EXPERIMENT NO.

SPEED AND TORQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF SHUNT, SERIES

AND COMPOUND MOTORS

OBJECTIVES
To study performance of dc motors with regards to
a) Speed/torque relationship
b) Armature current/ output torque relationship
c) Armature voltage/ speed relationship
d) Efficiency

Theory

A shunt-connected motor has its armature and field windings

connected in parallel across the dc supply. Figure A-a-a shows the equivalent
circuit of dc shunt machine.

Figure 1: Equivalent Circuit of a dc Shunt Machine

Where:
V is the voltage applied to the terminals
E is the motional or back EMF
L is the self inductance of the field winding.
Ø is the flux in the armature circuit

The magnitude of E is proportional to the flux and speed

E = KE ØN Eq 1-1

5-1
 where N is the speed in RPM, KE a constant referring to the field
windings.

The armature current is given by

V–E Eq 1-2
Ia
= Ra

where Ra is the resistance of the armature and I a the current through

the armature.

The torque produced on the rotor is proportional to the flux and the
armature current and express as

T = KT ØIa Eq 1-3

Where KT is a constant relating to the armature winding.

Under steady state ideal (running at normal loading) conditions if we

assume there is no friction or other losses in the motor, the torque is zero,
and hence from Eq 1-3 the armature current, Ia, is zero.
This implies, from Eq 1-2 that

V = E = KE ØN Eq 1-4

From Eq 1-4 it can be seen that if the magnetic flux is reduced (i.e.
the field is weakened), the speed will correspondingly increase in inverse
proportion, until the motor is again at a higher equilibrium speed. However,
the experiment focuses on how the speed varies with an increase in load if
the terminal voltage is kept constant.

When subjected to an increase in torque, the flux in a shunt motor is

virtually independent of the armature current. Therefore the armature
current increases proportionally with torque, leading to a fall in motional
emf, which causes the speed to fall linearly with increasing torque.

5-2
 Flux is proportional to the field current; hence speed cannot be
control by the field current if the terminal voltage is kept constant.

Efficiency
Input Power to the motor Pin = Vf If + Va Ia Eq 1-5

Output power form the motor Po = 2πNT/ 60 Eq 1-6

Power Out x 100% Eq 1-7

Efficiency
Power In

Efficiency =
2πNT/ 60 Eq 1-8
Vf If + Va Ia

Where Vf and If are the voltage across and the current through the
field winding.

Series Motor

A series connected dc motor has its armature and field windings

connected in series across a dc supply.
Figure 5-2 shows the circuit for a dc series machine

Figure 2 : Equivalent Circuit of a dc Series Machine.

Where V is the voltage applied to the terminals

E is the motional or back EMF

5-3
 Ra is the inherent armature resistance
Ra is an external resistance added in series with the
armature.

The magnitude of E is proportional to the flux and speed.

E = KEΦN Eq. 2-1

Where N is the speed and KE is a constant referring to the field

windings.

The armature current is given by

Ra I a = V – E Eq 2-2

The flux is proportional to the field current (until the effects of

magnetic saturation take place), which, for a series motor, is equal to the
armature current.

Ø =Kf If = Kf Ia Eq 2-3

Where Kf is a constant related to the field windings.

The speed of the motor is can be controlled by adding a variable

resistor in series with the armature winding resistance. Increasing the value
of the resistor will increase the voltage drop across it, this will cause a drop
in the motor terminal voltage and hence a reduction in the speed if the
motor as the motional EMF reduces to balance the loss of terminal voltage.

Torque produced on the rotor is proportional to the flux density. It

can be proved that
T = KT Φ I a Eq 2-4

5-4
 Where Ia is armature current and KT is a constant relating to the
armature winding.

Hence from Eq 2-3 and Eq 2-4 we derive the result

T = K Ia2 Eq 2-5

Where K is a constant of proportionality.

Thus the Torque is proportional to the square of the armature

current. The current varies inversely with speed due to the low value of the
back emf at low speeds and hence the series motor has a high torque at low
speeds. This makes it suitable for us in traction applications.

From Eq 2-1, Eq 2-2 and Eq 2-3

V =Ia (Ra + K1 N) Eq 2-5a

and form Eq 2-5, (assuming that V is constant after allowing for the very
small voltage drop across the field winding)

1 Eq 2-6
T = K3
2
(Ra + K1N)

where K1 and K3 are constants.

At large values of the speed N, Ra <<K1N, the result derive that the
torque is approximately inversely proportional to the square of the speed, at
higher values of the speed, until the effects of magnetic saturation take
place.

