REMOTE OPERATED SCREW JACK

INTRODUCTION

Fabrication of a motorized screw jack is easy especially when the parts are avaialble in the market. This mechanical engineering project can be easily completed by integrating an electric motor with a screw jack. A screw jack or a Jackscrew is operated by turning a lead screw. The height of the jack is adjusted by turning the lead screw. This can be done either manually or by integrating an electric motor with it. This integration is our project. The difficult part in the project may be finding a low speed motor that is able to work at 12V. This is because the battery output of an automobile is 12V, and the electricity needed for the operation of the screw jack is taken from this battery. Another problem will be regarding speed reduction. 12V motors usually operate at higher speeds, likely at 4000 or 5300 rpm. So reducing this high rpm to the required lower rpms for the operation of screw jack without bulky accessories or power loss can be challenging. But still this is one of the easiest projects in mechanical.

Spur gears

1. Introduction 2. Reduction factor 3. Gear ratio

Introduction
Power transmission is the movement of energy from its place of generation to a location where it is applied to performing useful work A gear is a component within a transmission device that transmits rotational force to another gear or device Gears are wheels with teeth. Gears mesh together and make things turn. Gears are used to transfer motion or power from one moving part to another.
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Gears are generally used for one of four different reasons: To reverse the direction of rotation To increase or decrease the speed of rotation To move rotational motion to a different axis To keep the rotation of two axis synchronized

Drawing gears It would be very difficult to draw gears if you had to draw all the teeth every time you wanted to design a gear system. For this reason a gear can be represented by drawing two circles.

CIRCLES OVERLAP WHERE TEETH MESH

Types of gears According to the position of axes of the shafts. a. Parallel 1. Spur Gear 2. Helical Gear 3. Rack and Pinion b. Intersecting Bevel Gear c. Non-intersecting and Non-parallel Worm and worm gears

Spur gears Teeth is parallel to axis of rotation Transmit power from one shaft to another parallel shaft Used in Electric screwdriver, oscillating sprinkler, windup alarm clock, washing machine and clothes dryer

External and internal spur gears

NOMENCLATURE OF SPUR GEARS

1. Pitch surface: The surface of the imaginary rolling cylinder (cone, etc.) that the toothed gear may be considered to replace. 2. Pitch circle: A right section of the pitch surface. 3. Addendum circle: A circle bounding the ends of the teeth, in a right section of the gear. 4. Root (or dedendum) circle: The circle bounding the spaces between the teeth, in a right section of the gear. 5. Addendum: The radial distance between the pitch circle and the addendum circle. 6. Dedendum: The radial distance between the pitch circle and the root circle. 7. Clearance: The difference between the dedendum of one gear and the addendum of the mating gear. 8. Face of a tooth: That part of the tooth surface lying outside the pitch surface. 9. Flank of a tooth: The part of the tooth surface lying inside the pitch surface. 10. Circular thickness (also called the tooth thickness): The thickness of the tooth measured on the pitch circle. It is the length of an arc and not the length of a straight line. 11. Tooth space: pitch diameter The distance between adjacent teeth measured on the pitch circle. 12. Backlash: The difference between the circle thickness of one gear and the tooth space of the mating gear. 13. Circular pitch (Pc) : The width of a tooth and a space, measured on the pitch circle.

P c

D
N

14. Diametral pitch (Pd): The number of teeth of a gear unit pitch diameter. The diametral pitch is, by definition, the number of teeth divided by the pitch diameter. That is, Where

N P d 7 D

Pd = diametral pitch N = number of teeth D = pitch diameter

15. Module (m): Pitch diameter divided by number of teeth. The pitch diameter is usually specified in inches or millimeters; in the former case the module is the inverse of diametral pitch.

m = D/N
VELOCITY RATIO OF GEAR DRIVE d N = = = Diameter of the wheel Speed of the wheel Angular speed

2 N 2 d1 1 N 1 d 2

GEAR TRAIN

1. A gear train is two or more gear working together by meshing their teeth and turning each other in a system to generate power and speed 2. It reduces speed and increases torque 3. Electric motors are used with the gear systems to reduce the speed and increase the torque

Types of gear train

1) Simple gear train 2) Compound gear train 3) Planetary gear train

Simple Gear Train 1. The most common of the gear train is the gear pair connecting parallel shafts. The teeth of this type can be spur, helical or herringbone. 2. Only one gear may rotate about a single axis

Compound gear train 1. For large velocities, compound arrangement is preferred 2. Two or more gears may rotate about a single axis
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1. What is power transmission? 2. Why gear drives are called positively driven? 3. What is backlash in gears? 4. What are the types of gears available? 5. What is gear train? Why gear trains are used? 6. Why intermediate gear in simple gear train is called idler? 7. What is the advantage of using helical gear over spur gear? 8. List out the applications of gears 9. Define the term module in gear tooth 10. What is herringbone gear?

