ASSIGNMENT #1

SUBMITTED TO
Dr. QAMAR SAEED (PE)

SUBMITTED BY
MUHAMMAD JAHANZAIB EHSAN (1825)

MS NUCLEAR POWER ENGINEERING

KARACHI INSTITUTE OF POWER ENGINEERING

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 Speed Control of DC
Motors

1.0 Introduction

DC drives are defined as Electric drives employing DC motors as prime

movers. DC motor drives were dominated variable speed applications
before the introduction of Power Electronic converters. But they are still
popular even after the invention of power electronics. Common applications
are rolling mills, hoists, traction, and cranes.

Advantages of DC motor:

Precise torque and speed control without sophisticated electronics

Deliver high starting torque
Near-linear performance

Disadvantages:

High maintenance
Large and expensive (compared to induction motor)
Not suitable for high-speed operation due to commutators and
brushes
Not suitable in explosive or very clean environment

Commonly used DC motors

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 Separately excited
Series (mostly for traction applications)

1.1 Separately Excited DC Motor

Figure 1 Armature and Field Circuit

The field winding is used to excite the field flux. Armature current is
supplied to the rotor via brush and commutators for the mechanical work.
Interaction of field flux and armature current in the rotor produces torque.

1.1.1 Operation

When a separately excited motor is excited by a field current of if and an

armature current of ia flows in the circuit, the motor develops a back emf
and a torque to balance the load torque at a particular speed. The if is

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independent of the ia .Each windings are supplied separately. Any change
in the armature current has no effect on the field current. The if is normally
much less than the ia.

1.1.2 Field and armature equations

Instantaneous field current

Where Rf and Vf are the field resistor and inductor respectively

Instantaneous armature current

Where Ra and Va are the armature resistance and inductance respectively

The armature back emf is expressed as:

ea K K b
K is the motor voltage constant (in V/A - rad/s) and is the motor speed (in
rad/sec)

The torque developed by the motor is:

Te Kia K bia
For normal operation, the developed torque must be equal to the load
torque plus the friction and inertia, i.e.:

Where
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B is viscous friction constant, (N.m/rad/s)

TL is load torque (N.m)

J is inertia of the motor ( )

Figure 2 Motor is connected to a load

1.1.3 Steady-state operation

Under steady state operations, time derivatives are zero. Assuming the
motor is not saturated.

For field circuit,

The back emf is given by:

The armature circuit

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The developed torque

The developed power

In steady state motor speed can easily be calculated as:

If Ra is a small value (which is usual), or when the motor is lightly loaded,

i.e. Ia is small,

That is if the field current is kept constant, the motor speed depends only
on the supply voltage.

1.1.4 Torque and speed control

From the derivation, several important facts can be deduced for steady
state operation of DC motor. For a fixed field current, or flux (If), the torque
demand can be satisfied by varying the armature current (Ia).

Va Ra I a Va R T
a e
K K K K
V Ra
a Te
K K 2

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 Figure 3 speed vs. Torque Characteristics

Three possible methods for speed control:

1. Armature voltage Va

2. Armature resistance Ra

3. Field flux (by changing field resistance Rf)

Speed Control Methods Va control

Va Ra
Te
K K 2

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 Figure 4 Speed torque characteristics with Va Control

The above figure shows that variation in Va causes direct change in no

load speed while slope remains the same only intercept is shifted.

Speed Control Methods Ra control

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Speed Control Methods control

Speed Control Strategy for Separately Excited DC Motor

Base speed base = Speed at rated Va, If and Ia

= 0 to base speed control by Va

> base speed control by flux weakening ()

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 = 0 to base speed control by Va

> base speed control by flux weakening ( )

T Ia For maximum torque capability, Ia = Ia max

Pd = EaIa = (K)Ia = constant when > base

in order to go beyond base, (1/)

Base Speed and Field-weakening

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Base speed: base
The speed which corresponds to the rated Va rated Ia and rated If.
Constant Torque region ( > base,)
Ia and If are maintained constant to met torque demand. Va is varied to
control the speed. Power increases with speed.
Constant Power region ( > base,)
Va is maintained at the rated value and if is reduced to increase speed.
However, the power developed by the motor (= torque x speed) remains
constant Known as field weakening.

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Four quadrant operation

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Operating Modes

Motoring
Back EMF Ea < Va
Ia and If are positive
Motor develops torque to meet load demand (i.e. Te =TL )

Regenerative Braking

Motor acts as generator

Develops Ea > Va

Ia negative (flows back to source)

If positive

Machine slows down until Ea = Va

Used only when there are enough loads to absorb regenerated power

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Dynamic Braking

Similar to regenerative breaking

But Va removed, replaced by Rb

Kinetic energy of motor is dissipated in Rb (i.e. machine works as

generator)

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Plugging

Supply voltage Va is reversed

Assists Ea in forcing Ia in reverse direction

Rb connected in series to limit current

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