EE 312 - Module 1
EE 312 - Module 1
Prepared by:
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MODULE 1:
DC Machinery Fundamentals
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the time allotted, the students should be able to:
1. Understand the DC machinery fundamentals and its operating principles.
2. Familiarize, understand and identify the construction of DC machines
3. Analyze and understand the generated voltage, induced torque equations ,
power flow and losses in DC machines
Module Overview
Introduction
This module provides introduction to the fundamentals and operating principles of DC
machines and the electromechanical energy conversion. This also explains the generated
voltage and induced torque equations and its physical constructions. It discusses the
commutation and armature constructions and explains the power flow and losses in DC
machines.
Preliminary Activity 1:
Consider the questions below.
1. In your daily life or even in your house, have you wonder on how appliances converts
energy? (ex: tv, speaker, refrigerator, lights, etc.) Why and why not?
2. Is electricity that powers your house came from a converted energy? Why and why
not?
3. Is DC machine converts energy? Why and why not?
4. Can you imagine your daily living if the energy is not converted in one form to
another?
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Topic Contents:
Stator
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Rotor
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▪ Field windings ‐ located on the stator, excited by DC currents to produce main
magnetic flux in the machine.
The fundamental principles involved in the operation of DC machines are very simple and
abides in this following laws, these are the basic laws of physics determining
electromechanical energy conversion in electrical machines with magnetic coupling field are:
Ampere’s law
The basic law governing the production of a magnetic field by a current is Ampere's law
where H is the magnetic field intensity produced by the current Inet and dl is a differential
element of length along the path of integration. In SI units, I is measured
in amperes and H is measured in ampere-turns per meter.
To better understand the meaning of this equation, it is helpful to apply it to the simple
example in Figure below shows a rectangular core with a winding of N turns of wire
wrapped about one leg of the core.
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If the core is composed of iron or certain other similar metal s (collectively called
ferromagnetic materials), essentially all the magnetic field produced by the current will
remain inside the core, so the path of integration in Ampere's law is the mean path length of
the core Ic. The current passing within the path of integration Inet is then Ni, since the coil of
wire cuts the path of integration N times while carrying current i. Ampere's law thus becomes
Faraday law
When a conductor of length l is moving at a velocity v to the right in a magnetic field of
density B, according to Faraday’s Law of Electromagnetic Induction, an electromotive force
(emf) eind will be induced.
eind = Blv
Where
eind = induced voltage
v = velocity of the wire
B = magnetic flux density vector
I = length of conductor in the magnetic field
Lorentz law
Whenever a current carrying conductor comes under a magnetic field, there is a force
(Lorentz force) acting on the conductor. The forced induced on the conductor is
F = Bli
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Force on a current‐carrying wire in a magnetic field
Where:
i = magnitude of the current in wire
l = length of wire, with direction of I defined to be in the direction of
current flow
B = magnetic flux density
Kirchhoff’s Law and Ohm’s Law (Analogy between Magnetic Circuits and Electric
Circuits)
From the previous discussions, we know that the current in a coil of wire wrapped around a
core produces a magnetic flux in the core. This is in some sense analogous to a voltage in an
electric circuit producing a current flow. It is possible to define a "magnetic circuit" whose
behavior is governed by equations analogous to those for an electric circuit.
In a simple electric circuit such as the one shown below, the voltage source V drives a current
I around the circuit through a resistance R. The relationship between these quantities is given
by Ohm's law:
V = IR
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In the electric circuit, it is the voltage or electromotive force that drives the current flow. By
analogy, the corresponding quantity in the magnetic circuit is called
the magnetomotive force (mmf). The magnetomotive force of the magnetic circuit
is equal to the effective current flow applied to the core, or
Like the voltage source in the electric circuit, the magnetomotive force in the magnetic circuit
has a polarity associated with it. The positive end of the mmf source is the end from which
the flux exits, and the negative end of the mmf source is the end at which the flux reenters.
