The commutation Process

What is Commutation Process?

The process in rectifying the alternating current, changing

the internal alternating current to an external direct current
is called the commutation process.
Principle of Motor Action
When an electric generator is in operation, it is driven
mechanically and develops a voltage, which in turn can send a
current through a load resistance. When an electric motor in in
operation, it develops torques, which, in turn, can produce
mechanical rotation. Thus the electric motor converts electric
energy into mechanical energy. To summarized, the foregoing
principle of motor action requires
(1)the presence of magnetic lines of force and
(2)current through conductors lying in the magnetic field before
(3)force, and therefore torque, is produced.
Force and torque Developed by Direct-current Motors
Direct-Current Dynamos, Construction and
Armature Windings
DC MOTORS & GENERATORS COMPONENTS
DC motors and DC generatos consist of several key components, each playing a crucial role in
their operation. Here’s a breakdown of the main components:
1.Stator: The stationary part of the motor that provides a magnetic field. It can be made from
permanent magnets or electromagnets.
2.Rotor (Armature): The rotating part of the motor. It typically consists of a coil of wire wound
around a core, which interacts with the magnetic field produced by the stator.
3.Commutator: A rotating switch that reverses the current direction in the armature windings
as the rotor turns, ensuring continuous rotation in one direction.
4.Brushes: Conductive components (usually made of carbon) that maintain electrical contact
with the commutator, allowing current to flow into the armature.
5.Windings: Coils of wire on the rotor that create a magnetic field when current flows through
them. The interaction between this field and the stator's field produces torque.
6.Shaft: The part that transfers the rotational motion to an external load or mechanical system.
7.Bearings: Support the shaft and allow it to rotate smoothly.
8.Housing: Encloses and protects the internal components, often providing a mounting point.
9.Cooling System (if necessary): Some larger or high-power DC motors may have cooling
mechanisms to dissipate heat generated during operation.
 FIELD POLE CORE

Field pole core is built up of a stack of steel lamination, about 0.025 in. thick per lamination.
Pole Shoe permits the flux to spread out over a wider are where the flux enters the armature
core.
 FIELD POLE CORE
The construction of pole shoe is very
desirable for several reasons:
1. The reduced cross section permits the
use of less copper wire for the field
coils.
2. The increased are of the pole shoe
reduces the reluctance of the air gap
between the pole face and the
armature core.
3. It permits the entire pole core and
windings to be assembled before the
former is bolted to the yoke frame.
 FIELD WINDING CONTRUCTIONS
1. The shunt field in which there are
many turns of fine wire.
2. A series field in which there are
comparatively few turns of heavy
wire.
3. A compound field in which both a
shunt and series winding are used.
 ARMATURE CORE CONTRUCTIONS
1. The armature core is a stack of
steel laminations, but it is circular
in section.
 COMMUTATOR CONTRUCTIONS
1. The commutator is built-up group
of hard drawn copper bars,
wedge-shaped in section when
viewed on end, and having V-
shaped grooves at each end
 ARMATURE WINDING CONTRUCTIONS
1. The armature winding is virtually
the heart of the dynamo; it is
where the voltage is generated in
the generator or where torque is
developed in the motor.
 TYPES OF ARMATURE WINDING
1. The simplex lap windings the coil
ends are connected to adjacent
commutator segments. It forms a
loop as it expand around the
armature core. It is used for low
voltage, high current dc generator.
 TYPES OF ARMATURE WINDING
1. The simplex wave windings the
coil ends are connected to
commutator segments very nearly,
but never exactly, equal to the
distance between poles of the
same polarity, that is, alternate
poles. It forms a wave as it
expands around the armature
core. It is used for high voltage,
low current dc generator.
 TYPES OF ARMATURE WINDING
1. The frog-leg winding is a combination of both lap and wave types.
 COIL SPAN FOR ALL TYPES OF WINDING
“The distance between the two sides of a coil must be equal (or very
nearly so) to the distance between two adjacent poles.” This always
means that the coil span must be 180 electrical degrees, or
approximately so.

