Universal Motor

22.1 Direct Current (DC) Motors Operated on

Alternating Current (AC)
Changing the polarity of the line terminals of any DC-motor reverses both the
direction of the flux and the direction of the current in armature conductors. The torque
developed, therefore, remains in the same direction, and motor continuous to rotate in the
direction in which it was rotating before the terminals were reversed. From this it would sem
that any dc motor would operate satisfactorily on AC.

The field of a shunt motor must have a relatively high resistance so that the field
current is less than 5% of the rate current. At the same time the flux must be sufficient give
the required torque. This combination of low field current and high flux is obtained by
designing the field with many turns of fine wire. If an AC supply of the same nominal
effective voltage as the rated DC voltage is applied to the shunt field, the resulting field
current is much lower than the DC field current. The many turns of wire cause a significant
inductive effect. The result is very low fields current, far lower than that required to produce
sufficient starting current.

The field inductance produces another effect to further preclude the use of a shunt
motor on AC. Since the inductive reactance is significantly high, the field current lags the
voltage by a considerable angle. The armature current also lags the applied voltage, but
because of its fewer turns, the angle of lag will not be as great as in the field circuit. The flux,
therefore, is not in phase with the armature current, and since torque in an AC motor is
proportional to flux, rotor current and the cosine of the angle between the two ( T∞ΦI cos θ ),
the torque is further reduced. For these reasons, namely, the reduction of field current and the
lagging angle of the flux, a shunt motor will mot produce sufficient starting or running torque
when connected to an AC voltage supply.

22.2 Alternating Current Series MOTOR

Compared with a shunt motor, the field of a series motor is wound with relatively few
turns of heavy wire. The inductive effect is thus less, and the flux is almost the same as it
would be on DC. The current is, of course, the same in both field and armature, and there is
no time lag between the alternating flux set up by the field coils and the current in the
armature conductors. Thus the two main objections to the operation of a shunt motor on AC
are overcome in the series motor, and it may operate on both AC and DC.

It is found, however, that when a series motor specifically designed for DC operation
is placed across an AC supply of its rated nominal effective voltage, its operation is poorer
than on DC.
The efficiency is low, the power factor is poor, and there is a considerable sparking at
the brushes. The poorer efficiency is caused by the increased hysteresis and eddy current
losses due to the alternating flux, and the poor power factor is caused by the reactances of the
field and the armature.
To overcome these effects, the AC series-motor field is always laminated; wound
with fewer turns than its DC counterpart, and has an increased field-pole area, so that the
field is operated at a comparatively low flux density. This reduces both the iron losses and the
reactive volt drop. At the same time, in order to obtain the required torque with the low flux,
the number of armature conductors is increased.

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 Universal Motor

In addition to the causes of sparking that occur in a DC motor, transformer action on a

coil undergoing commutation further intensifies commutation difficulties. This coil, short-
circuited by the brushes, links part of the constantly changing main-field flux, and hence a
voltage is induced in it. This transformer effect is somewhat minimized by constructing the
coils with fewer turns, often only one turn per coil, so that this induced voltage is lowered.
The larger number of conductors still required on the armature to produce sufficient torque is
then obtained by increasing the number of coils, and hence more commutator segments are
necessary. This, then, is another characteristic of construction of the AC series-motor.

Armature reaction in the AC motor is more severe than in the equivalent DC motor.
This is due to the necessary for having a greater number of armature conductors, and hence
an increased armature mmf. Also, since the AC series motor requires a small number of
series field turns, the ratio of armature mmf to stator mmf is greater, and hence produces
additional commutation problems. At the same time that armature reaction causes a reduced
net flux, it also causes a reactive volt-drop in the armature in addition to that caused by the
leakage flux linking the individual conductors, and thus results in a lower power factor.

In order to reduce the effect of armature reaction, thereby improving commutation

and reducing armature reactance, a compensating winding is employed. This winding is set in
stator slots, and its axis is 90 electrical degrees to the main-field axis. It may be connected in
series with both the armature and the series field as shown in Fig. 22.1, in mush the same
manner as for DC motor, and is then said to be conductively coupled.

Fig. 22.1. Series motor with conductively Fig. 22.2. Series motor with inductively
coupled compensating winding. coupled compensating winding.

On the other hand, for a motor used solely on AC, the compensating winding may be
short-circuited on itself. Since the axis of the compensating winding coincides with the brush
axis, the alternating flux of the armature induces an emf in the short-circuited winding, and
the current in this winding opposes the flux causing it, and hence opposes the armature
reaction. This type of connection is thus called inductive coupling and is shown in Fig. 22.2.
In both cases shown, the flux set up in the compensating winding is proportional to the
armature current, as is always required.

22.3 The Universal Motor

The name "universal" is derived from the motor's compatibility with both AC and DC
power.

