DC machines

Transforms mechanical energy into electric

energy with DC voltage and current (DC
ball bearing
generator or dynamo), or conversely (DC brush
motor)

ball bearing

brush holder
stator (inductor)
collector
rotor (armature)

29/05/2020
DC machines 1
 DC generators
Inductor or stator: 2p poles with
excitation windings carrying DC current

Armature or rotor :
• stack of thin magnetic sheets (some tenth of a mm)
(perpendicular to the machine axis to reduce eddy
currents) ...
• ... supporting conductors in which electromotive
2 poles
Magnetic circuit: forces (e.m.f.s) appear when the armature rotates
stator + rotor + airgap (e = v ´ b) ...
• ... these e.m.f.s are time-varying and change sign
each time the collector crosses a neutral line
(bissector between 2 successive poles)

Collector: copper strips isolated from each other,

and connected to equidistant points of the
armature winding. Fixed brushes slide on the
collector and rectify (mechanically) the e.m.f.s
4 poles
DC machines 2
 No-load characteristic
No-load characteristic
Variation of the voltage Ev as a function of the
excitation current Ie, at constant speed and with no
delivered current

speed q! = constant
ìvitesse constante
E v = f (Ie ) with
avec í
îI a = 0

E v = k E q! F v (Ie )

Magnetic flux
produced by the inductor and
(1) First magnetization seen by the armature winding
(2) Decreasing Ie
(3) Increasing Ie

Nonlinear with hysteresis

DC machines 3
 Armature reaction
Armature reaction (magnetic) 1. Neutral line shifted
Magnetic phenomena due to the currents in the (rotated) in the rotation
direction
armature
Þ decrease of the e.m.f.
d
if el
d
fiel ield
r r e f
uc
to tu tal
d ma To
In ar

+ =

2. Local magnetic field reduction (entry E = E v - y (Ia )

part) and increase (exit part) not
e.m.f. with load armature reaction
compensated due to nonlinearity 1. and 2.
Þ flux and e.m.f. reduction (+ incr. pmag) y (Ia ) = k E q! DF (Ia )
DC machines 4
 Armature reaction
Total armature reaction

Y (Ia ) = y (Ia ) + R a Ia

Compensating
winding Reduction of the armature reaction
Shift of the brushes w.r.t.
neutral axis
disadvantages:
• for a single value of Ia
• shift direction depends on
rotation direction
• shift direction depends on
operating mode (generator or
motor)

DC machines 5
 Exterior characteristics
Exterior characteristic of a generator
Variation of delivered voltage U in terms of the
delivered current I, at constant speed and excitation
circuit

speed q! = constante
ìvitesse constant
U = f (I) with
avec í
îcircuit d' excitation
fixed excitation invariable
circuit
Excitation type...

independent series shunt compound

inductor e

armature

DC machines 6
Independent excitation generator
I = Ia
e
U = E v ( I e ) - y ( I) - R a I
Ra » 0.1 W (110V/50A machine)
Compensated armature reaction

Delivered voltage
Y ( I) = y ( I) + R a I
quasi independent
of delivered current
® Voltage source

Excitation current Ie modification

Speed modification
+ Y(Ie) ... max. in the magnetization
curve corner

DC machines 7
 Series excitation generator
I = Ia = Ie Quasi-linear
U = E v (I) - y (I) - (R a + R s ) I
Rs << since Ie = I is high
coherent: section >, ns <

U almost fixed
Y ( I ) = y ( I ) + (R a + R s ) I

Speed modification Inductor shunting

I almost constant
useful
zone

Current source

DC machines 8
 Shunt excitation generator
I = Ia - Ie
U = E v (Ie ) - y (Ia ) - R a Ia
U = R d Ie Y (Ia ) = y (Ia ) + R a I
Rd >> to reduce Joule losses
Ie < Þ ns >

no-load
Picou construction

et Y (Ia ) connus
E v ( Ie ) & known
R d Ie = U ( Ie )
Pour
For Ia1 (procédure pointprocedure)
(point by point par point )
® Y (Ia ) ® Y (Ia ) + R d Ie º E v1 &
et E v 2
® Ie1 et
& Ie 2 ® U1 et
& U2

U
I = Ia - Ie = Ia -
Rd short-circuit

DC machines 9
 Shunt excitation generator
Exterior characteristic

Operating point of the generator driving a resitance R

Delivered voltage
almost independent of
the delivered current ... the voltage varies however more
® Voltage source than for the generator with
independent excitation
DC machines 10
 Shunt excitation generator
Speed modification Excitation circuit modification

If the speed is too low of if Rd is too large

® no operating point

Effect of hysteresis
2 branches :
Ie increasing and decreasing

Short-circuit current
DC machines 11
Compound excitation generator
Mixed excitation: shunt inductor and series
inductor wound on the same poles

æ n ö
f .m.m. = n d Ie ± n s Ia = n d çç Ie ± s Ia ÷÷ = n d If
m.m.f.
è nd ø
U = E v (If ) - Y (Ia )
æ n ö
U = R d Ie = R d çç If ! s Ia ÷÷
è nd ø

(4) hypercompound (ns >>)

(3) concordant compound (same direction m.m.f.)
(2) shunt dynamo
(1) antagonist compound (opposite m.m.f.)

æ n ö
E v (If ) = Y (Ia ) + R d çç If ! s Ia ÷÷
è nd ø

DC machines 12
 Self-starting generator

Self-starting is possible thanks to the remanent

magnetization of the inductor

Example: shunt generator

no
yes yes
Operating
point

Condition:
Rd+Ra not too large!

