Unit 5: DC and AC Motor

Construction 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 than that there are several subsidiary parts namely the
1. Yoke of DC motor.
2. Poles of DC motor.
3. Field winding of DC motor.
4. Armature winding of DC motor.
5. Commutator of DC motor.
6. Brushes of DC motor.
All these parts put together configures the total construction of a DC motor.

Now let’s 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 winding of the DC motor.
Poles of DC Motor
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 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 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 of DC Motor

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

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 of poles. Hence the machine designs are made accordingly.
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 winding
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 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.
Working Principle
D.C. Motor Principle
A machine that converts d.c. power into mechanical power is known as a d.c. motor. Its operation
is based on the principle that when a current carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field, the
conductor experiences a mechanical force. The direction of this force is given by Fleming’s left
hand rule and magnitude is given by; F = BIl newtons Basically, there is no constructional
difference between a d.c. motor and a d.c. generator. The same d.c. machine can be run as a
generator or motor.
Working of D.C. Motor
Consider a part of a multipolar d.c. motor as shown in Fig. (1). When the terminals of the motor
are connected to an external source of d.c. supply: (i) the field magnets are excited developing
alternate N and S poles; (ii) the armature conductors carry ^currents. All conductors under N-pole
carry currents in one direction while all the conductors under S-pole carry currents in the opposite
direction. Suppose the conductors under N-pole carry currents into the plane of the paper and those
under S-pole carry currents out of the plane of the paper as shown in Fig.(1). Since each armature
conductor is carrying current and is placed in the magnetic field, mechanical force acts on it.
Referring to Fig. (1) and applying Fleming’s left hand rule, it is clear that force on each conductor
is tending to rotate the armature in anticlockwise direction. All these forces add together to produce
a driving torque which sets the armature rotating. When the conductor moves from one side of a
brush to the other, the current in that conductor is reversed and at the same time it comes under the
influence of next pole which is of opposite polarity. Consequently, the direction of force on the
conductor remains the same.

Fig.1

Back or Counter E.M.F.

When the armature of a d.c. motor rotates under the influence of the driving torque, the armature
conductors move through the magnetic field and hence e.m.f. is induced in them as in a generator
The induced e.m.f. acts in opposite direction to the applied voltage V(Lenz’s law) and in known
as back or counter e.m.f. Eb. The back e.m.f. Eb (= P f ZN/60 A) is always less than the applied
voltage V, although this difference is small when the motor is running under normal conditions.
Consider a shunt wound motor shown in Fig. (2). When d.c. voltage V is applied across the motor
terminals, the field magnets are excited and armature conductors are supplied with current.
Therefore, driving torque acts on the armature which begins to rotate. As the armature rotates,
back e.m.f. Eb is induced which opposes the applied voltage V. The applied voltage V has to force
current through the armature against the back e.m.f. Eb. The electric work done in overcoming and
causing the current to flow against Eb is converted into mechanical energy developed in the
armature. It follows, therefore, that energy conversion in a d.c. motor is only possible due to the
production of back e.m.f. Eb.

Fig. 2
Net voltage across armature circuit = V - Eb
If Ra is the armature circuit resistance, then
Since V and Ra are usually fixed, the value of Eb will determine the current drawn by the motor.

If the speed of the motor is high, then back e.m.f. is large and hence the motor will
draw less armature current and vice versa.

Significance of Back E.M.F.

The presence of back e.m.f. makes the d.c. motor a self-regulating machine i.e., it makes the motor
to draw as much armature current as is just sufficient to develop the torque required by the load.

(i) When the motor is running on no load, small torque is required to overcome the friction and
windage losses. Therefore, the armature current Ia is small and the back e.m.f. is nearly equal to
the applied voltage.
(ii) (ii) If the motor is suddenly loaded, the first effect is to cause the armature to slow down.
Therefore, the speed at which the armature conductors move through the field is reduced and hence
the back e.m.f. Eb falls. The decreased back e.m.f. allows a larger current to flow through the
armature and larger current means increased driving torque. Thus, the driving torque increases as
the motor slows down. The motor will stop slowing down when the armature current is just
sufficient to produce the increased torque required by the load.
(iii)If the load on the motor is decreased, the driving torque is momentarily in excess of the
requirement so that armature is accelerated. As the armature speed increases, the back e.m.f. Eb
also increases and causes the armature current Ia to decrease. The motor will stop accelerating
when the armature current is just sufficient to produce the reduced torque required by the load. It
follows, therefore, that back e.m.f. in a d.c. motor regulates the flow of armature current i.e., it
automatically changes the armature current to meet the load requirement.

Types of D.C. Motors

Like generators, there are three types of d.c. motors characterized by the connections of field
winding in relation to the armature viz.:
(i) Shunt-wound motor in which the field winding is connected in parallel with the armature.
The current through the shunt field winding is not the same as the armature current. Shunt
field windings are designed to produce the necessary m.m.f. by means of a relatively large
number of turns of wire having high resistance. Therefore, shunt field current is relatively
small compared with the armature current.

(ii) Series-wound motor in which the field winding is connected in series with the armature.
Therefore, series field winding carries the armature current. Since the current passing through
a series field winding is the same as the armature current, series field windings must be
designed with much fewer turns than shunt field windings for the same m.m.f. Therefore, a
series field winding has a relatively small number of turns of thick wire and, therefore, will
possess a low resistance.

(iii) Compound-wound motor which has two field windings; one connected in parallel with the
armature and the other in series with it. There are two types of compound motor connections
(like generators). When the shunt field winding is directly connected across the armature
terminals, it is called short-shunt connection. When the shunt winding is so connected that it
shunts the series combination of armature and series field it is called long-shunt connection.
The compound machines (generators or motors) are always designed so that the flux produced by
shunt field winding is considerably larger than the flux produced by the series field winding.
Therefore, shunt field in compound machines is the basic dominant factor in the production of the
magnetic field in the machine.

D.C. Motor Characteristics

There are three principal types of d.c. motors viz., shunt motors, series motors and compound
motors. Both shunt and series types have only one field winding wound on the core of each pole
of the motor. The compound type has two separate field windings wound on the core of each pole.
The performance of a d.c. motor can be judged from its characteristic curves known as motor
characteristics, following are the three important characteristics of a d.c. motor:
(i) Torque and Armature current characteristic (Ta/Ia): It is the curve between armature
torque Ta and armature current Ia of a d.c. motor. It is also known as electrical characteristic
of the motor.
(ii) Speed and armature current characteristic (N/ia): It is the curve between speed N and
armature current Ia of a d.c. motor. It is very important characteristic as it is often the deciding
factor in the selection of the motor for a particular application.
(iii) Speed and torque characteristic (N/Ta): It is the curve between speed N and armature torque
Ta of a d.c. motor. It is also known as mechanical characteristic.
Characteristics of Shunt Motors
Characteristics of Series Motors
Applications
Tools, toys, and appliances, electric vehicles, elevator and hoists, or in drives for steel rolling
mills etc.