MODULE - I

CONCEPT & DYNAMICS OF

ELECTRIC DRIVE

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 ELECTRIC DRIVES
- Several industrial and domestic applications like transportation
systems, rolling mills, textile mills, fans, robots, pumps, machine tools
etc involve motion control
- Systems employed for motion control are called Drives
- Drive systems use prime movers like diesel engines/petrol
engines/hydraulic motors/electric motors to provide the necessary
power
- The drives that use electric motor as the prime mover are known as
Electric Drives
- An electric drive is an electro-mechanical energy conversion system
with electrical control for this conversion
Advantages of Electric drives
- Flexible control characteristics
- Available in wide range of speed, torque and power
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- Energy saving (power ∝ speed3)
- Starting and braking are easy and simple
- Adaptable to any type of environmental conditions
- Do not cause any pollution
- Can be operated in all four quadrants
- High efficiency, low noise and low maintenance requirements
- PLC’s and computers can be employed for controlling the drive
Block diagram of an electric drive

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The main components of an electric drive are,
1. Power source
- It can be an AC or DC source
- In India 50Hz, 1 phase and 3 phase AC supply are readily
available in most locations at different voltage levels – 230V,
400V, 11kV, 33kV etc.
- So most of the drives are powered from AC source either
directly or through a converter
- With 50Hz AC supply, maximum speed of induction and
synchronous motors are 3000 rpm. For higher speeds
conversion of supply frequency is mandatory
- Some drives are powered from DC source. Depending on the
capacity of drive, the battery voltage may vary (6V, 12V, 24V,
48V and 110V)
- The choice of motor depends on the type of supply, but there
are many other factors which are more important
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2. Power modulator (Converter)
• It act as an interface between source and motor
• The main functions of power modulator are
Modulate the flow of power from source to the motor as per
load requirement
It will keep the motor current and source current within the safe
limit during starting & braking
Convert the supply as required by the motor
• For the control of DC motors one require variable DC supply and for
AC motors one require variable frequency variable voltage AC
supply.
Different type of power modulators are,
a. Rectifiers or AC to DC converters
It can be a diode rectifier to get a fixed DC or fully/half
controlled rectifier to get a variable DC supply. Other
configurations are also possible.

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b. Choppers – used to get variable voltage DC from fixed voltage DC
supply. It uses semiconductor devices and output voltage can be
varied by varying the duty ratio.

c. AC voltage regulator – are employed to get variable voltage fixed

frequency AC from a fixed voltage fixed frequency AC supply. It uses
semiconductor devices as switches and output voltage can be varied
by varying the firing angle. It perform the same function of an
autotransformer, but here the output voltage and source current
have harmonics and power factor is poor at low output voltages.
d. Inverters – are employed to get a variable voltage variable frequency
AC from a fixed voltage DC supply. Normally PWM control is used in
inverters to reduce harmonics. Here semiconductor devices like
MOSFET, IGBT are used as switches

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e. Cycloconverters – convert fixed voltage fixed frequency AC supply
into variable voltage variable frequency AC. Uses semiconductor
devices like SCR, MOSFET, IGBT as switches.

3. Motor – Convert electrical energy to mechanical energy

Commonly used motors are,
DC motors (shunt, series, compound, PMDC)
Induction motors (squirrel cage IM, slip ring IM, linear)
Synchronous motors (wound field, permanent magnet)
Special machines (Stepper motors, Brushless DC motors and
Switched reluctance motors)
- In the past DC motors were used for variable speed drives because
speed control of AC motors were expensive and has poor efficiency.
Now with the development of semiconductor converters using
controlled devices like SCR, MOSFET, IGBT etc, AC motors are used in
variable speed drives. AC motors have high efficiency, low cost, low
maintenance and small size compared to DC motors. Selection of
motor depends on application, cost, environmental factors, power
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requirement etc.
4. Control unit
- It will monitor & control the performance of entire drive system.
- The type of control depends upon the desired drive performance, type
of converter and motor
- If semiconductor converters are used, then control unit consist of
firing circuits
- A control unit can have a few digital ICs or several DSPs depends upon
the type of control implemented
- The basic function is to monitor system variables, compare them with
desire values, and then adjust the converter output until the system
achieves a desired performance. This feature is used in speed and
position control.
5. Loads
- Drives are commonly employed for loads like fans, pumps, conveyors,
machine tools, trains, robots etc coupled to the motor shaft
- Loads may employ either rotating or translation motion
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6. Sensing unit - Provide necessary feedback signals for the control unit
- Different sensors employed in drive system are for speed sensing
(from motor), torque sensing (from motor & load), position sensing,
current sensing and voltage sensing (from source & from motor
terminal), temperature sensing etc.

