Chapter-2

Dynamics of Electrical Drives

Fundamental Torque Equations

The dynamic relations applicable to all types of motors and loads.
The dynamic or transient condition appears during starting, braking
and speed reversal of the drive.
A motor generally drives a load (machine) through some
transmission system.

While the motor always rotates, the load may rotate or may undergo
a translational motion. It is convenient, however, to represent the
motor load system by an equivalent rotational system, as shown in
figure .
 Cont…

Figure 2 . 1 Equivalent motor load system

J = moment of inertia (kg-m2)

ωm= angular velocity (rad/sec)
T = developed motor torque (N-m)
Tl = load(resisting) torque (N-m)
 Cont…
 Here, load torque includes friction & windage torque of
motor.
 Fundamental torque equation of motor-load system is given
by,

 Equation (2.1) is applicable to variable inertia drives such as

mine winders, reel drives, industrial robots etc. Because, in these
application moment of inertia changes with respect to time
 For the drives with the constant inertia (dJ/dt) = 0.
 Cont…
 Torque developed by motor is counter balanced by a load torque
and a dynamic torque.
 Dynamic torque (J.dwm/dt) is only present during the transient
operations.
 Acceleration & Deceleration of the drive depends on magnitudes
of T & Tl
 Drive accelerates if T is greater than Tl plus the dynamic torque
in order to overcome the drive inertia
 As shown in the figure 2.1, the load torque always opposes the
torque developed by the motor.
 Cont…

Speed torque conventions and multi quadrant operation

 A four-quadrant or multiple-quadrant operation is required in industrial as
well as commercial applications. These applications require both driving and
braking, i.e., motoring and generating capability

 Some of these applications include electric traction systems, cranes and lifts,
cable laying winders, and engine test loading systems.

 In multi-quadrant operation or four quadrant operation, motor accelerates or

decelerates depending on whether motor torque is lesser or greater than load
torque.

 During motor acceleration, it should supply not only the load torque, but an
additional component of load current to overcome the inertia.
 Cont…

Figure 2.2 Multi-quadrant operation

 Cont…

 Motor positive torque produces the acceleration in forward

direction. In this, the motor speed is positive when the motor is
rotating in forward direction.

 During motor deceleration, the resultant or dynamic torque has a

negative sign. This torque assists with motor developed torque and
maintains the motion by extracting the energy from stored energy.

 Hence the motor torque is considered as negative if it produces

deceleration.

 A motor can be controlled in such a way that it operates in two

cases; motor action and braking action.
 Cont…

Motor action converts the electric energy into mechanical energy

and it produces forward motion, hence it called as motoring action,
whereas braking action converts mechanical energy to electrical
energy which gives forward braking motion, it is termed as
generator.

 Similarly, these two actions are performed in case motor

operating in reverse direction, i.e., (reverse motoring and reverse
braking actions).
Four Quadrant Diagram of Speed-Torque Characteristics
of a Host
 Let us look at the four quadrant operation of a motor driving a
hoist load as shown in figure 2.3.

 This hoist consists of a cage with or without any load.

 This balance weight or counterweight magnitude is greater than

that of empty cage, but less than the loaded cage.

 For each quadrant of operation, direction of rotation, w, load

torque TL, and motor torque Tm are shown in figure 2.3.

 Consider that the load torque is constant and independent of

motor speed
 Cont…

Figure 2 . 3 Four quadrant operation of a motor driving a hoist load

 Cont…

1st Quadrant Operation

 The hoist in which the loaded cage is moving upwards.
 The direction of rotation of motor, w will be in anticlockwise
direction i.e., positive speed.
 The load torque acts in opposite direction to the direction of
motor rotation.
 To raise the hoist to upwards, the motor torque, Tm must act in
the same direction of motor speed, w.
 So both motor speed and motor torque will be positive.
 To make these as positive, the power taken from the supply
should be positive. This is called forward motoring.
 Cont…

2nd Quadrant Operation

 The hoist in which unloaded cage is moving upwards.