DC machines 13
 DC network connection
Conditions : After connexion (1) :
E»U
E (Ie , Ia ) - U
E and U in opposition Ia = If E <<, Ia >> !
Ra
Then, increase E (2) Þ the generator produces energy

operating point

Slope should be large (to reduce the current

variations dues to voltage perturbations)
Þ compound antagonist generator OK

If E decreases
Þ the generator receives energy (motor for shunt and compound machines!)

DC machines 14
 DC motors
Main principle Excitation current Ie and armature current Ia
The armature conductors are subjected to the
magnetic flux density created by the inductor

... hence to the Laplace force f = j´ b

... hence to a torque that tends to make the armature

rotate

Electromotive force (e.m.f.)

... in the armature conductors as soon as they rotate,
opposed to the current
Total e.m.f. (E) on brushes is equal to the integral of
the electromotive field along the armature
conductors

U = E + R a Ia

DC machines 15
 Armature reaction
E = E v - y (Ia ) armature reaction
e.m.f. with load y (Ia ) = k E q! DF (Ia )

U = E + R a Ia U = E - R a Ia

DC motor DC generator
Y (Ia ) = y (Ia ) - R a Ia Y (Ia ) = y (Ia ) + R a Ia

Total armature reaction

DC machines 16
 Motor torque

U = E + R a Ia = E v - y (Ia ) + R a Ia

´ Ia U Ia = E Ia + R a Ia2 = (E v - y (Ia ) ) Ia + R a Ia2

Electric power
Electromagnetic Joule losses in the
provided to the
power armature
armature

Electromagnetic torque

Pelm E Ia
C= = C = k E F (Ie , Ia ) Ia = k E [F v (Ie ) - DF (Ia )] Ia
q! q!

DC machines 17
 Mechanical characteristics
Machanical characteristic of a motor

Motor speed in terms of the electromagnetic torque,

with fixed voltage and excitation circuit

ìU = constante
constant
q! = f (C) with
avec í
îcircuit d' excitation
fixed excitation invariable
circuit
Excitation type... !

independent or shunt series compound

inductor

armature

DC machines 18
 Shunt excitation motor
C0 = k E F v ( I e ) I a

Speed almost independent

C = k E [F v (Ie ) - DF (Ia )] Ia of torque
= C0 f ( I e , I a )
with (Ie constant) U - R a Ia
q! 0 =
k E F v ( Ie )
F v (Ie ) - DF (Ia )
f (Ie , Ia ) = £1
F v (Ie )
U = E + R a Ia = k E q! [F v (Ie ) - DF (Ia )] + R a Ia
C0 = torque produced by the motor
if there was no armature reaction U - R a Ia 1
q! = = q! 0
k E [F v (Ie ) - DF (Ia )] f (Ie , Ia )
DC machines 19
 Shunt excitation motor
Stable and unstable zones

Influence of Ie

Small perturbation: e.g. speed increase

From P:
motor torque P'' < resisting torque P'
Þ speed decreases, back to P Þ stable

From Q:
motor torque Q'' > resisting torque Q'
Þ speed increases! Þ unstable

Limited speed range (saturation)

DC machines 20
 Shunt excitation motor
U
Influence of the voltage U q! »
k E F v (Ie )

Poor efficiency!

+ power electronics...

High dynamic torque control (since la <<)

DC machines 21
 Series excitation motor
C = k E F (Ia ) Ia
U = k E q! F (Ia ) + (R a + R s ) Ia
Saturated machine
C » k E FS Ia
C » k E l M Ia2 Non saturated U » k E FS q! + (R a + R s ) Ia
U » k E l M q! Ia + (R a + R s ) Ia machine
U2 1 U2 U - k E FS q!
C » k E lM » C » k E FS
(k E l M q! + R a + R s )2 k E l M q! 2 Ra + Rs

No load
Þ runaway!

Maximum
current !

DC machines 22
 Series excitation motor
Influence of the voltage source U
Shunting the inductor

R s'
Ie = Ia £ Ia R s'
R s + R s' l'M = lM £ lM
R s + R s'

F (Ie ) » l M Ie = l'M Ia £ l M Ia = F (Ia )

+ power electronics...

Typical use
Electric traction and lifts (large startup torque)

DC machines 23
 Series excitation motor
Braking
C = k E F (Ia ) Ia

Change the sign of the torque to work as a brake

Electric power changes sign

(recovers energy)

Different modes

DC machines 24
 Compound excitation motor

Mixed excitation: shunt and series inductor wound

on the same poles

f .m.m. = n d Ie ± n s Ia
m.m.f.
æ n ö
= n d çç Ie ± s Ia ÷÷
è nd ø
= n d If

DC machines 25
 DC motor startup
U - E U - k E q! F
Zero speed at startup Þ zero e.m.f. E Ia = =
Ra Ra
Induced current Ia limited only by the armature resistance Ra U
Ia = >>
Ra
Startup rheostat in series with the armature (to limit Ia)
(One allows Ias = 1.5 Ian)

Shunt motor Series motor

Startup rheostat
(value progressively reduced
down to short-circuit)

DC machines 26
 Inverting the rotation direction
Shunt motor Series motor

Same
direction

C = k E F (Ie ) Ia Modify the direction of the current in the

excitation circuit w.r.t. the rotor
Torque changes sign

Opposite
direction

DC machines 27
 Losses in DC machines
! Mechanical losses
– friction losses in bearings (÷ v) (v = speed)
– windage losses (÷ v2)
– friction losses from brushes on the collector (÷ v)
! Magnetic losses
– eddy current losses in armature (÷ v2, ÷ bmax 2)
– hysteresis losses in armature (÷ v, ÷ bmax1.5 ® 2)
! Electric losses
– Joule losses in armature, inductor and brushes (÷ I2, function of
temperature)
! Supplementary losses
– due to skin effect in the rotor and sparks at brushes/collector contact
– increased magnetic losses due to the magnetic reaction

DC machines 28