DC MOTOR CONTROL

INTRODUCTION
• Dc motors have variable characteristic and are
use extensively in variable speed drives. Its
can provide high starting torque and possible
to obtain speed control over a wide range.
• But, due to the commutators and brushes, dc
motors are not suitable for very high speed
application and require more maintenance.
Basic Characteristic of DC MOTORS

• The field windings is used to excite the field flux.

• Armature current is supplied to the rotor via brush
and commutator for the mechanical work.
• Interaction of field flux and armature current in the
rotor produces torque.
 Operation
• When a separately excited motor is excited by a
field current of if and an armature current of ia
flows in the circuit, the motor develops a back
emf and a torque to balance the load torque at a
particular speed.
• The if is independent of the ia .Each windings are
supplied separately. Any change in the armature
current has no effect on the field current.
• The if is normally much less than the ia.
 Field and armature equation
• The instantaneous field current:

where Rf and Lf are the field resistor and

inductor.
• Instantaneous armature current :

where Ra and La are the armature resistor and

inductor
• The motor back emf, which also known as
speed voltage :
 Basic torque Equation
• The torque developed by the motor is :
Steady State Operation
Steady-state torque and speed
 Torque and Speed Control
• From the derivation, several important facts can be
deduced for steady-state operation of DC motor.
• For a fixed field current, or flux (If) , the torque demand
can be satisfied by varying the armature current (Ia).
• The motor speed can be varied by:
– controlling Va (voltage control)
– controlling Vf (field control)
• These observations leads to the application of variable
DC voltage to control the speed and torque of DC
motor.
Four Quadrant
Operation
Thyristor / SCR drives ( Rectifier)
 Single Phase Drives
1. Single Phase Half wave converter drive

It is One quadrant drive

and the application of
this drive is limited to
the ½ kW power level
2. Single Phase Full Converter Drives
• The armature voltage is varied by a single
phase full converter.
• It is two quadrant drives and is limited up to
15kW.
3. Single Phase Dual Converter Drives
• Two single phase full wave converters are
connected as shown below.

• Either converter 1 operates to supply a

positive armature voltage or converter 2
operates to supply a negative armature
voltage.
 Example 1
The Speed of a separately dc motor is controlled by a single –
phase full wave converter. The field circuit is also controlled by a
full converter and the field current is set to the maximum
possible value. The Ac supply voltage to the armature and field
converter is one –phase, 440 V , 60 Hz. The armature resistance
is Ra = 0.25 ohm, the field resistance is Rf= 175 ohm, and the
motor voltage constant is Kv = 1.4 V/A-rad/s. The armature
current corresponding to the load demand is Ia = 45 A. If the
delay angle of the armature converter is αo = 60 and the
armature current is Ia = 45A, determine the ;
i. Torque developed (Td)
ii. Speed
 Example 2
A rectifier-DC motor drive is supplied by a three-phase fully
controlled SCR bridge 240Vrms / 50 Hz per phase. The field is
supplied by asingle phase 240Vrms / 50 Hz with uncontrolled
diode bridge rectifier and the field current is set as maximum as
possible (αf = 0 deg). Given armature resistance Ra = 0.3 ohm,
field resistance Rf = 175 ohm, motor constant Kv = 1.5 V/A-rad/s,
armature current Ia = 30A and armature converter αa = 45 deg.
Calculate the value of :
i. Developed torque (Td)
ii. Speed of motor (ω – rad/s)
Example 3
 Chopper Drives
• A dc chopper is connected between a fixed-
voltage dc source and dc motor to vary the
armature voltage.
• A chopper is a high speed on/off semiconductor
switch which connects source to load and
disconnects the load from source at a fast speed.
• Choppers are used to get variable dc voltage from
a dc source of fixed voltage.
• Chopper circuits are used to control both
separately excited and Series circuits.
 CONTROL MODES OF DC
CHOPPER DRIVE
1. Power(or acceleration) control
2. Regenerative brake control
3. Rheostatic brake control
4. Combined Regenerative and Rheostatic Brake
Control
Principle Of Power Control
• The chopper is used to control the armature
voltage of Dc motor.
• This is one quadrant drives.