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LEADSCREW

A leadscrew (or lead screw), also known as a power screw or translation screw,[2] is a screw designed to translate turning motion into linear motion. Common applications tools), vises, presses, and jacks. are machine slides (such as in machine

Lead screws are manufactured in the same way as other thread forms. A lead screw can be used in conjunction with split nut.

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Types Power screws are classified by the geometry of their thread. V-threads are less suitable for leadscrews than others such as Acme because they have more friction between the threads. Their threads are designed to induce this friction to keep the fastener from loosening. Leadscrews, on the other hand, are designed to minimize friction.[4] Therefore, in most commercial and industrial use, V-threads are avoided for leadscrew use. Nevertheless, V-threads are sometimes successfully used as leadscrews, for example on microlathes and micromills.[5] Square thread Main article: Square thread form Square threads are named after their square geometry. They are the most efficient, having the least friction, so they are often used for screws that carry high power. But they are also the most difficult to machine, and are thus the most expensive. Acme thread

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An Acme screw Main article: Acme thread form Acme threads have a 29 thread angle, which is easier to machine than square threads. They are not as efficient as square threads, due to the increased friction induced by the thread angle.[3] Buttress thread Main article: Buttress thread Buttress threads are of a triangular shape. These are used where the load force on the screw is only applied in one direction.[6] They are as efficient as square threads in these applications, but are easier to manufacture.

Characteristics leadscrew nut and screw mate with rubbing surfaces, and consequently they have a relatively high friction and stiction compared to mechanical parts which mate with rolling surfaces and bearings. Leadscrew efficiency is typically between 25 and 70%, with higher pitch screws tending to be more efficient. A higher performing but more expensive alternative is the ball screw. The high internal friction means that leadscrew systems are not usually capable of continuous operation at high speed, as they will overheat. Due to inherently high stiction, the typical screw is self-locking (i.e. when stopped, a linear force on the nut will not apply a torque to the screw) and are often used in applications where backdriving is unacceptable, like holding vertical loads or in hand cranked machine tools. Leadscrews are typically used well greased, but, with an appropriate nut, they may be run dry with somewhat higher friction. There is often a choice of nuts, and manufacturers will specify screw and nut combination as a set. The mechanical advantage of a leadscrew is determined by the screw pitch and lead. For multi-start screws the mechanical advantage is lower, but the traveling speed is better.[7] Backlash can be reduced with the use of a second nut to create a static loading force known as preload; alternately, the nut can be cut along a radius and preloaded by clamping that cut back together.
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A lead screw will back drive, whereby forces on the nut applied parallel with the lead screw will cause a free-moving leadscrew to begin to rotate. A leadscrew's tendency to backdrive depends on its thread helix angle, coefficient of friction of the interface of the components (screw/nut) and the included angle of the thread form. In general, a steel acme thread and bronze nut will back drive when the helix angle of the thread is greater than 20. Advantages & disadvantages The advantages of a leadscrew are:[2]

Large load carrying capability Compact Simple to design Easy to manufacture; no specialized machinery is required Large mechanical advantage Precise and accurate linear motion Smooth, quiet, and low maintenance Minimal number of parts Most are self-locking

The disadvantages are that most are not very efficient. Due to the low efficiency they cannot be used in continuous power transmission applications. They also have a high degree for friction on the threads, which can wear the threads out quickly. For square threads, the nut must be replaced; for trapezoidal threads, a split nut may be used to compensate for the wear.[4]

Alternatives Alternatives to actuation by leadscrew include:

Ball screws and roller screws (sometimes categorized as types of leadscrew rather than in contradistinction)
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Fluid power (i.e., hydraulics and pneumatics) Gear trains (e.g., worm drives, rack-and-pinion drives) Electromagnetic actuation (e.g., solenoids) Piezoelectric actuation

