Direct Current Motors

They are very popular because:

- They are usually very fast, spinning at several
thousand revolutions per minute (rpm);
- They are simple to operate.
- Their starting torque is large, which is the main
reason for using them in several traction
applications;
- In a special form, they can be used with either an
a.c. or d.c. supply.

Theory of Operation

DC Armature

Wound-Field DC Motors

Permanent Magnet Motor

PM DC-Motor Model

 If we apply the law of conservation of angular momentum we have

The motor torque is given by

and the load in this case is the rotor inertia. The only torque
generated by the load is the friction (or damping) torque expressed
as

Applying Kirchof's voltage law on the electrical system we have

Neglecting the inductance La

Control of DC Motors
Switch ON-OFF
Speed:
- Analog
- Pulse With Modulation (PWM)
- Continuous Control
Direction

Switch
Diod Switch

 BJT

 BJT Switching Characteristics

When the transistor is saturated, it acts as a closed switch. When a transistor is in the cutoff
region, it acts as an open switch. When it is in the active region, it acts as a current (iB)
controlled current (iC) amplifier.
Realistically, transistor switching is not instantaneous. The turn-on time tON of the transistor is
the sum of the delay time tD and the rise time tR. Similarly, the turn-off time tOFF is the sum of the
storage time tS and the fall time tF . The turn-on and turn-off time of a transistor limits the
maximum switching frequency. Typical switching frequency for a power BJT is between 2 and 20
kHz.
BJTs can switch at a higher frequency than thyristors but can handle less power. Power BJTs can
handle currents up to several hundred amperes and VCE up to about 1 kV.

 MOSFET

When operating in the enhancement mode, a MOSFET behaves very similar to a BJT. Instead
of base current, the MOSFET behavior is determined by the gate voltage. When carefully
controlling the gate voltage of a MOSFET, the transistor can be made to operate as a voltage
controlled switch that operates between the cutoff (point A) and the Ohmic (point B)
region.
One advantage of a MOSFET device is that the MOSFET has significantly larger input
impedance as compared to BJT. This simplifies the circuit that is needed to drive the
MOSFET since the magnitude of the gate current is not a factor. This also implies that a
MOSFET is much more efficient than BJTs as well as it can be switching at a much higher
frequency. Typical MOSFET switching frequency is between 20 and 200 kHz, which is an
order of magnitude higher than BJTs. Power MOSFETs can carry drain currents up to several
hundreds of amperes and VDS up to around 500 V.

Control of Direction
Reversing the PM Motor

To reverse the rotation direction of the PM motor, the polarity of the applied
voltage must be reversed. One way to accomplish this is to have a motor-driver
amp capable of outputting a positive and negative voltage.
When the drive voltage is positive with respect to ground, the motor turns
clockwise (CW). When the drive voltage is negative with respect to ground, the
voltage polarity at the motor terminals reverses, and the motor rotates
counterclockwise (CCW). The LM12 power op-amp is capable of providing positive
and negative output voltages.

Relays
In many applications, the drive amplifier cannot output both positive and
negative voltages, in which case a switching circuit must be added to
reverse the motor. One approach is to use a double-pole relay . When the
relay contacts are up the positive voltage is connected to terminal A of the
motor, and terminal B is connected to the negative voltage. When the
relay contacts are down, the positive voltage is connected to terminal B,
and terminal A goes to the negative voltage, thus effectively reversing the
polarity.

H-Bridge

Forward-reverse switching can also be done with solid-state devices using four
FETs.
When Q1 and Q4 are on, the current I1,4 causes the motor to turn clockwise. When
Q2 and Q3 are on, the current I3,2 flows in the opposite direction and causes the
motor to turn counterclockwise. The entire
switching operation can be performed by a single IC, such as the Allegro A3952 .
This IC contains four separate driver transistors that are controlled by
internal logic to operate in pairs . The A3952 controls a motor-supply voltage of up
to 50 V with up to 2 A of output current.

L293 H-bridge chip

DC Motor Drive Speed Control

DC Motor Analog Drive Speed Control

Using a single power transistor:

The circuit could be either:

1- the common emitter (CE) configuration, which gives current and voltage gain, or
2- the common collector (CC) configuration, which gives only current gain.
When the base voltage (VB) is increased (beyond the forward-bias voltage), the transistor
begins to turn on and let the collector current (IC) flow. The collector current is 30100
times greater than the base current, depending on the gain of the transistor.
Once the transistor starts to conduct, IC increases with VB more or less linearly.
Note that all of IC goes through the motor, providing the drive current

Heating Problem with BJT

Power transistors are physically bigger than signal transistors and are designed to carry large
currents. In control systems, they are used to provide the drive current for motors and other
electromechanical devices.
When a transistor has a large current and voltage at the same time, the resulting power (VCIC)
must be dissipated in the form of heat. A typical power transistor is designed to operate up to
200C (360F) above ambient temperature. However, its power capacity is derated
proportionally for temperatures above 25C .
The power transistor case has a flat metal surface to provide a thermal escape path for the
heat. Therefore, to operate at anywhere near the rated power, the transistor must be
mounted firmly to the chassis or a metal heat sinka piece of metal with cooling fins to
dissipate the heat into the air
Many times the case itself is the collector terminal. If the collector must be kept electrically
insulated from the mounting chassis, then a special mica insulator is used, together with a
thermally conducting white grease.

