Electrical Drives

Electric drives are mostly used in position and speed control systems. The motors can be classified into two groups
namely DC motors and AC motors. we shall study the operation, construction, advantages and limitations of DC
and AC motors.

Magnetic Force On A Current – Carrying Conductor

The magnetic force (F) the conductor experiences is equal to the product of its length (L) within the field, the
current I in the conductor, the external magnetic field B and the sine of the angle between the conductor and the
magnetic field. In short

F= BIL (sin)

The force on a current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field

When a current-carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field, there is an interaction between the magnetic field
produced by the current and the permanent field, which leads to a force being experienced by the conductor:

The magnitude of the force on the conductor depends on the magnitude of the current which it carries. The force
is a maximum when the current flows perpendicular to the field (as shown in diagram A on the left below), and it
is zero when it flows parallel to the field (as in diagram B, on the right):

Fleming’s left-hand rule

Electric Motor

An electromagnet is the basis of an electric motor

An electric motor is all about magnets and magnetism: A motor uses magnets to create motion.
Opposites attract and likes repel. Inside an electric motor, these attracting and repelling forces create
rotational motion.
A motor is consisting of two magnets.
Parts of the Motor

Armature or rotor
Commutator
Brushes
Axle
Field magnet
DC power supply of some sort

Armature or rotor

1.The armature is an electromagnet made by coiling thin wire around two or more poles of a metal core.
2.The armature has an axle, and the commutator is attached to the axle.
3.When you run electricity into this electromagnet, it creates a magnetic field in the armature that attracts
and repels the magnets in the stator. So the armature spins through 180 degrees.
4. To keep it spinning, you have to change the poles of the electromagnet.
Commutator and Brushes

1. Commutator is simply a pair of plates attached to the axle. These plates provide the two connections for
the coil of the electromagnet.
2. Commutator and brushes work together to let current flow to the electromagnet, and also to flip the
direction that the electrons are flowing at just the right moment.
3. The contacts of the commutator are attached to the axle of the electromagnet, so they spin with the
magnet. The brushes are just two pieces of springy metal or carbon that make contact with the contacts
of the commutator.

Relay
Definition: The relay is the device that open or closes the contacts to cause the operation of the other electric
control. It detects the intolerable or undesirable condition with an assigned area and gives the commands to
the circuit breaker to disconnect the affected area. Thus protects the system from damage.

It works on the principle of an electromagnetic attraction. When the circuit of the relay senses the fault current, it
energises the electromagnetic field which produces the temporary magnetic field.

This magnetic field moves the relay armature for opening or closing the connections. The small power relay has
only one contacts, and the high power relay has two contacts for opening the switch.
The inner section of the relay is shown in the figure below. It has an iron core which is wound by a control coil. The
power supply is given to the coil through the contacts of the load and the control switch. The current flows
through the coil produces the magnetic field around it.
Due to this magnetic field, the upper arm of the magnet attracts the lower arm. Hence close the circuit, which
makes the current flow through the load. If the contact is already closed, then it moves oppositely and hence open
the contacts.

Solenoid
Solenoid is the generic term for a coil of wire used as an electromagnet. It also refers to any device that converts
electrical energy to mechanical energy using a solenoid. The device creates a magnetic field from electric current
and uses the magnetic field to create linear motion.

Classification of Motors
1 AC Motors
a. Induction Motors
single phase
3-phase
b. Synchronous Motors
c. Linear Motor
2. DC Motors
Stepper Motors
1Variable Reluctance
2 Permanent Magnet
3 Hybrid
Brushless DC Motors
Brush DC Motor
Series wound
Shunt wound
Compound motors

AC motors
AC motors convert AC current into the rotation of a mechanical element (mechanical energy). As in the case of DC
motor, a current is passed through the coil, generating a torque on the coil. Typical components include a stator
and a rotor. The armature of rotor is a magnet unlike DC motors and the stator is formed by electromagnets
similar to DC motors. The main limitation of AC motors over DC motors is that speed is more difficult to control in
AC motors. To overcome this limitation, AC motors are equipped with variable frequency drives but the improved
speed control comes together with a reduced power quality.
 AC motor working principle

The working principle of AC motor is shown in fig. Consider the rotor to be a permanent magnet. Current flowing
through conductors energizes the magnets and develops N and S poles. The strength of electromagnets depends
on current. First half cycle current flows in one direction and in the second half cycle it flows in opposite direction.
As AC voltage changes the poles alternate.

