- DC Motor Definition: A DC motor is defined as a machine that converts direct electrical energy into mechanical energy, using various configurations of winding and magnetic fields to achieve desired operation characteristics.
- Applications of DC Motors: These motors are integral in countless devices and systems, highlighting their versatility across different sectors including automotive, industrial machinery, and consumer electronics.
- Shunt and Series Characteristics: Shunt wound motors maintain constant speed, whereas series wound motors offer high starting torque with speed varying according to the load.
- DC Compound Motor: The dc compound motor is a versatile type, combining characteristics of both shunt and series wound motors to provide reliable operation under varying load conditions.
- Understanding Torque Control: In DC motors, torque can be controlled by adjusting the current through the armature or the magnetic flux in the field windings, which directly affects the motor’s speed and power output.
DC motors are used extensively across engineering and technology fields, powering devices as small as electric shavers and as large as automobiles. To meet diverse needs, various types of DC motors are designed for specific applications.
The types of DC motor include:
- Permanent Magnet DC Motor (PMDC Motor)
- Separately Excited DC Motor
- Self Excited DC Motor
- Shunt Wound DC Motor
- Series Wound DC Motor
- Compound Wound DC Motor
- Short shunt DC Motor
- Long shunt DC Motor
- Differential Compound DC Motor
We will now discuss in detail the various different types of DC Motors. If you want to further your study of DC motors, check out our list of basic electrical questions.
Separately Excited DC Motor
In a separately excited DC motor, power is supplied individually to the field and armature windings, ensuring that the armature current does not pass through the field windings. This setup allows for precise control of the motor, as the field is powered by an independent DC source.
From the torque equation of DC motor we know Tg = Ka φ Ia So the torque in this case can be varied by varying field flux φ, independent of the armature current Ia.
Permanent Magnet DC Motor
The permanent magnet DC motor (also known as a PMDC motor) consists of an armature winding as in case of an usual motor, but does not necessarily contain the field windings. The construction of these types of DC motor are such that, radially magnetized permanent magnets are mounted on the inner periphery of the stator core to produce the field flux.
The rotor on the other hand has a conventional DC armature with commutator segments and brushes. The diagrammatic representation of a permanent magnet DC motor is given below.
The torque equation of DC motor suggests
Here φ is always constant, as permanent magnets of required flux density are chosen at the time of construction and can’t be changed there after.
For a permanent magnet DC motor
Where, Ka1 = Ka.φ which is another constant. In this case, the torque of DC Motor can only be changed by controlling the armature supply.
Self Excited DC Motor
In case of self excited DC motor, the field winding is connected either in series or in parallel or partly in series, partly in parallel to the armature winding. Based on this, self excited DC Motors can be classified as:
- Shunt wound DC motor
- Series wound DC motor
- Compound wound DC motor
Let’s now go into the details of these types of self excited DC motor.
Shunt Wound DC Motor
In case of a shunt wound DC motor or more specifically shunt wound self excited DC motor, the field windings are exposed to the entire terminal voltage as they are connected in parallel to the armature winding as shown in the figure below.
To understand the characteristic of these types of DC motor, lets consider the basic voltage equation given by,
[Where, E, Eb, Ia, Ra are the supply voltage, back emf, armature current and armature resistance respectively]
[since back emf increases with flux φ and angular speed ωω]
Now substituting Eb from equation (2) to equation (1) we get,
The torque equation of a DC motor resembles,
This is similar to the equation of a straight line, and we can graphically representing the torque speed characteristic of a shunt wound self excited DC motor as
The shunt wound DC motor is a constant speed motor, as the speed does not vary here with the variation of mechanical load on the output.
Series Wound DC Motor
In case of a series wound self excited DC motor or simply series wound DC motor, the entire armature current flows through the field winding as its connected in series to the armature winding. The series wound self excited DC motor is diagrammatically represented below for clear understanding.
Now to determine the torque speed characteristic of these types of DC motor, lets get to the torque speed equation.
From the circuit diagram we can see that the voltage equation gets modified to
Where as back emf remains Eb = kaφω
Neglecting saturation we get,
[since field current = armature current]
From equation (5) and (6)
From this equation we obtain the torque speed characteristic as
In a series wound DC motor, the speed varies with load. And operation wise this is its main difference from a shunt wound DC motor.
Compound Wound DC Motor
The compound excitation characteristic in a DC motor can be obtained by combining the operational characteristic of both the shunt and series excited DC motor. The compound wound self excited DC motor or simply compound wound DC motor essentially contains the field winding connected both in series and in parallel to the armature winding as shown in the figure below:
The excitation of compound wound DC motor can be of two types depending on the nature of compounding.
Cumulative Compound DC Motor
When the shunt field flux assists the main field flux, produced by the main field connected in series to the armature winding then its called cumulative compound DC motor.
Differential Compound DC Motor
In a differential compound DC motor, the shunt and series windings are arranged so the shunt field’s flux reduces the series field’s flux, leading to a decrease in overall magnetic field strength and torque.
The net flux produced in this case is lesser than the original flux and hence does not find much of a practical application.
The compounding characteristic of the self excited DC motor is shown in the figure below.
Both the cumulative compound and differential compound DC motor can either be of short shunt or long shunt type depending on the nature of arrangement.
Short Shunt DC Motor
If the shunt field winding is only parallel to the armature winding and not the series field winding then its known as short shunt DC motor or more specifically short shunt type compound wound DC motor.
The circuit diagram of a short shunt DC motor is shown in the diagram below.
Long Shunt DC Motor
If the shunt field winding is parallel to both the armature winding and the series field winding then it’s known as long shunt type compounded wound DC motor or simply long shunt DC motor.
The circuit diagram of a long shunt DC motor is shown in the diagram below.
