Chapter 5: DC Motors

Reversing the Rotation Direction

• The direction of rotation can be reversed by reversing the
current flow in either
– the armature connection
– the shunt & series field windings

(base) (reversed) (reversed)

 Motor Starting
• Full voltage applied to a starting motor can:
• burn out the armature
• damage the commutator and brushes due to heavy sparking
• overload the supply feeder
• snapping off the shaft due to mechanical shock
• damage the mechanical load
• Means must be provided to limit the starting current to
reasonable values (between 1.5 & 2 pu of full-load current)
– connect a rheostat in series with the armature
• as speed increases, the counter emf increases
• the resistance can be reduced as the counter emf increases
– use power electronics to drive the armature current
 Motor Starting
• Manual face-plate starter for a shunt motor
– contacts connect to
current-limiting resistors
• contact arm in off position (m)
• manually move arm to
position (n) to start
• supply voltage causes
full filed current flow
• armature is limited by four resistors
• as speed increases, E0 builds
• when acceleration ceases, arm is move to the next contact,
where the motor begins to accelerate
• at last contact, electromagnet holds arm in place
 Stopping the Motor
• Stopping a dc motor is a nontrivial operation
– large motors coupled to a heavy inertia load may take an hour
or more to halt
– braking action is often required: apply a braking torque to
ensure rapid stop
• mechanical friction
• electrical braking - reverse power flow
– dynamic braking: transfer the armature circuit to a load
resistor
– Plugging: reversing the flow of armature current
 Dynamic Braking
• The armature of a shunt motor is connected to a
DPDT switch that connects the armature to either
the line or external resistor R
– in normal operation the armature is connected to
the source
– opening the switch, the armature current Ia drops
to zero and the rotor will spin until friction and
windage losses brake the rotation
• the machine operates as a generator with
no-load
– closing the switch onto the resistor, the induced
voltage causes a reverse current to flow in R,
creating a counter torque
• the value of R is selected for twice the rated
motor current, braking at twice the drive torque
 Dynamic Braking
• The braking torque is
proportional to the braking
resistor’s current, Ia
– as the motor slows down,
E0 decreases as well as Ia
– consequently the braking
torque becomes smaller
– the torque goes to zero as
the rotor halts
– the speed drops quickly at
first and then more slowly
– dynamic braking is an
exponential decay
 Plugging
• The motor can be stopped more rapidly by
plugging
• Plugging is the sudden reversing of the
armature current
– accomplished by reversing the terminals to
the armature circuit
– under normal motoring conditions
(E − E )
Ia = s 0
Ra
– sudden reversing the terminals causes the net
voltage acting on the armature circuit to
become (Es + E0), resulting in a large
reverse current (50x)
– a limiting resistor in series is used to control
the current to twice full-load current
 Plugging
• The braking torque is proportional to the
armature current, Ia
– initially, the torque is twice
the full-load torque and is
limited by the current-
limiting resistor
– a reverse torque is
developed even when
the armature comes to
a stop
– the reverse torque at zero
speed is half of the initial
braking torque
– as soon as the motor stops in two time-
constants, the armature circuit must be opened
 Mechanical Time Constants
• Dynamic braking causes the speed to drop exponentially
J n12
T=
(30 π )2 P1
• T = mechanical time constant
• J = Moment of inertia
• n1 = initial speed
• P1 = initial power to the braking resistor
– T0 = time for the speed to decrease by 50% of its original
value: J n12
T0 = 0.693T =
131.5 P1

• the equation neglects the extra braking effects of windage and

friction
 Dynamic Braking
• Example
– 225 kW, 250 V, 1280 rpm dc motor has windage, friction, and
iron losses of 8 kW
– drives a large flywheel with 177 kg m2 moment of inertia
– motor is connected to a 210 V dc supply and operating at a
speed of 1280 rpm
– a 0.2 ohm braking resistor is used
– calculate: T0, time for the motor speed to drop to 20 rpm, and
time for the motor speed to drop to 20 rpm if there is no
dynamic braking
 Plugging
• Example
– the motor is plugged using a current-limiting resistor of 0.4
ohm resistor
– calculate: the initial braking current and power and the
stopping time
 Basics of Variable Speed Control
• The most important outputs of a • Assume that the machine is an
motor are speed and torque ideal separately excited with
– useful to determine the machine negligible armature resistance
limits as speed increases – consider the per unit values of
• the rated values of armature Ea, Ia, Φf, If, and n
current, armature voltage, and – the per unit approach renders a
field flux must not be exceeded universal torque-speed curve
• the per-unit torque is given
by the per-unit flux times
the per-unit armature
current
• the per-unit armature
voltage is given by the per-
unit speed times the per-
unit flux
 Basics of Variable Speed Control
• The per-unit equations of torque and
induced voltages are:
T = Φ f Ia
Ea = n Φ f
– to reduce speed below base, reduce
armature voltage while keeping rated
current and flux constant (constant torque
mode)
– to increase speed above base, reduce flux,
but as current cannot exceed base, torque
decreases (constant power mode)
• DC machines can operate anywhere within
the limits of the torque-speed curve
 Homework
• 5-14, 5-15, and 5-17