In an electric circuit, the applied voltage causes a current I to flow. Similarly, in a magnetic
circuit, the applied magnetomotive force causes flux ϕ to be produced. The relationship
between voltage and current in an electric circuit is Ohm's law (V = IR); similarly, the
relationship between magnetomotive force and flux is
Where
F = magnetomotive force of circuit
ϕ = flux of circuit
R = reluctance of circuit
Here are some analogies between a DC Electric Circuit and a Magnetic Circuit
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The reluctance of a magnetic circuit is the counterpart of electrical resistance, and its units are
ampere-turns per weber.
There is also a magnetic analog of conductance. Just as the conductance of an electric circuit
is the reciprocal of its resistance, the permeance P of a magnetic circuit is the reciprocal of its
reluctance:
To make it simple and accurate and to summarize the existing laws that governs operation of
electrical machines, Fleming and Maxwell provided a theory for the directions of force
/motion, magnetic field and current.
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Maxwell’s Right Hand Grip/Thumb Rule
➢ When electric current flows through a conductor, a magnetic field is induced around
it.
➢ The direction of magnetic lines of force can be determined by Maxwell's right‐hand
grip rule.
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Construction of DC Machines
A direct current machine can be used as a generator or as a motor. When the machine is
driven by a prime-mover it converts mechanical energy into electrical energy and is called a
generator. If the electrical energy is supplied to it, it works as a motor and the energy
conversion is from electrical to mechanical. Therefore the constructional details of a d.c.
generator and a d.c. motor are the same.
A direct current machine (generator or motor) has the following parts as shown in the figure
below:
1. Yoke or magnetic frame.
2. Field System- Pole cores, pole shoes, Field coils.
3. Armature-Armature core, Armature windings, commutator.
4. Brushes, Bearings, End covers, shaft, terminal box, etc
l. Yoke
2. Pole
3. Pole shoe
4. Field coil
5. Inter pole
6. Airgap
7. Armature
8. Slot
9. Teeth
10. Commutator
11. Shaft
12. Base
13. Terminal box
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Yoke or magnetic frame
➢ The Yoke or frame as shown in the figure below is the outer cover of the machine. It
is made of cast iron. But for large machines usually cost steel or volted steel is
employed which has greater strength and high permeability.
The Yoke serves two purposes:
l. It provides Mechanical support to poles acts as a protecting cover for the machine.
2. It carries the magnetic flux produced by the poles
Field Poles
➢ Laminated steel sheets are used to fabricate poles. The sheets are stacked for the
required length and riveted together. The poles are fixed at the inner periphery of the
hollow cylindrical frame. One each pole a former wound coil is provided. Insulated
copper wire is used for the coils. The coils of all the poles are connected in such a
way to form north and south pole alternatively. These are called field poles. When the
wire of the coils carries a current, the pole become an electro-magnet and produces
the magnetic flux. The purpose of providing pole shoes in the poles are:
(i) It act as a mechanical support to the field coils.
(ii) They reduce the reluctance of the magnetic path and
(iii) They guide and spread out the flux in the air gap.
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➢ Armature is the rotating part of the machine. It is in cylindrical shape with slops on its
periphery. It is built up of steel laminations. It is mounted on the shaft. The armature
lamination is about 0.5 mm thick. By using laminated sheets to fabricate armature, the
eddy current loss is reduced. If silicon content steel is used for armature core, the
hysteresis loss also reduced. Due to losses (hysteresis, eddy current and I2R losses)
heat is developed in the armature. To dissipate this heat a fan is provided at one end of
the armature. Ventilating ducts are also provided in the armature for the purpose of
cooling.
Armature Windings
➢ The armature winding is placed on slots available on the armature surface. Former
wound coils are used. The ends of the coils are joint with the commutator segments.
Insulated high conductivity copper wire is used. Lap winding or wave winding is
used.
Commutator
➢ The commutator is made up of number of wedge shaped segments. It is a cylindrical
shape and built up of segments of hard drawn copper. The segments are separated by
their layers of mica. Each commutator segment is connected to the armature
conductor by means of a copper strip called riser. In d.c. generator the commutator
converts the automating current induced in the armature into unidirectional current.
Brushes
➢ The brushes are made of carbon. It is in the shape of rectangular block. The brushes
are placed in brush holder. The brush holders are mounted on rocker arm. The brushes
are arranged on rocker arm in such a way, it touches the surface of the commutator.
The function of a brush is to collect current from commutator, in case of generator.
