by rotating electrical machinery is a part of much military equipment whether it is a simple blower or a complicated electronic device in a missile they all depend on the proper functioning of rotating electrical equipment two types of motors and generators are commonly in use alternating current or AC and direct current or DC motors and generators this film will show the principles governing the operation of DC motors and generators basic to the understanding of DC motors and generators is the simple generation of an electromotive force and EMF mechanical energy the moving of a wire or conductor across a magnetic field by hand in this instance produces electrical energy the magnetic field is composed of lines of force as the conductor cuts these lines an electro-motive force or EMF is generated in the conductor moving the conductor down through the field makes the needle of a voltmeter deflect one way which means the EMF has one direction moving the conductor up through the field produces the opposite deflection of the needle the EMF has now changed direction moving the conductor back and forth with the field does not make the needle of the voltmeter deflect there is no EMF because the conductor is not cutting the field to illustrate the direction of current flow the conventional symbols will be used current flowing in a conductor away from us is represented by a cross toward us by a dot however moving a conductor in and out of the field in this straight reciprocal fashion is awkward and impractical a simple generator of EMF can also be made by rotating a single turn coil within a stationary magnetic field of two magnets with opposite polarity the loop now in effect becomes two conductors because both the top and bottom sections cut magnetic lines during rotation since they cut lines a force of opposite directions as they rotate EMFs of opposite polarity will be generated in the conductor's in order to have current flow in this circuit polarities of the two conductors must be opposite the amount of EMF generated at any instant is determined by three factors the strength of the magnetic field that is the number of lines of force the length of the conductor cutting the lines of force and the velocity with which the conductor is turning we can determine the amount of instantaneous EMF by a simple formula the instantaneous EMF e equals B the strength of the field times L the length of the conductor cutting lines of force times V the velocity of the conductor and increase in the number of lines of force or the strength of the field increases the instantaneous EMF in a conductor increases in the length of the conductor cutting lines also increases the EMF and finally the greater the velocity of the conductor the greater the EMF this formula assumes conductor motion in a straight line that is to say cutting the same number of lines for each increment of its motion but the conductor in an actual machine is not moving in a straight line but rotating when the conductor moves in a rotary path the number of lines cut varies depending on the position of the conductor at the top of the field for instance no lines are being cut and no EMF is generated as the conductor keeps turning the number of lines cut increases so that at a quarter turn or 90 degrees the maximum number is being cut and maximum EMF is generated again at 180 degrees no lines are cut no EMF we reach a maximum again at 270 degrees and finally again at 360 degrees no lines are cut the conductor has rotated 360 mechanical degrees which correspond in this instance to 360 electrical degrees therefore when the conductor moves in a rotary path another factor is added to the original formula for the determination of instantaneous EMF the formula that now applies is instantaneous en F equals field strength times the length of a conductor times velocity multiplied by sine theta theta is the angle formed by the Flex line and the motion of the conductor the number of lines cut and the amount of EMF generated is proportional to the sine of the angle formed by the magnetic lines with a conductor motion a graph of EMF versus conductor position during one revolution will be a sine wave representing alternating current or AC all rotary generators produce AC internally what you have seen so far is really the theory and operation of a basic AC generator but our purpose was to explain the principles of operation of a DC generator to get direct current we will attach each end of the conductor to a segment of copper forming a commutator now our machine is a DC generator the commutator rotates with the loop stationary contacts carbon brushes ride on the commutator segments they provide a means of connecting ammeter or any other load to the generator the loop of a conductor wound on a rotor and the commutator are referred to as the armature has the loop revolves and the EMF in the conductor reverses polarity the connections to the load are also reversed and the current flow will maintain the same direction externally represented graphically the output amplitude still varies the DC is in the form of pulses it is a pulsating direct current or P DC the pulsation from zero to maximum twice for each revolution of the loop is called ripple this ripple can be reduced by adding more loops and more commutator segments to the existing armature two loops at right angles connected to four commutator segments provide two outputs instead of one these outputs are 90 degrees displaced or apart which combine to smooth the DC output however even with two loops and four commutator segments the rectified curve is still somewhat irregular by adding magnets we increase the number of fields cut by the armature as we increase the number of loops and commutator segments the variation between maximum and minimum value decreases this in effect tends to flatten the DC output practical DC generator armatures have a great many loops wound on a rotor the field is composed of many electromagnets together these factors tend to create an almost pure DC output an important problem in the design of generators is the prevention of sparking between the commutator and the brush assembly the prevention of sparking depends on the position of the brushes this line through points of zero generated EMF is called the neutral plane placing the brushes in this neutral plane reduces the tendency for sparking between brushes and commutator because during the time a brush is touching both commutator segments there is no difference in potential between these segments theoretically no sparking should occur at the commutator brushes when they are placed in this position but the current flowing in the armature loops or coils sets up a magnetic field of its own this magnetic field interacts with the main magnetic field and distorts it the distortion causes a shift in the neutral plane and sparking at the brushes the effect is called armature reaction sparking may cause severe interference in nearby electronic equipment there are two ways of maintaining the neutral plane in its correct position and thus avoiding sparking it may be done by the adjustment of the brush position the brushes are adjusted to