EE – 302 DCMACHINES

FUNDAMENTALS OF DC MOTORS

WORKING PRINCIPLE OF A DC MOTOR

DC motor woks on the principle, whenever a current carrying conductor placed in a

magnetic field, it experiences a force.

FLEMING’S LEFT HAND RULE

1. Fleming’s Left hand rule is used to detect the direction of the produced force.
2. According to it, place thumb, fore figure and middle figure of left hand mutually
perpendicular to each other.
3. If fore figure represents direction of the magnetic field, middle figure represents the direction
of current flowing through the conductor then the thumb represents the direction of force
experienced by the conductor.

WORKING OF A DC MOTOR

DC Motor is a machine which converts Electrical energy into Mechanical energy.

Theoretically, same machine can perform both actions as a generator and Motor. It works on the
principle whenever a current carrying conductor placed in a magnetic field it experiences a force.
Whenever the input (Electrical Energy) is given to the Rotor (Armature), commutator converts
given DC into AC and fed to the armature. Then each conductor on the armature experiences a
force due to their presence in the Stator magnetic field. Which will results a rotating motion of the
armature called as a torque.

The action of commutator in DC motor is quite different from DC Generator. In generator it

acts as a Mechanical Rectifier which converts produced AC into DC. Whereas coming to Motor it
acts as a mechanical Inverter which converts given DC into AC. The purpose of this conversion in
motor is to obtain unidirectional and uniform torque in armature.

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 EE – 302 DCMACHINES
FUNDAMENTALS OF DC MOTORS

BACK E.M.F & its Significance

1. According to Faradays laws of Electromagnetic Induction, whenever a conductor cuts the

magnetic field an e.m.f is induced in it and the induced e.m.f direction is given by Lenz’s law.
2. During the operation of DC motor, the conductors placed in the armature rotate in a
uniformly distributed stator magnetic field.
3. Hence the conductors cut the magnetic field, which will cause production of e.m.f in
armature. As its direction is opposite to the supply voltage, it is called as a Back e.m.f
∅PNZ
Eb = volts
60A
Eb = Back e.m.f
Ø = flux in Weber
P = Number of poles
N = Speed in rpm
Z = Number of conductors
A = Number of parallel paths (A=2 for wave winding; A=P for lap winding)
4. Considering circuit model of the armature as shown in above figure, Expression for Back
e.m.f is Eb = V - IaRa
5. Back e.m.f plays a very significant role to make DC motor as a self regulating machine with
load changes.
6. As the load on machine changes, speed will changes which in turn causes change in back
e.m.f which is proportional to speed and results in change of current drawn from supply
mains.
CLASSIFICATION OF DC MOTORS

Permanent
Magnet Motors
Long shunt
Compound
Separately Motor
DC Motors Excited DC Shunt Motor
Motors Short shunt
Compound
Motor
Self Excited DC Compound
Motors Motor
Cumulative
Compound
Motor
Series Motor
Differential
Compound
Motor

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 EE – 302 DCMACHINES
FUNDAMENTALS OF DC MOTORS

Separately Excited DC Motor:

Ia = IL

Eb = V - IaRa - BCD

Shunt Motor:

Ia = IL - Ish

V
Ish = Rsh

Eb = V - IaRa - BCD

Series Motor:

Ia = IL = Ise

Eb = V - Ia (Ra+Rse) - BCD

Long shunt compound Motor:

Ia = IL - Ish Ise = Ia

V
Ish = Rsh

Eb = V - Ia (Ra+Rse) - BCD

Short shunt compound Motor:

Ia = Ise - Ish IL = Ia

V−Ise Rse
Ish = Rsh

Eb = V - IaRa – IseRse – BCD

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 EE – 302 DCMACHINES
FUNDAMENTALS OF DC MOTORS

APPLICATIONS OF DC MOTORS
Type of Motor Applications
Separately Excited DC motor For paper machines, diesel electric propulsion of ships; in steel
rolling mills etc.,
DC Series motor For drives requiring very high starting torque and where
adjustable varying speed is satisfactory. For hoists, cranes,
trolley cars, conveyors, electric locomotives etc.,
DC Shunt motor For lathes, centrifugal pumps, reciprocating pumps, fans,
blowers, conveyors, wood working machines, machine tools,
printing presses, spinning and weaving machines etc.,
Cumulative compound motor For drives requiring high starting torque and only fairly
constant speed, pulsating loads with fly wheel action. For
shears, conveyors, crushers, bending rolls, punch presses, hoists,
elevators, heavy planners, ice making machines, air
compressors, rolling mills, printing presses etc.,
Differential compound motor For experimental and research work

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