DC MOTORS

In an electric motor the moving part is called the rotor and the stationary part is called the stator. Magnetic fields are produced on poles, and these can be salient poles where they are driven by windings of electrical wire. A shaded pole contains an inductor to delay the phase of the magnetic field for that pole. A commutator switches the current flow to the rotor windings depending on the rotor angle. A DC motor is powered by direct current, although there is almost always an internal mechanism (such as a commutator) converting DC to AC for part of the motor. An AC motor is supplied with alternating current, often avoiding the need for a commutator. A synchronous motor is an AC motor that runs at a speed fixed to a fraction of the power supply frequency, and an asynchronous motor is an AC motor, usually an induction motor, whose speed slows with increasing torque to slightly less than synchronous speed. Universal motors can run on either AC or DC, though the maximum frequency of the AC supply may be limited.

The torque and torque density of an electric motor is not necessarily dependent on its speed. It is rather a function of flux and armature current.

Effects
Increase in flux decreases the speed but increases the torque. If torque is decreased by decreasing the field current, the following sequences are found: 1. Back EMF drops instantly, the speed remaining constant because of the inertia of heavy armature. 2. Due to decrease of EMF armature current I is increased because of I = (V E)/R. 3. A small decrease of flux is more than counterbalanced by a large increase of I which means net increase of torque. 4. If torque increases the speed also increases. If applied voltage is kept constant, motor speed has inverse relation with flux.

where:

N = revolutions per minute (RPM) ,i.e. motor speed K = proportional constant R = resistance of armature (ohms) V = electromotive force (volts)

I = current (amperes) = flux (webers)

Shunt wound motor

A shunt wound motor has a high-resistance field winding connected in parallel with the armature. It responds to increased load by trying to maintain its speed and this leads to an increase in armature current. This makes it unsuitable for widely-varying loads, which may lead to overheating.
[edit] Series wound motor

A series wound motor has a low-resistance field winding connected in series with the armature. It responds to increased load by slowing down and this reduces the armature current and minimises the risk of overheating. Series wound motors were widely used as traction motors in rail transport of every kind, but are being phased out in favour of AC induction motors supplied through solid state inverters. The counter-EMF aids the armature resistance to limit the current through the armature. When power is first applied to a motor, the armature does not rotate. At that instant, the counter-EMF is zero and the only factor limiting the armature current is the armature resistance. Usually the armature resistance of a motor is less than 1 ; therefore the current through the armature would be very large when the power is applied. Therefore the need arises for an additional resistance in series with the armature to limit the current until the motor rotation can build up the counter-EMF. As the motor rotation builds up, the resistance is gradually cut out. The output speed torque characteristic is the most notable characteristic of series wound d.c. motors. The speed being almost entirely dependent on the torque required to drive the load. This suits large inertial loads as the speed will drop until the motor slowly starts to rotate & these motors have a very high stalling torque.
[edit] Permanent magnet motor

A permanent magnet DC motor is characterized by its locked rotor (stall) torque and its no-load angular velocity (speed).[1]

Fleming's left-hand rule for motors

Fleming's left-hand rule

Fleming's left-hand rule (for motors), and Fleming's right-hand rule (for generators) is a pair of visual mnemonics that is used for working out which way an electric motor will turn, or which way the electric current will flow in an electric generator. They were coined by John Ambrose Fleming in the late 19th century.[1] When an electric current flows in a wire, and an external magnetic field is applied across that flow, the wire experiences a force perpendicular both to that field, and to the direction of the current flow. A left hand can be held, as shown in the illustration, so as to represent three mutually orthogonal axes on the thumb, first finger and middle finger. It is then just a question of remembering which finger represents which quantity (electric current, magnetic field and mechanical force), and whether the right hand should be used instead of the left.

Remembering which finger is which

Alternate representation of Fleming's LHR

In fact, there are several variants on this part of the mnemonic. The reader can choose which ever one is most appealing, and most easily remembered.
[edit] First variant

The Fore finger represents the direction of the magnetic Field The Centre finger represents the direction of the Current The Thumb represents the direction of the Thrust.

[edit] Second variant

The First finger represents the direction of the magnetic Field The Second finger represents the direction of the Current The Thumb represents the direction of the resultant Motion.

