D.C MOTORS CONSTRUCTION.

The basic parts of any d.c. motor comprise of:

(a) A stationary part called the feld having (i) a
steel ring called the yoke to which are attached (ii) the
magnetic poles around which are the field windings
(iii) field windings - many turns of a conductor wound
round the pole core current passing through this
conductor creates an electromagnet [rather than the
permanent magnets]
(b) A rotating part called the armature mounted in
bearings housed in the stator and having (i) a laminated
cylinder of iron OR steel called the core on which teeth
are cut to house the armature
(ii) Armature winding - a single OR multi-loop conductor
system and (iii) the commutator
Armature windings can be divided into two groups
depending on how the wires are joined to the
commutator. These are wave windings and lap
windings.
(a) In wave windings there are two paths in parallel
irrespective of the number of poles each path supplying
half the total current output.
(b) In lap windings there are as many paths in parallel as
the machine has poles. The total current output divides
equally between them.

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 Pole coil or field windings

In general, we may divide the methods used for

connecting the field and armature windings into the
following groups:
1. Separately excited machines – the field winding
being connected to a source of supply other than the
armature of its own machine.
2. Self-excited machines which may be subdivided
into:
(a) shunt-wound machines – the field winding being
connected across the armature terminals;
(b) Series-wound machines – the field winding being
connected in series with the armature winding;
(c) compound-wound machines – a combination of
shunt and series windings.
Depending on whether the electrical machine is
series wound shunt wound OR compound wound it
behaves differently when a load is applied.

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 E.m.f. generated in an armature winding
The e.m.f. ‘E’ is less than the applied voltage ‘V’
and the direction of the current Ia is the reverse of
that when the machine is acting as a generator
hence;
E = V − IaRa
or V = E + IaRa
Since the e.m.f. generated in the armature of a
motor is in opposition to the applied voltage it is
sometimes referred to as a back e.m.f.

Eg. 1. The armature of a d.c. machine has a

resistance of 0.1 Ω and is connected to a 250 V
supply. Calculate the generated e.m.f. when it is
running
(a) As a generator giving 80 A;
(b) As a motor taking 60 A.
2. A four-pole motor is fed at 440 V and takes an
armature current of 50 A. The resistance of the
armature circuit is 0.28 Ω. The armature winding is
wave-connected with 888 conductors and the useful
flux per pole is 0.023Wbb. Calculate the speed.
3W. A motor runs at 900 r/min off a 460 V supply.
Calculate the approximate speed when the machine
is connected across a 200 V supply. Assume the new
flux to be 0.7 of the original flux.
4. A d.c. motor takes an armature current of 110 A
at 480 V. The resistance of the armature circuit is
0.2 Ω. The machine has six poles and the armature
is lap-connected with 864 conductors. The flux per
pole is 0.05 bb. Calculate
(a) The speed;
(b) The gross torque developed by the armature.
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It has already been explained that the speed of a d.c.
motor can be altered by varying either the flux OR the
armature voltage or both the methods most commonly
employed are as follows:
1. A variable resistor termed a feld regulator, in
series with the shunt winding only applicable to shunt
and compound motors. bhen the resistance is
increased; the field current, the flux and the generated
e.m.f. are reduced. Consequently more current flows
through the armature and the increased torque
enables the armature to accelerate until the generated
e.m.f. is again nearly equal to the applied voltage.
bith this method it is possible to increase the speed to
three or four times that at full excitation, but it is not
possible to reduce the speed below that value. Also,
with any given setting of the regulator, the speed
remains constant between no load and full load.
2. A resistor termed a controller, in series with the
armature. The electrical connections for a controller
are exactly the same as for a starter, the only
difference being that in a controller the resistor
elements are designed to carry the armature current
indefinitely, whereas in a starter they can only do so
for a comparatively short time without getting
excessively hot.
For a given armature current, the larger the controller
resistance in circuit, the smaller is the p.d. across the
armature and the lower, in consequence, is the speed.