When the machine is working as a motor the current to the armature conductors are
fed through the brushes.
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Activity 1:
Questions
Part A
Choose the correct answer both letter and word
1. The e.m.f induced in the dc generator is alternating one and this is converted in to
direct e.m.f by
a. slip ring b. carbon brush
c. commutator d. end rings.
2. The direction of induced e.m.f is determined by using
a. Fleming's right hand rule b. Fleming's left hand rule
c. Kirchoff's law d. Maxwell Right Hand Thumb Rule
3. The Yoke or frame of the d.c machine is made of
a. Copper b. Aluminum
c. Cast iron d. Bronze
4. Armature lamination is about
a. 1 cm thick b. 1 mm thick
c. 0.5 mm thick d. 0.5 inch thick
5. Part of DC machines that collects and feds current from and to the commutator.
a. slip ring b. carbon brush
c. commutator d. armature
Part B
Answer the question in a minimum of one word
Part C
Answer the question briefly
1. What are the main parts of d.c machine? State its purpose shortly
2. Write short notes on commutator
3. What is the use of bearing in d.c machine?
4. What are the basic laws that governs the operation of dc machines? State its relations
to dc machines shortly
5. What is the purpose of the laminated sheets in the armature?
6. What is reluctance?
7. What is the relationship of electric and magnetic field in electrical machines?
8. How does the relative permeability of a ferromagnetic material vary with
magnetomotive force?
9. How does the magnetic circuit concept aid in the design of electrical machine
cores?
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Commutation and Armature Construction in Real DC Machines
In practice, rotor winding has a number of turns evenly distributed along the rotor perimeter.
DC machines usually have a relatively large number of the rotor conductors and
corresponding number of commutator segments. Appearance of the rotor of a typical DC
machine is shown in Figure below.
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Figure below shows the method of connecting rotor conductors to the commutator segments
for DC machine with 4 rotor slots, 4 commutator segments, and 8 conductors. Given example
is seldom seen in practice. The number of rotor slots is usually much higher. Yet, the case in
Figure below is selected as an introduction to making the rotor winding. Conductors P1–P8
are placed in slots. Each slot houses two conductors. The rotor is observed from the side
where the mechanical collector is mounted on the shaft. The ends of conductors P1–P8 are
connected as well on the rotor side opposite to mechanical collector, the rare side of the
machine. This side is not visible. Therefore, relevant wire connections at the rare side are
shown in the right-hand side of Figure below by dotted lines. Connected by rare side
connections, conductors make four turns, P1–P2, P3–P4, P5–P6, and P7–P8. At the front side
of the rotor, where the mechanical collector is mounted, wire connections are represented in
the left-hand side of Figure by solid lines.
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Wiring diagram of the rotor current circuit can be presented in the manner shown in Figure
below. The figure shows the rotor with rather simple construction, having 4 slots, 8
conductors, and mechanical commutator with 4 segments. Commutator allows creation of the
rotor current sheet which does not rotate with respect to the stator, producing in this way
vectors of the rotor magnetomotive force and flux which do not move with respect to the
stator. The power supply to the rotor winding is shown in previous figures as a constant
current source connected to brushes A and B.
In the course of the rotor motion, the brushes direct the current to collector segments and
subsequently to the rotor conductors. As the rotor conductor moves below the north pole and
passes under the south pole, direction of electrical current changes. For that reason, each rotor
conductor has alternating current with a frequency determined by the speed of rotation.
Observed from the stator side, distribution of the rotor currents remains unaltered. Therefore,
the rotor currents create a current sheet which does not move with respect to the stator.
Commutation
A commutator in its simplest form is composed of a slip ring that is cut in half which called a
split ring, with each segment insulated from one another as well as from the shaft. One
segment is connected to each end of the loop. Transition of the brush from one segment to the
other and consequential change in electrical current in rotor conductors is called
commutation.
The rotating semicircular segments are called commutator segments, and the fixed contacts
are called brushes. The brushes are pressed against the commutator by springs.
