History of motor

Motors find the most practical use in our everyday life in form of modern gadgets, devices and appliances. There is no exact date that can be traced back to being the exact day of modern day motor invention. It has been a gradual process with many prominent names and contributions from the scientific world. Starting way back, today we have progressed to develop nanoelectromechanical systems that promise to be the future miniature form of motors.The core function of electric motors is to convert electrical current into mechanical force. The history of motors can be related to times when fundamentals of electromagnetic induction were introduced. In early 1800, three popular scientists Oersted, Faraday and Gauss came up with the basic principals of electromagnetic induction.

In 1820, Andre Ampere and Hans Oersted made the most fascinating invention. They discovered that electric current produces magnetic field leading to the invention of the basic DC motor some ten years later. No body in particular is acclaimed with the sole invention of the DC motor, as it was a gradual process with involvement of many people . Michael Faraday from England set to prove the theory proposed by Ampere and Oersted. In 1921, he successfully demonstrated in his experiment by converting electrical energy into motion. His motor was made of a free-hanging wire that was plunged into a puddle of mercury. A permanent magnet was placed in the centre of the mercury pool. On passing through the wire, it rotated around the magnet. It proved that the current resulted in a circular magnetic field around the wire. This is the simplest form of electric motor.

Ten years later, it was Joseph Henry who built an improved motor based upon Faradays experimental motor. He constructed a device whose rotating part was an electromagnet with a horizontal axis. The motion resulted in two vertical permanent magnets, alternately attracted and repelled at end of the electromagnet. This made the magnet sway back and forth at 75 cycles per minute. Till this stage, use of electromagnetic field in motors was restricted to lab experiments. A major development took place with William Sturgeons invention of commutator. He is credited with the discovery of first rotary electric motor. Sturgeon made use of horseshoe electromagnets to build rotating and stationary magnetic fields. His shunt wound DC motor was the first to produce a continuous rotary motion using all essentials of modern-day DC motors.

An electric motor is an electric machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. In normal motoring mode, most electric motors operate through the interaction between an electric motor's magnetic field and winding currents to generate force within the motor. In certain applications, such as in the transportation industry with traction motors, electric motors can operate in both motoring and generating or braking modes to also produce electrical energy from mechanical energy. Found in applications as diverse as industrial fans, blowers and pumps, machine tools, household appliances, power tools, and disk drives, electric motors can be powered by direct current (DC) sources, such as from batteries, motor vehicles or rectifiers, or by alternating current (AC) sources, such as from the power grid, inverters or generators. Small motors may be found in electric watches. General-purpose motors with highly standardized dimensions and characteristics provide convenient mechanical power for industrial use. The largest of electric motors are used for ship propulsion, pipeline compression and pumped-storage

applications with ratings approaching a megawatt. Electric motors may be classified by electric power source type, internal construction, application, type of motion output, and so on.

DC MOTORS

A DC motor is a mechanically commutated electric motor powered from direct current (DC). The stator is stationary in space by definition and therefore its current. The current in the rotor is switched by the commutator to also be stationary in space. This is how the relative angle between the stator and rotor magnetic flux is maintained near 90 degrees, which generates the maximum torque.

DC motors have a rotating armature winding (winding in which a voltage is induced) but nonrotating armature magnetic field and a static field winding (winding that produce the main magnetic flux) or permanent magnet. Different connections of the field and armature winding provide different inherent speed/torque regulation characteristics. The speed of a DC motor can be controlled by changing the voltage applied to the armature or by changing the field current.

DC motors is already not being utilized in most of the sectors anymore because some of its adavantages and disadvantages.

Advantages : 1) Accurate and fast control 2) Simple to control 3) High dynamic speed response

Disadvantages : 1) Reduced motor reliability 2) Regular maintenance 3) Motor costly to purchase

Dc motors can be split into 3 groups :

a) Brushed motor The brushed DC electric motor generates torque directly from DC power supplied to the motor by using internal commutation, stationary magnets (permanent or electromagnets), and rotating electrical magnets. Advantages of a brushed DC motor include low initial cost, high reliability, and simple control of motor speed. Disadvantages are high maintenance and low life-span for high intensity uses. Maintenance involves regularly replacing the brushes and springs which carry the electric current, as well as cleaning or replacing the commutator. These components are necessary for transferring electrical power from outside the motor to the spinning wire windings of the rotor inside the motor. b) Brushless Typical brushless DC motors use a rotating permanent magnet in the rotor, and stationary electrical current/coil magnets on the motor housing for the rotor, but the symmetrical opposite is also possible. A motor controller converts DC to AC. This design is simpler than that of brushed motors because it eliminates the complication of transferring power from outside the motor to the spinning rotor. c) Uncommutated

Electric drives for hybrid and fuel cell vehicles

A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a type of hybrid vehicle and electric vehicle which combines a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) propulsion system with an electric propulsion system. The presence of the electric powertrain is intended to achieve either better fuel economy than a conventional vehicle or better performance.

How Hybrids Work

Hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) combine the benefits of gasoline engines and electric motors and can be configured to obtain different objectives, such as improved fuel economy, increased power, or additional auxiliary power for electronic devices and power tools.

Some of the advanced technologies typically used by hybrids include

Regenerative Braking. The electric motor applies resistance to the drivetrain causing the wheels to slow down. In return, the energy from the wheels turns the motor, which functions as a generator, converting energy normally wasted during coasting and braking into electricity, which is stored in a battery until needed by the electric motor.

Electric Motor Drive/Assist. The electric motor provides additional power to assist the engine in accelerating, passing, or hill climbing. This allows a smaller, more efficient engine to be used. In some vehicles, the motor alone provides power for low-speed driving conditions where internal combustion engines are least efficient.

Automatic Start/Shutoff. Automatically shuts off the engine when the vehicle comes to a stop and restarts it when the accelerator is pressed. This prevents wasted energy from idling.

Conclusion Currently there is already more then one electric motor dominating the industry . So in that case the right motor need to be chosen to carry out each task as each motor plays a different role . Comparison of motor types Type Advantages Disadvantages Typical application Steel mills Paper making machines Treadmill exercisers Automotive accessories Rigid ("hard") disk drives CD/DVD players Electric vehicles RC Vehicles UAVs Typical drive, output

Self-commutated motors Maintenance (brushes) Medium lifespan Costly commutator and brushes Rectifier, linear transistor(s) or DC chopper controller Synchronous; single-phase or three-phase with PM rotor and trapezoidal stator winding; VFD typically VS PWM inverter type. PWM and various other drive types, which tend to be used in very specialized / OEM applications. Variable single phase AC, halfwave or fullwave phaseangle control with triac(s); closed-loop control optional

Brushed DC

Simple speed control

Brushless DC motor (BLDC) or (BLDM)

Long lifespan Low maintenance High efficiency

Higher initial cost Requires EC controller with closed-loop control

Switched reluctance motor (SRM)

Long lifespan Low maintenance High efficiency No permanent magnets Low cost Simple construction

Mechanical resonance possible High iron losses Not possible: * Open or vector control * Parallel operation Requires EC controlle Maintenance (brushes) Shorter lifespan Usually acoustically noisy Only small ratings are economical

Appliances Electric Vehicles Textile mills Aircraft applications

Universal motor

High starting torque, compact, high speed.

Handheld power tools, blenders, vacuum cleaners, insulation blowers