ECE 320

HW #5
Due: Wed, March 2
by 11:30am
Short answer questions:
1. What is commutation? How can a commutator convert ac voltages on a machine's
armature to dc voltages on it's terminals?
Commutation is the process of coverting AC voltage internal to the rotor of a DC machine to a
constant DC output voltage. To do this, the commutator bars are strategically aligned with rotor
windings and stator poles so that when the internal voltage reverses polarity, the output voltage
will remain constant.
2. Why does curving the pole faces in a dc machine contribute to a smoother dc output
voltage from it?
Curving the pole faces to match with the curvature of the rotor is done to create a constant air gap
between the rotor and the stator. Therefore, the voltage induced on a winding should theoretically
be constant the entire time it's under a pole face. (eind =2vBl for a 2 pole machine)
3. Explain the concept of electrical degrees. How is the electrical angle of the voltage in
a rotor conductor related to the machanical angle of the machine's shaft?
360 electrical degrees is the time-interval for an alternating voltage or current to complete one full
alternating cycle. In a full-pitched coil, a coil spans 180 electrical degrees. This means that if
one side of the coil is under a magnetic pole face, the opposite side of the coil will be under the
magnetic pole of opposite polarity.
The relationship of electrical to mechanical angles is shown below.
elec =

Poles
2

mech

4. What types of losses are present in a dc machine?

Losses in a DC Machine include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Electrical or Copper Losses (I 2R losses) in the armature and field windings.

Brush losses due to a resistance in the carbon contact brush
Core losses from hysteresis and eddy currents
Mechanical losses due to windage and friction
Stray load losses incorporate all other miscellaneous losses

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5. Given the simple rotating loop below and the defined parameters,

System parameters:
B 5 := 0.75T

VB := 27V

l 5 := 0.5m

R 5 := 0.5

r5 := 0.15m

rad
5 := 250
sec

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(a) Is this machine operating as a motor or a generator? Explain.

eind_a := 2 r5 l 5 B5 5

eind_a = 28.125 V

Since the battery voltage is only 27V, the machine is in generator mode. In this scenario, the
machine is charging the battery.
(b) What is the current flowing? Is it flowing into or out of the machine?

i b :=

eind_a VB

i b = 2.25 A

R5

Flowing out of the machine (again, this is

generator mode.)

(c) What is the power? Is it flowing into or out of the machine?

Ap := r5 l 5

Ap = 0.236 m

c := Ap B5
2
ind_c := c i b

ind_c = 0.253 N m

Pind := ind_c 5

Pind = 63.281 W

Power at the shaft

Pind_c := eind_a i b = 63.281 W

as a check:
PB := VB i b

PB = 60.75 W

Power at the battery

Again, the power at the shaft is larger than the power at the battery so the power flows from the
machine to the battery. This is expected because the machine is acting as a generator.
(d) If the speed of the rotor were changed to 280 rad/s, what would happen to the current?
rad
5d := 280
sec
eind_d := 2 r5 l 5 B 5 5d

i d :=

eind_d VB
R5

id = 9 A

eind_d = 31.5 V

Armature current increases

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(e) If the speed of the rotor were changed to 220 rad/s, what would happen to the
curent? Caculate the power for this scenario.
rad
5e := 220
sec
eind_e := 2 r5 l 5 B5 5e

i e :=

eind_e VB
R5

eind_e = 24.75 V

i e = 4.5 A

Armature current decreases and now is

flowing in the opposite direction. The
machine is now operating as a motor.

In motor convention:
i e :=

VB eind_e
R5

i e = 4.5 A

2
ind_e := c i e

ind_e = 0.506 N m

Pind_e := ind_e 5e

Pind_e = 111.375 W

as a check:

Power at the shaft

Pind_e := eind_e i e = 111.375 W

PB_e := VB i e

PB_e = 121.5 W

Power at the battery

Power at the shaft is smaller than the power at the battery so the power flows from the battery
to run the the machine. This is expected because the machine is a motor for this speed
scenario.

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