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Commutation on DC Motor
As shown in the previous example, the rotor conductors below the north magnetic pole of the
stator have electrical current in given direction, while conductors below the south magnetic
pole have also a given direction. In the course of rotation, each of the rotor conductors resides
below north magnetic pole during one half turn and below the south magnetic pole under the
second half turn. Therefore, direction of electrical current in each individual conductor
changes with a frequency determined by the speed of rotation. Carbon brushes A and B are
fastened to the stator, and they touch the segments of the commutator, passing the DC current
received from the power supply ia. During rotation, the brushes touch the segments which are
below them at each particular instant. Hence, the segments slide under the brushes. Brush
transition from one segment to the next is followed by change in electrical current in rotor
conductors attached to relevant segments. Directing DC current ia by commutator action
results in alternating currents in the rotor conductors. In the course of transition, one brush
touches two segments at the same time, bringing them into short circuit and short circuiting
the rotor turns connected to relevant segments. The case when brush A simultaneously
touches segments L1 and L2 is shown in figure below.
Advancing from position in the previous figure, toward position given in figure below, the
rotor moves. Since the brush A in figure below (a) makes a short circuit between segments
L1 and L2, while the brush B makes a short circuit between segments L3 and L4, turns P1–
P2 and P5–P6 are short-circuited during commutation. If the rotor makes further move in the
same direction, it arrives at position shown in figure below (b), the brush A has contact with
segment L2.
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b. Rotor position and electrical connections after the rotor has moved
Therefore, the commutator shown in figure below (a) is a mechanical converter which
converts DC currents to alternating currents (AC). Frequency of currents carried by rotor
conductors is determined by the rotor speed.
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Commutation on DC Generator
The commutator revolves with the loop and the voltage between the segments is picked up by
two stationary brushes. The voltage between the brushes never changes polarity. The AC
voltage in the loop is rectified by the commutator, which actually acts as a mechanical
rectifier. Two semicircular conducting segments are added to the end of the loop as seen in
figure below (a), and two fixed contacts are set up such that at the instant when the voltage in
the loop is zero, the contacts short‐circuit the two segments. Hence, every time the voltage of
the loop switches directions, the contacts also switch connections as shown in figure below
(b), and the output of the contacts is always built up in the same way (DC) as shown in figure
(c).
(a) (b)
(c)
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Internal Generated Voltage and Induced Torque Equations of
Real DC Machines
If the rotor of this machine is rotated, a voltage will be induced in the wire loop. To
determine the magnitude and shape of the voltage, examine the figure below. The loop of
wire shown is rectangular, with sides ab and cd perpendicular to the plane of the page and
with sides bc and da parallel to the plane of the page. The magnetic field is constant and
perpendicular to the surface of the rotor everywhere under the pole faces and rapidly falls to
zero beyond the edges of the poles.
To determine the total voltage etot on the loop, examine each segment of the
loop separately and sum all the resulting voltages. The voltage on each segment is
given
eind = (v x B) • I
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1. Segment ab.
➢ In this segment, the velocity of the wire is tangential to the path of rotation. The
magnetic field B points out perpendicular to the rotor surface everywhere under the
pole face and is zero beyond the edges of the pole face. Under the pole face, velocity
v is perpendicular to B , and the quantity v x B points into the page. Therefore, the
induced voltage on the segment is
2. Segment bc.
➢ In this segment, the quantity v x B is either into or out of the page, while length 1 is in
the plane of the page, so v x B is perpendicular to l. Therefore the voltage in segment
be will be zero:
ecb = 0
3. Segment cd.
➢ In this segment, the velocity of the wire is tangential to the path of rotation. The
magnetic field B points in perpendicular to the rotor surface everywhere under the
pole face and is zero beyond the edges of the pole face. Under the pole face, velocity
v is perpendicular to B , and the quantity v x B points out of the page. Therefore, the
induced voltage on the segment is
4. Segment da.
ead = 0
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The alternative way to express total induced voltage, which clearly relates the behavior of the
single loop to the behavior of larger, real dc machines. To derive this alternative expression,
examine the figure below. Notice that the tangential velocity v of the edges of the loop can be
expressed as
v= rw
where r is the radius from axis of rotation out to the edge of the loop and w is the angular
velocity of the loop. Substituting this expression into the last equation
Notice also from Figure above that the rotor surface is a cylinder, so the area of the rotor
surface A is just equal to 2πrl. Since there are two poles, the area of the rotor under each pole
(ignoring the small gaps between poles) is Ap = πrl.
