SUBJECT CODE: 22EE303
SUBJECT TITLE: ELECTRICAL MACHINES I
UNIT: 1 DC MACHINES
4.1 Characteristics of DC Generator
Characteristic is the graph between the two dependent quantities. It shows the steady-
state characteristic of DC generators. The characteristic of the DC generators explains the
relations between the loads, excitation and terminals voltage through the graph. Following are
the three important characteristics of a DC Generator. This characteristic gives the variation of
generating voltage or no-load voltage with field current at a constant speed. It is also called no-
load or open circuit characteristic.
4.1.1 Internal Characteristic
Internal characteristic of DC Generator plots the curve between the generated voltage and
load current.
4.2.1 External Characteristics (Load Characteristics)
External or load characteristics give the relation between the terminal voltage and load
current at a constant speed.
4.3.1 Characteristic of Separately Excited DC Generator
In a separately excited DC Generator, a separate source of DC power is connected to the
field winding. This source can be a battery, a diode rectifier, another DC Generator or a
controlled rectifier. The circuit diagram of a separately excited DC Generator on loaded
condition is shown below.
Figure 8 Circuit Model of a Separately Excited DC Generator
Let a generator be driven at a constant speed by a prime mover. The field excitation (If) is
adjusted to give a rated voltage at no load. Throughout the operation, this value of voltage is kept
constant.
Let,
Rfw is the resistance of the field winding
Rfc is the resistance of the field rheostat to control the field current.
Ra is the total resistance of the armature circuit, including the brush contact resistance.
RL is the load resistance.
IL is the load current
Ea is the internally generated voltage
V is the terminal voltage
Ia is the armature current
The various equations for a separately excited DC generator are as follows
If there were no armature reaction, the generated voltage V 0 would be constant as shown
by a straight line (red colour) in the figure below.
Figure 9 Terminal characteristics of a separately excited DC generator
There is a voltage drop of Δ V AR because of the armature reaction. The internal
characteristic (Ea ~ IL) is also shown in the above figure represented by a blue colour line. There
is a voltage drop IaRa across the armature resistance Ra. The generator, external characteristic (V
~ IL) is also shown by the pink colour line. The point P is called as Operating Point, which is the
intersection between the generator, external characteristic and the load characteristic given by the
relation V= ILRL. This point P gives the operating values of the terminal voltage and load current.
4.4.1 Voltage Buildup in Self Excited Generator or Shunt DC Generator
A self-excited generator is also known as DC Shunt Generator, as the field winding is
connected in parallel with the armature. Thus, the armature voltage supplies the field current.
This type of generator supplies its own field excitation.
The equivalent circuit of a shunt DC Generator is shown in the figure below:
Figure 10 Equivalent circuit of a shunt DC generator
Considering the above figure let us assume that the generator is working at no-load
condition, and the prime mover drives the armature at a certain speed. This generator will build
up the desired terminal voltage. The residual flux present in the field poles of the DC generator is
responsible for the voltage buildup. A small voltage Ear is generated and is given by the equation
shown below.
This voltage is of the order of 1 to 2 volts. This voltage causes a current If to flow in the
field winding of the generator. The field current is given by the equation.
The flux is increased by a magnetomotive force produced by the field current. As a result,
of this, the generated voltage Ea increases. This increased armature voltage increases the
terminal voltage. With the increase in the terminal voltage, the field current If increases further.
This, in turn, increases flux and hence the armature voltage is further increases, and the process
of voltage buildup continues. The voltage buildup curve of a DC shunt generator is shown
below:
Figure 10 Voltage buildup of a DC shunt generator
The generator is on no load during the process of voltage buildup, thus, the following
equations shown below give the steady-state operation.
Since the field current If in a shunt generator is very small, the voltage drop I f Ra can be
neglected. Thus, equation (1) becomes:
The straight line given by V= IfRf shown in the above figure 10 is known as Field
Resistance Line. The voltage buildup in the DC shunt generator for various circuit resistances is
shown below:
Figure 11 Effect of field resistance on No-load voltage
A decrease in the resistance of the field circuit reduces the slope of the field resistance
line resulting in a higher voltage. An increase in the resistance of the field circuit increases the
slope of the field resistance line, resulting in a lower voltage. If the field circuit resistance is
increased to Critical Resistance of the field (RC), the field resistance line becomes tangent to the
initial part of the magnetization curve. If the value of field resistance is higher than the critical
resistance of the field value, the generator fails to excite. The curve shown below gives the
variation of no-load voltage with the fixed field resistance and the variable speed of the armature.
