Electric Drives

Course Contents:
• Components and Properties of solid state drive systems.
• Types of loads and Four-quadrant operation.
• DC Drives:
o Fundamentals of DC machine Speed Control.
o Open-loop and closed-loop speed control
• Induction Motor (IM) Drives:
o Fundamentals of IM Speed Control.
o 3-phase voltage source inverters (VSI).
o 3-phase AC voltage controllers.
o Open loop V/f speed control.
o Closed loop V/f speed control.
o Braking techniques.
o Vector control and DC machine control analogy.
• Synchronous Motor Drives:
o Starting and braking.
o Speed control

Electric Drives Dr. Ayman Abdel-Khalik 1

Electric Drives
Text Book
1. Fundamentals of Electrical Drives, Mohamed El-Sharkawy,
Brooks/Cole, 2000.
2. Electric Drives: An Integrative Approach, Ned Mohan.
3. The induction Machine Handbook, I. Boldea, S. Nassar.

Assessment Type Marks

Home work / Projects 10
Lab. 20
Mid term 30
Final Exam 90

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Motion Control and Servo Systems
• In control engineering, a servomechanism is an automatic device that uses
error-sensing negative feedback to correct the action of a mechanism. It
comprises a built-in position/speed feedback mechanism to ensure the
output is achieving the desired position/speed.

• Drive systems that employ Electric Motors as prime movers are called
Electric Drive Systems.

• The combination of electric motor, transmission and control equipment is

nominated as Electric Drive Systems

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WARD LEONARD System for Variable Speed Applications
• Ward Leonard control system is
introduced by Henry Ward Leonard in
1891.
• Disadvantages
❑ very costly (Multi-machine system).
❑ low efficiency.
❑ Large size and weight.
❑ Frequent maintenance.
• Application
Mainly used in cranes, electric excavators,
mine hoists, elevators, steel rolling mills,
paper machines, diesel-locomotives, etc.

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Types of Electric Drives
• Based on the motor type, the electric drive systems are classified into:
1) DC Drive systems
➢ Pros: Simple control.
➢ Cons: Regular maintenance, heavy, expensive, limited speed.
They are usually proposed for applications requiring high performance such
as tractions, elevators, servos, etc.
2) AC drive systems
➢ Pros: Less maintenance, lighter, less expensive, wide speed range.
➢ Cons: Complex control.
AC drive systems are now prevailing in most recent applications.

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Types of Electric Drives
• Before power electronics development:

• DC drives were commonly have been used in Variable Speed + High

Performance Applications.

• AC drives were usually employed in Fixed Speed Applications.

• After introducing Vector Control of AC drives in 1980, the AC drives have

now been favored in most industrial applications with the notable cost
drop in semiconductor devices and microprocessors.

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Types of Electric Drives
• The trade-off between the two types depends on many factors including:

❑ Technology and application.

❑ Performance Capabilities.

❑ Motor cost.

❑ Additional System Component Costs.

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Components of Solid –State Drive Systems

Power Power Driving Mech.

Source Converter Motor Load

Gating Measurments
Signals

Input
Controller
Command

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1) Power Source
Available supplies are commonly:
➢ DC: Batteries, fuel cells, photovoltaic
➢ AC: Single- or three-phase utility.

These supplies are even unregulated or fixed

voltage/frequency supplies.

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2) Driving Motor
• Electric motors exhibit wide variations of torque-speed characteristics
suitable for different mechanical loads.

• The basic criterion in selecting an electric motor for a given drive

application is to meet the required power level and performance during
steady-state as well as dynamic operations.

➢ DC motors: Permanent magnet or wound field motor

➢ AC motors: Induction, Synchronous, PMSM, Brushless DC.

➢ Special motors: Universal motors, switched reluctance motors (SRM),

stepper motors, etc.

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2) Driving Motor (Cont.)
The machine selection depends on the following:
a) Electrical considerations c) Size and ratings of motors
➢ Running characteristics ➢ Load duty cycle
➢ Starting characteristics ➢ Heating and cooling time
➢ Speed control constants of the electric motor
➢ Braking characteristics ➢ Over load capacity

b) Mechanical consideration d) Cost considerations

➢ Type of enclosure ➢ Initial cost
➢ Type of bearings ➢ Running cost
➢ Transmission
➢ Noise

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3) Power Electronic Converter PEC (or Power Modulator)

Cycloconverter, AC
Function: To provide a regulated Voltage Controllers, or
Matrix Converter
power supply. Const. Var.
➢ PEC depends on the motor type
AC AC

and the available supply. Uncontrolled

Rectifier
➢ May be a single power
converter or a combination of
Const. Var.
different converters. DC DC Chopper DC

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4) Controller
• The controller complexity depends on the performance requirements.

