Different Types of DC Electric Motor

A DC motor has two electrical elements i.e. the armature and field windings. The former is composed of the conductors. The current in the conductors gets terminate at the commutator. DC voltage is then applied to armature windings using carbon brushes, which go with the commutator. Permanent magnets may be used for a small DC motor's stator, and electromagnets are used in larger motors for industrial applications. DC motors can be divided into the following four types:

1. Permanent magnet DC motor– Here, a magnet is used to provide the field flux. Permanent magnet DC motors are mostly known for their excellent starting torque and easy speed control. However, they can only handle a limited amount of load for movement, making them more ideal for low horsepower applications. The torque of permanent magnets is often capped at 150 percent of the rated torque to avoid demagnetization in permanent magnets.
2. Shunt DC motor – In shunt motors, the field is linked in parallel with armature windings, resulting in good regulation of speed. The field winding may be connected or separately excited to one source with the armature. Separately excited shunt fields enable variable speed drive to allow independent control of the field and armature. Shunt-connected motors are ideal for reversing applications due to their simplified control on the action, making them ideal for regenerative drives.
3. Compound DC motor – A compound motor has fields connected in a series with a separately excited shunt field and armature. Here, the series field offers better starting torque, while shunt field enhances the regulation of speed. However, compound motors may not be practical in four quadrant drives due to problems in variable speed drive from the series field.
4. Electromagnets DC motor – Electromagnets that are connected in a series are also known as 'series motors'. This is the setup where the armature is linked in series with the field. A few large wires are wound around the field to make it more capable of carrying a full armature current. Series DC motors can develop larger amounts of starting torque, but the speed tends to vary widely between zero and full load. Hence, these motors are not advisable for applications where speed must be constant under varying loads. Moreover, the speed of series motors without load may increase to the point where damage to the motor may occur, so some of the load must be linked to the series-connected motor.

You can easily get all these DC motors at any of the leading custom electric motor manufacturer, who provides various types of DC motors with your needed specifications. To know more about the DC electric motors, click here!

This article is written by Jack Wang who is associated with GEMS Motor. Jack got his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, specialized in electric motor design.