[edit] Third variant

Van de Graaff's translation of Fleming's rules is the FBI rule (and one that is easily remembered by US citizens because of the commonly known abbreviation for the Federal Bureau of Investigation). This uses the conventional symbolic parameters of F (for Lorentz force), B (for magnetic flux density) and I (for electric current), and attributing them in that order (FBI) respectively to the thumb, first finger and second finger.

The thumb is the force, F.

The first finger is the magnetic flux density, B. The second finger is the electric current, I.

Of course, if the mnemonic is taught (and remembered) with a different arrangement of the parameters to the fingers, it could end up as a mnemonic that also reverses the roles of the two hands (instead of the standard left hand for motors, right hand for generators). These variants are catalogued more fully on the FBI mnemonics page.

[edit] Remembering which hand to use

Fleming's right-hand rule

Before addressing this, it needs to be clear why there needs to be two rules in the first place. The distinction arises because of the differences of cause and effect. In an electric motor, the electric current and magnet field exist, and they lead to the force that creates the motion; while, in an electric generator, the motion and magnetic field exist, and they lead to the creation of the electric current. Many types of electric motor can also be used as an electric generator. Suppose that a vehicle is powered by such a motor, and accelerated up to high speed by connecting the motor to a fully charged battery. Suppose that a switch is then changed so that the motor is disconnected from the fully charged battery, and is connected instead to a completely flat battery. The vehicle will decelerate, while converting the kinetic energy back to electrical energy, and storing it in the battery. It follows, therefore, that while neither the direction of motion nor the direction of the magnetic field (inside the motor/generator) have changed, the direction of the electric current in the motor/generator has reversed. In fact, this follows from the second law of thermodynamics. The generator current must oppose the motor current, and whichever pushes harder outweighs the other, to allow the energy to flow from the more energetic source to the less energetic source.

The bottom line is that Fleming's left-hand rule is used for electric motors, while Fleming's righthand rule is used for electric generators. The rule for motors can be recalled by remembering that "motors drive on the left, in Britain anyway." The rule for generators can be recalled by remembering that the letter "g" is in "right" and "generator". Another way to remember the right-hand rule is "Dyna-RIGHT" (since a dynamo is a type of generator). It can also be remembered as Gene"RIGHT".

Physical basis for why the rules apply

Prediction of direction of flux density (B), given that the current I flows in the direction of the thumb.

When electrons, or indeed any charged particles, flow in the same direction (for example, as an electric current in an electrical conductor, such as a metal wire) they generate a cylindrical magnetic field that wraps round the conductor (as discovered by Hans Christian rsted). The direction of the induced magnetic field is sometimes remembered by the corkscrew rule. That is, if the conventional current is flowing away from the viewer, the magnetic field runs clockwise round the conductor, in the same direction that a corkscrew would have to turn in order to move away from the viewer. (This can be confirmed by placing magnetic compasses at various points round the periphery of an electrical conductor that is carrying a relatively large electric current.) Just to add more confusion to the mnemonics, the direction of the induced magnetic field is also sometimes remembered by the right-hand grip rule, as depicted in the illustration, with the thumb showing the direction of the conventional current, and the fingers showing the direction of the magnetic field. (As an aside, it is interesting to compare this with the mnemonic that is used by mechanical engineers for remembering the direction of motion that is produced using screw threads.) Yet more confusingly still, this rule is also used to work out the magnetic field in a cylindrical solenoid; this time, though, the fingers represent the direction of the conventional current flow in the multiple turns of the coil, and the thumb represents the direction of the magnetic field through the centre of the coil. (The magnetic field then flows back round the outside of the coil in the opposite direction, to complete its circuit.) If an external magnetic field is applied horizontally, so that it crosses the flow of electrons (in the wire conductor, or in the electron beam), the two magnetic fields will interact. Michael Faraday

introduced an extremely useful analogy for visualising this, in the form of imaginary magnetic lines of force: those in the conductor form concentric circles round the conductor; those in the externally applied magnetic field try to run in parallel lines above and below the conductor. If those above the conductor are running (from the north to south magnetic pole) in the opposite direction to that running round the conductor, they will be deflected so that they pass underneath the conductor (because magnetic lines of force cannot cross or run contrary to each other). Consequently, there will be a large number of magnetic field lines bunched together under the conductor, and a dearth of them above the conductor. Since the magnetic field lines of force are no longer straight lines, but curved to run under the electrical conductor, they are under tension (like stretched elastic bands), with energy stored up in the magnetic field. There is therefore a force that is being applied to the only moveable object in the system (the electrical conductor) to expel it up, and out of the externally applied magnetic field. This is where the torque comes from in an electric motor. (The mechanism of the electric motor is then constructed so that the expulsion of the conductor out of the magnetic field causes it be placed inside the next magnetic field, and for this switching to be continued indefinitely.)