Therefore,
Since the flux density B is constant everywhere in the air gap under the pole faces,
the total flux under each pole is just the area of the pole times its flux density:
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Or in general,
Thus, the voltage generated in the machine is equal to the product of the flux inside the
machine and the speed of rotation of the machine, multiplied by a constant representing the
mechanical construction of the machine. In general, the voltage in any real machine will
depend on the same three factors:
Suppose a dc source (battery) is now connected to the machine. The resulting configuration is
shown in figure below (a). To determine the torque, look at the close-up of the loop shown in
figure below (b).
The approach to take in determining the torque on the loop is to look at one
segment of the loop at a time and then sum the effects of all the individual segments. The
force on a segment of the loop is given by Equation
F = i (l x B)
T = r F sinϴ
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where ϴ is the angle between r and F. The torque is essentially zero whenever the
loop is beyond the pole edges.
1. Segment ab.
➢ In segment ab, the current from the battery is directed out of the page. The magnetic
field under the pole face is pointing radially out of the rotor, so the force on the wire
is given by
2. Segment bc.
➢ In segment bc, the current from the battery is flowing from the upper left to the lower
right in the picture. The force induced on the wire is given by
Therefore,
3. Segment cd.
➢ In segment cd, the current from the battery is directed into the
page. The magnetic field under the pole face is pointing radially into the rotor, so the
force on the wire is given by
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4. Segment da.
➢ In segment da, the current from the battery is flowing from the upper left to the lower
right in the picture. The force induced on the wire is given by
Therefore,
By using the facts that Ap= πrl and ϕ = ApB, the torque expression can be reduced to
Or in general,
Thus, the torque produced in the machine is the product of the flux in the machine and the
current in the machine, times some quantity representing the mechanical construction of the
machine (the percentage of the rotor covered by pole faces). In general, the torque in any real
machine will depend on the same three factors:
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Example:
Figure below shows a simple rotating loop between curved pole faces connected to a battery
and a resistor through a switch. The resistor shown models the total resistance of the battery
and the wire in the machine. The physical dimensions and characteristics of this machine are
r = 0.5 m l = 1.0 m
R = 0.3 Ω B = 0.25 T
VB = 120 V
Solution:
(a) When the switch in Figure above is closed, a current will flow in the loop. Since
the loop is initially stationary, eind = 0. Therefore, the current will be given by
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so the current i falls. As the current falls, Tind = (2/π)ϕi ↓ decreases, and the machine winds
up in steady state with Tind = 0, and the battery voltage VB = eind.
At no-load steady-state conditions, the induced torque Tind must be zero. But Tind = 0 implies
that current i must equal zero, since Tind = (2/π)ϕi, and the flux is nonzero. The fact that i = 0
A means that the battery voltage VB = eind. Therefore, the speed of the rotor is
(c) If a load torque of 10 N•m is applied to the shaft of the machine, it will begin to slow
down. But as w decreases, eind = (2/π)ϕw ↓ decreases and the rotor current increases [i
= (VB – eind ↓ )/R]. As the rotor current increases, |Tind| increases too, until |Tind| =
|Tload| at a lower speed w.
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The power supplied to the shaft is
(d) If a torque is applied in the direction of motion, the rotor accelerates. As the speed
increases, the internal voltage eind increases and exceeds VB, so the current flows out
of the top of the bar and into the battery. This machine is now a generator. This
current causes an induced torque opposite to the direction of motion. The induced
torque opposes the external applied torque, and eventually |Tload| = |Tind| at a higher
speed w.
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(e) Since the machine is initially unloaded at the original conditions, the speed w =
480 rad/s. If the flux decreases, there is a transient. However, after the transient
is over, the machine must again have zero torque, since there is still no load on
its shaft. If Tind = 0, then the current in the rotor must be zero, and VB= eind. The
shaft speed is thus
Notice that when the flux in the machine is decreased, its speed increases.
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Activity 2
A. Questions
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B. Problems
1. The following information is given about the simple rotating loop shown in figure
below.
