DC Motor

What is a DC Motor?
An electric motor operated by DC (direct current) is known as
a DC motor (unlike an induction motor that operates via
an alternating current). A DC motor converts DC electrical
energy into mechanical energy.

Principle of DC Motor
When a current-carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field,
it experiences a torque and has a tendency to move.
In other words, when a magnetic field and an electric field
interact, a mechanical force is produced. The DC motor or
direct current motor works on that principle. This is known as
motoring action.

The direction of rotation of this motor is given by Fleming’s left

hand 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
the magnetic field, middle finger indicates the direction of the
current, then the thumb represents the direction in which force
is experienced by the shaft of the DC motor.
Structurally and construction wise a direct current motor is
exactly similar to a DC generator, but electrically it is just the
opposite.

Here we 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.

In the DC motor above, the supply voltage E and current I 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.
Parameter K relates the input and output port variables of the
direct current motor.

So from the picture above, we can well understand that the

motor is just the opposite phenomena of a DC generator, and we
can derive both motoring and generating operation from the
same machine by simply reversing the ports.
Detailed Description of a DC Motor

To understand the DC motor in details lets consider the diagram

below,

The circle in the center represents the direct current motor. On

the circle, we draw the brushes. On the brushes, we connect the
external terminals, through which we give the supply voltage.

On the mechanical terminal, we have a shaft coming out from the

center of the armature, and the shaft couples to the mechanical
load. On the supply terminals, we represent the armature
resistance Ra in series.
Now, let the input voltage E, is applied across the brushes.
Electric current which flows through the rotor armature via
brushes, in presence of the magnetic field, produces a torque Tg.
Due to this torque Tg the dc motor armature rotates.
As the armature conductors are carrying currents and the
armature rotates inside the stator magnetic field, it also
produces an emf Eb in a manner very similar to that of a
generator.
The generated Emf Eb is directed opposite to the supplied voltage
and is known as the back Emf, as it counters the forward voltage.
The back emf like in case of a generator is represented by
Where, P = no of poles
φ = flux per pole
Z= No. of conductors
A = No. of parallel paths
and N is the speed of the DC Motor.
So, from the above equation, we can see Eb is proportional to
speed ‘N.’ That is whenever a direct current motor rotates; it
results in the generation of back Emf. Now let’s represent the
rotor speed by ω in rad/sec. So Eb is proportional to ω.
So, when the application of load reduces the speed of the motor,
Eb decreases. Thus the voltage difference between the supply
voltage and back emf increases that means E − Eb increases.
Due to this increased voltage difference, the armature current
will increase and therefore torque, and hence speed increases.
Thus a DC Motor is capable of maintaining the same speed under
variable load.

Voltage equation of a DC motor

V= Eb+IaRa+Vbrush

But the voltage drop across the brush is negligible

V= Eb+IaRa

Ia = (V-Eb)/Ra

Now since the armature winding electrical resistance Ra is small,

this motor has a very high starting current in the absence of back
Emf. As a result, we need to use a starter for starting a DC
Motor.
Now as the motor continues to rotate, the back emf starts being
generated, and gradually the current decreases as the motor
picks up speed.

Types of DC Motors
Direct motors are classified according to the connection of the
field winding to the armature.
There are 3 main types of DC Motors:

1. Shunt wound DC motor

2. Series wound DC motor
3. Compound wound DC motor

Types of DC Motor
A Direct Current Motor, DC is named according to the connection of
the field winding with the armature. Mainly there are two types of DC
Motors. One is Separately Excited DC Motor and other is Self-
excited DC Motor.

The self-excited motors are further classified as Shunt wound or shunt

motor, Series wound or series motor and Compound wound or
compound motor.

The dc motor converts electrical power into mechanical power. The

construction of the dc motor and generator are the same. But the dc
motor has a wide range of speed and good speed regulation in electric
traction.

The working principle of the dc motor is based on the principle that the
current-carrying conductor is placed in the magnetic field and a
mechanical force is experienced by it.

The DC motor is generally used in the location that requires a protective

enclosure, for example, drip-proof, the fireproof, etc. according to the
requirements. The detailed description of the various types of motor is
given below.

Contents:

 Separately Excited DC Motor

 Self Excited DC Motor
 Shunt Wound Motor
 Series Wound Motor
 Compound Wound Motor
Separately Excited DC Motor
As the name signifies, the field coils or field windings are energised by a
separate DC source as shown in the circuit diagram shown below:

Separately Excited DC Motor

Self Excited DC Motor

As the name implies self-excited, hence, in this type of motor, the current
in the windings is supplied by the machine or motor itself. Self-excited
DC Motor is further divided into shunt wound, and series wound motor.
They are explained below in detail.

Shunt Wound Motor

This is the most common types of DC Motor. Here the field winding is
connected in parallel with the armature as shown in the figure below:
Shunt Wound DC Motor
The current, voltage and power equations for a shunt motor are written
as follows.

By applying KCL at junction A in the above figure.

The sum of the incoming currents at A = Sum of the outgoing currents at

A.

Where,

I is the input line current

Ia is the armature current
Ish is the shunt field current

Equation (1) is the current equation.

The voltage equations are written by using Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL)
for the field winding circuit.

For armature winding circuit the equation will be given as:

Series Wound Motor

In the series motor, the field winding is connected in series with the
armature winding. The connection diagram is shown below:

Series Wound Motor

By applying the KCL in the above figure:

Where,

Ise is the series field current

The voltage equation can be obtained by applying KVL in the above

figure.

Compound Wound Motor

A DC Motor having both shunt and series field windings is called
a Compound Motor. The connection diagram of the compound motor is
shown below:

Compound Motor
The compound motor is further subdivided as Cumulative
Compound Motor and Differential Compound Motor. In a cumulative
compound motor the flux produced by both the windings is in the same
direction, i.e.

In differential compound motor, the flux produced by the series field

windings is opposite to the flux produced by the shunt field winding, i.e.

The positive and negative sign indicates that the direction of the flux
produced in the field windings.

IL= Ise+Ish

Ise=Ia

1. A dc motor operating on a supply voltage of 200 V dc has armature resistance of 0.5 ohm.
If its armature current is 25 A calculate back emf.
V= Eb+IaRa+Vbrush

200= Eb+ (25*0.5)

Eb= 187.5 volts

2. A 4- pole lap wound armature dc motor has flux per pole of 25mWb. The number of
armature conductors is 200. The motor draw in armature current of 20 A when connected
across a 200V dc supply. Calculate the back emf and the speed of motor if armature
resistance is 0.4 ohm

P= 4

Φ = 25mWb

Z= 200

A=P=4

Ia= 20A

V= 200V

Ra= 0.4 ohm

Eb=?

N=?

V= Eb+IaRa

200= Eb+(20*0.4)

Eb= 192V

Eb= PφZNP/60A

192= (4*25*10-3*N*200)/60*4

N= 2304RPM
3. A 4 pole lap wound dc motor has 480 conductors. The flux per pole is 24mWb, and the
armature resistance is 1 ohm. If the motor is connected to a 200V dc supply and running at
1000 rpm on no load, calculate: (i) Back emf (ii) Armature current (iii) Power output

P=4 =A
Z=480
Φ= 24 mWb
Ra= 1 ohm
V= 200V
N0= 1000 rpm
Eb0=?
Ia0=?
P0=?

Eb0= P Φ Z N0/ 60A

= 192 volts

Ia0 = (V-Eb0) / Ra
=8A

P0= Eb0*Ia0
= 1536 Watt