Construction of DC Motor | Yoke Poles Armature Field Winding Commutator Brushes of DC Motor

A DC Motor like we all know is a device that deals in the conversion of Electrical energy to mechanical energy and this is essentially brought about by two major parts required for the construction of dc motor, namely. 1) Stator The static part that houses the field windings and receives the supply and

2) Rotor The rotating part that brings about the mechanical rotations.

Other 3) 4) 5) 6)

than

that Yoke Poles Field Armature

there

are

several of of

subsidiary dc dc of of

parts

namely

the motor. motor.

winding winding

dc dc

motor. motor.

7) 8)

Commutator Brushes of

of

dc dc

motor. motor.

All these parts put together configures the total construction of a dc motor, Now lets do a detailed discussion about all the essential parts of dc motor.

Yoke of DC Motor

The magnetic frame or the yoke of dc motor made up of cast iron or steel and forms an integral part of the stator or the static part of the motor. Its main function is to form a protective covering over the inner sophisticated parts of the motor and provide support to the armature. It also supports the field system by housing the magnetic poles and field windings of the dc motor.

Poles of dc motor

The magneticpoles of DC motor are structures fitted onto the inner wall of the yoke with screws. The construction of magnetic poles basically comprises of two parts namely, the pole core and the pole shoe stacked together under hydraulic pressure and then attached to the yoke. These two structures are assigned for different purposes, the pole core is of small cross sectional area and its function is to just hold the pole shoe over the yoke, whereas the pole shoe having a relatively larger cross-sectional area spreads the flux produced over the air gap between the stator and rotor to reduce the loss due to reluctance. The pole shoe also carries slots for the field windings that produce the field flux.

Field Winding of DC Motor

The field winding of dc motor are made with field coils (copper wire) wound over the slots of the pole shoes in such a manner that when field current flows through it, then adjacent poles have opposite polarity are produced. The field windings basically form an electromagnet, that produces field flux within which the rotor armature of the dc motor rotates, and results in the effective flux cutting.

Armature winding of DC Motor

Thearmature winding of dc motor is attached to the rotor, or the rotating part of the machine, and as a result is subjected to altering magnetic field in the path of its rotation which directly results in magnetic losses. For this reason the rotor is made of armature core, thats made wi th several low-hysteresis silicon steel lamination, to reduce the magnetic losses like hysteresis and eddy current loss respectively. These laminated steel sheets are stacked together to form the cylindrical structure of the armature core.

The armature core are provided with slots made of the same material as the core to which the armature windings made with several turns of copper wire distributed uniformly over the entire periphery of the core. The slot openings a shut with fibrous wedges to prevent the conductor from plying out due to the high centrifugal force produced during the rotation of the armature, in presence of supply current and field. The construction of armature winding of dc motor can be of two types:Lap Winding

In this case the number of parallel paths between conductors A is equal to the number of poles P. i.e A = P

***An easy way of remembering it is by remembering the word LAP L A=P

Wave Winding

Here in this case, the number of parallel paths between conductors A is always equal to 2 irrespective of the number Hence the machine designs are made accordingly. of poles.

Commutator of DC Motor

The commutator of dc motor is a cylindrical structure made up of copper segments stacked together, but insulated from each other by mica. Its main function as far as the dc motor is concerned is to commute or relay the supply current from the mains to the armature windings housed over a rotating structure through the brushes of dc motor.

Brushes of DC Motor

The brushes of dc motor are made with carbon or graphite structures, making sliding contact over the rotating commutator. The brushes are used to relay the electric current from external circuit to the rotating commutator form where it flows into the armature windings. the commutator and brush unit of the dc motor is concerned with transmitting the power from the static electrical circuit to the mechanically rotating region or the rotor.

Working or Operating Principle of DC Motor

A DC Motor in simple words is a device that converts direct current(electrical energy) into mechanical energy. Its of vital importance for the industry today, and is equally important for engineers to look into the working principle of DC motor in details that has been discussed in this article. In order to understand the operating principle of dc motor we need to first look into its constructional feature.

The very basicconstruction of a dc motor contains a current carrying armature which is connected to the supply end through commutator segments and brushes and placed within the north south poles of a permanent or an electro-magnet as shown in the diagram below.

Now to go into the details of the operating Principle of dc motor its important that we have a clear understanding of Flemings left hand rule to determine the direction of force acting on the armature conductors of dc motor.