lie in the adjusted neutral plane the other way of maintaining the neutral plane is by adding Interpol's to the generator field these Interpol's are small magnets placed between the poles of the main field magnets the Interpol fields oppose the fields created by armature reaction the neutral plane is moved back toward the correct position in addition to further counteract armature reaction windings called compensating windings are sometimes placed in the main pole phases the current in these windings is armature current flowing in opposite direction to the current in the armature conductors magnetic fields in DC generators may be produced by electromagnets or permanent magnets permanent magnets are used in relatively small devices like a field telephone ringing generator in larger generators the field is created by electromagnets the field winding used in this DC generator can be represented by a symbol the symbol is that of an iron core inductor current to excite the field windings can be supplied from an external source in that case the generator is classified as separately excited a small part of the generators own output can also do the exciting in that case it will be a self excited generator self excited generators must be initially magnetized the residual magnetism in the core of a field winding provides enough magnetism to begin generator action the field coil winding may be connected in several ways this is a series wild generator which means the field coil is in series with the armature because of this series arrangement it has poor voltage regulation the reason for this can be demonstrated in the following manner additional load will cause more current to flow in the field coil increase in field strength increases voltage increase in voltage causes more current to fall this continuing action stops only when the core is saturated when the load is increased the voltage will increase when the load decreases voltage will decrease voltage regulation in the series one generator therefore is very poor when instead of in series the field winding is connected in parallel with the armature and the load we have a shunt wilde generator now the field current is independent of a load current therefore an increase in armature current will not cause an increase in the voltage output voltage regulation here is greatly improved in shunt while generators therefore changing load causes relatively small change in voltage output by changing the armature winding our compound round generator results which combines the best features of both types the series and the shunt round generator when windings are arranged so that magnetic fields oppose each other it becomes in effect a series generator this is used only where constant current is the prime requirement such as in arc welding by changing the magnetic polarity of one of the fields for few windings aid one another as a result this compound round generator has good voltage and fair current regulation a graphic representation of generator output characteristics with terminal voltage plotted vertically and armature current horizontally would look something like this as we have seen in the output of the series one generator voltage regulation is very poor in parallel or shunt round generators the voltage regulation is fairly good but current regulation is poor compound wild generators offer a flat compounded output that is normally most desirable it combines the good features of both the shunt and series wild generators and provides stable voltage output under changing loads as we have seen in our analysis of the DC generator its primary function is the conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy if we now reverse the procedure and connect an electrical power source to the generator we have a DC motor instead of a DC generator motor action can be illustrated by attaching a power source to a conductor which is inside a magnetic field the electric current creates polarity in the conductor the South Pole of a magnet attracts the North Pole of the conductor and repels the South Pole the North Pole of a magnet attracts the South Pole of the conductor and repels the North Pole this creates movement depending on the direction of a steady magnetic field the movement also depends on the direction of the current flow through the wire by changing the polarity of a battery the conductor now moves in the opposite direction to see what really happens let's go to a drawing again here a conductor is suspended in a magnetic field current flow from a power source creates its own magnetic field in and around the conductor this field around the conductor reacts with a main magnetic field to cause motion of the conductor either out of the field or into it the arrow point indicates the direction of the current flow in the conductor in this case the flow is toward us the field of the conductor has the same direction as the main field above the conductor and the opposite direction of the field below the conductor these two magnetic forces added together distort the lines of the main field upward the field above the conductor is thus made stronger and the field below the conductor is made weaker so the conductor moves down conversely when current flows in the opposite direction that is to say away from us the field of the conductor opposes the main field above the conductor this aids the main field below the conductor distorting the lines down the field below the conductor is thus made stronger while the field above the conductor is made relatively weaker this forces the conductor to move up with this basic principle of motor action understood we can now examine the DC motor the basic DC motor like the DC generator consists of a pair of magnetic poles an armature made up of a single turn loop a commutator and a brush assembly as we have seen a conductor in a magnetic field will move when a voltage is applied to it with a voltage applied and the magnetic field and current flow as shown the right conductor will be pushed down while the left one is pushed off since the forces on each conductor are now in exact balance there will be no more motion adding another loop and two commutator segments ensures that at no time will balancing forces cancel each other out with this setup there will be motion at all times as one commutator segment has moved away from the brushes another now takes its place and the movement continues the greater the number of loops in the armature the smoother its motion for this reason rotors impractical DC motors have many loops since current in the rotor loops must reverse each half cycle to commutator segments per loop I required here in the motor as in the DC generator there is a neutral plane the interaction of a conductor fields on the main field causes this neutral plane to shift and sparking to occur when a load is added sparking in DC motors also produces bird commutator z' and interference in nearby electronic equipment this sparking can be prevented in one of two ways one is by the adjustment of the brush position the brushes are moved until they lie in the adjusted neutral plane in the motor as in the generator small Interpol's