Induction motor
What is an Induction Motor?
A motor with only armortisseur windings is called an induction motor. An induction motor is the most modest
electrical machine from constructional point of view, in the majority of the cases. Induction motor works on the
principle of induction where electro-magnetic field is induced into the rotor when rotating magnetic field of stator
cuts the stationary rotor. Induction machines are by far the most common type of motor used in industrial,
commercial or residential settings. It is a three phase AC motor. Its characteristic features are:
 Simple and rugged construction
 Low cost and minimum maintenance
 High dependability and sufficiently high proficiency
 Needs no additional starting motor and necessity not be synchronized

Induction motors are quite commonly used in industrial automation. In the synchronous motor the stator poles are
wound with coils and rotor is permanent magnet and is supplied with current to create fixed polarity poles. In case
of induction motor, the stator is similar to synchronous motor with windings but the rotors’ construction is
different.

Rotor of an induction motor can be of two types:

 A squirrel-cage rotor consists of thick conducting bars embedded in parallel slots. The bars can be of copper or
aluminum. These bars are fitted at both ends by means end rings as shown in figure.

• A wound rotor has a three-phase, double-layer, distributed winding. The rotor is wound for as many numbers of
poles as the stator. The three phases are wired internally and the other ends are connected to slip-rings mounted
on a shaft with brushes resting on them.
Induction motors can be classified into two types:

Two Types of Induction Motors

Single phase induction motor: The single-phase induction motor is not self-starting. When the motor is connected
to a single-phase power supply, the main winding carries an alternating current. It is logical that the least
expensive, most reduced upkeep sort engine ought to be utilized most regularly. These are of different types based
on their way of starting since these are of not self starting. Those are split phase, shaded pole and capacitor
motors. Again capacitor motors are capacitor start, capacitor run and permanent capacitor motors. Permanent
capacitor motor is shown below.

In these types of motors the start winding can have a series capacitor and/or a centrifugal switch. When the supply
voltage is applied, current in the main winding lags the supply voltage because of the main winding impedance.
And current in the start winding leads/lags the supply voltage depending on the starting mechanism impedance.
The angel between the two windings is sufficient phase difference to provide a rotating magnitude field to produce
a starting torque. The point when the motor reaches 70% to 80% of synchronous speed, a centrifugal switch on the
motor shaft opens and disconnects the starting winding.

Applications of Single Phase Induction Motor

These are used in low power applications and widely used in domestic applications as well as industrial. And some
of those are mentioned below

 Pumps

 Compressors

 Small fans

 Mixers

 Toys

 High speed vacuum cleaners

 Electric shavers
  Drilling machines

Three Phase Induction Motor

Three Phase Induction Motor does not need any starter for starting, or in other words three phase induction motor
is self-starting. Three-phase synchronous motor has almost the same in construction as three phase induction
motor. But the synchronous motor is not self-starting. So a question arises that Why Three Phase Induction Motor
Self-Starting but Synchronous Motor not? Applications of Three Phase Induction Motor.

n the three-phase induction motor, the stator winding needs three phase-supply. There are three windings in
stator each are placed in 120 degrees apart.

So when we give three phase supply to the stator winding, a rotating magnetic field is created. At the starting time,
the rotor is constant, so an emf is induced in the rotor winding for the transformer action. As the rotor winding is
short-circuited so a short circuit current will flow through the rotor winding which causes by the induced emf.

The short circuit current creates a magnetic flux in the rotor winding which is opposite to the stator flux according
to the Lenz's Law. Now the rotor flux tries to oppose the stator flux and to reduce the relative speed between the
rotating magnetic field and the rotor speed, the rotor tends to run in the direction of the rotating magnetic field.