Choice of an electric drive

Choice of an electric drive is based on several factors. They are
i. Steady state operation requirements (speed-torque characteristics,
quadrant of operation, speed regulation, speed range, efficiency,
ratings etc.)
ii. Transient operation requirements (starting, braking, acceleration,
deceleration, speed reversal etc.)
iii.Requirements related to source (type, capacity and voltage level of
source, regeneration, harmonics and their effects on other devices
etc.)
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 Choice of electric drive ctnd..
iv. Reliability
v. Operating environment
vi. Size & weight considerations
vii.Capital, running & maintenance cost
Classification of Electric Drives
- Generally classified into 3 categories
1. Group drive
- Several loads are connected to one shaft and driven by one motor
- Loads may be coupled to motor shaft through belt or gear drive
- This drive is more economical since a single motor with power rating
smaller than the sum total of all connected loads
- If fault occur in driving motor, all the driven equipments remain idle
- Normally a single motor drives a number of machines through belts
from a common shaft
- E. g, floor mill drive system
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2. Individual drive
- Here a single motor is used to drive a given mechanism and it does all
the jobs connected with this
- The power is transmitted to different parts of mechanism by means of
gears, pulleys etc.
- e. g, In a lathe, all the operations are is performed by a single motor
- The main drawback is power loss during transmission
3. Multi motor drive
- Here each operation in a mechanism is taken care by separate drive
motor
- The system contain several individual drives
- Separate motors are provided for actuating different parts of
machine
- e. g, paper mill, rolling mill
- Having high reliability and flexibility
- Initial cost is high 11
 Torque equation
- In an electric drive there will be a motor driving a load
(machine). The motor will be coupled to load either directly or
through some arrangement (belt, chain etc.).
- Motor will rotate and the load coupled will undergo rotational or
translational motion
- For convenience consider a motor-load system by an equivalent
rotational system as shown below

Let, J = Moment of inertia of the motor-load system

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ωm = Angular velocity of the motor shaft
Tm = Torque developed by the motor
TL = Load torque (opposing/resisting in nature)
- Load torque include frictional torque, windage torque & torque
required to do useful mechanical work
(Frictional torque – the opposing torque produced by friction present
in motor shaft and load arrangement, Windage torque – the opposing
force produced by surrounding wind when motor and load rotates)
- Under balanced condition, the torque produced by motor (Tm) is
counter balanced by load torque (TL)
- During unbalanced condition, another torque present in drive system
d ( Jωm )
given by rate of change of angular momentum =
dt
- So the fundamental torque equation can be written as
d ( Jω m )
Tm = TL + .... (1 )
dt 13
 d ( Jωm ) dω m dJ
Tm − TL = =J + ωm ..... (2)
dt dt dt
Eqn (2) is applicable to variable inertia drives like mine winders and
industrial robots
- For drives with constant inertia, dJ/dt = 0
dω m
∴ Tm − TL = J ..... (3)
dt
i.e, torque produced by motor is counter balanced by load torque TL &
dωm
a dynamic torque. The term J is called dynamic torque because
dt
it is present only during transient operations.
- Drive accelerates/decelerate depending on whether motor torque is
greater than or less than load torque
- If Tm > TL, drive accelerates. i.e, the motor is producing a dynamic
torque in addition to load torque which help to overcome the drive
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inertia & accelerates the load
- If Tm < TL, the drive decelerates, the dynamic torque has a negative sign
and it aids Tm
- If Tm = TL, the drive will run at same speed/continue at rest
Note
- In drives with large inertia like electric train, Tm >> TL
- In drives requiring fast transient response, Tm >> TL & inertia of drive
system should have a low value

Multi quadrant operation (4 Quadrant operation)

- A motor can operate in two modes, motoring & braking
- In motoring it converts electrical energy to mechanical energy &
supports motion
- In braking it converts mechanical energy to electrical energy & opposes
motion
- A motor can provide motoring & braking operation in both forward &
reverse direction
- For considering multi quadrant operation, it is useful to define suitable
conventions about sign of torque & speed 15
- Motor speed is considered as positive, when it causes a forward /
upward motion, otherwise it is considered as negative
- Motor torque is considered as positive if it produces an acceleration,
otherwise it is considered as negative
- Load torque is always in opposition to
motor torque
- Figure shows torque & speed
co-ordinates for forward & reverse
motion

