Topic 2 DC Machines-Construction and Principle of Operation

Course: EE2006D ELECTRICAL MACHINES I Semester: Winter/ 2021-’22
Topic 2
DC Machines-Construction and Principle of Operation
Construction
Like other rotating machines, the essential parts of a dc machine are (i) a system to set up the required
magnetic flux and (ii) a set of conductors which can be maintained in motion cutting that magnetic flux. Then
certain emfs get induced on those conductors while they are made to be in motion or the conductors
experience certain force when they are made to carry certain current.
Accordingly, the major parts of a dc machine to have a set up of that nature are
(i) Magnetic frame or yoke
(ii) Pole cores and pole shoes
(iii) Pole coils or field coils
(iv) Armature core
(v) Armature winding or conductors
(vi) Commutator and
(vii) Brushes and bearings as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1
P Ananthakrishnan, EED, NIT Calicut
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The yoke is made out of cast iron and it provides the mechanical support for the poles, acts as a protecting
cover to the whole machine and provides a path for the magnetic flux along with the pole cores, the pole
shoes, the armature core and the air gaps between the poles and the armature core. Each flux path
comprises of a portion of the yoke, 2 pole cores, 2 pole shoes, a portion of the armature core and 2 air gaps
as shown in figures 2 to 4.
Figure 2 Figure 3
Figure 4
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Poles of the machine comprise of pole cores, pole shoes and pole coils as shown in figures 5 to 7. Pole
shoes help spreading out the magnetic flux in the air gap, reducing the reluctance of the flux path and
supporting the field coils. Pole cores are built as solid or laminated structures where pole shoes are built as
laminated structures only, out of cast iron or cast steel as shown therein. The purpose of using laminations
is to reduce the eddy current losses.
Figure 5 Figure 6
Pole coils or field coils are former wound with suitable copper conductors as shown in figure 7. When
current is passed through these coils, pole cores become electromagnets of specified polarity depending
upon the direction of the currents, providing the necessary magnetic flux in the air gap. Relevant pole coils
are connected in series to have a field winding such that any two adjacent poles are of opposite polarity.
Figure 7
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Armature core is a cylindrical structure, normally built up of sheet steel laminations as shown in figures 8
and 9. It houses the armature conductors or coils in the slots cut on its periphery and causes them to rotate,
cutting the magnetic flux set up by the field system in the air gap. It also provides a path of very low
reluctance to the magnetic flux. Here again, the laminations are used to reduce the eddy current losses.
Figure 8 Figure 9
Commutator is a cylindrical structure carried by the shaft adjacent to the armature, on one side of it. It is
built up of wedge-shaped segments of high conductivity copper as shown in figures 10 and 11. The number
of commutator segments is equal to the number of armature coils and these segments are insulated from
each other by thin layers of mica. The 2 ends of each coil are connected across 2 adjacent commutator
segments by means of copper lugs shown therein and thus it facilitates the collection of current from the
armature conductors.
Figure 10 Figure 11
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The brushes which are usually made out of carbon or graphite in the shape of rectangular blocks are for the
collection of current from the commutator. These brushes are housed in brush holders which are mounted
with suitable mechanical arrangements with springs, the tension of which is adjustable there. Armature
winding of a machine is constructed by way of interconnecting the copper conductors housed in the
armature slots such that the required voltage is made available across the specified terminals. Hence it is
necessary to consider the principle of operation of the machine in detail to illustrate various types of
armature windings.
Principle of operation
Considering a single turn rectangular coil comprising of 2 conductors or coil sides AB and CD which is made
to rotate at constant speed about its own axis in a magnetic field as shown in figure 12, the emf induced
across its terminals corresponding to one revolution will be as shown in figure 13.
Figure 12 Figure 13
As the requirement of a dc generator is to get a time invariant voltage of specified magnitude generated
across its terminals, an arrangement known as split ring is attached to the terminals of this coil as shown in
figures 14 and 15, initially.
Figure 14 Figure 15
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Consequently, the emf available across the stationary brushes becomes unidirectional as illustrated in figure
16. But it is not time invariant as required or it contains high ripples.
Figure 16
Further it is to be noted that the actual shape of this emf waveform will depend upon the magnetic circuits
and in turn the flux distribution available in the air gap as per the construction of the machine. Hence a 2-
pole dc machine, the end view of which is as shown in figure 17, is considered here for that analysis.
Figure 17

