06/11/2023

Direct-Current Machines

Dr Samir M. Falih

INTRODUCTION
• A direct-current (dc) machine is a versatile
machine, that is, the same machine can be used as
a generator to convert mechanical energy to dc
electrical energy or as a motor to convert dc
electrical energy into mechanical energy.
• However, the use of dc machines as dc generators
to produce bulk power has rapidly disappeared due
to the economic advantages involved in the use of
alternating-current generation, transmission, and
distribution.

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• This is partly due to the high efficiency and relative

simplicity with which transformers convert voltages
from one level to another.
• Today, the need for dc power is often met by the
use of solid state–controlled rectifiers.
• However, dc motors are used extensively in many
industrial applications because they provide
constant mechanical power output or constant
torque, adjustable motor speed over wide ranges,
precise speed or position control, efficient operation
over a wide speed range, rapid acceleration
deceleration, and responsiveness to feedback
signals.

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• Examples of small dc motors include those used for

small control devices, windshield-wiper motors, fan
motors, starter motors, and various servomotors.
• Application examples for larger dc motors include
industrial drive motors in conveyors, pumps, hoists,
overhead cranes, forklifts, fans, steel and aluminum
rolling mills, paper mills, textile mills, various other
rolling mills, golf carts, electrical cars, street cars or
trolleys, electric trains, electric elevators, and large
earth-moving equipment.

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CONSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES
• The schematic diagram of the construction of a dc
machine is shown in Figure 1.
• The construction has two basic parts, namely, the
stator (which stands still) and the rotor (which
rotates).
• The stator has salient poles that are excited by one
or more field windings.
• The armature winding of a dc machine is located
on the rotor with current flowing through it by
carbon brushes making contact with copper
commutator segments.

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Figure 1
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• Both the main poles and armature core are made

up of laminated materials to reduce core losses.
• With the exception of a few small machines, the dc
machines also have commutating poles between
the main poles of the stator.
• Each commutating pole has its own winding which
is known as the commutating winding.
• The main (or field) poles are located on the stator
and are attached to the stator yoke (or frame).
• The stator yoke also serves as a return path for the
pole flux.

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• Because of this, the yokes are being built with

laminations to decrease core losses in solid state–
driven motors.
• The ends of the poles are called the pole shoes.
• The surface of the pole shoe opposite the rotor is
called the pole face.
• The distance between the pole face and the rotor
surface is called the air gap.
• As shown in the figure, there is a special winding
located in the slots of the pole faces called the
compensating winding.

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• The field windings are located around the pole

cores and are connected in series and/or in shunt
(i.e., in parallel) with the armature circuit.
• The shunt winding is made up of many turns of
relatively thin wires, whereas the series winding
has only a few turns and is made up of thicker
wires.
• As shown in the figure, if the field has both
windings, the series winding is located on top of
the shunt winding.
• The two windings are separated by extra insulating
material, which is usually paper.

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• Figure 2 shows the schematic connection diagram for a

dc machine with commutating and compensating
windings in addition to series and shunt windings.
• The series and shunt windings are located on the d-
axis.
• This axis is called the field axis, or direct axis, because
the air-gap flux distribution due to the field windings is
symmetric at the center line of the field poles.
• Both the compensating and commutating winding
brushes are located on the q-axis.
• This axis is called the quadrature axis because it is 90
electrical degrees from the d-axis and represents the
neutral zone.

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• Figure 3 the cutaway views of two different dc

machines.
• The commutator is located on the armature and
consists of a number of radial segments assembled
into a cylinder which is attached to and insulated
from the shaft, as shown in Figures 8.6 and 8.7.
• These segments are well insulated from each other
by mica.
• The leads of the armature coils are connected to
these commutator segments.
• Current is conducted to the armature coils by
carbon brushes that ride on the commutator
segments.

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• The brushes are fitted to the surface of the

commutator and are held in brush holders.
• These brush holders use springs to push the
brushes against the commutator surface to
maintain constant pressure and problem-free
riding.
• The connection between the brush and brush
holder is by a flexible copper cable called a pigtail.
• The rotor itself is mounted on a shaft that rides in
the bearings.

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ELEMENTARY DC MACHINE
• Figure 4 shows an elementary two-pole dc generator.
• The armature winding consists of a single coil of N
turns.
• The voltage induced in this rotating armature is
alternating.
• However, by using a commutator this voltage is
rectified mechanically into dc voltage for the external
circuit.
• The commutator has two half rings that are made up of
two copper segments insulated from each other and
from the shaft.

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• Each end of the armature coil is connected to a

segment. Stationary carbon brushes held against the
commutator surface connect the coil to the external
armature terminals.
• Since the brushes remain in the same position as the
coil rotates, each fixed terminal is always connected to
the side of the coil where the relative motion between
the coil side and the field is the same.
• In other words, the action of the commutator is to
reverse the armature coil connections to the external
circuit when the current reverses in the armature coil.
• Therefore, the commutator at all times connects the
coil side under the south pole to the positive brush and
the one under the north pole to the negative pole.

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• Thus, the polarity of the voltage difference

between the two fixed brushes is always the same
and the voltage is now unidirectional.
• However, a pulsating dc, like the one produced by
this type of single-coil generator, is not suitable for
most commercial uses.
• As shown in Figure 5, the total internal generated
voltage between brushes (i.e., simply the brush
voltage) can be made practically constant by using
a large number of coils and commutator segments
with the coils evenly distributed around the
armature surface.

