ELECTRICAL

MACHINE 1
LESSON 5
LOSSES IN
DC
MACHINE
The losses that occur in a DC Machine
is divided into five basic categories. Electrical or Copper losses
The various losses are Electrical or Magnetic Losses or Core
Copper losses (I2 R losses), Core losses Losses or Iron Losses
or Iron losses, Brush losses, Brush Losses
Mechanical losses, Stray load losses. Mechanical Losses
Stray Losses
Copper losses
Armature Cu loss Copper losses
Field Cu loss
Loss due to brush contact resistance
Iron Losses These losses occur in armature and field copper
Hysteresis loss windings. Copper losses consist of Armature
Eddy current loss
Mechanical losses copper loss, Field copper loss
Friction loss
Windage loss Armature copper loss = Ia2Ra
Stray load losses
(where, Ia = Armature current and Ra= Armature
resistance)

Field copper loss = If2Rf

In the case of a shunt wounded field, field

copper loss is practically constant. It contributes
about 20 to 30% to full load losses.
Copper losses Brush contact resistance
Armature Cu loss
Field Cu loss
Loss due to brush contact resistance Brush losses are the losses taking place
Iron Losses
Hysteresis loss
between the commutator and the carbon
Eddy current loss brushes. It is the power loss at the brush
Mechanical losses contact point. The brush drop depends upon the
Friction loss
Windage loss
brush contact voltage drop and the armature
Stray load losses current Ia. It is given by the equation:

PBD = VBD Ia

The voltage drop occurring over a large range of

armature currents, across a set of brushes is
approximately constant. If the value of brush
voltage drop is not given than it is usually
assumed to be about 2 volts. Thus, the brush
drop loss is taken as 2Ia.
Copper losses Iron losses (Core losses)
Armature Cu loss
Field Cu loss
Loss due to brush contact resistance The core losses are the hysteresis and eddy
Iron Losses
Hysteresis loss
current losses. These losses are considered
Eddy current loss almost constant as the machines are usually
Mechanical losses operated at constant flux density and constant
Friction loss
Windage loss
speed. These losses are about 20 percent of
Stray load losses the full load losses.

Hysteresis loss is due to the reversal of

magnetization of the armature core. When the
core passes under one pair of poles, it
undergoes one complete cycle of magnetic
reversal. The frequency of magnetic reversal is
given by, f=P.N/120 (where, P = no. of poles
and N = Speed in rpm)
Copper losses Iron losses (Core losses)
Armature Cu loss
Field Cu loss
Loss due to brush contact resistance The core losses are the hysteresis and eddy
Iron Losses
Hysteresis loss
current losses. These losses are considered
Eddy current loss almost constant as the machines are usually
Mechanical losses operated at constant flux density and constant
Friction loss
Windage loss
speed. These losses are about 20 percent of
Stray load losses the full load losses.

Eddy current loss: When the armature core rotates in

the magnetic field, an emf is also induced in the
core (just like it induces in armature conductors),
according to the Faraday's law of electromagnetic
induction. Though this induced emf is small, it
causes a large current to flow in the body due to the
low resistance of the core. This current is known as
eddy current. The power loss due to this current is
known as eddy current loss.
Copper losses Mechanical Losses in dc
Armature Cu loss
Field Cu loss machine
Loss due to brush contact resistance
Iron Losses The losses that take place because of the
Hysteresis loss mechanical effects of the machines are known
Eddy current loss
Mechanical losses as mechanical losses. Mechanical losses are
Friction loss divided into bearing friction loss and windage
Windage loss loss. The losses occurring in the moving parts of
Stray load losses
the machine and the air present in the machine
is known as Windage losses. These losses are
very small.

Mechanical losses consist of the losses due to

friction in bearings and commutator. Air friction
loss of rotating armature also contributes to
these.
These losses are about 10 to 20% of full load
losses.
Copper losses Stray Losses
Armature Cu loss
Field Cu loss In addition to the losses stated above, there
Loss due to brush contact resistance may be small losses present which are called as
Iron Losses
Hysteresis loss stray losses or miscellaneous losses. These
Eddy current loss losses are difficult to account. They are usually
Mechanical losses due to inaccuracies in the designing and
Friction loss
Windage loss modeling of the machine. Most of the times,
Stray load losses stray losses are assumed to be 1% of the full
load.

The following factors are considered in stray load losses.

 The distortion of flux because of armature reaction.
 Short circuit currents in the coil, undergoing
commutation.
These losses are very difficult to determine. Therefore, it
is necessary to assign the reasonable value of the stray
loss. For most machines, stray losses are taken by
convention to be one percent of the full load output
power.
Power Flow Diagram
The most convenient method to
understand these losses in a dc
generator or a dc motor is using
the power flow diagram. The diagram
visualizes the amount of power that
has been lost in various types of losses
and the amount of power which has
been actually converted into the
output. Following are the typical power
flow diagrams for a dc generator and a
dc motor.