Flemings left hand rulesays that if we extend the index finger, middle finger and thumb of our left hand in such a way that the current carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field (represented by the index finger) is perpendicular to the direction of current (represented by the middle finger), then the conductor experiences a force in the direction (represented by the thumb) mutually perpendicular to both the direction of field and the current in the conductor. For clear understanding the principle of DC motor we have to determine the magnitude of the force, by considering the diagram below. We know that when an infinitely small charge dq is made to flow at a velocity v under the influence of an electric field E, and a magnetic field B, then the Lorentz Force dF experienced by the charge is given by:-

dF For

= the operation dF

dq(E of = dc

+ motor, dq

v considering v

X E X =

B) 0 B

i.e. or Where or or or

its dF dL

the = is dF

cross dq the

product (dL/dt) length = X of

of

dq B the

and

magnetic [v =

field

B. dL/dt] q. B

conductor dL [Since,

carrying X current = I ILB

charge

(dq/dt) B IL X B

dF F

dL =

dq/dt] Sin

or F = BIL Sin From the 1st diagram we can see that the construction of a dc motor is such that the direction of electric current through the armature conductor at all instance is perpendicular to the field. Hence the force acts on the armature conductor in the direction perpendicular to the both uniform field and current is constant. i.e. = 90

So if we take the current in the left hand side of the armature conductor to be I, and current at right hand side of the armature conductor to be I, because they are flowing in the opposite direction with respect to each other. Then the force force on on the the left right hand hand side side armature conductor conductor, Fr = B( Fl = BIL Sin90 = = BIL BIL

Similarly

I)L.Sin90

we can see that at that position the force on either side is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction. And since the two conductors are separated by some distance w = width of the armature turn, the two opposite forces produces a rotational force or a torque that results in the rotation of the armature conductor. Now lets examine the expression of torque when the armature turn crate an angle of with its initial position.

The Torque or or =

torque force, tangential = to

produced the direction of

is armature = BIL

given rotation X

by distance. Fcos.w

cos

Where is the angle between the plane of the armature turn and the plane of reference or the initial position of the armature which is here along the direction of magnetic field.

The presence of the term cos in the torque equation very well signifies that unlike force the torque at all position is not the same. It in fact varies with the variation of the angle . To explain the variation of torque and the principle behind rotation of the motor let us do a stepwise analysis.

Step

1:

Initially considering the armature is in its starting point or reference position where the angle = 0. = BIL w cos0 = BILw

Since = 0, the term cos = 1, or the maximum value, hence torque at this position is maximum given by = BILw. This high starting torque helps in overcoming the initial inertia of rest of the armature and sets it into rotation.

Step

2:

Once the armature is set in motion, the angle between the actual position of the armature and its reference initial position goes on increasing in the path of its rotation until it becomes 90 from its initial position. Consequently the term cos decreas es and also the value of torque. The torque in this case is given by = BILwcos which is less than BIL w when is greater than 0

Step

3:

In the path of the rotation of the armature a point is reached where the actual position of the rotor is exactly perpendicular to its initial position, i.e. = 90, and as a result the term cos = 0. The torque acting on the conductor at this position is given by.

 = BILwcos90 = 0

i.e. virtually no rotating torque acts on the armature at this instance. But still the armature does not come to a standstill, this is because of the fact that the operation of dc motor has been engineered in such a way that the inertia of motion at this point is just enough to overcome this point of null torque. Once the rotor crosses over this position the angle between the actual position of the armature and the initial plane again decreases and torque starts acting on it again.

Types of DC Motor Separately Excited Shunt Series Compound DC Motor

The direct current motor or the dc motor has a lot of application in todays field of engineering and technology. Starting from an Electric shaver to parts of automobiles, in all small or medium sized motoring applications DC motorscome handy. And because of its wide range of application different functionaltypes of dc motor are available in the market for specific requirements. The types of DC motor can be listed as follows

DC Motor Separately Excited DC Motor Wound Wound Wound Compound Shunt Shunt Compound DC DC DC DC DC DC DC Motor Motor Motor Motor Motor Motor Motor

Self Excited DC Motor Shunt

Series Compound Cumulative Short Long Differential

Short Long Shunt DC Motor

Shunt

DC

Motor

Permanent Magnet DC Motor

Now lets do a detailed discussion about all the essential types of dc motor.