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ARMATURE VOLTAGE
• In a dc machine, the armature voltage is the
internal generated voltage.
• By applying Faraday’s law of electromagnetic
induction, the armature voltage can be expressed
as

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• The armature voltage can also be expressed as

𝐸 = 𝐾 Φ 𝜔
Where
𝑍 .𝑝
𝐾 =
60 . 𝑎

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• and is called the armature constant.

• The speed of the machine may be given in
revolutions per minute (rpm) rather than in radians
per second. Since
2𝜋
𝜔 = ( )𝑛
60
the armature voltage can be expressed as

𝐸 = 𝐾 Φ 𝑛
Where
.
.

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• Therefore, the armature voltage is a function of the

flux in the machine, the speed of its rotor, and a
constant that depends on the machine.
• The armature voltage, or more precisely the
internal generated voltage, is not the terminal
voltage.
• Consider the circuit representation of a separately
excited dc generator and motor as shown in Figure
8.11a and b, respectively.
• The armature voltage 𝐸 can be expressed as

𝐸 = 𝑉 ± 𝐼 𝑅

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• Where the plus sign is used for a generator and the

minus sign for a motor
• 𝑉 is the terminal voltage
• 𝑅 is the armature resistance
• Therefore, in the case of a generator, the armature
voltage is always greater than the terminal voltage.
• In a motor, the armature voltage is less than the
terminal voltage.
• Regardless of whether the machine is used as a
generator or as a motor, a brush-contact voltage
drop, usually assumed to be 2V, exists due to the
resistive voltage drop between the brushes and
commutator.

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• Also, the term armature winding circuit resistance can

include not only the resistance of the armature winding
𝑅 , but also the resistances of the series-field winding
𝑅 , commutating winding 𝑅 , compensating winding
𝑅 , as well as the 𝑅 resistance of any external wires
𝑅 , , ext.
• Therefore, the general expression for the armature
voltage becomes
𝐸 = 𝑉 ± 𝐼 𝑅 ± 2.0

Where

𝑅 = 𝑅 + 𝑅 +𝑅 +𝑅 +𝑅 ,

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• and represents the total armature winding circuit

resistance. In Equation 8.8, the plus sign is used for
a generator and the minus sign for a motor.
• Note that the voltage polarity of the brushes is a
function of the rotational direction and the
magnetic polarity of the stator field poles.

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Example 1
Assume that a four-pole dc machine has an
armature with a radius of 15 cm and an effective
length of 30 cm, and that the poles cover 70% of
the armature periphery.
The armature winding has 50 coils of five turns
each and is wave-wound with a=2 paths.
Assume that the average flux density in the air gap
under the pole faces is 0.7 T and determine the
following:

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(a) The total number of conductors in the armature

winding
(b) The flux per pole
(c) The armature constant 𝐾
(d) The induced armature voltage if the speed of the
armature is 900 rpm
(e) The current in each coil if the armature current is
200 A

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Solution 1
(a) Since the pole area is

the flux per pole is

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(b) The armature constant is

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(b) The speed of the armature is

Therefore, the induced armature voltage is

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(c ) The current in each coil is

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Example 2
Assume that a separately excited shunt dc machine
has a rated terminal voltage of 230V and a rated
armature current of 100 A. Its armature winding
resistance, commutating winding resistance, and
compensating winding resistance are 0.08, 0.01, and
0.008 Ω, respectively. The resistance of external wires
(i.e., Ra,ext) is 0.002 Ω. Determine the following:
(a) The induced armature voltage if the machine is
operating as a generator at full load
(b) The induced armature voltage if the machine is
operating as a motor at full load

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(a) Since the total armature winding circuit resistance is

When the machine is operating as a generator, its

induced armature voltage is

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(b) When the machine is operating as a motor, its

induced armature voltage is

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Problem 1
An eight-pole 500V, 500kW dc generator has a lap
winding with 640 armature conductors. If the generator
has six commutating poles, determine the following:
(a) The number of turns in the commutating winding if
the mmf of the commutating poles is 1.8 times that of the
armature
(b) The number of conductors for the compensating
winding in each pole face if the generator has a
compensating winding and the pole face covers 80% of
the pole span
(c) The number of turns per pole in the commutating
winding when the compensating winding is in the circuit
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Problem 2
Assume that the armature of a dc machine operating
at 1800 rpm is lap-wound with 720 conductors and
that the machine has four poles. If the flux per pole is
0.05 Wb, determine the following:
(a) The induced armature voltage
(b) The induced armature voltage if the armature is
wave-wound

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Problem 3
Suppose that a separately excited shunt dc machine
has a rated terminal voltage of 250V and a rated
armature current of 100 A. Its armature winding,
commutating winding, and compensating winding
resistances are 0.1, 0.02, and 0.009 Ω, respectively.
Determine the following:
(a) The induced armature voltage if the machine is
operating as a generator at full load
(b) The induced armature voltage if the machine is
operating as a motor at full load

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Problem 4
Suppose that a four-pole wave-wound dc machine is
operating at 1050 rpm at a terminal voltage of 250V and that
the resistance of the winding between terminals is 0.15 Ω.
The armature winding has 100 coils of three turns each. If
the cross-sectional area of each pole face is 150 𝑐𝑚 and the
average flux density in the air gap under the pole faces is
0.75 T,
determine the following:
(a) The total number of conductors in the armature winding.

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(b) The flux per pole.

(c) The armature constant Ka.
(d) The induced armature voltage.
(e) Is the machine operating as a motor or a generator?
(f) The armature current.

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