Power IC Drive (LM12)

The power IC driver is a single-package DC amplifier with a
relatively high current output. An example is the LM12
(National Semiconductor)
The high-power operational amplifier can supply up to 13 A
with a maximum voltage of 30 V. As in any op-amp circuit,
feedback resistors are added to adjust the gain to any desired
value.

Darlington Power Transistor Drive

The Darlington configuration consists of two CC amplifiers connected in such a way

that the first transistor directly drives the second. Although the voltage gain is only
1 (maximum), the current gain can be very high. The transistor shown in the Figure
is a TIP 120, which has a current gain of 1000 and a maximum output current of 5
A. The motor must be placed in the emitter path of the output transistor. A
separate small-signal amplifier, probably an op-amp, would be needed to provide
any voltage gain required.

Power MOSFET
Notice the output current (ID) is 0 A when the input voltage
(VGS) is in the 0-5-V range but then climbs to 12 A when VGS
rises to 13 V.
Using a power MOSFET, the motor is in series with the drain,
which means the FET will provide both voltage and current
gain.
The gate voltage is supplied from an op-amp circuit that is
designed to interface the controller with the FET.

DC Motor Control Using Pulse-Width Modulation

Pulse-width modulation is an entirely different approach to
controlling the torque and speed of a DC motor. Power is
supplied to the motor in a square wavelike signal of constant
magnitude but varying pulse width or duty cycle.
Duty cycle refers to the percentage of time the pulse is high
(per cycle).

PWM Control Circuits

DC-DC Converters

The purpose of a DC-DC converter is to supply a regulated DC output voltage to a variable-load

resistance from a fluctuating DC input voltage. In many cases the DC input voltage is obtained by
rectifying a line voltage that is changing in magnitude.
DC-DC converters are commonly used in applications requiring regulated DC power, such as
computers, medical instrumentation, communication devices, television receivers, and battery
chargers . DC-DC converters are also used to provide a regulated variable DC voltage for DC motor
speed control applications.
The output voltage in DC-DC converters is generally controlled using a switching concept, as
illustrated by the basic DC-DC converter.
Early DC-DC converters were known as choppers with silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs) used as the
switching mechanisms.
Modern DC-DC converters classified as switch mode power supplies (SMPS) employ insulated gate
bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and metal oxide silicon field effect transistors (MOSFETs).
The switch mode power supply has several functions :
1. Step down an unregulated DC input voltage to produce a regulated DC output voltage using a buck
or step-down converter.
2. Step up an unregulated DC input voltage to produce a regulated DC output voltage using a boost or
step-up converter.
3. Step down and then step up an unregulated DC input voltage to produce a regulated DC output
voltage using a buckboost converter.
4. Invert the DC input voltage using a Ck converter.
5. Produce multiple DC outputs using a combination of SMPS topologies.

 DC-DC conver
DC-DC conver

DC-DC converter voltage waveforms.

Pulse width modulation concept.

Choppers
Choppers are DC-DC converters that are used
for transferring electrical energy from a DC
source into another DC source, which may be
a passive load. These converters are widely
used in regulated switching power supplies
and DC motor drive applications.
Choppers are one-quadrant, two-quadrant,
and four-quadrant

 Step-down (buck) converter and step-up (boost) converters

are basic one-quadrant converter.
A step-down converter produces an average output voltage,
which is lower than the DC input voltage

A step-up converter produces output voltage always greater

than the input voltage.

Step-down buck converter.

Step-up boost converter.

 The two-quadrant chopper, which, in fact, is a current

reversible converter, is the combination of the two basic
topologies. It has the ability to operate in two quadrants of
the (v i) plane. Therefore, input and output voltages are
positive; however, input and output currents can be positive
or negative. These converters are also named current
reversible choppers.

 In four-quadrant choppers, not only can the output current be positive

and negative, but the output voltage also can be positive and negative.
These choppers are full-bridge DC-DC converters. The main advantage of
these converters is that the average of the output voltage can be
controlled in magnitude as well as in polarity. A four-quadrant chopper is a
combination of two quadrant choppers in order to achieve negative
average output voltage and/or negative average output current.

DC Motor Control for Larger Motors

For larger motorssay, 20 A or morethe
hardware needed to supply pure DC becomes
bulky and expensive.
An alternative solution is to drive the DC
motor with rectified AC, where no attempt is
made to smooth the waveform.
A device that is frequently used in this
application to provide both rectification and
some measure of control is the siliconcontrolled rectifier (SCR).

Basic SCR motor control circuit

the power source is single-phase AC and that the DC motor is connected in series
with the SCR.
The gate of the SCR is driven by a trigger circuit that provides one pulse for each
cycle of the AC.
The free-wheeling diode (D) across the motor provides an escape path for the
energy stored in the motor windings when the SCR switches off.