Figure 12 Variation of No-Load Voltage with Speed
The magnetization curve varies with the speed and its ordinates for any field current is
proportional to the speed of the generator. If the field resistance is kept constant and the speed id
reduced, all the points on the magnetization curve are lowered. At a particular speed, called
the critical speed, the field resistance line becomes tangential to the magnetization curve. Below
the critical speed, the voltage will not build up. The following conditions must be satisfied for
voltage buildup in a self-excited DC generator. There must be a sufficient residual flux in the
field poles. The field terminals should be connected in such a way that the field current increases
flux in the direction of residual flux. The field circuit resistance should be less than the critical
field circuit resistance. If there is no residual flux in the field poles, disconnect the field from the
armature circuit and apply a DC voltage to the field winding. This process is called Flashing the
Field.
4.5.1. Open Circuit or Magnetic Characteristic of DC Series Generator
A series-wound DC generator’s open-circuit characteristics or magnetic characteristics
are plotted in the graph between no-load voltage and field excitation current. This characteristic
shows the behavior of the generator under no-load conditions. The open-circuit
characteristics(OCC) are also known as the no-load saturation curve.
The open circuit characteristic is obtained by disconnecting the series field winding
from the generator circuit and excited separately from an external source. It is done because,
during no load, there is no current flowing through the series field winding.
The open-circuit characteristics of the series-wound DC generator are shown in curve 1
in Figure 2. From the curve, we can see that the linearity of the curve will continue till the
saturation of the core material of the poles. Once the pole core is saturated, there is no significant
change in the voltage produced by the generator with the increase in the field current. This
characteristic also shows that there is a residual magnetism (the curve is started a little way up to
the origin), which develops a small initial voltage across the armature of the generator.
4.5.2. Internal Characteristics of DC Series Generator
The curve that shows the relation between generated emf in the armature winding and the load
current of a DC series generator is known as an internal characteristic of the series-wound DC
generator.
In practice, this characteristic curve is obtained by finding the difference between no-load
voltage and the voltage drop due to the demagnetizing effect of the armature reaction. Thus, this
characteristic curve shows that the actually generated emf (Eg) by the generator is always less
than the emf generated at no-load, i.e., E0. For this reason, the internal characteristic curve is
slightly dropping from the curve of the open circuit characteristic. In Figure 2, curve 2 shows the
internal characteristics of the DC series generator.
4.5.3 External Characteristics of DC Series Generator
The characteristic curve that shows the relation between the variation of terminal voltage (VL)
and the load current (IL) of a DC series generator is called the external characteristic of a series-
wound DC generator. For a DC series generator, the terminal voltage is obtained by subtracting
the voltage drops in armature and series field resistance from the total generated emf (Eg).
Practically, the curve showing the external characteristic lies below the internal
characteristic curve. This is because the value of the terminal voltage is less than the generated
voltage. In Figure 2, Curve 3 shows the external characteristics of the DC series generator.
From the characteristics of the series-wound DC generator, it is clear that the terminal voltage
increases with the increase in the load on the generator. However, once it attained the maximum
values, it started decreasing due to the excessive demagnetizing effect of the armature reaction,
as shown in Figure 2.
In the case of a series-wound DC generator, field and armature currents increase with the
increase in the load current because they are connected in series. However, due to magnetic
saturation, there will be no significant increase in the magnetic flux and hence in the induced
voltage. However, because of the increasing armature current, the effect of the armature reaction
increases significantly and causes a significant drop in the terminal voltage. This drop in the
terminal voltage decreases the load current in a proportional manner.
Thus, for a DC series generator, the increase in load increases the load current but
decreases the load voltage, which in turn decreases the load current. Therefore, due to these two
simultaneous effects, there is no considerable change in the load current. That is why a DC series
generator is considered a constant current DC generator.
4.6.1 Voltage- Current Characteristic of Compound DC Generator
The voltage-current characteristic of compound generators are shown below:
Figure 13 Voltage-current characteristics of compound DC generator
The Cumulatively Compound Generators can be Over Compounded, Flat
Compounded and Under Compounded, depending upon the number of series field turns. For
over compounded generator, full load terminal voltage is higher than the no-load terminal
voltage. In case of flat or level compounded generator, the terminal voltage at the full load is
equal to the no-load terminal voltage. In an under compound generator the terminal voltage at the
full load is less than the no-load terminal voltage. In Differential Compounded Generators, the
terminal voltage drops very quickly with the increasing armature current.
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