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Model for a d.c. motor

Introduction
The d.c. motor is the actuator at the heart of a position control servomechanism. It is the
means by which electrical energy is converted to mechanical energy. There are many types of
d.c. motor and their detailed construction is quite complex but it is possible to derive the
equations for a satisfactory dynamic model from basic electromagnetic relationships.

In the next section, the relationship between motor torque and current is derived. The
following section derives the relationship between motor speed and generated e.m.f.. Finally a
simple equivalent-circuit model is presented.

Production of torque
Consider a wire carrying a current I suspended in a magnetic field of uniform flux density B,
as shown in Figure 1, where the direction of the current is at right angles to the flux.

i
B B
F

F
i Figure 1

Ampere’s law tells us that a force F will be produced whose direction is orthogonal to both
the current and flux and whose magnitude is given by :

F=Bli (1)

where : l is the length of wire within the field

i is the current flowing in the wire

In a d.c. servomotor the field B is usually produced by means of a strong permanent magnet.
The flux is ‘guided’ by means of a steel magnetic circuit to two pole faces as shown in Figure
2. This part of the motor is known as the stator.

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pole-face

N B S

magnetic
circuit

permanent
magnet

Figure 2

Instead of having a single current-carrying wire, it is shaped into a coil so that the first
conductor lies under the North pole face and the return conductor lies under the South pole
face, as shown in Figure 3. The coil is supported in the middle on a shaft which rotates in
bearings at either end of the motor. This part of the motor is known as the rotor or armature.

bearing
shaft
coil
F
F
i

Figure 3

The net effect of the two forces – one upward and one downward – is to exert a turning
moment or torque of value

T = 2Fr (2)

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on the coil, where r is the distance between the centre line of the shaft and the conductor. This
causes the coil/shaft assembly to turn – anti-clockwise in the case of Figure 3, but this can be
reversed by changing the sense of the current.

Two difficulties now arise :

• How do we pass current from a (stationary!) power supply into the coil while it is
spinning?
• Once the coil has rotated through 180o from the position shown in Figure 3, the relative
directions of B and I are reversed, so it would now produce clockwise torque and tend to
rotate back again.

These problems are solved by means of a commutator which is really a mechanical switching
device synchronised to the rotation of the rotor. It is shown in its simplest form in Figure 4
and consists of a split copper ring fixed to the shaft on which rest two carbon brushes to make
a sliding electrical contact. Each segment of the ring is connected to one end of the coil. For
half of the shaft’s rotation, the coil current is in one direction but as soon as the brushes move
over the gap onto the other segment, the current is reversed. This is arranged to happen just as
the coil moves from being under one pole-face to the other. The result is a continuous rotation
in one direction.

copper
segment
carbon
brush

Figure 4 – the commutator

There is a considerable step from this simple description to a practical motor but the principle
is as described above.

Supposing the coil has N turns instead of just one, the motor torque can be calculated from (1)
and (2) as :

Tm = 2NBlri (3)

Note here that N, B, l, and r are constant for any particular motor so we can say :

Tm = Kti (4)

where Kt is known as the motor’s torque constant, with units NmA-1.

Equation (4) is the first of the equations which form the d.c. motor model.

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Generated e.m.f.
According to Faraday’s law, a coil of length l rotating in an uniform magnetic field of flux
density B will generate an e.m.f. given by :

dλ
e=− (5)
dt

where λ is the flux linking the coil.

Consider the coil of length l and radius r to be at an angle θm to the magnetic field between
the pole-faces, as shown in cross-section in Figure 5.

B
θm

Figure 5

The magnetic flux φ linking the coil is given by:

φ = Bl 2r cosθm (6)

and the magnetic flux linkage is:

λ = Nφ = 2NBlr cosθm (7)

If the coil is rotating at a constant angular speed ωm then its angle at any time t is ωmt. From
(5) we then have:

dλ d (cos ω m t )
e=− = −2 NBlr (8)
dt dt
∴ e = −2 NBlr ( −ω m sin(ω m t )) = 2 NBlrω n sin(ω m t )

When the coil is at θm = 90o, i.e in the position shown in Figure 3, the term sin(ωmt) = 1 and:

e = 2NBlrωm = Kt ωm (9)

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Note that the same constant Kt appears in (9) as in (4) although it is conventional here to call
it the back emf constant, with units Vs (but more intuitively expressed as volts per radian per
second).

Equation (9) is the second of the equations which form the d.c. motor model.

Equivalent circuit model

Applying a voltage Va to the coil causes a current i to flow which, according to equation (4),
produces a proportional torque. This in turn accelerates the armature (Newton’s law). As the
armature gathers speed, a proportional e.m.f is generated, according to equation (9), which
tends to oppose the current. Eventually, the rotor gathers sufficient speed such that the back
e.m.f just equals the applied voltage. In the steady state, when Va = e, no current flows in the
coil so there is no further acceleration and the rotor turns at a constant speed.

This, however, assumes a perfect motor with no friction at all in the bearings and no electrical
power losses. In practice, running a motor at steady speed requires a small amount of current
to flow – sufficient to just overcome the friction at that speed. The rotor coil will also have
some resistance so any current will cause ohmic losses and a small voltage drop. The coil also
has self-inductance; if the current in the coil changes then there will be an induced back emf
which opposes that change (Lenz’s law).

The rotor resistance and inductance can be incorporated into the model as shown in the
equivalent-circuit representation of Figure 6.

L
Va

e
ωm

Figure 6

From Figure 6, the voltage balance is:

di
Va = iR + L +e (10)
dt

Equation (10) is the third of the equations which form the d.c. motor model.

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Whilst it is clear that this derivation of the motor equations is based on a very simple view of
the d.c. motor, they actually describe the characteristics of a practical motor very well.
Summarising, a satisfactory model for the d.c. motor for many purposes is given by:

Tm = Kti

e = Kt ωm

di
Va = iR + L +e
dt

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