PE 415

Electrical Machine Drives and Control

Lecture2: Construction of DC Machines

Dr. Shahid Alam

Assistant Professor
Dept. of Electrical Engineering
Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering
Sciences and Technology
s.alam@giki.edu.pk
 Dc motors

• Earlier (before 1980) the automatic choice for speed or

torque control applications.
• Applications examples: Steel rolling mills, railway
traction, robotics, printers and precision servos (from
MW to W).
• This machine has a dc winding or permanent magnets on
the stator.
• The rotor (armature) is supplied with a dc current
through a commutator and brushes.
• The commutator and brushes require maintenance.
• Rated voltages of 6V to 700V
Applications of DC machines
Construction of DC Machines
DC motor components
DC motor components: Stator
DC motor components: Stator
DC motor components: Rotor or Armature
DC motor components: Armature Windings
DC motor components: Armature Windings

• Armature core consist of poles and slots.

• Armature windings, current carrying
conductors, are arranged in the slots.
• EMF is produced in the windings due to
relative motion between the windings
and stator magnetic field.
Armature Windings: Lap Winding

In Lap winding, the finishing end (or

back end) of one coil is connected
to a commutator segment and to
the starting end of the adjacent
(successive) coil situated under the
same pole an so on, till all the coils
have been connected.
Lap Winding: Progressive & Retrogressive Type
 Lap Winding: Simplex and Duplex Type

Simplex type 𝑌𝑐 = ±1 Duplex type 𝑌𝑐 = ±2

Lap Winding: No. of parallel paths
 Application of lap windings

Welding generator machine A dynamo is another application

producing high currents producing high currents
Armature Windings: Wave Winding

In Wave winding, the two ends of each coil

are connected to commutator segments,
which are separated by the some distance.
 Application of wave windings

Used in high voltage and low current applications

such as hand crack mac ohmmeter
Comparison between Lap & wave windings
 DC motor components: Commutator

The first point of contact with the armature is via the commutator segments.
 DC motor components: Commutator and Brush
• The carbon brushes make sliding contact with the commutator.
• The commutator consists of insulated copper segments
mounted on a cylindrical structure.
• The commutator needs to be kept clean and need to be
regularly serviced.
• The brush debris will be carried out of harm by the ventilating
air. The dust can lead to short-circuits and flash-over faults
 DC motor components: Air gap
• Between the rotor and the stator
• Allows rotation
• Allows for cooling air to pass through
the system
• Too wide air gap would reduce the
magnetic field felt by the conductors
 Operation principle of DC motor
In the DC motor, the commutator applies electric current
to the windings. By reversing the current direction in the
rotating conductors each half turn, a steady unidirectional
torque is produced. Hence, the coil will rotate continually
in the same direction.
Torque production, function of the commutator
DC motor components: Interpoles
Torque production, function of the
commutator-interpoles
Torque production, function of the
Commutator, armature reaction
Torque production, function of the
commutator-interpoles
Motional EMF
Equivalent circuit