B = 0.8 T
l = 0.5 m
r = 0.125 m
VB = 24 V
R = 0.4 Ω
w = 250 rad/s
(b) What is the current i flowing into or out of the machine? What is the power flowing
into or out of the machine?
(c) If the speed of the rotor were changed to 275 rad/s, what would happen to the current
flow into or out of the machine? Does it operates as a motor or a generator, then explain
why.
(d) If the speed of the rotor were changed to 225 rad/s, what would happen to the current
flow into or out of the machine? Does it operates as a motor or a generator, then explain
why.
2. Given the figure below, draw a connections of rotor conductors to the commutator
segments. Draw also the wiring diagram of rotor/armature current circuits and
electrical connections. Then explain in your idea all the connections and wiring
diagram you draw.
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Problems with Commutation in Real Machines
Two major effects occur in the real world to disturb the commutation process:
1. Armature reaction
𝑑𝑖
2. The L 𝑑𝑡 voltages
Armature Reaction
The current flowing in the armature windings will produce a magnetic field (armature mmf)
of its own, which will distorts the original magnetic field from the machine’s poles. The
effect produced by the armature mmf is called armature reaction.
Is defined as the plane within the machine where the velocity of the rotor wires is exactly
parallel to the magnetic flux lines, so that eind in the conductors in the plane is exactly zero.
To understand the problem of neutral-plane shift, examine the Figure below. Figure (a) shows
a two-pole dc machine. Notice that the flux is distributed uniformly under the pole faces. The
rotor windings shown have voltages built up out of the page for wires under the north pole
face and into the page for wires under the south pole face. The neutral plane in this machine
is exactly vertical.
Now suppose a load is connected to this machine so that it acts as a generator. Current will
now out of the positive terminal of the generator, so current will be flowing out of the page
for wires under the north pole face and into the page for wires under the south pole face. This
current flow produces a magnetic field from the rotor windings, as shown in Figure (c). This
rotor magnetic field affects the original magnetic field from the poles that produced the
generator's voltage in the first place. In some places under the pole surfaces, it subtracts from
the pole flux, and in other places it adds to the pole flux. The overall result is that the
magnetic flux in the air gap of the machine is skewed as shown in Figure (d) and (e). Notice
that the place on the rotor where the induced voltage in a conductor would be zero (the
neutral plane) has shifted.
The process of commutation requires the brushes shorting out the commutator segments just
at the moment when the voltage across the segments is equal to zero. When the neutral plane
shifts, the brushes short out commutator segments with a finite voltage across them. The
result is a current now circulating between the shorted segments and large sparks at the
brushes when the current path is interrupted as the brush leaves a segment. The end result is
arcing and sparking at the brushes. This is a very serious problem, since it leads to drastically
reduced brush life, pitting of the commutator segments, and greatly increased maintenance
costs.
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The development of armature reaction in a dc generator. (a) Initially the pole flux is uniformly
distributed. and the magnetic neutral plane is vertical; (b) the effect of the air gap on the pole flux
distribution; (c) the armature magnetic field resulting when a load is connected to the machine;
(d) both rotor and pole fluxes are shown, indicating points where they add and subtract; (e) the
resulting flux under the poles.
‐ At locations where rotor and pole mmfs add, only a small increase in flux occurs.
‐ At locations where rotor mmf subtracts from the pole mmf, there is a larger decrease in flux.
As the result, the total average flux under the entire pole face is decreased.
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A typical magnetization curve shows the effects of pole saturation where armature and pole
magnetomotive forces add.
Flux weakening causes problems in both generators and motors. In generators, the effect of
flux weakening is simply to reduce the voltage supplied by the generator for any given load.
In motors, when the flux in a motor is decreased, its speed increases. But increasing the speed
of a motor can increase its load, resulting in more flux weakening.
𝒅𝒊
L 𝒅𝒕 voltages:
They occurs in commutator segments being shorted out by the brushes, sometimes called
inductive kick. To understand this problem, look at Figure below. This figure represents a
series of commutator segments and the conductors connected between them. Assuming that
the current in the brush is 400 A, the current in each path is 200 A. Notice that when a
commutator segment is shorted out, the current flow through that commutator segment must
reverse.