So, in simple words, the three-phase induction motor is self-starting because,

1. The stator creates a rotating magnetic field

2. The rotor flux is produced due to the stator flux and according to Lenz's law, the rotor flux tries to oppose the
stator flux and creates a torque.

Applications
 Lifts
  Cranes

 Hoists

 Large capacity exhaust fans

 Driving lathe machines

 Crushers

 Oil extracting mills

 Textile and etc.

Advantages of AC induction motors

• It has a simple design, low initial cost, rugged construction almost unbreakable
• The operation is simple with less maintenance (as there are no brushes)
• The efficiency of these motors is very high, as there are no frictional losses, with reasonably good power factor
• The control gear for the starting purpose of these motors is minimum and thus simple and reliable operation

Disadvantages of AC induction motors

• The speed control of these motors is at the expense of their efficiency
• As the load on the motor increases, the speed decreases
• The starting torque is inferior when compared to DC motors

Synchronous motor
The most common type of 3 phase motors are synchronous motors and induction motors. When three-phase
electric conductors are placed in certain geometrical positions (i.e. in a certain angle from one another) – an
electrical field is generated. The rotating magnetic field rotates at a certain speed known as the synchronous
speed.

If an electromagnet is present in this rotating magnetic field, the electromagnet is magnetically locked with this
rotating magnetic field and rotates with the same speed of rotating field.
This is where the term synchronous motor comes from, as the speed of the rotor of the motor is the same as the
rotating magnetic field.
It is a fixed speed motor because it has only one speed, which is synchronous speed. This speed is synchronised
with the supply frequency. The synchronous speed is given by:

Where:
 N= The Synchronous Speed (in RPM – i.e. Rotations Per Minute)
 f = The Supply Frequency (in Hz)
 p = The number of Poles
Construction of Synchronous Motor

Usually, its construction is almost similar to that of a 3 phase induction motor, except the fact that here we supply
DC to the rotor, the reason of which we shall explain later. Now, let us first go through the basic construction of
this type of motor. From the above picture, it is clear that how do we design this type of machine. We apply three
phase supply to the stator and DC supply to the rotor.

Main Features of Synchronous Motors

1. Synchronous motors are inherently not self starting. They require some external means to bring their
speed close to synchronous speed to before they are synchronized.
2. The speed of operation of is in synchronism with the supply frequency and hence for constant supply
frequency they behave as constant speed motor irrespective of load condition
3. This motor has the unique characteristics of operating under any electrical power factor. This makes it
being used in electrical power factor improvement
.
Principle of Operation Synchronous Motor

Synchronous motors are a doubly excited machine, i.e., two electrical inputs are provided to it. Its stator winding
which consists of a We provide three-phase supply to three-phase stator winding, and DC to the rotor winding.
The 3 phase stator winding carrying 3 phase currents produces 3 phase rotating magnetic flux. The rotor carrying
DC supply also produces a constant flux. Considering the 50 Hz power frequency, from the above relation we can
see that the 3 phase rotating flux rotates about 3000 revolutions in 1 min or 50 revolutions in 1 sec.

At a particular instant rotor and stator poles might be of the same polarity (N-N or S-S) causing a repulsive force on
the rotor and the very next instant it will be N-S causing attractive force. But due to the inertia of the rotor, it is
unable to rotate in any direction due to that attractive or repulsive forces, and the rotor remains in standstill
condition. Hence a synchronous motor is not self-starting.
Here we use some mechanical means which initially rotates the rotor in the same direction as the magnetic field to
speed very close to synchronous speed. On achieving synchronous speed, magnetic locking occurs, and the
synchronous motor continues to rotate even after removal of external mechanical means.
But due to the inertia of the rotor, it is unable to rotate in any direction due to that attractive or repulsive forces,
and the rotor remains in standstill condition. Hence a synchronous motor is not self-starting.
Here we use some mechanical means which initially rotates the rotor in the same direction as the magnetic field to
speed very close to synchronous speed. On achieving synchronous speed, magnetic locking occurs, and the
synchronous motor continues to rotate even after removal of external mechanical means.
Methods of Starting of Synchronous Motor
1. Motor starting with an external prime Mover: Synchronous motors are mechanically coupled with
another motor. It could be either 3 phase induction motor or DC shunt motor. Here, we do not apply DC
excitation initially. It rotates at speed very close to its synchronous speed, and then we give the DC
excitation. After some time when magnetic locking takes place supply to the external motor is cut off.
2. Damper winding In this case, the synchronous motor is of salient pole type, additional winding is placed in
rotor pole face. Initially, when the rotor is not rotating, the relative speed between damper winding and
rotating air gap flux is large and an emf is induced in it which produces the required starting torque. As
speed approaches synchronous speed, emf and torque are reduced and finally when magnetic locking
takes place; torque also reduces to zero. Hence in this case synchronous motor first runs as three phase
induction motor using additional winding and finally it is synchronized with the frequency.