 The counterweight is heavier than the unloaded cage and
hence hoist can move upwards at a dangerous speed.
 To prevent this, motor must produce a torque in the opposite
direction of motor speed, w in order to produce brake to the
motor.
 Therefore, the motor torque, Tm will be negative and motor
speed, w will be positive.
 This quadrant operation is called forward braking.
 Cont…

3rd Quadrant Operation

 The empty cage is hoisting down.
 The downward journey of empty cage is prevented by the torque
exerted by the counterweight.
 So the direction of motor torque, Tm should be in the same
direction of motor rotation-w.
 Due to the downward movement of the cage, the direction of
rotation is reversed, i.e., w is negative and hence Tm is also negative.
 Since the machine acting as motor in reverse direction, it receives
the power from the supply and hence power is positive.
 This quadrant operation is called reverse motoring.
 Cont…

4th Quadrant Operation

 Loaded cage is moving downwards.

 The loaded cage is moving downward (of which weight is more
than counterweight), the motion takes place without use of any
motor.
 There will be a chance to go downward at a dangerous speed
because of loaded cage.
 To limit the speed of the cage within a safe range, the electrical
machine must act as a brake.
 In this the direction of the motor, w is negative and hence the
motor torque Tm is positive to decrease the speed of the motor.

 Cont…

Thus, the power is negative that means the electrical machine

delivering power to the supply.
 This phenomenon is called as regenerative action. This quadrant
operation is called reverse braking.
 Equivalent values of drive parameters

 Different parts of the load may be coupled through different

mechanisms, such as V- belts, crankshaft, gears etc.
 These parts may have different speed and different types of
motions such as
 Rotational
 Translational
(a) Loads with Rotational Motion

Figure 2.4 Rotational load coupled to motor shaft

 Cont…

 Let’s consider a motor driving two loads, one coupled directly to

the shaft and other through gear with n & n1 teeth

Now,

 If the losses in the transmission are neglected then kinetic

energy due to equivalent inertia must be same as kinetic energy of
various moving parts,
 Cont…

 From equations (2.3) and (2.4) we can write

 Power at the motor & load must be same, if transmission

efficiency of the gears is n1 then

 Where, Tl is the total equivalent torque referred to motor

shaft. From equation (2.3) & (2.6)
 If there are m other loads with moment of inertias J1,J2,
….,Jm & gear teeth ratios of a1,a2,….,am then,

 If there are m other loads with moment of inertias J1,J2,

….,Jm & gear teeth ratios of a1,a2,….,am & transmission
efficiencies h1, h2,….., hm then,
 (b) Loads with Translation Motion

Figure 2 .5 Loads with translation motion

 Let’s consider motor driving two loads, one coupled directly to its shaft &
other through a transmission system
 If the losses in the transmission are neglected then kinetic energy
due to equivalent inertia J must be same as kinetic energy of various
moving parts.

 Similarly, power at the load & motor should be same, thus if

efficiency of transmission be h1 then,
If there are m other loads with translational motion with velocities v1,v2,
….,vm & masses M1,M2,….,Mm then,

2.6 Components of Load Torque

 The load torque has the following components
(a) Torque required doing useful mechanical work: This is the component which is
actually doing the work for which the motor is being operated. It may be constant or
dependent on speed.
(b) Friction torque: It opposes the motion and loss of the torque due to friction is
called friction torque.
(c) Windage torque: The resistance of the air results in the loss of torque and is
referred as windage torque
 Generally friction and windage torques are grouped together and
can be expressed as Dw where D is friction constant.
 The magnitude of friction torque depends on the speed. Figure
below shows variation in friction torque during rotation in the
positive direction and negative direction.
 This friction at standstill is called static friction. When the motor
is to be started the torque developed by the motor must overcome the
friction torque. Otherwise, motor will not run.
 Friction torque has three components (TF = TC + TV + TS):
(a)Coulomb friction: independent of speed. It is constant.

(b)Viscous friction: varies linearly with speed, TV = Bωm. where,

wm is the speed in rad/sec & B is viscous friction constant.