The rate of change in current with respect to time in the shorted loop can be very high and a
𝒅𝒊
very significant inductive voltage kick v = L 𝒅𝒕 will be induced in the shorted commutator
segment. This high voltage naturally causes sparking at the brushes of the machine, resulting
in the same arcing problems that the neutral-plane shift causes.
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(a) The reversal of current flow in a coil undergoing commutation. Note that the current in the coil
between segments a and b must reverse direction while the brush shorts together the two commutator
segments. (b) The current reversal in the coil undergoing commutation as a function of time for both
ideal commutation and real commutation, with the coil inductance taken into account.
a) Brush shifting
b) Commutating poles or Interpoles
c) Compensating windings
➢ Shifting the brushes to the new neutral plane to reduce sparking as shown in figure
below. But if the load fluctuates, the armature mmfs also fluctuates and so the neutral
plane shifts back and forth between no load and load conditions. Therefore, someone
had to adjust the brushes every time the load on the machine changed.
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b) Commutating Poles or Interpoles
These small poles carry windings that are connected in series with the armature and are
located directly over the conductors being commutated. The number of turns on the windings
is such that the interpoles developed an mmf that is equal and opposite to the armature mmf.
As the load current varies, the two mmfs rise and fall together, exactly bucking each other at
all times. The voltage in the coils undergoing commutation can be exactly cancelled, leading
to no sparking at the brushes.
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(c) Compensating windings
For very heavy, severe duty cycle motors, the flux-weakening problem can be very serious.
To completely cancel armature reaction and thus eliminate both neutral-plane shift and flux
weakening, a different technique was developed. This third technique involves placing
compensating windings in slots carved in the faces of the poles parallel to the rotor
conductors, to cancel the distorting effect of armature reaction. These windings are connected
in series with the rotor windings, so that whenever the load changes in the rotor, the current
in the compensating windings changes, too. Fluxes from armature and compensating
windings are equal and opposite and cancel each other out. In Figure below (a), the pole flux
is shown by itself. In Figure (b), the rotor flux and the compensating winding flux are shown.
Figure (c) represents the sum of these three fluxes, which is just equal to the original pole
flux by itself. The major disadvantage of compensating windings is that they are expensive,
since they must be machined into the faces of the poles.
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Power Flow and Losses in DC Machines
DC generators take in mechanical power and produce electric power, while dc motors take in
electric power and produce mechanical power. In either case, not all the power input to the
machine appears in useful form at the other end-there is always some loss associated with the
process.
The difference between the input power and the output power of a machine is the
losses that occur inside it. Therefore,
Pin−Ploss
= x 100%
Pin
The losses that occur in dc machines can be divided into five basic categories:
➢ Copper losses are the losses that occur in the armature (rotor) and field (stator)
windings of the machine.
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Brush Losses
➢ The brush drop loss is the power loss across the contact potential at the brushes of the
machine.
PBD = VBD IA
where
PBD = brush drop loss
VBD = brush voltage drop, usually assumed to be 2 V
IA = armature current
Core losses
➢ Are the hysteresis losses and eddy current losses occurring in the metal. These
losses vary as the square of the flux density (B 2) and. for the rotor, as the 1.5th
power of the speed of rotation (n 1.5) .
Mechanical Losses
➢ The mechanical losses in a dc machine are the losses associated with mechanical
effects. There are two basic types of mechanical losses: friction and windage.
Friction losses are losses caused by the friction of the bearings in the machine and
friction between brushes and commutator while Windage losses are caused by the
friction between the moving parts of the machine and the air inside the motor's casing.
➢ Are losses that cannot be placed in one of the above categories (ex: losses in coils
undergoing commutation). No matter how carefully losses are accounted for, some
always escape inclusion in one of the above categories. All such losses are lumped
into stray losses. For most machines, stray losses are taken by convention to be 1
percent (1%) of full load.
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Power Flow Diagram for DC Generator
In the figure above, either mechanical power or electrical power is input into the machine,
and then it’s either the stray losses, mechanical losses, and core losses or the copper losses (I2
R) are subtracted. After they have been subtracted, the remaining power is ideally converted
from mechanical to electrical or electrical to mechanical from at the point labeled Pconv.
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Activity 3
Questions
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