Synchronous AC motor

A synchronous motor is an AC motor which runs at constant speed fixed by frequency of the system. It requires
direct current (DC) for excitation and has low starting torque, and hence is suited for applications that start with a
low load. It has two basic electrical parts namely stator and rotor as shown in fig. The stator consists of a group of
individual wounded electro-magnets arranged in such a way that they form a hollow cylinder. The stator produces
a rotating magnetic field that is proportional to the frequency supplied. The rotor is the rotating electrical
component. It also consists of a group of permanent magnets arranged around a cylinder, with the poles facing
toward the stator poles. The rotor is mounted on the motor shaft. The main difference between the synchronous
motor and the induction motor is that the rotor of the synchronous motor travels at the same speed as the
rotating magnet.
The stator is given a three phase supply and as the polarity of the stator progressively change the magnetic field
rotates, the rotor will follow and rotate with the magnetic field of the stator. If a synchronous motor loses lock
with the line frequency it will stall. It cannot start by itself, hence has to be started by an auxiliary motor.
Synchronous speed of an AC motor is determined by the following formula:
= 120∗ /
Ns = Revolutions per minute
P = Number of pole pairs
f = Applied frequency

Linear motors

Linear motion drives are mechanical transmission systems which are used to convert rotary motion into linear
motion. The conventional thread forms like vee or square are not suitable in CNC because of their high wear and
less efficiency. Therefore CNC machines generally employ ball screw for driving their workpiece carriages. These
drives provide backlash free operation with low friction-wear characteristics. These are efficient and accurate in
comparison with that of nut-and-screw drives. Most widely used linear motion drives are ball screws.

The working principle of a linear motor is similar to that of a rotary electric motor. It has a rotor and the stator
circular magnetic field components are laid down in a straight line. Since the motor moves in a linear fashion, no
lead screw is needed to convert rotary motion into linear. Linear motors can be used in outdoor or dirty
environments; however the electromagnetic drive should be waterproofed and sealed against moisture and
corrosion.
Stepper motor

A stepper motor is a pulse-driven motor that changes the angular position of the rotor in steps. Due to this nature
of a stepper motor, it is widely used in low cost, open loop position control systems.

Variable Reluctance Motor

Figure shows the construction of Variable Reluctance motor. The cylindrical rotor is made of soft steel and has four
poles as shown in Fig. It has four rotor teeth, 90⁰ apart and six stator poles, 60⁰ apart. Electromagnetic field is
produced by activating the stator coils in sequence. It attracts the metal rotor. When the windings are energized in
a reoccurring sequence of 2, 3, 1, and so on, the motor will rotate in a 30⁰ step angle. In the non-energized
condition, there is no magnetic flux in the air gap, as the stator is an electromagnet and the rotor is a piece of soft
iron; hence, there is no detent torque. This type of stepper motor is called a variable reluctance stepper.

Variable reluctance stepper motor

The stepper motor works on the principle that the rotor aligns in a particular position with the teeth of the
excitation pole in a magnetic circuit wherein minimum reluctance path exist. Whenever power is applied to the
motor and by exciting a particular winding, it produces its magnetic field and develops its own magnetic poles.

Due to the residual magnetism in the rotor magnet poles, it will cause the rotor to move in such a position so as to
achieve minimum reluctance position and hence one set of poles of rotor aligns with the energized set of poles of
the stator. At this position, the axis of the stator magnetic field matches with the axis passing through any two
magnetic poles of the rotor.

