Tutorial 2: DC Motor Control
4 Examples
Marc Anthony Mannah
Example 1
A 50 kW, 240 V, 1700 rpm separately excited DC motor is controlled by a converter. The field current is maintained
constant at 1.4 A and the machine back emf constant is Kv = 0,91 V/A rad/s. The armature resistance is Rm = 0.1 Ω
and the viscous friction constant is B = 0.3 N.m/rad/s. The amplification of the speed sensor is K1 = 95 mV/rad/s and
the gain of the power converter is K2 = 100.
a) Find the rated torque of the motor
b) Find the reference voltage Vr to drive the motor at the rated speed
c) If the reference voltage is kept unchanged, find the speed at which the motor develops the rated torque
d) If the load torque is increased by 10% of the rated value, find the motor speed
e) If the reference voltage is decreased by 10%, find the motor speed
f) If the load torque is increased by 10% of the rated value and the reference voltage is reduced by 10%, find the
motor speed
Example 2
The DC motor below has an armature voltage of 450 V while drawing a current of 1500A. Converter 1 delivers a
current Id1 of 18°A while converter 2 absorbs 300 A. If the AC line voltage for each converter is 360V, then find
the following:
a) The DC power associated with converters 1 and 2.
b) The active power drawn from the incoming 3 phase line.
c) The firing angles for converters 1 and 2.
d) The reactive power drawn from the incoming 2 phase line
Example 3
The DC motor below has the following rated characteristics: power of 100 hp, armature voltage of 240V, and
armature current of 320A. The armature resistance is 25 mΩ and the armature inductance is 1.7 mH. The
machine is controlled by a conventional 6 pulse converter. The converter is fed by a 3 phase, 184 V, 60 Hz line.
The motor is standstill with rated current flowing in the armature. Thus, at these conditions, the motor is
developing rated torque.
a) Find α, P and Q without FW diode
b) Find α, P and Q with FW diode
Example 4
A trolley bus is driven by a 150 ho, 1500 rpm, 600 V series motor. The nominal full load current is 240 A and the
total resistance of the armature and the field is assumed to 0.1 Ω. The bus is fed by 700 V DC line. A chopper
controls the torque and the speed. The chopper frequency varies from 50 Hz and 1600 Hz, while the on time Ta
is maintained constant at 600µs.
a) Find the chopper frequency and the current drawn from the line when the motor is at standstill and
drawing a 240 A current.
b) Find the chopper frequency when the motor delivers its rated output.