Mechanics

Diagram of an "unwrapped" screw thread The torque required to lift or lower a load can be calculated by "unwrapping" one revolution of a thread. This is most easily described for a square or buttress thread as the thread angle is 0 and has no bearing on the calculations. The unwrapped thread forms a right angle triangle where the base is dm long and the height is the lead (pictured to the right). The force of the load is directed downward, the normal force is perpendicular to the hypotenuse of the triangle, the frictional force is directed in the opposite direction of the direction of motion (perpendicular to the normal force or along the hypotenuse), and an imaginary "effort" force is acting horizontally in the direction opposite the direction of the frictional force. Using this free-body diagram the torque required to lift or lower a load can be calculated:[8][9]

Coefficient of friction for leadscrew threads[10] Screw material Steel, dry Nut material Steel Bronze Brass Cast iron 0.150.25 0.150.23 0.150.19 0.150.25

Steel, machine oil 0.110.17 0.100.16 0.100.15 0.110.17

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where

Bronze

0.080.12 0.040.06 -

0.060.09

T= torque F = load on the screw dm = mean diameter = coefficient of friction (common values are found in the table to the right) l = lead = friction angle = lead angle

Based on the Tlower equation it can be found that the screw is self-locking when the coefficient of friction is greater than the tangent of the lead angle. An equivalent comparison is when the friction angle is greater than the lead angle ( > ).[11] When this is not true the screw will back-drive, or lower under the weight of the load.[8] The efficiency, calculated using the torque equations above, is: [12][13]

For screws that have a thread angle other than zero, such as a trapezoidal thread, this must be compensated as it increases the frictional forces. The equations below takes this into account:

where

is one half the thread angle.

If the leadscrew has a collar in which the load rides on then the frictional forces between the interface must be accounted for in
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the torque calculations as well. For the following equation the load is assumed to be concentrated at the mean collar diameter (dc):[12]

where c is the coefficient of friction between the collar on the load and dc is the mean collar diameter. For collars that use thrust bearings the frictional loss is negligible and the equation can being ignored equation can being inored.[15] Coefficient of friction for thrust collars[15] Material combination Starting c Running c Soft steel / cast iron Soft steel / bronze Hardened steel / bronze 0.17 0.10 0.08 0.12 0.09 0.08 0.06 Hardened steel / cast iron 0.15

Safe running speeds for various nut materials and loads on a steel screw[16]

Nut material Bronze Bronze Cast iron Bronze Cast iron Bronze

Safe loads [psi] 25003500 16002500 18002500 8001400 6001000 150240 10 fpm 8 fpm

Speed Low speed

2040 fpm 2040 fpm 50 fpm

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DC MOTOR FUNDAMENTALS

There are different kinds of D.C. motors, but they all work on the same principles. To understand what goes on inside a motor, here is an example.

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When a permanent magnet is positioned around a loop of wire that is hooked up to a D.C. power source, we have the basics of a D.C. motor. In order to make the loop of wire spin, we have to connect a battery or DC power supply between its ends, and support it so it can spin about its axis. To allow the rotor to turn without twisting the wires, the ends of the wire loop are connected to a set of contacts called the commutator, which rubs against a set of conductors called the brushes. The brushes make electrical contact with the commutator as it spins, and are connected to the positive and negative leads of the power source, allowing electricity to flow through the loop. The electricity flowing through the loop creates a magnetic field that interacts with the magnetic field of the permanent magnet to make the loop spin.

The DC motor used in this project is Direct Current permanent magnet motors operated at a constant voltage. Motor characteristics vary considerably from type to type, and their performance characteristics can be altered by the way electrical power is supplied. can be quite different than those covered here. Few physical parameters associated with DC motors are

1. TORQUE
a. A force that produces or tends to produce rotation or torsion (an

automobile engine delivers torque to the drive shaft); also: a measure of the effectiveness of such a force that consists of the product of the force and the perpendicular distance from the line of action of the force to the axis of rotation. b. A turning or twisting force. c. The quantitative measure of the tendency of a force to cause or change rotational motion is called torque.