When the rotor aligns with stator poles, it has enough magnetic force to hold the shaft from moving to the next
position, either in clockwise or counter clockwise direction.

Consider the schematic diagram of a 3-phase, 6 stator poles and 4 rotor teeth is shown in figure below. When the
phase A-A’ is supplied with a DC supply by closing the switch -1, the winding become a magnet which results one
tooth become North and other South. So the stator magnetic axis lies along these poles.

Due to the force of attraction, stator coil North Pole attracts nearest rotor tooth of opposite polarity, i.e.,
South and South Pole attract nearest rotor tooth of opposite polarity, i.e., North. The rotor then adjusts to its
minimum reluctance position where the rotor magnetic axis exactly matches with stator magnetic axis.
When the phase B-B’ is energized by closing switch -2 keeping phase A-A’ remain de-energized by opening switch-
1, winding B-B’ will produce the magnetic flux and hence the stator magnetic axis shifts along the poles thus
formed by it. Hence the rotor shifts to the least reluctance with magnetized stator teeth and rotates through an
angle of 30 degrees in the clockwise direction.

When the switch-3 is energized after opening switch-2, the phase C-C’ is energized, the rotor teeth align with new
position by moving through an additional angle of 30 degrees. By this way, the rotor moves clockwise or
counterclockwise direction by successively exciting stator windings in a particular sequence. The step angle of this
3-phase 4-pole rotor teeth stepper motor is expressed as, 360/ (4 × 3) = 30 degrees (as step angle = 360 / Nr × q).

The step angle can be further reduced by increasing the number of poles on the stator and rotor, in such case
motors are often wound with additional phase windings. This can also be achieved by a adopting
different construction of stepper motors such as multistack arrangement and reduction gear mechanism.

Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor

The permanent magnet design motor is perhaps the most common among several types of stepper motors. As the
name implies, it adds permanent magnets to the motor construction. This type of stepper motors is also referred
as can-stack motor or tin-can motor. The main advantage of this motor is its low manufacturing cost. This type of
motor has 48-24 steps per revolution.

Construction Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor

In this motor, the stator is of multipolar and its construction is similar to that of variable reluctance stepper motor
as discussed above. It consists of slotted periphery on which stator coils are wound. It has projected poles on the
slotted structure where the wound windings can be two or three or four-phase.

The end terminals of all these windings are bought out and connected to the DC excitation via solid state switches
in the drive circuit.
The rotor is made up of a permanent magnet material like a ferrite that can be in the shape of either cylindrical or
salient pole, but usually it is of smooth cylindrical type. The rotor designed to have an even number of permanent
magnetic poles with alternate North and South polarities.

Working of Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor

The operation of this motor works on the principle that unlike poles attract each other and like poles repel each
other. When the stator windings are excited with a DC supply, it produces magnetic flux and establishes the North
and South poles. Due to the force of attraction and repulsion between permanent magnet rotor poles and stator
poles, the rotor starts moving up to the position for which pulses are given to the stator.

Consider a 2-phase stepper motor with two permanent magnetic rotor poles as shown in the figure below.

When the phase A is energized with a positive with respect to the A’, the windings establish North and South poles.
Due to the force of attraction, the rotor poles align with stator poles such that the magnetic pole axis of rotor
adjusts with that of stator as shown in figure.

When the excitation is switched to B phase and switching off phase A, the rotor further adjusts to magnetic axis of
phase B, and thus rotates through 90 degrees in clockwise direction.

Next, if the phase A is energized with a negative current with respect to A’, the formation of stator poles causes
the rotor to move through another 90 degrees in clockwise direction.

In the same way, if the phase B is excited with negative current by closing phase A switch, the rotor rotates
through another 90 degrees in the same direction. Next, if the phase A is excited with positive current, the rotor
comes to the original position thus making a 360 degrees complete revolution. This implies that, whenever the
stator is excited, the rotor tends to rotate through 90 degrees in clockwise direction.
The step angle of this 2-phase 2-pole permanent magnet rotor motor is expressed as, 360/ (2 × 2) = 90 degrees.
The step size can be reduced by energizing two phases simultaneously or a sequence of 1-phase ON and 2-phase
ON modes with a proper polarity.