Note: Refer to page 55 to 57 of your book electrical machines by

siskind 2nd edition.
 COIL SPAN FOR ALL TYPES OF WINDING
This leads to the general equation for coil span, more often called coil
pitch:

Where:
S = total number of armature slots
P = number of poles
K = any part of S/P that is subtracted to make Ys an integer
COIL SPAN FOR ALL TYPES OF WINDING
 COMMUTATOR PITCH FOR LAP WINDING

In general:
1. The commutator pitch, symbolized by which designates the coil end
connection to the commutator, is equal to the “plex” of lap-wound
armature windings. Thus, respectively, for simplex, duplex, triplex,
quadruplex, etc., lap windings.
2. The degree of reentrancy of lap windings is equal to the highest
common factor between the number of commutator segments and the
“plex” of the winding.
 COMMUTATOR PITCH FOR LAP WINDING

In general:
1. The commutator pitch, symbolized by which designates the coil end
connection to the commutator, is equal to the “plex” of lap-wound
armature windings. Thus, respectively, for simplex, duplex, triplex,
quadruplex, etc., lap windings.
2. The degree of reentrancy of lap windings is equal to the highest
common factor between the number of commutator segments and the
“plex” of the winding.
 COMMUTATOR PITCH FOR LAP WINDING
Note:
The degrees of reentrancy for lap windings in a DC machine refers to how many times
the winding "reenters" or overlaps itself as it wraps around the core. This concept is
crucial for determining how the winding is distributed across the slots in the stator or
rotor.

For lap windings, the degrees of reentrancy is typically 1, which means that each coil
can be placed in the slots of the armature in a way that it connects back to its own
starting point after covering the required number of slots (determined by the number
of poles).

This arrangement ensures that the coils are distributed evenly around the core,
promoting a uniform magnetic field and efficient operation of the machine. In contrast,
for wave windings, the degrees of reentrancy can be greater than 1, allowing for a
more complex coil arrangement.
PROGRESSIVE & RETROGRESSIVE WINDING
PITCH IN LAP WINDING
 PARALLEL PATHS IN SIMPLEX- and MULTIPLEX-LAP WINDINGS
Parallel paths refer to the number of distinct paths through which current can flow from the
armature winding to the commutator and then to the external circuit.

Simplex Lap Winding

In a simplex lap winding, there is typically one parallel path for each phase. This means that
for a machine with P poles, there are P parallel paths. Each path corresponds to one set of
coils connected to a particular segment of the commutator. The current flows through each
parallel path independently, which contributes to the total current supplied to the load.

Multiplex Lap Winding

In a multiplex lap winding, there are multiple parallel paths for each phase. This winding is
designed to allow more than one set of coils per pole, effectively increasing the number of
parallel paths. For example, if a multiplex lap winding has two layers of coils (or two windings
per pole), it would have twice as many parallel paths as the number of poles.
 PARALLEL PATHS IN SIMPLEX- and MULTIPLEX-LAP WINDINGS
Summary
• Simplex Lap Winding: PPP parallel paths (one for each pole).
• Multiplex Lap Winding: More than PPP parallel paths (depending on the number of
windings per pole).

Where: a is parallel path for lap windings

m is the “plex factor”
P is the number of poles

Increasing the number of parallel paths can enhance the current-carrying capacity and
improve the efficiency of the machine.

Note: In a simplex lap winding, the current divides into P paths, where P is the number of
poles; in a duplex lap winding, the current divides into 2 X P paths; in a triplex lap winding, it
divides into 3 X P paths; in a quadruplex lap winding, 4 X P paths serve the total current.
 PARALLEL PATHS IN SIMPLEX- and MULTIPLEX-LAP WINDINGS
Note: See example 3 in page 61 in your machines book.

To summarized, we need to consider for lap winding;

EXAMPLE:
EXAMPLE:
EXAMPLE:
EXAMPLE:
EXAMPLE:
EXAMPLE:
 SIMPLEX-WAVE WINDINGS

1. The simplex wave windings the coil

ends are connected to commutator
segments very nearly, but never exactly,
equal to the distance between poles of
the same polarity, that is, alternate
poles. It forms a wave as it expands
around the armature core. It is used for
high voltage, low current dc generator.
 COMMUTATOR PITCH FOR WAVE WINDING
The commutator pitch is a comparatively large number because the coil ends
must be joined to segments approximately 360 electrical degrees apart. The word
approximately must be taken literally because a wave winding is impossible if the
coil ends are joined to segments exactly 360 electrical degrees apart.

General facts about simplex wave winding:

1. Starting at any commutator segment, the entire winding must be traced from
segment to segment and from coil side to coil side before closure occurs, that
is, before the winding reenters.
2. If the coil ends are connected to segments exactly 360 electrical degrees
apart, every group of P/2 coils would constitute a complete reentrancy
because there are 360 electrical degrees in every pair of poles (P/2).
 COMMUTATOR PITCH FOR WAVE WINDING
To find the commutator pitch in wave windings use the equation:

Where is commutator pitch

C is the total number of commutator segments
P is the number of poles

Note: It is necessary to add 1 to C or subtract 1 from C before dividing by the

number of pairs of poles (P/2). And if the result is not an integer, a simplex-wave
winding is impossible; if the winding result is in integer when either +1 or -1 is
used, a simplex-wave winding is possible.

See example number 4 and 5 under page 64 & 65 in your book!

End!