Torque (also called a moment) is the term we use when we talk about forces that act in a rotational manner. You apply a torque or moment when you turn a dial, flip a
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light switch, drill a hole or tighten a screw or bolt. As shown in the picture of a ratchet, a vertical force applied at the end of the handle creates a torque. The force, F, applied to the ratchet as shown causes a tendency to rotate about point O. The force can be broken down into two components: a radial component, Frad, parallel to the ratchet handle that does not contribute to the torque, and a tangential component, Ftan, perpendicular to the handle that does contribute to the torque. The distance from point O to the point of action of F is described by the direction vector, r. The moment arm, l is the perpendicular distance between point O and the line of action of F. If we were to shorten the moment arm by applying the force closer to the head of the ratchet, the magnitude of the torque would decrease, even if the force remained the same. Thus, if we change the effective length of the handle, we change the torque (see equation 1).

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UNITS of TORQUE
SI newton-meters {Nm} English inch-pounds {inlb} foot-pounds {ftlb} inch-ounces {inoz}

1 Nm = 0.738 ftlb 1 inlb = 0.113 Nm 1 Nm = 0.113 inlb 1 ftlb = 1.356 Nm 1 Nm = 141.61 inoz 1 inoz = 7.062E-03 Nm

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2. SPEED

Speed (Angular Velocity)

The rate of rotation around an axis usually expressed in radians or revolutions per second or per minute

Motors are devices that convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. The D.C. motors that we have been dealing with here convert electrical energy into rotational energy. That rotational energy is then used to lift things, propel things, turn things, etc. When we supply the specified voltage to a motor, it rotates the output shaft at some speed. This rotational speed or angular velocity, is typically measured in radians/second {rad/s}, revolutions/second {rps}, or revolutions/minute {rpm}.
o

When performing calculations, be sure to use consistent units. In the English system, calculations should be done in degrees/second, and radians/sec for SI calculations.
NOTE: 1 revolution = 360 1 revolution = (2*) radians 1 radian = (180/)

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1 = (/180) radians

From the angular velocity, , we can find the tangential velocity of a point anywhere on the rotating body through the equation tangential velocity, v= r* , where r is the distance from the axis of rotation. This relation can be used to compute the steady state (constant speed - no acceleration) speed of a vehicle if the radius and angular velocity of a wheel is known, or a winch winds up the linear speed of a rope as it. 3. POWER Motive Power a. Ability to act or produce an effect b. A source or means of supplying energy; especially: ELECTRICITY c.

MOTIVE POWER the time rate at which work is done or energy emitted or

transferred Power in Rotational Motion When you pedal a bicycle, you apply forces to a rotating body and do work on it. Similar things happen in real-life situations, such as a rotating motor shaft driving a power tool or a car engine propelling the vehicle. We can express this work in terms of torque and an angular displacement... What about the power associated with work done by a torque acting on a rotating body? dW/dt is the rate of doing work, or power P. When a torque T (with respect to the axis of rotation) acts on a body that rotates with angular velocity W, its power (rate of doing work) is the product of the torque and angular velocity. This is the analog of the relation P = Fv for particle motion.

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Power in rotational motion can be written as:

UNITS of POWER SI English

Watts {W} foot-pounds per second {ftlb/s} newton-meters per second {Nm/s} horsepower {hp} 1 W = 1 Nm/s 1 W = 0.738 ftlb/s 1 W = 1.341E-03 hp 1 ftlb/s = 1.818E-03 hp 1 ftlb/s = 1.356 W

2. Motor Characteristics

TORQUE/SPEED CURVES

In order to effectively design with D.C. motors, it is necessary to understand their characteristic curves. For every motor, there is a specific Torque/Speed curve and Power curve.

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The graph above shows a torque/speed curve of a typical D.C. motor. Note that torque is inversely proportioal to the speed of the output shaft. In other words, there is a tradeoff between how much torque a motor delivers, and how fast the output shaft spins. Motor characteristics are frequently given as two points on this graph:

The stall torque, , represents the point on the graph at which the torque is a maximum, but the shaft is not rotating. The no load speed, , is the maximum output speed of the motor (when no torque is applied to the output shaft).

The curve is then approximated by connecting these two points with a line, whose equation can be written in terms of torque or angular velocity as equations 3) and 4):

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The linear model of a D.C. motor torque/speed curve is a very good approximation. The torque/speed curves shown below are actual curves for the green maxon motor. One is a plot of empirical data, and the other was plotted mechanically using a device. Note that the characteristic torque/speed curve for this motor is quite linear. This is generally true as long as the curve represents the direct output of the motor, or a simple gear reduced output. If the specifications are given as two points, it is safe to assume a linear curve.