This system has several disadvantages:

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 (a) The relatively high cost of the controller
(b) Much of the input energy may be dissipated in the
controller and the overall efciency of the motor
considerably reduced
(c) The speed may vary greatly with variation of load
due to the change in the p.d. across the controller
causing a corresponding change in the p.d. across the
motor.
The principal advantage of the system is that speed
from zero upwards are easily obtainable, and the
method is chiefly used for controlling the speed of
cranes, hoists, trains, etc. where the motors are
frequently started and stopped and where efciency is
of secondary importance.
3W. bhen an a.c. supply is available the voltage applied
to the armature can be controlled by thyristors. The
thyristor is a solid-state rectifier which is normally
non-conducting in the forward and reverse directions.
It is provided with an extra electrode, termed the gate,
so arranged that when a pulse of current
is introduced into the gate circuit, the thyristor is
‘fired’, i.e. it conducts in the forward direction. Once it
is fired, the thyristor continues to conduct until the
current falls below the holding value.
An increase of motor load causes the speed to fall,
thereby allowing a
larger current pulse to flow during the conducting
period. The fluctuation of
current can be reduced by the following:
1. Using two thyristors to give full-wave rectification
when the supply is
single-phase.

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2. Using three or six thyristors when the supply is
three-phase.
An important application of the thyristor is the speed
control of series
motors in battery-driven vehicles. The principle of
operation is that pulses of the battery voltage are
applied to the motor, and the average value of the
voltage across the motor is controlled by varying the
ratio of the ON and
OFF durations of the pulses. Thus, if the ON period is
t1 and the OFF period is t2,

Types of DC Motor
(a) Separately excited [Electrically excited DC
motor]
(b) Self Excited [Permanent-magnet DC motor]
which is further categorized into:
i. DC shunt-wound motor
ii. DC series-wound motor
iii. DC compound motor which is sub divided into
(a) Long shunt [Cumulative compound (b) Short
shunt [Differential compound]

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2. D.C. Series Motor:
Since it has high starting torque and variable speed,
it is used for heavy duty applications such as electric
locomotives, steel rolling mills, hoists, lifts and
cranes.
3. D.C. Shunt Motor:
It has medium starting torque and a nearly constant
speed. Hence, it is used for driving constant-speed
line shafts, lathes, vacuum cleaners, wood-
working machines, laundry washing machines,
elevators, conveyors, grinders and small printing
presses etc.

4. Cumulative Compound Motor:

It is a varying-speed motor with high starting torque
and is used for driving compressors, variable-head
centrifugal pumps, rotary presses, circular saws,
shearing machines, elevators and continuous
conveyors etc.

Starting Methods of DC Motor

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To prevent high starting current and high
starting torque from occurring, several starting
methods of dc motor have been adopted. The main
principal of this being the addition of external
electrical resistance(Rext) to the armature winding, so
as to increase the effective resistance to Ra + Rext,
thus limiting the armature current to the rated
value. The new value of starting armature current is
desirably low and is given by.

Now as the motor continues to run and gather

speed, the back emf successively develops and
increases, countering the supply voltage, resulting in
the decrease of the networking voltage. Thus now,

At this moment to maintain the armature current to

its rated value, Rext is progressively decreased unless
its made zero, when the back emf produced is at its
maximum. This regulation of the external electrical
resistance in case of the starting of dc motor is
facilitated by means of the starter.
Starters can be of several types and requires a
great deal of explanation and some intricate level
understanding. But on a brief over-view the main
types of starters used in the industry today for
starting of shunt wound DC motor and compound
wound DC motor can be illustrated as:-
1) 3W-Point starter.
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2) 4-Point starter.
3W) Series wound DC motor‘s starter using no load
release coil.

All of
these
play a
very

significant role in limiting starting current of DC

motor for proper starting and running of the DC
motor, and are described vividly under their
respective sub-headings.

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Safe working methods are necessary and should
always be used in fulfilling any preventive
maintenance work. Considerations should be made
to ensure that:

I. Proper steps / methods are used,

II. Proper tools and facilities are used,
III. bork is done in a conducive workplace and
environment, e.g. Housekeeping,
IV. Proper use of PPE,
V. To identify all hazards, (anything that has
the potential to cause harm)
VI. bays to eliminate or reduce fire accidents,
VII. bays to prevent accidents from electricity.

Prepared by Edwin M. Temu