(c) Stiction or Static friction: friction at zero speed. For driving,

motor torque should at least exceed stiction

 Windage torque is required to overcome the resistance offered

by the air and it varies with square of the speed and can be
written as
 Therefore, total torque T required at any speed wm can be given
as

Figure 2 . 7 Friction torque and its components

 2.7 Nature and Classification of Load Torque

 Load torques can be classified into two categories: active load

torque & passive load torque

(a) Active Load Torque

 It has potential to drive motor under equilibrium condition.
 Such load torque usually retains their sign when the direction of
the drive rotation is changed.
 Torque due to gravitational force, tension, compression & torsion
come under this category
(b) Passive Load Torque
 Torque which always opposes the motion is called passive torque.
 Their sign change on the reversal of motion.
 Torque due to friction, windage, cutting etc. fall under this
category.
Figure 2 . 8 Nature of load torque (a) T = constant (b)
T a ωm2 (c) T a ωm (d) T a 1⁄ωm
 Nature of load torque depends on application: torque is constant
(independent of speed) & torque is function of speed
(a) Torque is Constant (Independent of Speed)

 A low speed hoist: Torque is constant & independent of speed.

 At low speed windage torque is negligible.
 Net torque is mainly due to gravity that is constant &
independent.
 Paper mill drive: coulomb friction dominates over other torque
components.
 (b) Torque is Function of Speed
 Torque is proportional to square of speed (T a ωm2): It has low
starting torque. Examples of such loads are; axial & centrifugal pumps,
centrifugal compressors, fans, ship propellers etc.
 Torque is linearly proportional to speed (T a ωm): Examples of
such loads are mixers and stirrers.
 Torque is inversely proportional to speed (T a 1⁄ωm): Here
developed power is nearly constant. It is approximately hyperbolic in
nature. Examples of such loads are lifts, lathes, wire drawer, winders,
reciprocating rolling mills etc.
 2.8 Steady state stability
 It is quite important to investigate the stability of the electric
drive when its equilibrium state is disturbed.
 Before we classify the stability let us understand equilibrium
speed and stability terminologies.
 Equilibrium speed: Speed at which motor torque becomes same
as load torque is known as equilibrium speed.
 Stability: The stability of motor-load combination is defined as
the capacity of the system which enables it to develop forces of such
a nature as to restore equilibrium after any small departure there
from
 There are two types of disturbances:
 Changes from state of equilibrium take place slowly which is
related to steady state stability.
 Sudden & fast change from the equilibrium state which is
related to field of transient stability.
Figure 2.9 Steady state stability: point A-stable, point B-unstable
 Let us examine the steady state stability by referring the speed –
torque characteristic of a certain load when there is change in the
speed caused by disturbances.
 For the first system, let the disturbance causes a reduction of Δwm
in speed. At new speed motor torque (T) is greater than the load
torque (Tl). Therefore, motor will accelerate and operation will be
restored to A.
 Similarly, an increase of Δwm in speed cased by disturbance will
make load torque greater than the motor torque, resulting into
deceleration and restoration of operation to point A. Hence, the
drive is steady state stable at point A.
 Let us now examine for the second system. A decrease in the
speed causes the load torque to become greater than the motor
torque, drive decelerates and operating point moves away from B.
Similarly, when speed increases, the motor torque becomes greater
than the load torque that will move the operating point away from B.
Thus, B is an unstable point of equilibrium.
 2.9 Criteria for Steady-State Stability

 After a small displacement from the equilibrium, the torque

equation becomes

Where,
 But we know that

 Hence,

 Substitute (2.17) & (2.18) into (2.16),

  Solution of equation (2.19) is

Where, (Δ wm )0= Initial value of deviation in speed

 Based on the value of exponent there are three cases

1. Exponent > 0: The speed deviation will increase with time and the
system will move away from the equilibrium, results in unstable system

2. Exponent < 0: The speed deviation will decrease with time and the
system will move towards the equilibrium, results in stable system

3. Exponent = 0: The equitation is insufficient to discuss about stability

  The exponent will always be negative if,

2.10 Measurement of Moment of Inertia

 Moment of inertia can be calculated by two ways
 Theoretically: if dimensions & weight of various parts of load and motor are
known
 Practically: Retardation Test
 In retardation test the drive is run at the speed slightly greater than the rated speed
and then supply to it cut off
 Drive continues to run due to stored Kinetic Energy and decelerate due to rotational
mechanical losses
 Variation of speed with time is recorded. At any speed wm, Power P consumed in
supplying the rotational losses give by
 From retardation test (dωm)⁄dt at rated speed is obtained. Now
drive is reconnect to the supply and run at rated speed and
rotational mechanical power input to the drive is measured.
 This is approximately equal to P. Now, J can be calculated from
above equation.
 2.11 Calculation of time and energy-loss in transient operation