Recall that earlier we defined power as the product of torque and angular velocity. This corresponds to the area of a rectangle under the torque/speed curve with one corner at the origin and another corner at a point on the curve (see figures below). Due to the linear inverse relationship between torque and speed, the maximum power occurs at the point where = , and = .

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27

POWER/TORQUE and POWER/SPEED CURVES By substituting equations 3 and 4 (torque and speed) into equation 2 (Power), we see that the power curves for a D.C. motor with respect to both speed and torque are quadratics, as shown in equations 5 and 6.

From these equations, we again find that maximum output power occurs at = , and = respectively.

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H-BRIDGE
THEORY OF OPERATION
How do we make a motor turn on? You take a battery; hook the positive side to one side of your DC motor. Then you connect the negative side of the battery to the other motor lead. The motor spins forward. If you swap the battery leads the motor spins in reverse. Ok, that's basic. Now lets say you want a Micro Controller Unit (MCU) to control the motor, how would you do it? Well, for starters you get a device that would act like a solid state switch, a transistor, and hook it up the motor. NOTE: If you connect up these relay circuits, remember to put a diode across the coil of the relay. This will keep the spike voltage (back EMF), coming out of the coil of the relay, from getting into the MCU and damaging it. The anode, which is the arrow side of the diode, should connect to ground. The bar, which is the Cathode side of the diode, should connect to the coil where the MCU connects to the relay.

If you connect this circuit to a small hobby motor you can control the motor with a processor (MCU, etc.) Applying a logical one, (+12 Volts in our example) to point A causes the motor to turn forward. Applying a logical zero, (ground) causes the motor to stop turning (to coast and stop).

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Hook the motor up in this fashion and the circuit turns the motor in reverse when you apply a logical one (+12Volts) to point B. Apply a logical zero, which is usually a ground, causes the motor to stop spinning. If you hook up these circuits you can only get the motor to stop or turn in one direction, forward for the first circuit or reverse for the second circuit.

Motor Speed
You can also pulse the motor control line, (A or B) on and off. This powers the motor in short burst and gets varying degrees of torque, which usually translates into variable motor speed. But if you want to be able to control the motor in both forward and reverse with a processor, you will need more circuitry. You will need an H-Bridge. Notice the "H"-looking configuration in the next graphic. Relays configured in this fashion make an H-Bridge. The "high side drivers" are the relays that control the positive voltage to the motor. This is called sourcing current. The "low side drivers" are the relays that control the negative voltage to sink current to the motor. "Sinking current" is the term for connecting the circuit to the negative side of the power supply, which is usually ground.

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So, you turn on the upper left and lower right circuits, and power flows through the motor forward, i.e.: 1 to A, 0 to B, 0 to C, and 1 to D.

Then for reverse you turn on the upper right and lower left circuits and power flows through the motor in reverse, i.e.: 0 to A, 1 to B, 1 to C, and 0 to D.

CAUTION: You should be careful not to turn on both circuits on one side or the other, or you have a direct short which will destroy your circuit; Example: A and C or B and D both high (logical 1).

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SEMICONDUCTOR H-BRIDGES
we can better control our motor by using transistors or Field Effect Transistors (FETs). Most of what we have discussed about the relays H-Bridge is true of these circuits. You don't need diodes that were across the relay coils now. You should use diodes across your transistors though. See the following diagram showing how they are connected. These solid state circuits provide power and ground connections to the motor, as did the relay circuits. The high side drivers need to be current "sources" which is what PNP transistors and P-channel FETs are good at. The low side drivers need to be current "sinks" which is what NPN transistors and N-channel FETs are good at.

If you turn on the two upper circuits, the motor resists turning, so you effectively have a breaking mechanism. The same is true if you turn on both of the lower circuits. This is because the motor is a generator and when it turns it generates a voltage. If the terminals of the motor are connected (shorted), then the voltage generated counteracts the motors freedom to turn. It is as if you are applying a similar but opposite voltage to the one generated by the motor being turned. Vis-vis, it acts like a brake. To be nice to your transistors, you should add diodes to 32

catch the back voltage that is generated by the motor's coil when the power is switched on and off. This flyback voltage can be many times higher than the supply voltage! If you don't use diodes, you could burn out your transistors.

