Department of Electrical Engineering

Faculty Member:____________________ Dated: ________________

Semester:__________________________ Section: ________________

EE 260: Electrical Machines

Lab 11 Shunt and Series Dc Motor Characteristics

PLO4/ PLO4/ PLO5/ PLO8/ PLO9/

CLO4 CLO4 CLO5 CLO7 CLO8
Name Reg. No Viva / Quiz / Analysis of Modern Ethics and Individual
Lab data in Lab Tool Usage Safety and Team
Performance Report Work

5 Marks 5 Marks 5 Marks 5 Marks 5 Marks

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Lab 10: Shunt and Series Dc Motor Characteristics

Objectives:
Conduct an experiment:

 To learn the basic motor wiring connection.

 To observe the operating characteristics of shunt and series connected motors.
 To study the torque vs speed characteristics of a shunt and series motors.
 To calculate the efficiency of the shunt and series Dc motors.
 To observe the effect of varying the input voltage on the speed of the Dc shunt motor.

Equipment:

Sno. Description Module No. Quantity

1 Dc motor / generator 8211 1
2 Data Acquisition Module 9063 1
3 Power supply 8821 1
5 Dynamometer 8960 1
6 Timing belt 8942 1
7 Connection leads 8941

Table 1
Discussion:

Direct current motors are unsurpassed for variable speed applications, and for applications with
severe torque requirements. Uncounted millions of fractional horsepower Dc motors are used by
transportation industries in automobiles, trains and aircraft where they drive fans, blowers for air
conditioners, heaters and defrosters; they operate windshield wipers, raise-lower seats and
windows. One of their most useful functions is for the starting of gasoline and diesel engines in
autos, trucks, buses and boats.

The Dc motor contains a stator and a rotor, the later commonly called an armature. The stator
contains one or more windings per pole to setting up the magnetic field.

The armature and its winding are located in the path of this magnetic field and when the
armature winding carries a current, a torque is developed causing the motor to turn.

Shunt Dc motor:

Dc shunt motor is a motor whose field circuit gets its power directly across the armature
terminals of the motor as shown in figure 1.

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 Figure 1- Dc shunt motor.

The speed of any Dc motor depends mainly on its armature voltage and the strength of the
magnetic field. The speed tends to drop with load increasing on the motor due to the resistance of
the armature winding. The following figure shows the speed-torque curve:

Figure 2- Torque-speed characteristic for Dc shunt motor.

Just like most energy conversion devices, the Dc shunt motor in not 100% efficient. In other
words, all of the electric power which is supplied to the motor is not converted into mechanical
power. The power difference between the input and the output is dissipated in the form of heat
and constitutes what are known as the losses of the machine. These losses increase with load.

η = Pout/Pin
Where:
Pout = (2 x Л x n x τ)/ 60

Pin = Vin x Iin

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Series Dc motor:

A series motor is a DC motor whose field windings consists of few turns connected in series with
the armature circuit. Figure 3 shows the Dc series motor equivalent circuit.

Figure 3- DC series motor.

In series motor the magnetic field produced by the same current which flows through the
armature winding, with the result that the magnetic field weak when the load is light and strong
when the load is heavy. Consequently, the speed of the series connected motor is entirely
determined by load current. The speed is low at heavy loads, and very high at no load. In fact if
the series motor operated at no load it will run so fast which will damage the motor.

Figure 4- Torque-speed characteristics for Dc series motor.

The torque (τ = k x ф x IA) of any motor depends on the product of armature current and the
magnetic field. For series connected motor this relationship implies that the torque will be very
large for high armature currents, such as occur during start up. The series motor is adapted to
start large heavy loads.
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Procedure:

Warning!
High voltages are presented in this laboratory experiment. Do not make any connections
with the power ON. The power should be turned OFF after completing each individual
measurement.

Shunt motor:

1. Using your power supply, Dc motor / generator, Dc voltmeter / ammeter and

Dynamometer set up the circuit in figure 5.

Figure 5- Shunt motor.

Notice that the motor is wired for shunt field operation and is connected to the variable
Dc output of the power supply (terminals 7 and N).

Couple the Dynamometer to the Dc motor / generator with the timing belt.

2. Set the shunt rheostat control knob at its full cw position (for maximum shunt field
excitation).

3. Set the electrodynamometer control knob at its ccw position (to provide minimum
starting load for the Dc motor).

4. Power on 24 volts to turn on the Data Acquisition module and open configuration file
DC motor.1 in metering application.

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 5. Turn on the power supply. Adjust the variable input to 240 V Dc as indicated by the
voltmeter. Note the direction of rotation, if it is not cw turn off the power supply and
interchange the shunt field connection.

