EN0567 – DC machines: Seminar Questions

1. The armature of a permanent-magnet DC motor has a resistance of 1- and the

induced voltage (counter-emf or back-emf) of 50-V at 500-rpm. If the armature is
connected to a constant voltage source of 150-V, calculate the following: (a) the motor
starting current; (b) the counter-emf and the armature current when the motor runs at
1000-rpm; (c) the armature current required to speed-up the machine to 1460-rpm; (d)
how much the motor torque in the case (b) would need to be reduced to achieve the
conditions of part (c)?
Answers: (a) 150-A; (b) 100-V and 50-A; (c) 4-A; (d) 92%.

2. A shunt motor rotating at 1500-rpm is fed by a 120-V source. The line current is 51-A
and the shunt-field resistance is 120-. If the armature resistance is 0.1-, determine:
(a) the current in the armature; (b) the counter-emf; (c) the mechanical power
developed by the motor.
Answers: (a) 50-A; (b) 115-V; (c) 5750-W

3. A 25-kW, 125-V separately excited DC machine is operated at constant speed of 3000-

rpm with a constant field current such that the voltage induced in the armature (back-
emf) is 125-V. The armature resistance is 0.02-. Compute: (a) the armature current;
(b) terminal power; (c) electromagnetic power and (d) developed torque, when the
applied voltage to the armature winding is 128-V.
Answers: (a) 150-A; (b) 19.2-kW; (c) 18.75-kW; (d) 59.7-Nm

4. A 220-V, DC shunt motor draws 10-A at 1800-rpm. The armature circuit resistance is
0.2- and the field-winding resistance is 440-. (a) What is the torque produced by the
motor? (b) If the field current is unchanged, determine the speed and line current when
the motor develops a torque of 20-Nm.
Answers: (a) 11-Nm; (b) 1787-rpm and 17.786-A

5. A 120-V DC motor gives 7.46-kW at 1800-rpm. What is the torque developed by the
motor? If the efficiency of the motor is 85%, determine the current taken by the motor.
Answers: 39.58-Nm and 73.14-A

6. A 120-V DC shunt motor takes 2-A at no-load and 7-A at full-load. The armature circuit
resistance is 0.8- and the shunt-field resistance is 240-. Determine: (a) the
rotational power loss in the motor, and (b) its efficiency at full-load. Assume that the
rotational power loss is approximately constant under all loading conditions.
Answers: 178.2-W and 67.6%

7. The rated line current of a 7.5 kW, 230 V, 1350 rpm DC shunt motor is 37.5 A. The field
current is 0.75 A, and the armature resistance is 0.38 . Determine: (a) the full load
efficiency; (b) the rated electromagnetic torque; (c) the machine torque and speed
when the line current is 18 A, and the excitation current remains unchanged.
Answers: 86.9%; 56.15 Nm; 26.3 Nm and 1396 rpm
 EN0567 – DC machines: Seminar Questions

8. A 200 V, DC shunt motor has a field resistance of 200  and an armature resistance of
0.5 . On no-load, the machine operates with full field flux at a speed of 1000 rpm and
an armature current of 4 A. If the motor drives a load requiring a torque of 100 Nm, find
the armature current and speed of the motor.
Answers: 56.9 A and 866 rpm

9. A 230 V, 29.84 kW, 1150 rpm DC shunt motor has a full-load efficiency of 89.9%.
Motor losses at full load expressed in percentage of power input are as follows:
rotational loss = 3.7%; armature copper loss = 3.9%; field copper loss = 2.5%. Find: (a)
the armature current at full load; (b) field current; (c) armature current at half rated load;
(d) no-load armature current; (e) shaft torque at full load.
Answers: 140.71 A; 3.61 A; 71.67 A; 5.35 A; 247.8 Nm

10. A 10 kW, 230 V shunt DC motor has an armature resistance of 0.19  and a field
resistance of 145 . At no load and rated voltage, the speed is 1150 rpm and the
armature current is 7.65 A. At full load and rated voltage, the line current is 56.1 A, and
because of armature reaction the flux is 5% less than its no load value. What is the full
load speed of the motor?
Answer: 1163.4 rpm

11. A 230 V shunt-excited DC motor has a full-load speed of 1200 rpm. The resistance of
the armature and the field are 0.3  and 180  respectively. The motor is known to
draw a full-load current of 37.6 A, and at no-load the total input power is 600 W. You
may neglect armature reaction and any voltage drop on the brushes. (a) At what speed
will the motor run under no-load conditions? (b) What value of resistance would you
add to the armature circuit to reduce its speed to 1000 rpm at full load? (c) If a variable
voltage supply is available to drive the motor, what voltage would need to be applied to
the armature terminals to achieve the operating conditions of part (b)?
Answers: 1257.5 rpm; 1 ; 193.5 V