flux in a series motor increases with the increase in the armature current
and vice-versa.
 Torque and Armature Current Characteristics
The armature torque in a DC motor is directly proportional to the flux and the
armature current, i.e.,
 a  Ia
Upto magnetic saturation,   Ia After magneticsaturation,   k
   kI a   a  I a 2   a  Ia

1. The torque versus armature current curve upto magnetic saturation is a

parabola (OA of curve).

2. Torque versus armature current curve after magnetic saturation is a straight

line (AB of the curve).

From the torque versus armature current curve, it is clear that the starting torque of a DC
series motor is very high
 Speed and Armature Current Characteristics
The Speed of a series DC motor is given by,

V  I a  Ra  Rse 
With the increase in the armature current, the back
Eb EMF is decreased due to the ohmic drop in armature
N  and series field resistances whereas the flux is
 kI a increased.

V  Ra  Rse 
Although, the resistance drop is very small under
normal operating conditions and can be neglected,
 N  thus,
kI a k 1 1
N   upto magnetic saturation 
 Ia