Transistors, being a semiconductor device, will have some resistance, which causes them to get hot when conducting much current. This is called not being able to sink or source very much power, i.e.: Not able to provide much current from ground or from plus voltage. Mosfets are much more efficient, they can provide much more current and not get as hot. They usually have the flyback diodes built in so you don't need the diodes anymore. This helps guard against flyback voltage frying your MCU. To use Mosfets in an H-Bridge, you need P-Channel Mosfets on top because they can "source" power, and N-Channel Mosfets on the bottom because then can "sink" power. NChannel Mosfets are much cheaper than P-Channel Mosfets, but N-Channel Mosfets used to source power require about 7 volts more than the supply voltage, to turn on. As a result, some people manage to use N-Channel Mosfets, on top of the HBridge, by using cleaver circuits to overcome the breakdown voltage. It is important that the four quadrants of the H-Bridgecircuits be turned on and off properly. When there is a path between the positive and ground side of the HBridge, other than through the motor, a condition exists called "shoot through". This is basically a direct short of the power supply and can cause semiconductors to become ballistic, in circuits with large currents flowing. There are H-bridge chips available that are much easier, and safer, to use than designing your own H-Bridge circuit.

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H-Bridge Devices
The L 293 has 2 H-Bridges, can provide about 1 amp to each and occasional peak loads to 2 amps. Motors typically controlled with this controller are near the size of a 35 mm film plastic canister. The L298 has 2 h-bridges on board, can handle 1amp and peak current draws to about 3amps. You often see motors between the size a of 35 mm film plastic canister and a coke can, driven by this type H-Bridge. The LMD18200 has one hbridge on board, can handle about 2 or 3 amps and can handle a peak of about 6 amps. This H-Bridge chip can usually handle an average motor about the size of a coke. There are several more commercially designed H-Bridge chips as well.

DC GEARED MOTOR SPECIFICATION

1. OPERATING VOLTAGE 12V dc 2. 30 RPM 3. TORQUE 3kgcm

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BATTERY

35

Battery construction

The word battery simply means a group of similar components. In military vocabulary, a "battery" refers to a cluster of guns. In electricity, a "battery" is a set of voltaic cells designed to provide greater voltage and/or current than is possible with one cell alone. The symbol for a cell is very simple, consisting of one long line and one short line, parallel to each other, with connecting wires:

The symbol for a battery is nothing more than a couple of cell symbols stacked in series:

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As was stated before, the voltage produced by any particular kind of cell is determined strictly by the chemistry of that cell type. The size of the cell is irrelevant to its voltage. To obtain greater voltage than the output of a single cell, multiple cells must be connected in series. The total voltage of a battery is the sum of all cell voltages. A typical automotive lead-acid battery has six cells, for a nominal voltage output of 6 x 2.2 or 13.2 volts:

The cells in an automotive battery are contained within the same hard rubber housing, connected together with thick, lead bars instead of wires. The electrodes and electrolyte solutions for each cell are contained in separate, partitioned sections of the battery case. In large batteries, the electrodes commonly take the shape of thin metal grids or plates, and are often referred to as plates instead of electrodes. For the sake of convenience, battery symbols are usually limited to four lines, alternating long/short, although the real battery it represents may have many more cells than that. On occasion, however, you might come across a symbol for a battery with unusually high voltage, intentionally drawn with extra lines. The lines, of course, are representative of the individual cell plates:

If the physical size of a cell has no impact on its voltage, then what does it affect? The answer is resistance, which in turn affects the maximum amount of current that a cell can provide. Every voltaic cell contains some amount of internal resistance due to the electrodes and the electrolyte. The larger a cell is constructed, the greater the electrode contact area with the electrolyte, and thus the less internal resistance it will have. Although we generally consider a cell or battery in a circuit to be a perfect source of voltage (absolutely constant), the current through it dictated solely by the external resistance of the circuit to which it is attached, this is not entirely true in real life. Since every cell or battery contains some internal resistance, that resistance must affect the current in any given circuit:
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When connecting batteries together to form larger "banks" (a battery of batteries?), the constituent batteries must be matched to each other so as to not cause problems. First we will consider connecting batteries in series for greater voltage:

We know that the current is equal at all points in a series circuit, so whatever amount of current there is in any one of the series-connected batteries must be the same for all the others as well. For this reason, each battery must have the same amp-hour rating, or else some of the batteries will become depleted sooner than others, compromising the capacity of the whole bank. Please note that the total amp-hour capacity of this series battery bank is not affected by the number of batteries. Next, we will consider connecting batteries in parallel for greater current capacity (lower internal resistance), or greater amp-hour capacity:

We know that the voltage is equal across all branches of a parallel circuit, so we must be sure that these batteries are of equal voltage. If not, we will have relatively large currents circulating from one battery through another, the higher-voltage batteries overpowering the lower-voltage batteries. This is not good. On this same theme, we must be sure that any overcurrent protection (circuit breakers or fuses) are installed in such a way as to be effective. For our series battery bank, one fuse will suffice to protect the wiring from excessive current, since any break in a series circuit stops current through all parts of the circuit:

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With a parallel battery bank, one fuse is adequate for protecting the wiring against load overcurrent (between the parallel-connected batteries and the load), but we have other concerns to protect against as well. Batteries have been known to internally shortcircuit, due to electrode separator failure, causing a problem not unlike that where batteries of unequal voltage are connected in parallel: the good batteries will overpower the failed (lower voltage) battery, causing relatively large currents within the batteries' connecting wires. To guard against this eventuality, we should protect each and every battery against overcurrent with individual battery fuses, in addition to the load fuse:

When dealing with secondary-cell batteries, particular attention must be paid to the method and timing of charging. Different types and construction of batteries have different charging needs, and the manufacturer's recommendations are probably the best guide to follow when designing or maintaining a system. Two distinct concerns of battery charging are cycling and overcharging. Cycling refers to the process of charging a battery to a "full" condition and then discharging it to a lower state. All batteries have a finite (limited) cycle life, and the allowable "depth" of cycle (how far it should be discharged at any time) varies from design to design. Overcharging is the condition where current continues to be forced backwards through a secondary cell beyond the point where the cell has reached full charge. With lead-acid cells in particular, overcharging leads to electrolysis of the water ("boiling" the water out of the battery) and shortened life. Any battery containing water in the electrolyte is subject to the production of hydrogen gas due to electrolysis. This is especially true for overcharged lead-acid cells, but not exclusive to that type. Hydrogen is an extremely flammable gas (especially in the presence of free oxygen created by the same electrolysis process), odorless and colorless. Such batteries pose an explosion threat even under normal operating
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conditions, and must be treated with respect. The author has been a firsthand witness to a lead-acid battery explosion, where a spark created by the removal of a battery charger (small DC power supply) from an automotive battery ignited hydrogen gas within the battery case, blowing the top off the battery and splashing sulfuric acid everywhere. This occurred in a high school automotive shop, no less. If it were not for all the students nearby wearing safety glasses and buttoned-collar overalls, significant injury could have occurred. When connecting and disconnecting charging equipment to a battery, always make the last connection (or first disconnection) at a location away from the battery itself (such as at a point on one of the battery cables, at least a foot away from the battery), so that any resultant spark has little or no chance of igniting hydrogen gas. In large, permanently installed battery banks, batteries are equipped with vent caps above each cell, and hydrogen gas is vented outside of the battery room through hoods immediately over the batteries. Hydrogen gas is very light and rises quickly. The greatest danger is when it is allowed to accumulate in an area, awaiting ignition. More modern lead-acid battery designs are sealed, using a catalyst to re-combine the electrolyzed hydrogen and oxygen back into water, inside the battery case itself. Adequate ventilation might still be a good idea, just in case a battery were to develop a leak in the case. Battery ratings Because batteries create electron flow in a circuit by exchanging electrons in ionic chemical reactions, and there is a limited number of molecules in any charged battery available to react, there must be a limited amount of total electrons that any battery can motivate through a circuit before its energy reserves are exhausted. Battery capacity could be measured in terms of total number of electrons, but this would be a huge number. We could use the unit of the coulomb (equal to 6.25 x 1018 electrons, or 6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons) to make the quantities more practical to work with, but instead a new unit, the amp-hour, was made for this purpose. Since 1 amp is actually a flow rate of 1 coulomb of electrons per second, and there are 3600 seconds in an hour, we can state a direct proportion between coulombs and amp-hours: 1 amphour = 3600 coulombs. Why make up a new unit when an old would have done just fine? To make your lives as students and technicians more difficult, of course! A battery with a capacity of 1 amp-hour should be able to continuously supply a current of 1 amp to a load for exactly 1 hour, or 2 amps for 1/2 hour, or 1/3 amp for 3 hours, etc., before becoming completely discharged. In an ideal battery, this relationship between continuous current and discharge time is stable and absolute, but real batteries don't behave exactly as this simple linear formula would indicate. Therefore, when amphour capacity is given for a battery, it is specified at either a given current, given time, or assumed to be rated for a time period of 8 hours (if no limiting factor is given).