• Can be classified into:

➢ Analogue: Inflexible.

➢ Digital: Configurable.

➢ PLCs, DSPs/Microprocessor: flexible and can perform complex

control functions.

• Electric (or Galvanic) isolation between control and power circuits is

mandatory for:

1) Safety.

2) avoiding malfunction/damaging of control circuit.

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5) Mechanical Loads
• Mechanical loads have a wide range of torque-speed
characteristics depending on mechanical properties.
• Generally, load torque, 𝑇𝐿 , is speed-dependent and can be
empirically represented by:

𝛼
𝑛
𝑇𝐿 = 𝐾
𝑛𝑟
where, 𝐾 and 𝛼 are constants, 𝑛 is the driving speed, and 𝑛𝑟 is
the rated speed.
EME 53: Solid State Drives Dr. Ayman Abdel-Khalik 14
Load Classification
Loads are classified into:
1) Active loads
➢ They are associated with either gravitational or elastic deformation of
bodies such as spring action.
➢ Appears as a result to the change in potential energy.
2) Passive loads
➢ They are mainly due to friction, shear or deformation in non-elastic
bodies.
➢ Always opposes motion (speed and torque are in opposite directions).
➢ Such as lathes, fans, and pumps.
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Basic Types of Passive Loads
1) Dry Friction Load (Torque independent of speed)

Such as hoists or the pumping of water or gas against constant pressure.

2) Viscous friction loads (Torque linearly dependent on speed)

Such as eddy current brakes, machine tools, servo.

3) Torque proportional to the square of speed

Such as fans, centrifugal pumps, and propellers.

4) Torque inversely proportional to the speed

Such as milling, lathes, and boring machines.

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Advantages of Solid-State Electric Drives
The solid-state drives have many outstanding merits over
classical drive systems, including:
• Flexible control characteristics: The steady-state and dynamic
characteristics of electric drives can easily be shaped to satisfy
the load requirements.
• Available in wide range of torque and speed.
• Adaptable to different operating condition in normal and
hazardous environments.
• Automatic fault detection and rid-through capability.
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Advantages of Solid-State Electric Drives (Cont.)

• They easily offer a four-quadrants operation.

• Energy saving and high efficiency.
• High power factor operation.
• Facility for remote control.
• Compactness and less floor space.
• Quiet.

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Forms of Electric Drive systems
1) Individual Electric Drive (Single-motor, single-load drives):
• This is the most common form of electric drive. A single motor
is dedicated to a single load.

• It is safer and flexible in spite of

the associated higher initial cost.
• Applications include household
equipment, drills, fans, hard disc,
washers, and dryers.

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Forms of Electric Drive systems (Cont.)
2) Line Shaft or Group Drives:
• They consist of a single electric motor driving multiple loads through a
common line shaft and/or driving belts.
• Advantages:
➢ Low initial cost.
➢ Motor rating will be less than the
summation of individual loads.
• Disadvantages:
➢ Motor failure yields a whole system
shut down.
➢ Inflexible speed control, high noise,
and high mechanical losses.

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Forms of Electric Drive systems (Cont.)
3) Multi-Motor Drives:
• Several motors are used to drive a single mechanical load.
• Applications such as airplane actuation system, cranes and
robots

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Driving Cycle Intervals of A Drive System
Any driving cycle usually comprises acceleration, steady-state operation,
and deceleration intervals.

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Four-Quadrant Operation
During a driving cycle, the machine may act as a motor in either directions
of rotation, or in some instances as a generator or brake depending on the
terminal conditions.

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Four-Quadrant Operation Using Hoisting System

Speed
• The weight of the counter weight is TL

Tm Tm

TL

forward
adjusted to be higher than the II I Motoring

unloaded cage and less than the

loaded one (Typically ½ the weight

Counter
Weight
of fully loaded cabin). Empty
Cage Loaded
Cage
• In quadrants 1 & 3, the machine o
runs as a motor (Speed and torque
Torque

Tm Tm
have the same directions). TL
  TL
III IV

• In quadrants 2 & 4, the machine Re verse

Motoring
acts as a generator or brake
(Speed and torque have opposite
directions).

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