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 Ia So the torque in this case can be varied by varying field flux , independent of the armature current Ia.

Permanent Magnet DC Motor

The permanent magnet DC 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 Tg = Ka Ia. Here is always constant, as permanent magnets of required flux density are chosen at the time of construction and cant be changed there after. for a permanent magnet dc motor Tg = Ka1 Ia Where Ka1 = Ka. which is another constant. In this case the torque of DC Motor can only be changed by controlling armature supply.

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, and on this basis its further classified as:-

i) Shunt Wound DC Motor ii) Series Wound DC Motor iii) Compound Wound DC Motor Lets now go into the details of these types of self excited dc motor.

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 charecterestic of these types of DC motor, lets consider the basic voltage equation given by

E respectively] Now Eb =

Eb +

Ia Ra (1)

[Where E, Eb, Ia, Ra are the supply voltage, back emf, armature current and armature resistance ka (2)

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

ka

Ia Ra

The torque equation of a dc motor resembles Tg = Ka Ia(4) Substituting the torque equation in equation (3) we get

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.

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

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

E = Eb + Ia (Ra + Rs) (5) Where as back emf remains Eb = ka Neglecting saturation we get = K1.If = K1.Ia [ since field current = armature current] Eb = ka K1Ia = KsIa(6) From equation (5) & (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.

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.
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.

total = series + shunt

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.

total = series shunt 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.
Long Shunt DC Motor

If the shunt field winding is parallel to both the armature winding and the series field winding then its known as long shunt type compounded wound dc motor or simply long shunt dc motor.

Shunt Wound DC Motor | DC Shunt Motor

The shunt wound dc motor falls under the category of self excited dc motors, where the field windings are shunted to, or are connected in parallel to the armature winding of the motor, as its name is suggestive of. And for this reason both the armature winding and the field windings are exposed to

the same supply voltage, though there are separate branches for the flow of armature current and the field current as shown in the figure of dc shunt motor below.

Voltage and current equation of a shunt wound dc motor

Let us now consider the voltage and current being supplied from the electrical terminal to the motor be given by E and Itotal respectively. This supply current in case of the shunt wound dc motor is split up into 2 parts. Ia, flowing through the armature winding of resistance Ra and Ishflowing through the field winding of resistance Rsh. The voltage across both windings remains the same.

From there we can write Itotal = Ia + Ish

Thus we put this value of armature current Ia to get general voltage equation of a dc shunt motor

E Or E

= = Eb +

Eb + (Itotal

Ia Ra Ish).Ra

Now in general practice, when the motor is in its running condition, and supply voltage is constant the shunt field current given by,

But i.e. field flux

we is

know proportional to

Ish filed current

I sh

Thus the field flux remains more or less constant and for this reason a shunt wound dc motor is called a constant flux motor.

Construction of a shunt wound dc motor

The construction of a dc shunt motor is pretty similar to other types of dc motor, as shown in the figure below.

Just that there is one distinguishable feature in its designing which can be explained by taking into consideration, the torque generated by the motor. To produce a high torque,

i) The armature winding must be exposed to an amount of electric current thats much higher than the field windings current, as the torque is proportional to the armature current.

ii) The field winding must be wound with many turns to increase the flux linkage, as flux linkage between the field and armature winding is also proportional to the torque.

Keeping these two above mentioned criterion in mind a dc shunt motor has been designed in a way, that the field winding possess much higher number of turns to increase net flux linkage and are lesser in diameter of conductor to increase resistance(reduce current flow) compared to the armature

winding of the dc motor. And this is how a shunt wound dc motor is visibly distinguishable in static condition from the dc series motor (having thicker field coils) of the self excited type motors category.

Self-Speed regulation of a shunt wound dc motor

A very important and interesting fact about the dc shunt motor, is in its ability to self regulate its speed on application of load to the shaft of the rotor terminals. This essentially means that on switching the motor running condition from no load to loaded, surprisingly there is no considerable change in speed of running, as would be expected in the absence of any speed regulating modifications from outside. Let us see how? Let us do a step-wise analysis to understand it better.

1) Initially considering the motor to be running under no load or lightly loaded condition at a speed of N rpm.

2) On adding a load to the shaft, the motor does slow down initially, but this is where the concept of self regulation comes into the picture.