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 Universal Motor

Thus far, we have shown some of the drawbacks of operation of a series motor
designed for DC operation, on alternation current (AC). Despite these drawbacks, however,
small series motors, designated as universal motors, are used equally well on both AC and
DC circuits.
Universal motors are designed for voltages up to 250V, and for a frequency range of
zero up to 60 Hz. Except for operating the field at low flux density and increasing the number
of armature conductors, no other concession is made for AC operation. Occasionally,
conductively connected compensating windings may be used, but this is rarity in the usual
class of work.
The universal motor exhibits the
usual speed-load characteristics of the
series motor i.e. a no-load speed much
higher than the full load speed. The
possibility of dangerously high no-load
speeds is not a serious handicap for the most
commonly used universal motors.
For such applications as vacuum cleaners,
food mixers, hair-driers, electric shavers,
portable drills, sewing machines, office
machinery, and many similar ones, the load
is never completely removed, since some
parts of the devices, such as the gear train
and cooling fans, are always in motion,
even if no actual work is being one. These
moving parts, which also include the
armature, may be considered as rotational
losses for the entire machine, and serve the
additional purpose of maintaining a safe no-
load speed.
Where there is danger of a high no-load
speed, a governor may be used to maintain
reasonable speeds. This governor consists of
a centrifugal switch mounted on the shaft of
the motor. The tension of the springs of the
switch is adjusted so that the switch
contacts open at a predetermined speed and
thus place a resistor in series with the
armature, thereby reducing the speed. When
the speed falls because of loading, the
switch contacts close, thereby shorting out
the series resistor, thus again raising the
speed. The connections are shown in Fig. Fig. 22.3. Governor for series motor.
22.3. The capacitor is placed across the
governor contacts to reduce sparking.

22.4 Operation Characteristics of Series Motor

Series motors operating on AC perform almost the same as those operating on DC.
Both develop relatively high starting torques of three to four times the rated torque and also
exhibit the variable-speed characteristic. When the series motor operates by AC, the

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 Universal Motor

reactance must be taken into account, and hence phasor equations must be used, the
characteristic equations are the same. The voltage relationship is thus
VT = E g + I a ( Ra + jX a ) + I a ( RC + jX C ) + I a ( RS + jX S )
Where the subscript a, C, and S refer to the armature, the compensating winding, and
the series field, respectively. Eg is the rotational emf set up in the armature because of the
cutting of the resultant field by the conductors. This voltage is in phase with the flux, and
hence in phase with the armature current (except for the small angle of hysteresis lag). If the
armature current is used as the reference phasor, the phasor diagram of the previous voltage
equation is that shown in Fig. 22.4.

Fig. 22.4. Phasor diagram of AC series motor.

θ is the phase angle between the terminal voltage and the line current. It is readily
seen that θ becomes larger and power factor poorer as the relative values of the reactances are
increased, and for this reason, fewer field turns and lower flux densities are employed. Also,
since the presence of a compensating winding materially reduces the armature reactance, it is
absolutely necessary for a large AC series motors used for traction operation to have such a
winding. Such large motors serving railways do not use commercial frequencies because of
the necessity for larger fluxes and the resultant higher inductive effects. Thus, in USA, 25 Hz
is the upper limit used, while in European countries, 16.667 Hz is used.
The power developed by the armature is equal to the product of the generated voltage
and the armature current, multiplied by the cosine of the angle between them. Since the angle
between the generated voltage and the armature current is almost zero, the relationship for the
power developed is the same on both DC and AC circuits. Because of the presence of
reactance, however, it is seen that Eg is somewhat smaller on AC, and hence power developed
will also be less. This is to be expected since on AC there are the additional losses due to
eddy currents and hysteresis.
The speed of a motor depends on the internal voltage drops and the flux. As load is
increased internal voltage drops also act to prouce the same effect, so that the familiar speed-
load curve of Fig. 22.5 is typical.

Fig. 22.5. Speed-load characteristic of series motor.

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 Universal Motor

This is the general shape of the curve whether the motor is operated on AC or DC. It
is not readily determined whether a universal motor has a higher or lower speed for a given
load when operated on AC. It is quite probable that without external load, more current is
required to provide the additional iron losses on AC, thereby causing a slightly lower speed.
As load is applied IX drops become more significant and tend to lower the speed more than in
the DC case. At the same time, however, armature reaction is more pronounced on a
alternating current, and this tends to reduce the flux, thereby increasing the speed. The exact
characteristic thus depends on the relative strength of armature reaction compared with
reactive volt-drop and must be determined for each individual motor.
Continuous speed control of a universal motor running on AC is easily obtained by
use of a thyristor circuit, while stepped speed control can be accomplished using multiple
taps on the field coil. Household blenders that advertise many speeds frequently combine a
field coil with several taps and a diode that can be inserted in series with the motor (causing
the motor to run on half-wave rectified AC).

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