Electric Braking of DC Motor

Electric braking:
When load is removed from an electric motor and supply is disconnected, it continues to run for
some time due to inertia. This continuous rotation may cause damage to equipment or to the
manufactured product and even loss of human life. Therefore, quick stopping of a motor is essential
in such cases.

Thus, the method by which an electric motor or drive is brought to rest quickly when load on it is
removed and supply is disconnected is calledbraking.

Braking may be employed to bring the drive to rest or it may be employed to lower down the speed
when load is reduced. The device employed for braking has to absorb the kinetic and potential
energy of the moving parts.

Objectives of Braking:
While stopping the drive, braking may be used for any one of the following objectives:

(i) Reducing the time of stopping i.e., reducing the time of continuous running when drive
is switched – OFF.
(ii) Stopping the drive exactly at specified point, e.g., in lifts; for safety reasons, the drive
has to be stopped at a specific point.
(iii) For feeding back some of the energy to the supply system.

Essential Features of Braking:

(i) It should be quick and reliable in action.
(ii) Braking force should be controllable.
(iii) Suitable means must be provided for dissipating the stored energy of the rotating parts.
(iv) A failure of any part of the braking system should result in the application of brakes.

Braking Systems:
Broadly, in electric drives, two systems of braking can be applied:

1. Mechanical braking: In mechanical braking the stored energy of rotating parts is

dissipated in the form of heat where frictional torque acts against the rotation. The motor
may be stopped by using a brake shoe or brake band or brake drum.
2. Electrical braking: In electrical braking, the kinetic energy of the motor is converted into
electrical energy and is dissipated as heat in a resistance or returned to the supply system.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Electrical Braking over
Mechanical Braking
Before dealing with electric braking, let us try to find out the advantages and disadvantages of
electric braking over mechanical braking.

Advantages:
(i) Saving: no replacement cost: In case of mechanical braking, due to friction there is
excessive wear on brake lining which needs frequent and costly replacement. But in
electric braking no such replacement is required hence saves money.
(ii) Small maintenance cost: In case of mechanical braking there is more wear and tear
which increases the maintenance cost. There is no wear and tear in case of electric
braking which reduces the maintenance cost to very low value.
(iii) Energy saving: In regenerative braking, a part of energy is returned to the supply this
reduces the operating cost. This is only possible in electric braking.
(iv) Reliability: In case of mechanical braking, the heat produced at brake blocks may result
in failure of brakes. But in case of electric braking, the heat produced does not affect the
braking system this improves its reliability.
(v) Smooth operation: Mechanical braking may produce jerks but electric braking never
produces jerks.
(vi) System Capacity: By employing electric braking the capacity of the system can be
increased by way of higher speeds and handling of heavy loads.

Disadvantages or Limitations
(i) It cannot hold the machine or load stationary: In case of electric braking, the driving
motor starts working as a generator during braking period. But at stand-still the machine
(motor) cannot work as generator. Therefore, an electric brake can reduce the speed of
the machine or load and bring it to almost at stand-still condition but it cannot hold it
stationary. Hence, electric brake alone cannot fulfil the purpose, friction (mechanical)
brake is always provided in addition to it.
(ii) Cost: Addition equipment employed for electric braking increases the cost.
(iii) Choice of motor is limited: In case of electric braking system, the motor has to
function as a generator and must have suitable braking characteristics. Thus, the choice
of motor is limited.

Electric braking is superior to mechanical braking since it is much quicker and eliminates the
cost of maintenance of mechanical brakes. However, in order to finally bring the motor to a
standstill position and hold it there, friction brakes are also essential.

Types of Electric Braking:

There are three types of electric braking.

(i) Plugging
(ii) Rheostatic braking
(iii) Regenerative braking.
Plugging:
This is also called a counter-current braking. It is simplest type of braking and involves the reversing
of the connections to the armature of the motor so that it tends to run in the reverse direction. In
order to stop the machine, a special device must be installed to cut off the supply as soon as it
comes to rest. This method can be applied to DC motors, induction motors and synchronous motors.
It is particularly suitable where the drive has to be rapidly reversed such as in planning machines,
etc.