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Magnetic circuit
With reference to the end view of a 2-pole dc machine shown here, the circular path through which the
armature conductors are made to move is referred as the air gap region. The position on this circular path
corresponding to the centre of a pole is known as pole axis or direct axis while the position on it equidistant
from the 2 adjacent pole axes is known as inter pole axis or quadrature axis, as shown therein. The direct
axis and quadrature axis are also referred as d axis and q axis respectively.
Further the region between two adjacent inter pole axes is identified as a pole pitch where the region
between the two tips of a pole is known as pole arc. Pole arc to pole pitch ratio will be normally between
0.65 and 0.7. Here, a pole pitch is equal to 180º or π radians, it being the angular displacement between
two adjacent inter pole axes, with reference to the basic signal shown in figure 13. Then one revolution
which corresponds to 360º will be in correlation to 2 pole pitches which is also equal to 2 x 180 = 360º in the
case of a 2-pole machine. But this type of correlation will not hold good for 4 or higher number of poles.
Hence the concept of electrical degrees and mechanical degrees got introduced to have a proper correlation
between the two, for any number of poles. Accordingly, electrical degree = p x mechanical degree, where p
is the number of pairs of poles.
When the pole coils are connected in series forming the field winding and the specified current is passed
through it, magnetic circuits are set up as shown in the diagram.
Flux distribution curve in the air-gap

The magnetic flux or flux density is seen to be uniform in the pole arc region, as the air gap length and in
turn the reluctance is uniform there. Further, the same is seen to be decreasing while moving away from the
pole arc region and becomes zero in the inter pole axis, as the air gap length and in turn the reluctance
increases.
As the direction of the flux is towards the armature in a pole pitch corresponding to an N pole and it is away
from the armature in a pole pitch corresponding to an S pole as per the magnetic circuits, the magnetic flux
or magnetic flux density distribution curve of a dc machine under no load takes the shape as shown in figure
18 (a). In turn, the waveform of the emf induced across the terminals of a coil carried by the armature also
takes the same shape.
Subsequently the voltage available across the stationary brushes takes the shape as shown in figure 18 (b),
since a split ring is attached to the terminals of the coil here also as shown in the figure 17.

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Figure 18
When a similar coil placed in the adjacent pair of slots of the armature core is considered, it will be seen that
the corresponding voltage waveform will be the same, but shifted by one slot angle which is the angular
clearance between 2 adjacent slots. Slot angle of a machine depends up on the number of slots and the
number of poles and it is given as slot angle = (180º/ number of slots per pole). Once a good number of
such coils are connected in series to form a winding, the voltage across the terminals of that winding will be
time invariant or ripple free and this is the principle behind the construction of an armature winding of a dc
machine.
Armature winding
DC armature winding is also known as commutator winding because of the presence of a commutator along
with it. Only double layer winding is practically possible here and it is due to the limitations on placing of the
winding overhangs. A dc armature winding is a closed winding constructed by way of connecting all the
required coils housed in the armature slots in series. Depending up on the sequence in which these coils
are connected in series to form a closed armature winding, it is classified into lap winding and wave winding.
Commutator, the structure of which is already seen, is to be treated here as an extension of a split ring,
where the number of sectors to which the ring is split is increased from 2 to the number of armature coils.

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Meaning and relevance of a closed armature winding along with a commutator is illustrated in figure 19 for
better understanding, before detailing the construction of a lap winding or wave winding.
Figure 19
Example of the closed armature winding shown here is of a 4 pole, 12 slot, double layer, lap winding, the
developed diagram of which is to be illustrated later. It comprises of 12 coils and hence the commutator has
12 segments. Being a lap winding, it has 4 brushes which is equal to the number of poles. These 4 brushes
divide the closed armature winding into 4 parallel paths as shown in the diagram, along with the
commutator. The resultant terminals of these 4 parallel paths are the specified terminals of the dc machine
across which the required voltage is made available. As seen therein, these 4 parallel paths are exactly
uniform in all respects and they comprise of a good number of coils connected in series. Hence the voltage
across the terminals of the machine becomes time invariant or ripple free as mentioned earlier.
A coil of a winding can be either a single turn coil or a multi turn coil, where a single turn coil comprises of
one conductor and a multi turn coil comprises of many conductors per coil side as indicated in figure 20 (a)
and (b). As shown therein, coil span or coil pitch is the clearance between the two sides of a coil. When the
coil span of a coil is equal to a pole pitch, it is known as a full pitched coil while it is known as a short pitched
or long pitched coil if the coil span is less than or greater than 180º respectively as indicated in figure 20 (c).
Coil span of all the coils of a winding should be same and accordingly the windings are classified into full
pitched, short chorded and long chorded windings.