3) At the very onset of load introduction to a shunt wound dc motor, the speed definitely reduces, and along with speed also reduces the back emf, Eb. Since Eb N, given by

This can be graphically explained below.

4) This reduction in the counter emf or the back emf Eb results in the increase of the net voltage. As net voltage Enet = E Eb . Since supply voltage E remains constant.

5) As a result of this increased amount of net voltage, the armature current increases and consequently Since, Ia given by the torque increases.

The change in armature current and torque on supplying load is graphically shown below.

6) This increase in the amount of torque increases the speed and thus compensating for the speed loss on loading. Thus the final speed characteristic of a dc shunt motor, looks like.

From there we can well understand this special ability of the shunt wound dc motor to regulate its speed by itself on loading and thus its rightly called the constant flux or constant speed motor. Because of which it finds wide spread industrial application where ever constant speed operation is required.

Series Wound DC Motor or DC Series Motor

A series wound dc motor like in the case of shunt wound dc motor orcompound wound dc motor falls under the category of self-excited dc motors, and it gets its name from the fact that the field winding in this case is connected internally in series to the armature winding. Thus the field windings are exposed to the entire armature current unlike in the case of a shunt motor.

Construction
Construction wise a this motor is similar to any other types of dc motors in almost all aspects. It consists of all the fundamental components like the stator housing the field windings or the rotor carrying the armature conductors, and the other vital parts like the commutator or the brush segments all attached in the proper sequence as in the case of a generic DC motor. Yet if we are to take a close look into the wiring of the field and armature coils of this dc motor, its clearly distinguishable from the other members of this type. To understand that let us revert back into the above mentioned basic fact, that the this motor has field coil connected in series to the armature winding. For this reason relatively higher current flows through the field coils, and its designed accordingly as mentioned below. i) The field coils of dc series motor are wound with relatively fewer turns as the electric current through the field is its armature current and hence for required mmf less numbers of turns are required.

ii) The wire is heavier, as the diameter is considerable increased to provide minimum resistance to the flow of full armature current. In spite of the above mentioned differences, about having fewer coil turns the running of this dc motorremains unaffected, as the current through the field is reasonably high to produce a field strong enough for generating the required amount of torque. To understand that better lets look into the voltage and current equation of dc series motor.

Voltage and current equation

The electrical layout of a typical series wound dc motor is shown in the diagram below.

Let the supply voltage and current given to the electrical port of the motor be given by E and Itotal respectively. Since the entire supply current flows through both the armature and field conductor. Where Now Ise is form the series the Itotal = current basic in the field coil equation Ise = and Ia is of the the armature dc Ia current. motor.

voltage

E Where Rse is Since E = the

= Eb is series Ise = coil

Eb + the resistance Ia , Eb + & Ra is we Ia (

Ise Rse + back the armature can Ra +

Ia Ra emf. resistance. write. Rse)

This is the basic voltage equation of a series wound dc motor. Another interesting fact about the dc series motor worth noting is that, the field flux like in the case of any i.e. But since here other dc motor is Ise Ise = Ise Ia = proportional to field current. Itotal Ia

i.e. the field flux is proportional to the entire armature current or the total supply current. And for this reason, the flux produced in this motor is strong enough to produce sufficient torque, even with the bare minimum number of turns it has in the field coil.

Speed & Torque of series dc motor

A series wound motors has linear relationship existing between the field current and the amount of torque produced. i.e. torque is directly proportional to current over the entire range of the graph. As in this case relatively higher current flows through the heavy series field windings with thicker diameter, the electromagnetic torque produced here is much higher than normal. This high electromagnetic torque produces motor speed, strong enough to lift heavy load overcoming its initial inertial of rest. And for this particular reason the motor becomes extremely essential as starter motors for most industrial applications dealing in heavy mechanical load like huge cranes or large metal chunks etc. Series motors are generally operated for a very small duration, about only a few seconds, just for the purpose of starting. Because if its run for too long, the high series current might burn out the series field coils thus leaving the motor useless.

Speed regulation of series wound dc motor

Unlike in the case of a shunt motor, the dc series motor has very poor speed regulation. i.e. the series motor is unable to maintain its speed on addition of external load to the shaft. Let us see why?