Hybrid Stepper Motor

It is the most popular type of stepper motor as it provides better performance than permanent magnet rotor in
terms of step resolution, holding torque and speed. However, these motors are more expensive than PM stepper
motors. It combines the best features of both variable reluctance and permanent magnet stepper motors. These
motors are used in applications that require very small stepping angle such as 1.5, 1.8 and 2.5 degrees.

Construction of Hybrid Stepper Motor

The stator of this motor is same as its permanent magnet or reluctance type counterpart. The stator coils are
wound on alternate poles. In this, the coils of different phases are wound on each pole, usually two coils at a pole
which is referred as a bifilar connection.

The rotor consists of a permanent magnet which is magnetized in axial direction to create a pair of magnetic poles
(N and S poles). Each pole is covered with uniformly spaced teeth. The teeth are made up of soft steel and two
section, of which on each pole are misaligned each other by a half-tooth pitch.

Working Principle

This motor works similar to that of permanent magnet stepper motor. The figure above shows 2-phase, 4-pole, 6-
tooth rotor hybrid stepper motor. When the phase A-A’ is excited with a DC supply, keeping B-B’ unexcited, the
rotor aligns such that the south pole of the rotor faces north pole of the stator while north pole of rotor faces
south pole of the stator.
Now, if the phase B-B’ is excited, keeping A-A’ switched off in such a way that upper pole becomes north and lower
becomes south, then the rotor will align to a new position by moving through counterclockwise direction. If the
phase B-B’ is oppositely excited such that the upper pole becomes south and lower becomes north, then the rotor
will turn clockwise direction.

By a proper sequence of pulses to the stator, the motor will turn in desired direction. For every excitation, rotor
will get locked into new position, and even if excitation is removed motor still maintains its locked condition due to
the permanent magnet excitation. The step angle of this 2-phase, 4-pole, 6-tooth rotor motor is given as 360/ (2 ×
6) = 30 degrees. In practice, hybrid motors are constructed with more number of rotor poles in order to get high
angular resolution.

Unipolar and Bipolar Stepper Motors

The above discussed motors can be unipolar or bipolar based on the coil winding arrangements. A unipolar motor
is employed with two windings per phase and hence the direction of current flow through these windings changes
the rotation of the motor. In this configuration, the current flow is through one direction in one coil and opposite
direction in another coil.

The figure below shows 2-phase unipolar stepper motor wherein A and C coils are for one phase and B and D are
for other phase. In each phase each coil carries current in opposite direction to that of other coil. Only one coil will
be carrying current at a time in each phase for achieving particular direction of rotation. So just by switching the
terminals to each coil, the direction of rotation is controlled.

In case of a bipolar stepper motor, each phase consists of a single winding rather than two in case of unipolar one.
In this, the direction of rotation is controlled by reversing the current through the windings. Hence, it requires a
complex drive circuit for current reversal.
Hybrid stepper motor

Hybrid stepping motors combine a permanent magnet and a rotor with metal teeth to provide features of the
variable reluctance and permanent magnet motors together. The number of rotor pole pairs is equal to the
number of teeth on one of the rotor’s parts. The hybrid motor stator has teeth creating more poles than the main
poles windings

magnet stepping motor, by energizing individual windings in a positive or negative direction. When a winding is
energized, north and south poles are created, depending on the polarity of the current flowing. These generated
poles attract the permanent poles of the rotor and also the finer metal teeth present on rotor. The rotor moves
one step to align the offset magnetized rotor teeth to the corresponding energized windings. Hybrid motors are
more expensive than motors with permanent magnets, but they use smaller steps, have greater torque and
maximum speed.

Step angle of a stepper motor is given by,

 360
!"# =
Number of ploes

Advantages of stepper motors

• Low cost
• Ruggedness
• Simplicity of construction
• Low maintenance
• Less likely to stall or slip
• Will work in any environment
• Excellent start-stop and reversing responses

Disadvantages of stepper motors

• Low torque capacity compared to DC motors
• Limited speed
• During overloading, the synchronization will be broken. Vibration and noise occur when running at high speed.