- For understanding the above notations let us consider the operation of

a hoist in 4 quadrants as shown in next slide
- The direction of motor & load torques & direction of speed are
marked as arrows
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- A hoist consist of a rope wound on a drum coupled to a motor shaft
- One end of rope is tied to a cage which is used to transport
man/material & other end is connected to a counter weight.
- The weight of counter weight is chosen to be higher than weight of
empty cage, but lower than fully loaded cage.
- Load torque line Tl1 in quadrants I & IV represents speed-torque
characteristics for loaded hoist
- Load torque line Tl2 in quadrants II & III represents speed-torque
characteristics for empty hoist
Quadrant I operation (forward motoring)
- Loaded cage moves upward
- Positive motor speed & motor torque
- This will happen if motor produces positive torque in anticlockwise
direction
- Magnitude of motor torque = magnitude of load torque, Tl1
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Quadrant II operation (Forward braking)
- It is obtained when an empty cage is moved up
- Counter weight is heavier than empty cage. Therefore, in order to
limit speed within safe value, motor must produce a braking torque
with magnitude Tl2 in clockwise direction
Quadrant III operation (Reverse motoring)
- It is obtained when an empty cage is lowered
- Since empty cage is lighter than counter weight, motor should
produce a torque (Tl2) in clockwise direction
Quadrant IV operation (Reverse braking)
- It is obtained when a loaded cage is lowered
- Since the weight of the loaded cage is higher than counter weight,
motor must produce a positive torque in anticlockwise direction to
limit speed within safe value

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 Equivalent values of drive parameters
- Different parts of the loads may be coupled to motor through
different mechanism such as gear, belt etc.
- These parts may have different speeds & different type of motion like
rotational & translational motion
- We can find equivalent values of moment of inertia of drive system &
torque components referred to motor shaft
Loads with rotational motion
- Consider a motor driving 2 loads as shown in figure.

- One load is directly coupled to motor through shaft & other

connected to motor through a gear with n & n1 as teeth number 20
- Let moment of inertia of motor & load directly coupled = J0
Motor speed = ωm
Torque of directly coupled load = Tl0
- Let moment of inertia of load coupled through a gear = J1
Speed = ωm1
Torque = Tl1
Now, ωm1/ωm = n/n1 = a1, gear tooth ratio
- If transmission losses are neglected, then kinetic energy of drive
system = kinetic energy of various moving parts
i.e, 1 2 1 2 1 2
Jω m = J 0ω m + J1ω m1 .... (1)
2 2 2
But ωm1 = ωm a1
1 2 1 2 1 2 2
(1)=> Jω m = J 0ω m + J1ω m a1
2 2 2

i.e, J = J0 + a12J1 …. (2)

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Total Power in the system is equal to power in loads.
If transmission efficiency is η1, then
ωm1
Tlω m = Tl 0ω m + Tl1 .... (3)
η1
But, ωm1 = ωm a1
a1ω m
(3)=> Tlω m = Tl 0ω m + Tl1
η1
Tl1a1
i.e, Tl = Tl 0 + .... ( 4)
η1
- In addition to load directly coupled to motor with moment of inertia
J0, if there are ‘m’ other loads with moment of inertia J1, J2,…,Jm, gear
ratio a1, a2,…,am, load torques Tl1, Tl2,…,Tlm and transmission
efficiencies η1, η2,…, ηm
Then, J = J0 + a12J1 + a22J2 + ….. + am2Jm
Tl1a1 Tl 2 a2 Tlm am
And Tl = Tl 0 + + + ..... +
η1 η2 ηm 22
Loads with translational motion
- Consider a motor driving 2 loads, one coupled directly to shaft & other
through a transmission system converting rotational motion to linear
motion as shown in figure.

- Let moment of inertia of motor & load directly coupled = J0

Motor speed = ωm
Torque of directly coupled load = Tl0
- Let mass, velocity & force of load with translational motion be M1, V1 &
F1 23
- If transmission losses are neglected, then kinetic energy due to
equivalent inertia of system = kinetic energy of various moving parts.
Then, 1 2 1 2 1 2
Jω m = J 0ωm + M 1V1
2 2 2
2
 V1 
J = J 0 + M 1   .... (5)
 ωm 