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(a) Single turn coil (b) Multi turn coil (c) Short pitched coil
Figure 20
Lap winding
In lap winding, the finishing end of each coil and the starting end of its adjacent coil are jointly connected to
a commutator segment as shown in figure 21. Thus the commutator pitch, which is the distance measured
in terms of commutator segments, between the segments to which the two ends of a coil are connected, YC
will be equal to ±1 as shown therein for simplex lap winding. Here +1 and -1 are for the progressive and
retrogressive windings respectively. Further, the number of resulting parallel paths will be equal to the
number of poles here. Certain number of equalizer rings are used here to eliminate the circulating current in
these parallel paths, where each ring will be connected to the points of same potential on the back side.
Figure 21
Wave winding
The number of commutator segments (C) which is to be equal to the number of coils in an armature winding
should satisfy a relation regarding the commutator pitch given by YC = (C±1)/ p, where p is the number of
pairs of poles in the case of wave winding. Here again, +1 corresponds to progressive wave winding and -1
corresponds to retrogressive wave winding.
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As C, p and YC are to be integers, construction of wave winding will not be possible for certain number of
slots. If so, the extra coils which are to be placed in the armature slots for mechanical balance will be
excluded from the armature winding and such coils are known as dummy coils. Hence, the finishing end of
each coil and the starting end of another coil are jointly connected to a commutator segment such as the
resultant YC = (C±1)/ p here, as shown in figure 22. Its appearance in the form of a wave makes it known as
wave winding then. Further, the number of resulting parallel paths will be equal to 2, irrespective of the
number of poles here.
Figure 22
Preparation of DC armature winding diagrams

1. Identify the number of slots (s), number of poles (P), coil span chosen (full pitched or short chorded) and
type of winding (lap or wave).
2. Draw s numbers of vertical non-broken lines representing the upper coil sides at a uniform clearance,
maintaining a meaningful proportion between the clearance and the length of the lines, as shown in the
diagram for illustration.
3. Locate the positions of inter pole axes and draw thin support lines to indicate them.
4. Calculate the slot angle (180º/ number of slots per pole) and identify the position of the bottom coil side
which along with the first upper coil side will make the required coil span. If the slot angle is not a factor
of the required coil span, the nearest possible lower coil span is to be taken. Draw a broken line at that
position at the side of the non-broken line, representing the bottom coil side which along with the first
upper coil side makes the first coil. Construct that coil, as shown in the diagram for illustration.
5. Draw the remaining broken lines representing the bottom coil sides corresponding to all other upper coil
sides and construct all the coils having the same coil span, as shown in the diagram for illustration.
6. Mark the (i) pole faces, (ii) direction of rotation, (iii) numbers assigned to the coil sides and (iv) direction
of emf as shown in the diagram for illustration.
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7. Proceed with the series connection of all the coils to construct a closed armature winding, as per the
sequence required to make it a lap or wave winding, where the dummy coils, if any are to be excluded in
the case of wave winding. Correct polarity to get the emfs added up must be maintained here, as shown
in the diagram for illustration.
8. Draw the commutator with its number of uniform segments equal to the number coils included in the
armature winding and show the connection of the coils to those segments. Then, identify the +ve and -
ve brush positions corresponding to the commutator segments towards which both the coil sides
connected are of same direction of emf, as per the associated polarity of the terminals of a generator or
motor, as shown in the diagram for illustration.
9. Draw the brushes accordingly and indicate the resultant +ve and -ve terminals of the armature circuit of
the machine by way of connecting all the similar brushes together. Also draw the required number of
equalizer rings in the case of lap winding, as shown in the diagram for illustration.
Diagrams for illustration

Developed diagram of a 4 pole, 12 slots, progressive lap winding is given in figure 23.
Direction of Rotation →
Figure 23
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Developed diagram of a 6 pole, 16 slots, retrogressive wave winding is given in figure 24.
Direction of Rotation →
Figure 24
Exercise
1. Draw the developed view of the winding for a 4-pole lap wound armature with 24 slots and full pitched
coils, showing the direction of rotation, direction of induced emf, details of poles and brushes, etc.
2. Draw the developed view of the winding for a 4-pole wave wound armature with 24 slots and suitable
coil span, showing the direction of rotation, direction of induced emf, details of poles and brushes, etc.

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Topic 2 DC Machines-Construction and Principle of Operation

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Course: EE2006D ELECTRICAL MACHINES I Semester: Winter/ 2021-’22

P Ananthakrishnan, EED, NIT Calicut

Flux distribution curve in the air-gap

P Ananthakrishnan, EED, NIT Calicut

P Ananthakrishnan, EED, NIT Calicut

P Ananthakrishnan, EED, NIT Calicut

Preparation of DC armature winding diagrams

Diagrams for illustration

P Ananthakrishnan, EED, NIT Calicut

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