Servomotor
Servomotors are special electromechanical devices that produce precise degrees of rotation. A servo motor is a DC
or AC or brushless DC motor combined with a position sensing device. Servomotors are also called control motors
as they are involved in controlling a mechanical system. The servomotors are used in a closed-loop servo system as
shown in Figure. A reference input is sent to the servo amplifier, which controls the speed of the servomotor. A
feedback device is mounted on the machine, which is either an encoder or resolver. This device changes
mechanical motion into electrical signals and is used as a feedback. This feedback is sent to the error detector,
which compares the actual operation with that of the reference input. If there is an error, that error is fed directly
to the amplifier, which will be used to make necessary corrections in control action. In many servo systems, both
velocity and position are monitored. Servomotors provide accurate speed, torque, and have ability of direction
control.

DC servomotors
DC operated servomotors are usually respond to error signal abruptly and accelerate the load quickly. A DC servo
motor is actually an assembly of four separate components, namely:
• DC motor
• gear assembly
• position-sensing device
• control circuit
AC servo motor

In this type of motor, the magnetic force is generated by a permanent magnet and current which further produce
the torque. It has no brushes so there is little noise/vibration. This motor provides high precision control with the
help of high resolution encoder. The stator is composed of a core and a winding. The rotor part comprises of shaft,
rotor core and a permanent magnet.
Digital encoder can be of optical or magnetic type. It gives digital signals, which are in proportion of rotation of the
shaft. The details about optical encoder have already discussed in Lecture 3 of Module 2.

Advantages of servo motors

• Provides high intermittent torque, high torque to inertia ratio, and high speeds
• Work well for velocity control
• Available in all sizes
• Quiet in operation
• Smoother rotation at lower speeds

Disadvantages of servo motors

• More expensive than stepper motors
• Require tuning of control loop parameters
• Not suitable for hazardous environments or in vacuum
• Excessive current can result in partial demagnetization of DC type servo motor

DC motors

A DC motor is a device that converts direct current (electrical energy) into rotation of an element (mechanical
energy). These motors can further be classified into brushed DC motor and brushless DC motors.

Brush type DC motor

A typical brushed motor consists of an armature coil, slip rings divided into two parts, a pair of brushes and horse
shoes electromagnet as shown in Fig. A simple DC motor has two field poles namely a north pole and a south pole.
The magnetic lines of force extend across the opening between the poles from north to south. The coil is wound
around a soft iron core and is placed in between the magnet poles. These electromagnets receive electricity from
an outside power source. The coil ends are connected to split rings. The carbon brushes are in contact with the
split rings. The brushes are connected to a DC source. Here the split rings rotate with the coil while the brushes
remain stationary.
The working is based on the principle that when a current-carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field, it
experiences a mechanical force whose direction is given by Fleming's left-hand rule. The magnitude of the force is
given by

2=345 6!7
Where, B is magnetic field density in weber/m2
I is the current in amperes and
L is the length of the conductor in meter
θ is the angle between the direction of the current in the conductor and the electric field
If the current and filed are perpendicular then θ=90°. The equation 4.1.1 becomes,
2=345
A direct current in a set of windings creates a magnetic field. This field produces a force which turns the armature.
This force is called torque. This torque will cause the armature to turn until its magnetic field is aligned with the
external field. Once aligned the direction of the current in the windings on the armature reverses, thereby
reversing the polarity of the rotor's electromagnetic field. A torque is once again exerted on the rotor, and it
continues spinning. The change in direction of current is facilitated by the split ring commutator. The main purpose
of the commutator is to overturn the direction of the electric current in the armature. The commutator also aids in
the transmission of current between the armature and the power source. The brushes remain stationary, but they
are in contact with the armature at the commutator, which rotates with the armature such that at every 180° of
rotation, the current in the armature is reversed.

Advantages of brushed DC motor:

• The design of the brushed DC motor is quite simple
• Controlling the speed of a Brush DC Motor is easy
• Very cost effective

Disadvantages of brushed DC motor:

• High maintenance
• Performance decreases with dust particles
• Less reliable in control at lower speeds
• The brushes wear off with usage
Brushless DC motor

What is a Brushless Motor?