between the poles of the main magnets are also used to eliminate the shift of the neutral plane these Interpol fields tend to oppose the fields created by armature reaction the neutral plane is moved back toward its correct position also aiding are compensating windings which carry armature current in the opposite direction to the current in the armature conductors the neutral plane is thus maintained in its proper position DC motors operate most efficiently when sparking is eliminated we saw earlier but when a conductor is moved by mechanical energy in a magnetic field an EMF is generated this is generator action in the DC motor when rotation is desired it is necessary to apply an EMF to the conductor however when used as a motor an opposing EMF is also generated in the conductor this is called the counter electromotive force or C EMF by Lenz's law the generated C EMF must oppose the applied EMF the amount of C EMF depends on the speed of rotation this is of practical importance in large motors when starting large motors the problem exists of limiting current through the rotor windings until a-c e-mf can be built up if the full current is applied before the C EMF develops it may burn out the rotor windings starting boxes are used with DC motors in order to avoid this application of current before the C EMF is built up here is a basic shunt motor with its starting box in the starting position the circuit to the rotor windings is closed through a series of large resistance coils as the lever of the switch is moved rotor speed and CE EMF build up gradually and the resistance coils are subsequently cut out until running speed has been reached the lever is held in the fully open position by an electromagnet if for any reason the power should fail or the field coil open the electromagnet becomes de-energized and the lever is returned to the starting position by spring action just as in DC generators DC motors seldom use permanent magnets for the field instead electromagnets are used like with the DC generator field windings are constructed in several ways each type of winding has special characteristics special values and specific uses the series wound motor has good starting torque or turning force torque depends on armature current and on field strength since field strength is proportional to current bahai starting current before c EMF is developed effects torque as the square of the current the motor begins to turn attempting to develop enough C EMF to completely oppose the applied EMF the load prevents this acting to control the speed of the motor but if the load is suddenly removed like in a case of a broken belt the motor will build up speed trying to develop more SI EMF until it destroys itself the shunt Wilde motor has less starting torque but it is less dependent on load for speed control in the shunt wild motor the field coils are connected in parallel directly across the DC input terminals the starting torque is not as great as in the series motor since field strength is not affected by armature current the speed of a shunt motor is fairly constant under conditions of changing load as more load is applied the speed of the armature decreases this decreases the C EMF and increases the current input the increase in current input boosts the coupling between the field and armature and increases the torque causing the motor to resume approximate running speed a sudden reduction in load will not damage the motor because the field current is independent of rotor current in the shunt wild motor the desirable characteristics of both the series and shunt wild motors can be achieved in the compound wild motor in order to obtain good starting torque the sillies field is used when running speed has been attained a centrifugal switch cuts out the series field and cuts in the shunt field it is now a shunt motor and the speed regulation is good compounding provides good starting torque and good speed regulation this allows for efficient operation and minimizes the possibility of damage to the motor now for a quick summary the operation of all rotating electrical machinery is based on one simple principle the generation of an EMF the principle is used in the construction of a simple AC generator the generator output E or instantaneous EMF equals B strength of field times L length of the conductor times V velocity of the conductor but because the movement of a conductor in the field is actually circular we must also multiply with a sine of the angle formed by the lines of force and motion of the conductor in order to arrive at the EMF all generators are basically alternating current generators and produce AC internally the basic AC generator becomes a DC generator when a commutator is attached to the conductor each commutator segment rotates with its respective conductor producing a direct current this current which is a pulsating current is made smoother by the addition of more magnets and more loops sparking in a generator is sometimes caused by a shift in the neutral plane this can be corrected by adjusting the brush position or by the use of Interpol's and compensating windings current for field windings may be supplied from an outside source in which case the generator will be separately excited or the current may be a part of the generators own output in which event it is called self-excited generator field windings are constructed in three ways series wound where the field windings and the armature are in series shunt wound in which the field winding is in parallel with the armature and the load and compound wound in which the best features of both are shunt and series while generators are combined voltage regulation in the series while generator is poor in a shunt round generator voltage regulation is fairly good but current regulation is poor compound wild generators provide stable voltage under changing loads this output is normally most desirable motor action is the opposite of generator procedure in a DC motor voltage is applied to two or more loops in a magnetic field this causes polarity in the loops the interaction of this polarity with the polarity of the field makes the loops rotate this is the basic DC motor when the conductor of the motor is rotated by an applied EMF it also generates a counter electro-motive force according to Lenz's law this generated C EMF must oppose the applied EMF as in generators field windings and DC motors are of three types the series while motor has good starting torque but since it's only governing factor is the load the speed regulation is poor if the load is disengaged suddenly the motor will race to destruction in shunt wild motors with a few coils connected in parallel across the DC input terminals the starting torque is not too good but since the field current is independent of a rotor current the speed regulation is quite good the compound wild motor combines the best features of both types it uses a series section for good starting torque when it switches to a shunt arrangement for good speed regulation DC electrical motors and generators are at the heart of much military equipment a proper understanding of them is therefore important