DC Motor or Direct Current Motor 1

What is DC Motor ?

Electrical motors are everywhere around us. Almost all the electro-mechanical
movements we see around us are caused either by a AC or a DC motor. Here
we will be exploring DC motors. This is a device that converts DC electrical
energy to a mechanical energy.
Principle of DC Motor 2

- when a current carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field,

it experiences a torque and has a tendency to move.
- This is known as motoring action. If the direction of current in
the wire is reversed, the direction of rotation also reverses. When
magnetic field and electric field interact they produce a mechanical
force, and based on that the working principle of DC motor is
established.
The direction of rotation of a this motor is given by Fleming’s left hand
3
rule, which states that if the index finger, middle finger and thumb of your
left hand are extended mutually perpendicular to each other and if the
index finger represents the direction of magnetic field, middle finger
indicates the direction of current, then the thumb represents the direction
in which force is experienced by the shaft of the DC motor.
Structurally and construction wise a DC motor is exactly similar to a DC 4
generator, but electrically it is just the opposite. Here, unlike a generator, we
supply electrical energy to the input port and derive mechanical energy from
the output port. We can represent it by the block diagram shown below.

Here in a DC motor, the supply voltage and current is given to the electrical
port or the input port and we derive the mechanical output i.e. torque T and
speed ω from the mechanical port or output port.
A DC motor like we all know is a device that deals in the conversion of electrical energy
5 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 than that there are several subsidiary parts namely the

3. Yoke 6. Armature winding

4. Poles 7. Commutator

5. Field winding 8. Brushes

Yoke 6
- 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 winding
of the dc motor.
Poles
7
- The magnetic poles 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 differe
nt 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 8
- 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 winding 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 9
- The armature 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, that’s made with 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
winding 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.
 10
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.
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 of poles. Hence the machine designs are made accordingly.
Commutator 11
- 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
winding housed over a rotating structure through the brushes of DC motor.
Brushes 12
- 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 current from external
circuit to the rotating commutator form where it flows into the armature winding. So, 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.
The DIRECT CURRENT MOTOR or the DC MOTOR has lot of application in today’s field of
engineering and technology. Starting from an electric shaver to parts of automobiles, in all small 13
or medium
sized motoring applications DC motors come handy. And because of its wide range of application different
functional types of DC motor are available in the market for specific requirements.
Separately Excited DC Motor 14
- 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.

- From the torque equation of the DC motor we know Tg = Ka φ Ia So the torque in this
case can be varied by varying field flux φ, independent of the armature current Ia.
Permanent Magnet DC Motor 15
-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 φ Ia. Here φ is always constant, as permanent magnets of required
flux density are chosen at the time of construction and can’t be changed there after. For a permanent magnet DC motor
Tg = Ka1Ia Where, Ka1 = Ka.φ which is another constant. In this case the torque of DC Motor can only be changed by
controlling armature supply.
Self excited DC Motor 16
- 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:
1. Shunt wound DC motor

2. Series wound DC motor

3. Compound wound DC motor

Shunt wound DC motor 17
- 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.

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 18
- 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 for clear understanding.

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
19
- 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.

The excitation of compound wound DC motor can be of two types depending on the nature of
compounding.
Cumulative Compound DC Motor 20
- 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.

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.

- 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
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. 21
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 it’s
known as long shunt type compounded wound DC motor or simply long shunt DC motor. Short shunt
and long shunt type motors have been shown in the diagram
DC motors 22

Speed characteristics of a DC motor

N=
Where:
N = speed(rpm)
a = number of parallel paths
P = number of poles
Z = number of conductors
Φ = flux per pole (weber)
Eb = back emf or counter emf (volt)
Torque developed in the armature 23

T=
Where:
T = torque developed (Newton meter)
Ia = armature current (Ampere)
N = speed of armature rotation
a = number of armature current paths
P = number of poles
Z = number of conductors
Φ = flux per pole (weber)
Power developed in the armature 24

P d = E b Ia
Where:
Pd = power developed in the armature (watt)
Ia = armature current (ampere)
Eb = back emf or counter emf (volt)

Mechanical output in the shaft

HP =
Where: N = rpm ; T = lb-ft
HP =
Where: N = rpm ; T = N-m
Example 25

1. A simplex lap wound armature has a 600 conductors and carries a current of 50 amperes per
armature current path. If the flux per pole is 30mWb, determine the electromagnetic torque
developed by the armature?

2. The armature of a 4-pole lap wound DC motor has a 850 conductors and draws an armature
current of 70 A when the speed is 500 rpm. If the flux per pole is 60mWb, determine the
horsepower developed in the armature.

3. If the power transmitted by the shaft of a motor is 20Hp and the torque exeterd by the pulley id
220 N-m, what is the speed?