Va

0 Ia
Waveform Characteristic
Ripple-free Armature Current
Armature Voltage:
Va  kVs
Power suplpied:
Po  Va I a  kVs I a
Input Resistance:
Vs Vs
Req  
I s kIa
Peak-to-peak current:
Vs Rm
I max  tanh
Rm 4 fLm
where k =conduction duty cycle
Principle Of regenerative brake control
• In regenerative braking , the motor acts as a
generator and the kinetic energy of the motor
and load is returned back to the supply.
Waveform
EQUATIONS
Voltage across transistor: Minimum Braking Speed:
Vch  (1  k )Vs Rm I a
Regenerated power:
 min 
Kv I f
Pg  I aVs (1  k )
   min
Voltage when motor
acting as generator: Maximum Braking Speed:
E g  (1  k )Vs  Rm I a Vs Rm I a
 max  
Equivalent load resistance: Kv I f Kv I f
Eg
Vs    max
Req   (1  k )  Rm
Ia Ia
Rheostatic Braking
• In rhreostatic braking , the energy is dissipated
in a rheostat. Its also known as dynamic
braking.
• This is one quadrant drives and operate in the
second quadrant.
Waveform
EQUATIONS
• The average current in the braking resistor is
I b  I a (1  k )

• The average voltage across the braking resistor is

Vb  Rb I a (1  k )
• The equivalent load resistance of the generator
Vb
Req   Rb (1  k )  Rm
Ia
• The power dissipated in the resistor Rb is
Pb  I Rb (1  k )
2
a
COMBINED REGENERATIVE AND
RHEOSTATIC BRAKE CONTROL
• Used when the supply is partly
“receptive”
• Remove regenerative braking if
line voltage is too high
– Turn thyristor TR on
– Divert current to RB
– Apply rheostatic braking
– TR is “self-commutated”
Two Quadrant Chopper Drives

Va

Ia
• Two quadrant operation is required to allow
power and regenerative braking control.

Power Control:
Transistor T1 and diode D2 operate. When T1
is turn On , the supply voltage Vd is connected
to the terminals. When T1 is turned off, the
armature current with flows through the
freewheeling diode D2 decays.
 Regenerative control:
Transistor T2 and diode D1 operates. When
T2 is turned On , the series motor acts as
generator and the armature current rises.
When T2 is turned Off, the motor acting as
generator , returned energy to the supply
through the generative diode D1.
Four Quadrant Chopper Drives
• Control Modes
o Forward Power Control (I-Quadrant)
o Forward Regeneration (II-Quadrant)
o Reverse Power Control (III-Quadrant)
o Reverse Regeneration (IV-Quadrant)
Forward Power Control

Q1

T1 & T4 is ON
Current Flow : VS + _ T1 _Motor_T4_VS-
Current Ia & Va are positive
Operates in First Quadrant
Forward Power Control (cont.)

T1 is OFF & T4 is ON. Inductor current has to flow in the same Direction.
Diode D1 is FB
Inductor Current freewheels through D1 & T4
Output Voltage is Zero
Forward Power Control (cont.)

T4 is OFF. T2 is ON. (Load is not connected with the source).

Back Emf drives the current through T2 & D3
FORWARD REGENERATION

Q2

T2 is OFF. Diode D2 is FB

Current flows through D3 & D1
 Current Ia is negative & Va is positive.
Operates in second quadrant.
Reverse Power Control

Q3

T3 & T2 is ON
Current Flow : Vdc + _ T3 _Motor_T2_Vdc-
Current Ia & Va are negative
Operates in third Quadrant
REVERSE REGENERATION

Q4

T4 IS Turned Off, D4 is FB

Current Flows through Va+ - D1 – D4 – Va-
Va is negative. But current Ia is positive
Operates in fourth quadrant
 Example 3
A separate excitation dc motor at a chopper
drive circuit is controlled by the armature
resistance Ra = 0.04Ω, Rf = 0.06Ω and back emf
constant Kv = 35mV/A -rad/s. A 600V DC power
supply voltages supplied to the chopper drive. If
the torque constant Td produced is 547 Nm,
calculate the motor speed and sketch a graph of
speed against the driver which switches on the
chopper. (If the duty cycle of the converter is
75%).