Right-hand rule

The left-handed orientation is shown on the left, and the right-handed on the right.

Use of right hand

In mathematics and physics, the right-hand rule is a common mnemonic for understanding notation conventions for vectors in 3 dimensions. It was invented for use in electromagnetism by British physicist John Ambrose Fleming in the late 19th century.[1][2] When choosing three vectors that must be at right angles to each other, there are two distinct solutions, so when expressing this idea in mathematics, one must remove the ambiguity of which solution is meant. There are variations on the mnemonic depending on context, but all variations are related to the one idea of choosing a convention.

Direction associated with an ordered pair of directions

One form of the right-hand rule is used in situations in which an ordered operation must be performed on two vectors a and b that has a result which is a vector c perpendicular to both a and b. The most common example is the vector cross product. The right-hand rule imposes the following procedure for choosing one of the two directions.

With the thumb, index, and middle fingers at right angles to each other (with the index finger pointed straight), the middle finger points in the direction of c when the thumb represents a and the index finger represents b.

Other (equivalent) finger assignments are possible. For example, the first (index) finger can represent a, the first vector in the product; the second (middle) finger, b, the second vector; and the thumb, c, the product.[3]

[edit] Direction associated with a rotation

Prediction of direction of field (B), given that the current I flows in the direction of the thumb

The right-hand rule as applied to motion produced with screw threads A different form of the right-hand rule, sometimes called the right-hand grip rule, is used in situations where a vector must be assigned to the rotation of a body, a magnetic field or a fluid. Alternatively, when a rotation is specified by a vector, and it is necessary to understand the way in which the rotation occurs, the right-hand grip rule is applicable. This version of the rule is used in two complementary applications of Ampre's circuital law: 1. An electric current passes through a solenoid, resulting in a magnetic field. When you wrap your right hand around the solenoid with your fingers in the direction of the conventional current, your thumb points in the direction of the magnetic north pole. 2. An electric current passes through a straight wire. Here, the thumb points in the direction of the conventional current (from positive to negative), and the fingers point in the direction of the magnetic lines of flux. The principle is also used to determine the direction of the torque vector. If you grip the imaginary axis of rotation of the rotational force so that your fingers point in the direction of the force, then the extended thumb points in the direction of the torque vector. The right-hand grip rule is a convention derived from the right-hand rule convention for vectors. When applying the rule to current in a straight wire for example, the direction of the magnetic field (counterclockwise instead of clockwise when viewed from the tip of the thumb) is a result of this convention and not an underlying physical phenomenon.

[edit] Applications
The first form of the rule is used to determine the direction of the cross product of two vectors. This leads to widespread use in physics, wherever the cross product occurs. A list of physical quantities whose directions are related by the right-hand rule is given below. (Some of these are related only indirectly to cross products, and use the second form.)

The angular velocity of a rotating object and the rotational velocity of any point on the object A torque, the force that causes it, and the position of the point of application of the force A magnetic field, the position of the point where it is determined, and the electric current (or change in electric flux) that causes it A magnetic field in a coil of wire and the electric current in the wire The force of a magnetic field on a charged particle, the magnetic field itself, and the velocity of the object The vorticity at any point in the field of flow of a fluid The induced current from motion in a magnetic field (known as Fleming's right-hand rule)

Fleming's left-hand rule is a rule for finding the direction of the thrust on a conductor carrying a current in a magnetic field.

Fleming's left-hand rule

[edit] Left-handedness
In certain situations, it may be useful to use the opposite convention, where one of the vectors is reversed and so creates a left-handed triad instead of a right-handed triad. An example of this situation is for left-handed materials. Normally, for an electromagnetic wave, the electric and magnetic fields, and the direction of propagation of the wave obey the right-hand rule. However, left-handed materials have special properties, notably the negative refractive index. It makes the direction of propagation point in the opposite direction. De Graaf's translation of Fleming's left-hand rule - which uses thrust, field and current - and the right-hand rule, is the FBI rule. The FBI rule changes thrust into F (Lorentz force), B (direction of the magnetic field) and I (current). The FBI rule is easily remembered by US citizens because of the commonly known abbreviation for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.