(a) Plugging applied to DC Shunt

motors: The direction of rotation of DC
shunt motor can be reversed by
reversing the current flowing through
the armature. The expression for the
𝑉−𝐸𝑏
armature current is 𝐼𝑎 =
𝑅𝑎
During normal running, the back emf Eb
is opposite to the applied voltage ‘V’ but
at the instant of reversal a voltage equal
to V + Eb is impressed across armature.
This will cause a great rush of current (almost double the normal) in the armature circuit. To
prevent this the starting resistance is reinserted in the circuit as shown in Fig. 5.45.
(b) Plugging applied to DC series motors:The method is same as in case of DC shunt motor.
The changeover of connections is
shown in Fig. 5.46. Fig.

In both cases, the motor must be

disconnected from the supply when
it comes to rest otherwise it may
rotate in the opposite direction.

Rheostatic Breaking
This is also called a dynamic braking. With this method of breaking the motor is disconnected from
the supply and used as a generator driven by the momentum of the equipment to be braked and
supplying current to resistance; DC or synchronous motors can be braked in this way. The induction
motors, however, require a separate source of DC excitation during this type of braking. This type of
braking is applied to different motors as
explained below;

(a) DC shunt motors: The

armature is disconnected from the
supply and a resistance is connected
across it, as shown in Fig. 5.47(b). The
motor then works as a separately
excited generator and the braking
 torque is applied by the current flowing in the resistance as shown in Fig. 5.47.
the magnitude of the braking effect can be controlled by varying either the resistance in the
armature circuit or the field current. The braking is not effective if the supply fails during this
period.
(b) DC series motors: The motor after
being disconnected from the supply
mains, works as a self-excited series
generator. Sometimes, in order to
build up more field flux the
connections of armature are
reversed as shown in Fig. 5.48(b).

In such cases if the resistance is above a

certain critical value equal to the initial slope
of the current-voltage characteristics, the
machine will not be self-excited, therefore,
resistance should be low enough.

Regenerative Braking
This type of braking is mostly employed in electric traction. The kinetic energy of the motor is
converted into electrical energy, which is fed back to the supply lines instead of wasting it in a
rheostat. This method can be applied to DC motors and induction motors.

(a) DC shunt motors: If the emf generated by the motor is greater than the supply voltage,
power will be fed back to the
supply. The emf in a shunt motor
depends upon the field flux and
speed. During this type of braking
the field is disconnected from the
armature and connected to a
separate supply as shown in Fig.
5.49. The field current is so
adjusted that E>V and this is
returned to the mains.

Alternatively, if the field

excitation does not change but
the load causes the speed to increase, the induced emf may become more than the supply voltage
and power will be fed back to the supply.

(b) DC series motors: Regenerative braking cannot be applied to DC series motors in an

ordinary way. For regenerative braking, the motor should work as a generator this is
achieved by reversing the connections of series field. But even if the field connections are
reversed at the exact moment, this method would still be not successful, because at the
instant of reversal, the emf induced in the motor will be small, so the current will flow
through the field winding in wrong direction, which will reverse the field and cause the
motor emf to help the supply voltage. This will result in short circuit of supply. Due to these
complications, this method is not used for common industrial purposes. However,
regenerative braking can be applied with series motors used for traction purposes but in this
 case, either the field
windings are modified
or the machines are
supplied with
separate exciting
windings.

One method of regenerative

braking with series motors is
French method. If there is a
single series motor, it is
provided with one main series
field winding and 2 or 3
auxiliary field windings.

During normal running the

main and auxiliary field windings are placed in parallel with each other as shown in Fig. 5.50(a).
During regenerative braking, the auxiliary windings are placed in series with each other and
combination is connected in parallel across the armature and main series field winding as shown in
Fig. 5.50(b). In this case the machine works as a differentially compound generator and sends back
power to supply lines.

In locomotives there are four

to six motors and therefore,
no auxiliary windings are
required. The regenerative
braking can be applied in this
case as shown in Fig. 5.51.

An alternative method of
regenerative braking is applied
by using an exciter for
controlling the excitation of
the field windings during
regeneration.