6. a. Adjust the shunt filed rheostat for no load motor speed of 1500 rpm. Make sure the
voltmeter connected across the input of your circuit indicates exactly 240 V Dc.

b. Measure and record in table 2 the line current as indicated by the Dc ammeter for
motor speed 1500 rpm.

c. Apply a load to the Dc motor / generator by varying the Dynamometer command knob
till 1.2 N.m (readjust the power supply, if necessary to maintain exactly 240 V Dc).

d. Measure and record the line current and the motor speed in table 2.

e. Repeat for each of the torque values listed in table 2 and fill the table.

f. Return the voltage to zero and turn off the power supply.

E I Speed Torque Pin Pout η

V A rpm N.m w w
240 0
240 0.2
240 0.4
240 0.6
240 0.8
240 1.0
240 1.2

Table 2

7. Calculate and record in table 2 Pin, Pout and the efficiency for the shunt Dc motor.

8. Draw the motor speed chrematistics curve values from table 2.

9. a. Set the dynamometer control knob at its cw position (to provide the maximum starting
load for the shunt wound motor)

b. Turn on the power supply and gradually increase the dc voltage until the motor is
drawing 1.5 A of line current. The motor should turn slowly or not at all.
c. Measure and record the Dc voltage and torque developed.

E = ………………. V τ = ………………... N.m

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 Note: Just note the values of voltage, current and torque and quickly turn
the torque control knob fully ccw position.

d. Return the voltage to zero and turn off the power supply.
10. a. The line current in step 8 is limited only by the equivalent DC resistance of the shunt
motor. Calculate t5he resistance R.
R = ___________________ Ohms.

b. Now theoretically calculate the value of the starting current if the full line voltage (240
V Dc) were applied to the shunt DC motor. (Use I = V/R)

Starting current = ……………… A

11. a. Adjust the input Dc voltage to 100 V Dc.

b. Set the load on the dynamometer to 0.8 N.m and keep this value of load constant
during this task.

c. Set the shunt rheostat control knob at its full cw position (for maximum shunt field
excitation).

12. a. Measure and record the input voltage and speed in table 3.

b. Increase the voltage by a step of 20 volts starting from 100 volts to 240 volts by
adjusting the voltage control knob and then record in table 3 the input voltage and speed
and current.

c. Repeat step 11.b until reach the input voltage 240 V Dc.

τ Voltage Speed Current

N.m V rpm Amps
0.8 100
0.8 120
0.8 140
0.8 160
0.8 180
0.8 200
0.8 220
0.8 240

Table 3

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Series motor:

13. Connect the circuit in figure 6.

Figure 6- Series Motor.

Notice that the motor is wired for series field operation and is connected to the variable
Dc output of the power supply (terminals 7 and N).
Couple the dynamometer to the Dc motor / generator with the timing belt.

14. Set the dynamometer command knob at its mid-range position (around 1.2 N.m torque to
provide a starting load for the Dc motor).

15. a. Turn on the power supply. Gradually increase the Dc voltage until the motor starts to
run. Note the direction of rotation, if it is not cw turn off the power supply and
interchange the series field connection.

b. Adjust the variable voltage for exactly 240 V Dc as indicated by the voltmeter.

16. a. adjust the loading of your dc series motor by varying the dynamometer command knob
until the torque reaches 0.8 N.m (readjust the power supply if necessary to maintain the
exactly 240 V Dc).

b. Measure the line current and the motor speed. Record these values in table 4.

c. Repeat for each of torque values in range 0.8 to 1.8 listed in the table while
maintaining a constant 240 V Dc input.

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 d. Return the voltage to zero and turn off the power supply.

E I Speed Torque Pin Pout η

V A rpm N.m w w
240 0.8
240 1.0
240 1.2
240 1.4
240 1.6
240 1.8
Table 4

17. Calculate and record in table 4 Pin, Pout and the efficiency for the series Dc motor.

18. Draw the motor speed chrematistics curve values from table 4

19. a. Set the dynamometer control knob at its full cw position (to provide the maximum
starting load for the series-wound motor)

b. Turn on the power supply and gradually increase the dc voltage until the motor is
drawing 1.5 A of line current. The motor should turn slowly.

c. Measure and record the Dc voltage and torque developed.

E = ………………. V τ = ………………... N.m

d. Return the voltage to zero and turn off the power supply.

20. a. The line current in step 18 is limited only by the equivalent Dc resistance of the series
motor.

b. Theoretically calculate the value of the starting current if the full line voltage (240 V
Dc) were applied to the series-wound motor and also find the equivalent Dc motor
resistance R. R = ______________ Ohms.

Starting current = ……………… A

21. Conclude your lab experiment and submit Laboratory Report.

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