- Total power in the system is equal to power of loads. If transmission

efficiency is η1,
F1V1
Tlωm = Tl1ωm +
η1
F1 V1
Tl = Tl1 + .... (6)
η1 ωm

Note – Moment of inertia can be calculated if dimension & weight of

various parts of load & motor are known. It can be measured
experimentally by retardation test 24
 Components of load torques
- The load torque (Tl) can be divided into following components
i) Frictional torque (TF) – the opposing torque produced by friction
present in motor shaft and load arrangement
ii) Windage torque (TW) – the opposing force produced by surrounding
wind when motor and load rotates
iii) Torque required to do useful mechanical work (TL) – Nature of this
torque depends on type of application. It may be a constant or
independent of speed or depend on speed
Variation of frictional torque with speed is shown below
- It’s value at stand still is much higher
than it’s value slight above zero speed.
- Frictional torque at zero speed is
called striction or static friction

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 Frictional torque can be resolved into 3 components
i) Viscous friction (TV) – varies linearly with speed
ii) Coulombs friction (Tc) – independent of speed
iii) Ts, additional torque present at stand still (neglected in dynamic
analysis)

Windage torque, TW ∝(speed)2

i.e, TW = Cωm2

Therefore, load torque Tl = TL+TV+TC+TW

= TL+B ωm+TC+C ωm2
[The term (TC+C ωm2) is very small & neglected]

i.e, For a drive Tm = Tl + J(d ωm/dt)

= TL + B ωm + J(d ωm/dt)

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 Nature & classification of load torques
Nature of load torques – Nature of load torque depends on particular
application. To explain nature, consider different applications
i) Torque independent of speed – Example of such drive is paper mill
drive. In a paper mill, drive is running at low speed, so windage torque
is negligible & the net torque is mainly due to
gravity which is constant & independent of speed
ii) Torque is a function of speed – Fans, compressor,
pumps etc are example of cases where
load torque is a function of ωm.
- In fan, compressor, centrifugal pump etc, windage
torque dominates & TL ∝ ωm2

- In a high speed hoist, viscous friction & windage has

appreciable magnitude along with gravity. Then the
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speed – torque characteristics become as shown.
- in traction drives because of heavy mass,
striction is large. This will disappear at a
finite speed & windage & viscous friction
dominates.

Classification of load torques

Broadly classified into two
i) Active load torque – load torque which has the potential to
drive the load under equilibrium condition are called active load
torque.
- Such load torques retain their sign even if drive if the drive
rotation is reversed. E.g, gravitational force
ii) Passive load torque – is the load torque which always oppose
the motion.
- They change their sign on reversal of drive rotation. E.g –
friction & windage torque 28
 Steady state stability of electric drives
- It is important to investigate condition of stable operation of an
electric drive
- Normally the drive is said to be in equilibrium if torque
developed by motor is equal to load torque
- This equilibrium condition can be either stable or unstable
- Under stable equilibrium, the drive again returns to equilibrium
state but in unstable equilibrium, the speed of drive either
increases tremendously or decrease and comes to rest
- The condition for stable operation of a drive is that for a
decrease in speed of system, motor torque must exceed load
torque & for an increase in speed, the motor torque must be less
than load torque
- This can be better understood by considering following torque-
speed characteristics of different drive systems 29
- First consider the figure shown, in
which point ‘A’ is the equilibrium point
- Let some disturbances causes a
reduction in speed by Δωm. At new
speed, motor torque is greater than
TL, consequently motor will accelerate
and operating point will be restored to ‘A’.
- Similarly an increase in speed by Δωm due to some disturbance will
make TL>Tm, resulting into deceleration
and operating point is restored to
point ‘A’.
- Now consider the second figure in
which point ‘B’ is the equilibrium point
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- In this case a decrease in speed causes the load torque to become
greater than motor torque, drive decelerates & operating point moves
away from ‘B’
- An increase in speed causes motor torque greater than load torque &
as a result motor accelerates & operating point moves away from ‘B’
Load equalization
- In some drive applications, load torque fluctuates widely within
short interval of time
- For eg. In pressing machine large torque is required for short
duration during pressing operation, otherwise torque is nearly
zero
- Other eg. are electric hammer, steel rolling mills etc.
- In such drives, to produce a large torque for small period firstly
the motor rating has to be high & secondly motor will draw a
pulsed current from supply, which may gives rise to line voltage
fluctuations ( it will affect other loads connected to the system)
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- The above mentioned problem of fluctuating loads can be overcome
by mounting a flywheel on motor shaft in the case of non-reversible
drives
- During light load period, motor torque exceeds load torque & motor
& flywheel accelerates and energy is stored in flywheel in the form of
kinetic energy
- During high load period, load torque will be larger compared to
motor torque
- Now deceleration occurs, producing a large dynamic torque
- This dynamic torque & load
torque together produce the
torque required by load
- Because of deceleration motor
speed falls & motor again
accelerates during next light
load period 32