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For example, an average automotive battery might have a capacity of about 70 amphours, specified at a current of 3.5 amps. This means that the amount of time this battery could continuously supply a current of 3.5 amps to a load would be 20 hours (70 amp-hours / 3.5 amps). But let's suppose that a lower-resistance load were connected to that battery, drawing 70 amps continuously. Our amp-hour equation tells us that the battery should hold out for exactly 1 hour (70 amp-hours / 70 amps), but this might not be true in real life. With higher currents, the battery will dissipate more heat across its internal resistance, which has the effect of altering the chemical reactions taking place within. Chances are, the battery would fully discharge some time before the calculated time of 1 hour under this greater load. Conversely, if a very light load (1 mA) were to be connected to the battery, our equation would tell us that the battery should provide power for 70,000 hours, or just under 8 years (70 amp-hours / 1 milliamp), but the odds are that much of the chemical energy in a real battery would have been drained due to other factors (evaporation of electrolyte, deterioration of electrodes, leakage current within battery) long before 8 years had elapsed. Therefore, we must take the amp-hour relationship as being an ideal approximation of battery life, the amp-hour rating trusted only near the specified current or timespan given by the manufacturer. Some manufacturers will provide amp-hour derating factors specifying reductions in total capacity at different levels of current and/or temperature. For secondary cells, the amp-hour rating provides a rule for necessary charging time at any given level of charge current. For example, the 70 amp-hour automotive battery in the previous example should take 10 hours to charge from a fully-discharged state at a constant charging current of 7 amps (70 amp-hours / 7 amps). Approximate amp-hour capacities of some common batteries are given here:

Typical automotive battery: 70 amp-hours @ 3.5 A (secondary cell) D-size carbon-zinc battery: 4.5 amp-hours @ 100 mA (primary cell) 9 volt carbon-zinc battery: 400 milliamp-hours @ 8 mA (primary cell)

As a battery discharges, not only does it diminish its internal store of energy, but its internal resistance also increases (as the electrolyte becomes less and less conductive), and its open-circuit cell voltage decreases (as the chemicals become more and more dilute). The most deceptive change that a discharging battery exhibits is increased resistance. The best check for a battery's condition is a voltage measurement under load, while the battery is supplying a substantial current through a circuit. Otherwise, a simple voltmeter check across the terminals may falsely indicate a healthy battery (adequate voltage) even though the internal resistance has increased considerably. What constitutes a "substantial current" is determined by the battery's design parameters. A voltmeter check revealing too low of a voltage, of course, would positively indicate a discharged battery:

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Fully charged battery:

Now, if the battery discharges a bit . . .

. . . and discharges a bit further . . .

. . . and a bit further until it's dead.

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Notice how much better the battery's true condition is revealed when its voltage is checked under load as opposed to without a load. Does this mean that it's pointless to check a battery with just a voltmeter (no load)? Well, no. If a simple voltmeter check reveals only 7.5 volts for a 13.2 volt battery, then you know without a doubt that it's dead. However, if the voltmeter were to indicate 12.5 volts, it may be near full charge or somewhat depleted -- you couldn't tell without a load check. Bear in mind also that the resistance used to place a battery under load must be rated for the amount of power expected to be dissipated. For checking large batteries such as an automobile (12 volt nominal) lead-acid battery, this may mean a resistor with a power rating of several hundred watts.

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Reference

1. R.S. Khurmi 2. J.K.Gupta 3. Naveen 4. www.wikipedia.com 5. www.scienceHPLORE.com 6. www.google.com 7. www.machinedesign.com

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