Half wave rectifier

Full-wave Rectifier

SCR1 is triggered during the positive half of the AC cycle, and SCR2 is triggered
during the negative half cycle. The result? The motor receives two power pulses
per cycle.

 In this case, four diodes are used for the full-wave

rectifier, and a single SCR controls the delay of each
half cycle.

 The SCR circuits described thus far are triggered somewhere in the
middle of the AC positive half of the AC cycle. The resulting abrupt
voltage rise generates high-frequency harmonics known as electrical
noise, which can cause interference with other circuits, such as with
radio and TV. A solution to this problem is called zero-voltage
switching.
With zero-voltage switching, the SCR is triggered on only at the very
beginning of the cycle, when the voltage is zero anyway; consequently,
there is no quick voltage change. If less than full power is desired,
then, for example, only three out of four cycles would be triggered on
(or some other ratio). Zero-voltage switching requires a more
sophisticated trigger circuit than the phase-shift circuit discussed so
far.
Electric motors have a large starting current that is many times more
than the running current. For smaller motors, this may not present a
problem; for larger motors (over the range of 1-2 hp), however, special
reduced voltage-starting circuits are used.
A reduced voltage-starting circuit will limit the armature current to
some acceptable value when the motor starts. One way to do this is to
have a resistor in series with the armature. After the motor comes up
to speed, a relay is used to bypass the resistor, allowing the full line
voltage to the motor.

Single- Phase Full Converters

Single-Phase Dual Converter

Braking the DC Motor

Dynamic braking, uses the fact that a spinning motor becomes a generator
when the power is removed.
when the armature windings are switched to a resistor as the motor is
coasting down, the generated current from the motor delivers power to the
resistor, which dissipates the power as heat.
The power to heat the resistor has to come from somewhere, and in this case
it is coming from the mechanical inertia of the spinning motor shaft.

 Plugging braking is by reversing the polarity of the armature windings

and thereby causing the motor to apply a reversing torque to the load.
The problem is that when the voltage is reversed, it becomes the same
polarity as the CEMF, so they add. The sudden large voltage will cause a
large in-rush of current, which could damage the armature. To prevent this
problem, a series resistor is put in the reversing voltage circuit . Also, when
the motor finally comes to a stop, the reversing voltage should be
switched off so that the motor doesnt start to run backwards.
This switching could be accomplished with a centrifugal switch.

BRUSHLESS DC MOTORS

The brushless DC motor (BLDC) operates without brushes by taking

advantage of modern electronic switching techniques.
In three-phase BLDC, the armature (called the rotor) is a permanent magnet,
and it is surrounded by three field coils. Each field coil can be switched on and
off independently. When a coil is on, such as coil A, the north pole of the rotor
magnet is attracted to that coil. By switching the coils on and off in sequence
(A, B, C), the rotor is dragged around clockwisethat is, the field has rotated
electronically.

 The three-phase BLDC has three optical slotted couplers and a rotating
shutter (Hall-effect sensors can also be used for this application). These
position sensors control the field windings. When the shutter is open for
sensor P1 , field coil A is energized. When the rotor actually gets to field
coil A, sensor P1 is turned off and P2 is turned on, energizing field coil B and
pulling the rotor on around to coil B, and so on. In this manner, the rotor is
made to rotate with no electrical connection between the rotor and the
field housing. These signals are passed directly on to solid-state switches
that drive the motor coils.
A more sophisticated motor-control system would provide for the motor
to reverse direction (by reversing the sequencing) and would control the
speed by using PWM techniques.

 BLDC motors exhibit excellent speed control. In fact, some

models come with a built-in tachometer that feeds back to
the control unit, allowing a speed regulation of 0% (perfect).
When used in a variable-speed motion-control system, BLDCs
can vary their speed in the range of 100:1.
However, unlike a brushed DC motor, the BLDC has a
minimum operating speed (around 300 rpm) below which the
individual power pulses can be felt (called cogging).
Besides being more reliable, modern BLDC motors have
performance advantages over brushed DC motors and even
AC induction motors. Specifically, BLDC motors have higher
power efficiency (they use less power for the same
horsepower) and are smaller and lighter than other types of
motors with the same horsepower.

Selecting a Motor

Brushless
Motors

Brushed
DC

Stepper

Advantages
Inexpensive, can be run
open loop, good low-end
torque, clean rooms

Inexpensive, moderate
speed, good high end
torque, simple drives

Maintenance free, long

lifetime, no sparking,
high speeds, clean
rooms, quiet, run cool

Disadvantages

Noisy and resonant, poor

high speed torque, not for
hot environments, not for
variable loads
Maintenance required, no
clean rooms, sparking of
brushes causes EMI and
danger in explosive
environments
Expensive and
complicated drives

Applications

Positioning
Micro movement

Velocity control
High speed control

Robotics
Pick and place
Very high torque
applications

DC Servomoters

Open-loop block diagram for a field controlled DC motors

Position and velocity feedback control of a dc motor

Phase-locked control

Main components of a PWM drive system

for a dc motor