ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING PROGRAM

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SABAH

KE 38201
ENGINEERING LABORATORY 5

(2015/16)
LAB 1 REPORT
TITLE:
DC Motor Load Test on DC Shunt and
Series Motor

PREPARED BY:
Ramanan A/L Thangasalvam (BK13160570)

Shunt-wound DC Motor Load Test

Aim:
To determine the torque, speed and efficiency characteristics for a shunt-wound
DC motor.
Equipment:
a) Power Supply unit SM2631
b) Terminal board SM2635
c) Torque measuring unit MV1052
d) Brake-machine, DC Machine SM2641
e) Test machine, DC Machine SM2643
f) Voltmeters and Ammeters
g) Load resistor SM2676
Procedure:
1) The connection as in the Figure 1 below was set-up:

Figure 1

2) The armature terminals A1 and A2 of the DC machine was connected to the

DC 0-300V output on the terminal board.
3) The excitation winding was connected in parallel with the armature winding by
connecting terminals F1 to A1 and F2 to A2.
4) External voltmeters and ammeters were used to measure voltage and current
supplied to the motor.
5) A separately excited DC machine or brake-machine was used to load the
motor.
6) The excitation terminals of the brake-machine was connected to the DC 190/0190V output on the terminal board.
7) The load was controlled by the resistors in the resistive load unit and by the
excitation current of the brake machine.
Load Test:
1) The power supply was switched on and the DC 190/0-190V switch was set to
the position of 0-190V.
2) The supply voltage, U, was adjusted to 56V and kept constant throughout the
test.
3) At the beginning of the test, the load resistors were adjusted for a minimum
load.
4) The load on the motor was gradually increased by increasing the excitation
current on the brake-machine and the results were taken for every 0.25 increase
in excitation current.
5) At maximum excitation current, the load was increased by adjusting the load
resistors in the resistive load unit.
6) The value for rotation speed (n), torque (T) and the shaft power (P 2) was read
from the torque measuring unit.
7) The results obtained were tabulated in Table 1.
Results:
The input power is given by, P1 = U.I
The power used by the DC motor is given by, P 2 = T., where is the motor
speed in rad/s.
The power loss is given by, Pf = P1 - P2
Thus, the efficiency of the DC motor is calculated as, = (P 2 / P1) x 100%.
Hence, the following results were obtained at constant voltage of 56V.

The results were tabulated in Table 1 as seen below.

Measured
I(A)
0.85
1.10
1.35
1.60
1.85

n(rpm)
780
750
720
680
640

n(rad/s
)
81.68
78.54
75.40
71.21
67.02

T(N.m)
0
0.14
0.22
0.34
0.44

Calculated
P2(W)
0.00
11.00
16.60
24.20
29.50
Table 1

P1(W)
47.60
61.60
75.60
89.60
103.60

Pf(W)
47.60
50.60
59.00
65.40
74.10

(%)
0
17.86
21.96
27.01
28.47

Discussion:
The speed of any DC motor depends directly on its armature voltage and the
strength of its magnetic field. The field winding in a shunt motor is in parallel
with the armature winding and the DC supply. If the DC line voltage is constant,
the armature voltage will be constant and thus the magnetic field strength will
be constant. This consistency leads to a reasonably constant speed of operation.

The speed does tend to drop with increasing load on the motor. This drop in
speed is a result of resistive losses in the armature winding. Shunt motors with
low armature winding resistance tend to have nearly constant speed of
operation.
As with any energy conversion device, the DC shunt motor is not 100% efficient.
Not all of the electric energy supplied to the motor is converted into useful work
(mechanical power).

The difference between electrical power supplied and

mechanical power available at the shaft is lost in the form of heat inside the
motor. Losses occur in the DC resistance of the field and armature windings, in
the magnetic circuit that couples field and armature windings, in the friction and
windage of the rotating armature and in the resistance of the brush contacts on
the commutator. Losses increase as the load on the motor increases, resulting in
significant heating of the motor at full load.

Series-wound DC Motor Load Test

Aim:
To determine the torque, speed and efficiency characteristics for a series-wound
DC motor.
Equipment:
a) Power Supply unit SM2631
b) Terminal board SM2635
c) Torque measuring unit MV1052
d) Brake-machine, DC Machine SM2641
e) Test machine, DC Machine SM2643
f) Voltmeters and Ammeters
g) Load resistor SM2676
Procedure:
1) The connection as in the Figure 2 below was set-up:

Figure 2
2) The terminals D2 and A2 of the DC machine was connected to the DC 0-300V
output on the terminal board.
3) The excitation winding was connected in series with the armature winding by
connecting terminal D1 to A1.
4) External voltmeters and ammeters were used to measure voltage and current
supplied to the motor.
5) A separately excited DC machine or brake-machine was used to load the
motor.
6) The excitation terminals of the brake-machine was connected to the DC 190/0190V output on the terminal board.
7) The load was controlled by the resistors in the resistive load unit and by the
excitation current of the brake machine.
Load Test:
1) The series motor was given load before being started as it must not be started
without any load.
2) The supply voltage, U, was adjusted to 64V and kept constant throughout the
test.
3) At the beginning of the test, the load resistors were adjusted for a minimum
load.
4) The power supply was switched on and the DC 190/0-190V switch was set to
the position of 0-190V.
5) The excitation control potentiometer was adjusted to middle position and the
connection of the load resistors to the brake-machine was ensured.
6) The load on the motor was gradually increased by increasing the excitation
current on the brake-machine and the results were taken for every 0.5 increase
in excitation current.
7) The value for rotation speed (n), torque (T) and the shaft power (P 2) was read
from the torque measuring unit.
8) The results obtained were tabulated in Table 2
Results:
The input power is given by, P1 = U.I
The power used by the DC motor is given by, P 2 = T., where is the motor
speed in rad/s.

The power loss is given by, Pf = P1 - P2

Thus, the efficiency of the DC motor is calculated as, = (P 2 / P1) x 100%.
Hence, the following results were obtained at constant voltage of 64V.
The results were tabulated in Table 2 as seen below.
Measured
I(A)
0.80
1.30
1.80
2.30

n(rpm)
790
420
210
40

n(rad/s
)
82.73
43.98
21.99
4.19

T(N.m)
0
0.50
1.02
1.73

Calculated
P2(W)
0.00
22.00
22.43
7.25
Table 2

P1(W)

Pf(W)

51.20
83.20
115.20
147.20

51.20
61.20
92.77
139.95

(%)
0
26.44
19.47
4.93

Discussion:
The operating speed of the series motor is a function of its load current. Under
heavy load, the motor operates at very low speeds, while at no load, the motor
speed can be excessively high. An unloaded series motor can over-speed and
literally spin itself apart. So we must never allow a series DC motor to overspeed.

In the series motor, the armature and field windings both carry the same current.
When the motor is lightly loaded, the magnetic field in the armature is weak as
the motor is drawing a minimum current. When the motor is heavily loaded the
motor draws a maximum current and the armature field is strong.

Since the

torque produced by the motor is proportional to the product of the armature

current and the magnetic field in the armature, the series motor under heavy
load at low speed will produce a very large amount of torque. Thus the series
motor is very useful for starting large, high-inertia loads. Its applications include
locomotive drives such as electric trains and buses, and traction motors.

Conclusion:
The Series DC Motor behaves differently than the Shunt DC Motor. The shunt
winding produces an almost constant speed of operation (low speed regulation).
The series winding produces a machine with very high speed regulation.