When mechanical load is added to the shaft at any instance, the speed automatically reduces whatever be the type of motor. But the term speed regulation refers to the ability of the motor to bring back the reduced speed to its original previous value within reasonable amount of time. But this motor is highly incapable of doing that as with reduction in speed N on addition of load, the back emf given by,

Also reduces as Eb N This voltage Ise = increases. high As much that a The it result slower value tends the rate of to decrease EEb, in and Eseries current of the flux to through the linking saturate back Emf Eb , the Eb/( the the field core current coils in coil of increases magnetic the at beyond increases series the field net current Ra +Rse) becomes so field. a the consequently

magnetic compared

increase

saturation region as shown in the figure below. The weak magnetic field produced as a consequence is unable to provide for the necessary amount of force to bring back the speed at its previous value before application of load.

So keeping all the above mentioned facts in mind, a series wound dc motor is most applicable as a starting motor for industrial applications.

Compound Wound DC Motor or DC Compound Motor

A compound wound dc motor or rather a dc compound motor falls under the category of self excited motors, and is made up of both series the field coils S1S2 and shunt field coils F1 F2 connected to the armature windings as shown in the figure below. Both the field coils provide for the required amount of magnetic flux, that links with the armature coil and brings about the torque necessary to facilitate rotation at desired speed.

As we can understand, a compound wound dc motor is basically formed by the amalgamation of a shunt wound dc motor and series wound dc motor to achieve the better off properties of both these types. Like a shunt wound dc motor is bestowed with an extremely efficient speed regulation characteristic, whereas the dc series motor has high starting torque.

So the compound wound dc motor reaches a compromise in terms of both this features and has a good combination of proper speed regulation and high starting toque. Though its staring torque is not as high as in case ofdc motor, nor is its speed regulation as good as a shunt dc motor. Overall characteristics of dc shunt motor falls somewhere in between these 2 extreme limits.

Types of Compound wound dc motor

The compound wound dc motor can further be subdivided into 2 major types on the basis of its field winding connection with respect to the armature winding, and they are:

Long shunt compound wound dc motor

In case of long shunt compound wound dc motor, the shunt field winding is connected in parallel across the series combination of both the armature and series field coil, as shown in the diagram below.

Voltage and current equation of long shunt compound wound dc motor

Let E and Itotal be the total supply voltage and current supplied to the input terminals of the motor. And Ia , Ise , Ish be the values of current flowing through armature resistance Ra , series winding resistance Rse and shunt winding resistance Rsh respectively.

Now And

we in

know

in series

shunt

motor, motor

Itotal = Ia =

Ia +

Ish Ise

Itotal = And

the

current

equation

of

a Ise +

compound

wound

dc

motor

is

given

by

Ish (1) voltage equation is

its

E = Eb + Ia( Ra + Rse)

Short shunt compound wound dc motor

In case of short shunt compound wound dc motor, the shunt field winding is connected in parallel across the armature winding only. And series field coil is exposed to the entire supply current, before being split up into armature and shunt field current as shown in the diagram below.

Voltage and current equation of short shunt compound wound dc motor

Here also let, E and Itotal be the total supply voltage and current supplied to the input terminals of the motor. And Ia , Ise , Ish be the values of current flowing through armature resistance Ra , series winding resistance Rse and shunt winding resistance Rsh respectively. But Itotal = Since And the like entire in the supply case current of a flows dc through shunt the series I total = from the diagram above we can see

Ise-(2) field Ia + winding.

motor

Ish(3)

Equation (2) and (3) gives the current equation of a short shunt compound wound dc motor. Now for equating the voltage equation, we apply Kirchoffs law to the circuit and get E = Eb + Ia Ra + Ise Rse

But Thus the final

since voltage equation

Ise = can be written

Itotal as

E = Eb + Ia Ra + Itotal Rse Apart from the above mentioned classification, a compound wound dc motor can further be sub divided into 2 types depending upon excitation or the nature of compounding. i.e.
Cumulative compounding of dc motor

A compound wound dc motor is said to be cumulatively compounded when the shunt field flux produced by the shunt winding assists or enhances the effect of main field flux, produced by the series total = series + shunt
Differential compounding of dc motor

winding.

Similarly a compound wound dc motor is said to be differentially compounded when the flux due to the shunt field winding diminishes the effect of the main series winding. This particular trait is not really total = desirable, and hence does not find much of a practical application. shunt

series

The net flux produced in this case is lesser than the original flux and hence does not find much of a practical The compounding characteristic of the self excited dc motor is shown in the figure below. application.