'

Brushed DC electric motor - Voltage balance

Description

A brushed DC motor is an internally commutated electric motor designed to be run from a direct current power source. Brushed motors were the first commercially important application of electric power to driving mechanical energy,and DC distribution systems were used for more than 100 years to operate motors in commercial and industrial buildings. Brushed DC motors can be varied in speed by changing the operating voltage or the strength of the magnetic field. Depending on the connections of the field to the power supply, the speed and torque characteristics of a brushed motor can be altered to provide steady speed or speed inversely proportional to the mechanical load. Brushed motors continue to be used for electrical propulsion, cranes, paper machines and steel rolling mills. Since the brushes wear down and require replacement, brushless DC motors using power electronic devices have displaced brushed motors from many applications

The DC motor’s input voltage must overcome the counter emf as well as the voltage drop created by the armature current across the motor resistance, that is, the combined resistance across the brushes, armature winding and series field winding, if any and the equation is shown here.

Related formulas

Variables

Vmmotor input voltage (V)
Ebinduced or counter EMF (V)
Rmmotor resistance (ohm)
Iaarmature current (A)