5-5
Efficiency

Input Power to the motor Pin = VIa Eq 2-7

Output power form the motor Po = 2πNT/ 60 Eq 2-8

Power Out x 100%

Efficiency Power In

=
2πNT/ 60 Eq 2-9
V Ia
where V is the voltage across the motor

Compound Motor

The compound dc motor is fundamentally a combination of series and

shunt connected dc motors. The series winding is arranged so its
magnetomotive force either assists or opposes that of the shunt. This makes
it possible to attain a selection of torque/speed characteristics. By
adjusting the relative strengths and ratios of the windings, it is possible to
obtain any characteristics of the shunt and series motors. In most compound
motors however has the magnetomotive force produced by the shunt
winding.

Differential Compound Dc Motor

The differential compound dc motor has the series winding opposing

the shunt. Any increase in current results in a weakening of the field and a
reduction in torque per ampere.
However, this connection is not used in practice, as it is inherently
unstable when loaded.

5-6
Cumulative Compound DC Motor

The cumulative compound dc machine has the series winding

reinforcing the shunt. This is shown in Figure 5-3.

Figure 3: Equivalent Circuit of a Compound dc Machine.

When subjected to an increase in load, the resultant increase in

armature current in the series field causes an increase in flux. This
increases the torque per ampere. Therefore there is a greater drop in
speed with increase in torque than in the shunt connected motor.

The torque/speed characteristics of the cumulative compound motor

can also be varied by the use of a resistance in series with the shunt
winding.

Efficiency

Input Power to the motor Pin = Vf If + Va Ia Eq 3-3

Output power from the motor Po = 2πNT/ 60 Eq 3-4

Efficiency Power Out

x 100% Eq 3-5

Power In

5-7
 Efficiency 2πNT / 60
= Eq 3-6
Vf If + Va Ia

Where Vf and If are the voltage across and the current through the
field winding.

The practicals in this experiment will demonstrate the basic laws

governing the behavior of shunt, series, and compound motor and will
investigate the relationships between the applied armature voltage, field
strength and motor torque and speed.

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED

 Universal Power Supply 60-105

 dc Compound Wound Motor 63-120
 Dynamometer with 68-441 panel, Motor 63-110 and
2x dc Voltmeter and Ammeter units 68-110
 Shaft coupling and key – 68-703
 System Frame 91-200
 Digital Multimeter
 Standard Set of Patch Leads 68-800

Preliminary Set-up

Switch of all power at the circuit breaker on the Universal Power

Supply 60-105.

For Run 1 make the connections according to the circuit in Figure 5-4.

For Run 2 make the connections according to the circuit in Figure 5-5.

For Run 3 make the connections according to the circuit in Figure 5-6.

5-8
Control settings

60-105 Power Supply Turn the Variable Supply control to 0% and

switch off the Circuit Breaker.

Set the meter range to 500 Volts dc.

60-105 Power Supply Turn the variable supply control to 0% and

switch on the Universal Power Supply – 60-105
at the circuit breaker.

68-441 Set the Speed/Torque and the Torque control

to their most anti-clockwise positions.

Set the Offset switch to +ve

Press the green Power button

Press the black rectangular Machine Power

button so that the adjacent red LED is lit.

Run 1-Speed / Torque Characteristics of a Shunt Motor

Switch on the 60-105 circuit breaker.

Slowly increase the Variable Supply Control, until the voltage across
the armature is 220 volts, read from the voltmeter on the 60-105
panel. The motor speed should be about 3200 rev / min.

Using the conventional instrumentation, take the following readings for

values of the applied torque from the minimum to a maximum of 1.2 Nm
in increments of 0.1 Nm and enter them into a table similar to Table 5-
1. Should the readings fluctuate significantly when approaching the

5-9
 maximum torque values, record the meter readings for the highest
sustainable torque.

Armature Volts (V1)

Field Volts (V2)
Armature Current (I1)
Field Current (I2)
Torque Nm
Speed Rev/min

After completing the trials, turn the variable supply control to 0%, and
switch off the Universal Power Supply – 60-105 at the circuit breaker.

Run 2 – Speed / Torque Characteristics of a Series Motor

The series motor is always a difficult motor to make measurements on,

since on light loads it will tend to run at very high speed (theoretically
infinite speed at no load) and with any increase in load the speed
initially reduces rapidly to a lower value until the additional load can be
sustained.

With increasing load the torque output increases rapidly as does

armature current, the current and torque theoretically being infinite
at zero speed.

With this type of characteristic it is possible only to obtain a portion

of the overall characteristic torque/speed curve.

Switch on the 60-105 circuit breaker.

Slowly raise the dc supply voltage to the motor to 160 Volts.

5 - 10
 You will notice that as the supply voltage is applied the motor shaft
speed is increasing rapidly to a point where it exceeds 5000 rpm. This
speed is outside the measuring range of the instrumentation and will
need to be reduced before measurements can be made.