A brushless DC motor (also known as a BLDC motor or BL motor) is an electronically commuted DC motor which
does not have brushes. The controller provides pulses of current to the motor windings which control the speed
and torque of the synchronous motor.
These types of motors are highly efficient in producing a large amount of torque over a vast speed range. In
brushless motors, permanent magnets rotate around a fixed armature and overcome the problem of connecting
current to the armature. Commutation with electronics has a large scope of capabilities and flexibility. They are
known for smooth operation and holding torque when stationary.

How Does a Brushless Motor Work

Before explaining the working of a brushless DC motor, it is better to understand the function of a brushed motor.
In brushes motors, there are permanent magnets on the outside and a spinning armature which contains
electromagnet is inside. These electromagnets create a magnetic field in the armature when the power is switched
on and help to rotate the armature.
The brushes change the polarity of the pole to keep the rotation on of the armature. The basic working principle
for the brushed DC motor and for brushless DC motor are same i.e. internal shaft position feedback.
Brushless DC motor has only two basic parts: rotor and the stator. The rotor is the rotating part and has rotor
magnets whereas stator is the stationary part and contains stator windings. In BLDC permanent magnets are
attached in the rotor and move the electromagnets to the stator. The high power transistors are used to activate
electromagnets for the shaft turns. The controller performs power distribution by using a solid-state circuit.

Types of Brushless DC Motors

Inner Rotor Design

In an inner rotor design, the rotor is located in the centre of the motor and the stator winding surround the rotor.
As the rotor is located in the core, rotor magnets do not insulate heat inside and heat get dissipated easily. Due to
this reason, inner rotor designed motor produces a large amount of torque and validly used.

Outer Rotor Design

In outer rotor design, the rotor surrounds the winding which is located in the core of the motor. The magnets in the
rotor trap the heat of the motor inside and do not allow to dissipate from the motor. Such type of designed motor
operates at lower rated current and has low cogging torque.

Brushless DC motor

A brushless DC motor has a rotor with permanent magnets and a stator with windings. The rotor can be of ceramic
permanent magnet type. The brushes and commutator are eliminated and the windings are connected to the
control electronics. The control electronics replace the commutator and brushes and energize the stator
sequentially. Here the conductor is fixed and the magnet moves Fig.

The current supplied to the stator is based on the position of rotor. It is switched in sequence using transistors. The
position of the rotor is sensed by Hall effect sensors. Thus a continuous rotation is obtained.

Advantages of brushless DC motor:

• More precise due to computer control
• More efficient
• No sparking due to absence of brushes
• Less electrical noise
• No brushes to wear out
• Electromagnets are situated on the stator hence easy to cool
• Motor can operate at speeds above 10,000 rpm under loaded and unloaded conditions
• Responsiveness and quick acceleration due to low rotor inertia

Disadvantages of brushless DC motor:

• Higher initial cost
• Complex due to presence of computer controller
• Brushless DC motor also requires additional system wiring in order to power the electronic commutation circuitry

DC SERIES MOTOR

 The field winding is connected in series with the armature.

• The current passing through theseries winding is same as thearmature current .

• Therefore the series field windinghas fewer turns of thick wire thanthe shunt field winding.

• Also therefore the field winding willposses a low resistance then the armature winding

DC SHUNT MOTOR

 The parallel combination of twowindings is connected across a common dc power supply.

 The resistance of shunt field winding (Rsh) is always higher than that is armature winding.
 This is because the number of turns for the field winding is more than that of armature winding.
 The cross-sectional area of the wire used for field winding is smaller than that of the wire used for armature
winding.

LONG SHUNT COMPOUND MOTOR

 In this the series winding isconn
connected in series with thearmature winding and theshunt
unt winding is
connected inparallel with the armaturec
ureconnection.

SHORT SHUNT COMPUND MOTOR

motor the series winding isconn

connected in series to theparallel combination ofarmature
re and
a the
shuntwinding This is done to get goodsta
dstarting torque and constantspeed characteristics.

APPLICATIONS OF DC MOTORS