 Starting, braking, speed change and speed reversal are transient

operations
 Time taken and energy dissipation in the during the transient
operations can be evaluated by solving the motor load system torque
equation, based on nature load
 The time required to attain a change in speed from w1 to w2 may be
determined from the equation of motion

2
d
Therefore , t  J  TM  TL ...........................23
1
 In the above equation the inertia J is assumed to be constant. In
case varies with time or speed, the equation may be rewritten
suitably
 For the case, where w1 is zero at t equal to zero and w2 is equal to
a steady state speed wo attained by the drive, the accelerating time is
given by
0
d
tJ 
0
TM  TL
...........................24
when ‘TM’ and ‘TL’ are constants or proportional to speed, the
motor load system torque equation will be a first order linear
differential equation, then can be solved analytically.
when ‘TM’ and ‘TL’ are nether constants nor proportional to
speed, the motor load system torque equation will be a non-linear
differential equation, it could then can be solved numerically by
Runge-Kutta method.
 theoretically, transient are over in infinite time, which is not so in
practice, in order to resolve this , transient operation is considered to
be over when 95% change in speed has taken place.
 when speed changes from ‘wm’ to equilibrium speed ‘wme’ time
taken for the speed to change from ‘wm’ to ( wm+0.95(wme -wm)) is
considered to be equal to the transient time.
 t2

E   i 2 Rdt.......................................25
t1

t2

E  
t0
i 2 R d t ........................................ .........2 6

 t1=0 for a stationary system

2.12 Load equalisation

 Load equalisation is the process of smoothing the fluctuating

load. The fluctuate load draws heavy current from the supply during
the peak interval and also cause a large voltage drop in the system
due to which the equipment may get damage. In load equalisation,
the energy is stored at light load, and this energy is utilized when the
peak load occurs. Thus, the electrical power from the supply remains
constant
 The problem of load fluctuation can be overcome by using the
flywheel. The flying wheel is mounted on a motor shaft in non-
reversible drives.
Fig. Shape of motors speed of torque curve for fluctuating loads
Fig. Variation of motors and load torques and speed for
periodic load
 assuming a linear motor of speed torque curve in the region of
interest AC
mr
m  mo  (mo  *T)...........................27
Tr

 Wmo, wmr and Tr are no load speed, rated speed and rated
torque a linear motor of speed torque, respectively

 differentiating 1 and multiplying both sides by J gives.

mechanical time constant of this motor

,is the time required for the motor speed to change by when motor
torque is maintained constant at rated value Tr.

 We have torque eqn,

d m
T  Tl  J ..........................28
dt
dT
T  Tl   m .............................29
dt
 Consider now a periodic load torque, a cycle of which consists of
one high long period with torque Tlh and duration Th ,and one light
load period with torque Tlh and duration Tl
 For high load period 0  t  th solution of eqn 29 is
t t
 
m m
T  Tlh[1  e ]  Tmine ...................30
 Where Tmin is the motor torque at t=0,which is also the instant
when heavy load Tlh is applied.

 If motor torque at the end of heavy load period is Tmax ,

th th
 
m m
T m a x  T l h [1  e ]  T m in e .. .................3 1
  For light load period soln is

t' t'
 
m m
T  Tlh [1  e ]  T max e ...................32
 When operating in steady state, motor torque at the end if a
cycle will be the same as the beginning of cycle

i . e , t '  t l , a n d , T  T m in
tl tl
 
m m
Tmin  Tlh [1  e ]  Tmax e ...................33
From eqn 31
 m  th log Tlh  Tmin T  Tmax  ................34
e
 lh 

From eqn 33

 m  tl log Tmax  Tll T  Tll ................35

e
 min 
Tr
J  *  m ...............................36
(mo  mr )
Tr th  Tlh  Tmin
J  *  Tmax  .........37
(mo  mr ) log e  Tlh 
Tr t  Tmax  Tll
J  * l  Tll  .............39
(mo  mr ) log e  Tmin 
 Moment of inertia of the flywheel required

W-wt of the fly wheel

R-radius of the fly wheel