Slowly reduce the dc supply voltage until the motor speed is 4950 rpm.
This will be the initial value of speed and supply voltage to carry out
the following test.

Using the conventional instrumentation, take the following readings for

values of the applied torque from the minimum to 1 Nm in increments
of 0.1 Nm and enter them into a table similar to Table 5-2.

Armature Volts (V1)

Motor Voltage (V2)
Motor Current (I1)
Torque Nm
Speed Rev/min

Be sure that as you increase the torque that you allow enough time for
the shaft speed to settle before taking your readings.

After completing the trials, turn the variable supply control to 0%, and
switch off the Universal Power Supply – 60-105 at the circuit breaker.

Run 3 – Speed / Torque Characteristics Of A Compound Motor

Switch on the 60-105 circuit breaker.

Slowly increase the Variable Supply Control, until the voltage across
the armature is 220 volts, read from the voltmeter on the 60-105
panel. The motor speed should be about 3200 rev / min.

5 - 11
 Using the conventional instrumentation, take the following readings for
values of the applied torque from the minimum to 1.2 Nm in increments
of 0.1 Nm and enter them into a table similar to Table 5-3.

Armature Volts (V1)

Field Volts (V2)
Armature Current (I1)
Field Current (I2)
Torque Nm
Speed Rev / min

After completing the trials, turn the variable supply control to 0%, and
switch off the Universal Power Supply – 60-105 at the circuit breaker.

Circuit Diagrams

Run 1: Shunt Motor

Variable dc

Figure 4: Circuit Diagram

5 - 12
Run 2: Series Motor

Figure 5: Circuit Diagram

Run 3: Long Shunt Compound Motor

Variable dc

Figure 6: Circuit Diagram

5 - 13
Wiring Circuit

Run 1 Shunt Motor

Run 2 Series Motor

5 - 14
Run 3 Long Shunt Compound Motor

5 - 15
 Run 1 – Results Tables and Graphs

Table 1

Armature Armature Field Input Output

Torque Speed Efficiency
Voltage Current Current Power Power
(Nm) (Rev/Min) %
(V1) (I1) (I2) Watts Watts

3200 3.0

3100 2.5
100
3000 2.0 90
Armature Current (A)

80
Speed (rev/min)

2900 1.5 70 Efficiency (%)

60
50
2800 1.0
40
30
2700 0.5
20
10
2600 0 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2
Torque (Nm)
Figure 7

5 - 16
Run 2 – Results Tables and Graphs

Table 2

Motor Armature Input Output

Torque Speed Efficiency
Voltage Current Power Power
(Nm) (Rev/Min) %
(V1) (I1) (W) (W)

6000

5000 5.0
100
4000 4.0 90
80
Motor Current (A)

70
Speed (rev/min)

3000 3.0
Efficiency (%)
60
50
2000 2.0
40
30
1000 1.0 20
10
0 0
0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2
Torque (Nm)

Figure 8

5 - 17
 Run 3 - Results Tables and Graphs

Table 3

Field Armature Armature Field Input Output

Torque Speed Eff’y
Voltage Current Voltage Current Power Power
Nm Rev/Min %
(V1) (I1) (V2) (I2) (W) (W)

3200 3.0

3100 2.5
100
3000 2.0 90
Armature Current (A)

80
Speed (rev/min)

70
2900 1.5
60
Efficiency (%)

50
2800 1.0
40
30
2700 0.5 20
10
2600 0 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2
Torque (Nm)
Figure 9

5 - 18
EXERCISES

Exercise 1
Calculate the input power, output power and efficiency from the
results of Run 1 using Eq. 1-5, 1-6, and 1-8 and enter them in the
Table 1.

Draw graphs of speed, armature current and efficiency vs

torque, using the axes suggested by Figure 7.

Exercise 2
Calculate the input power, output power, and efficiency from the
results of Run 2 using Eq 2-7, 2-8, and 2-9 and enter them in the
Table 2.

Draw graphs of speed, armature current and efficiency vs

torque, using the axes suggested by Figure 8.

Exercise 3
Calculate the input power, output power, and efficiency from the
results of Run 3 using Eq 3-5, 3-6, and 3-8 and enter them in the
Table 3.

Draw graphs of speed, armature current and efficiency vs

torque, using the axes suggested by Figure 9.

QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS

1. Compare with the torque equation, what do you notice about the
shape of the armature current vs torque graph of shunt motor? of
series motor? of compound motor?
.

5 - 19
2. What do you notice about the slope of the speed vs torque graph?

3. What do you notice about the slope of the efficiency vs torque

graph?

4. List as many factors you can to account for the efficiency being
less than 100%. Which of these will increase as the torque
increases and which will decrease?

5. What are the main differences between the torque/speed curves

for the shunt and series connected motor?

5 - 20