DC and AC Motor

A DC motor is designed to run on DC electric power. Two examples of pure DC designs are Michael Faraday's homopolar motor(which is uncommon), and the ball bearing motor , which is (so far) a novelty. By far the most common DC motor types are the brushed and brushless types, which use internal and external commutation respectively to create an oscillating AC current from the DC source -- so they are not purely DC machines in a strict sense.

In 1882, Nikola Tesla invented the rotating magnetic field, and pioneered the use of a rotary field of force to operate machines. He exploited the principle to design a unique two-phase induction motor in 1883. In 1885, Galileo Ferraris independently researched the concept. In 1888, Ferraris published his research in a paper to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Turin.

Introduction of Tesla's motor from 1888 onwards initiated what is sometimes referred to as the Second Industrial Revolution, making possible the efficient generation and long distance distribution of electrical energy using the alternating current transmission system, also of Tesla's invention (1888). Before the invention of the rotating magnetic field, motors operated by continually passing a conductor through a stationary magnetic field (as in homopolar motors).

Tesla had suggested that the commutators from a machine could be removed and the device could operate on a rotary field of force. Professor Poeschel, his teacher, stated that would be akin to building a perpetual motion machine.

Universal Motor

A variant of the wound field DC motor is the universal motor. The name derives from the fact that it may use AC or DC supply current, although in practice they are nearly always used with AC supplies. The principle is that in a wound field DC motor the current in both the field and the armature(and hence the resultant magnetic fields) will alternate (reverse polarity) at the same time, and hence the mechanical force generated is always in the same direction. In practice, the motor must be specially designed to cope with the AC (impedance must be taken into account, as must the pulsating force), and the resultant motor is generally less efficient than an equivalent pure DC motor.

Operating at normal power line frequencies, the maximum output of universal motors is limited and motors exceeding one kilowatt (about 1.3Horse power) are rare. But universal motors also form the basis of the traditional railway traction motor in electric railways . In this application, to keep their electrical efficiency high, they were operated from very low frequency AC supplies, with 25 and 16.7 hertz (Hz) operation being common. Because they are universal motors, locomotives using this design were also commonly capable of operating from a third rail powered by DC.

The advantage of the universal motor is that AC supplies may be used on motors which have the typical characteristics of DC motors, specifically high starting torque and very compact design if high running speeds are used. The negative aspect is the maintenance and short life problems caused by the commutator. As a result such motors are usually used in AC devices such as food mixers and power tools which are used only intermittently. 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).

Universal motors generally run at high speeds, making them useful for appliances such as blenders, vacuum cleaners and hair dryerswhere high RPM operation is desirable. They are also commonly used in portable power tools, such as drills, circular and jig saws, where the motor's characteristics work well. Many vacuum cleaner and weed trimmer motors exceed 10,000 RPM, while Dremel and other similar miniature grinders will often exceed 30,000 RPM.

Motor damage may occur due to overspeeding (running at an RPM in excess of design limits) if the unit is operated with no significant load. On larger motors, sudden loss of load is to be avoided, and the possibility of such an occurrence is incorporated into the motor's protection and control schemes. In smaller applications, a fan blade attached to the shaft often acts as an artificial load to limit the motor speed to a safe value, as well as a means to circulate cooling airflow over the armature and field windings.

With the very low cost of semicobductor rectifiers, some applications that would have previously used a universal motor now use a pure DC motor, sometimes with a permanent magnet

Torque Capacity of Motor types

When optimally designed for a given active current (i.e., torque current), voltage, pole-pair number, excitation frequency (i.e., synchronous speed), and core flux density, all categories of electric motors or generators will exhibit virtually the same maximum continuous shaft torque (i.e., operating torque) within a given physical size of electromagnetic core. Some applications require bursts of torque beyond the maximum operating torque, such as short bursts of torque to accelerate an electric vehicle from standstill. Always limited by magnetic core saturation or safe operating temperature rise and voltage, the capacity for torque bursts beyond the maximum operating torque differs significantly between categories of electric motors or generators.

Note: Capacity for bursts of torque should not be confused with Field Weakening capability inherent in fully electromagnetic electric machines (Permanent Magnet (PM) electric machine are excluded). Field Weakening, which is not readily available with PM electric machines, allows an electric machine to operate beyond the designed frequency of excitation without electrical damage.

Electric machines without a transformer circuit topology, such as Field-Wound (i.e., electromagnet) or Permanent Magnet (PM) Synchronous electric machines cannot realize bursts of torque higher than the maximum designed torque without saturating the magnetic core and rendering any increase in current (i.e., torque) as useless. Furthermore, the permanent magnet assembly of PM synchronous electric machines can be irreparably damaged, if bursts of torque exceeding the maximum operating torque rating are attempted.

Electric machines with a transformer circuit topology, such Induction (i.e., asynchronous) electric machines, Induction Doubly-Fed electric machines, and Induction or Synchronous Wound-Rotor Doubly-Fed (WRDF) electric machines, exhibit very high bursts of torque because the active current (i.e., Magneto-Motive-Force or the product of current and winding-turns) induced on either side of the transformer oppose each other and as a result, the active current contributes nothing to the transformer coupled magnetic core flux density, which would otherwise lead to core saturation.

Electric machines that rely on Induction or Asynchronous principles short-circuit one port of the transformer circuit and as a result, the reactive impedance of the transformer circuit becomes dominant as slip increases, which limits the magnitude of active (i.e., real) current. Still, bursts of torque that are two to three times higher than the maximum design torque are realizable.

The Synchronous WRDF electric machine is the only electric machine with a truly dual ported transformer circuit topology (i.e., both ports independently excited with no short-circuited port). The dual ported transformer circuit topology is known to be unstable and requires a multiphase slip-ring-brush assembly to propagate limited power to the rotor winding set. If a precision means were available to instantaneously control torque angle and slip for synchronous operation during motoring or generating while simultaneously providing brushless power to the rotor winding set (see brushless wound-rotor doubly-fed electric machine ), the active current of the Synchronous WRDF electric machine would be independent of the reactive impedance of the transformer circuit and bursts of torque significantly higher than the maximum operating torque and far beyond the practical capability of any other type of electric machine would be realizable. Torque bursts greater than eight times operating torque have been calculated.

Electric Motor

An electric motor uses electrical energy to produce mechanical energy. The reverse process, that of using mechanical energy to produce electrical energy, is accomplished by a generator or dynamo. Traction motor used on locomotives and some electric and hybrid automobiles often perform both tasks if the vehicle is equipped with dynamic brakes. Electric motors are found in household appliances such as fans, refrigerators, washing machines, pool pumps, floor vacuums, and fan-forced ovens. They are also found in many other devices such as computer equipment, in its disk drives, printers, and fans; and in some sound and video playing and recording equipment as DVD/CD players and recorders, tape players and recorders, and record players. Electric motors are also found in several kinds of toys such as some kinds of vehicles and robotic toys.

Cutting

Cutting is the separation of a physical object, or a portion of a physical object, into two portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. An implement commonly used for cutting is the knife or in medical cases the scalpel. However, any sufficiently sharp object is capable of cutting if it has a hardness sufficiently larger than the object being cut, and if it is applied with sufficient force. Cutting also describes the action of a saw which removes material in the process of cutting.

Cutting is a compressive and shearing phenomenon, and occurs only when the total stress generated by the cutting implement exceeds the ultimate strength of the material of the object being cut. The simplest applicable equation is stress = force/area: The stress generated by a cutting implement is directly proportional to the force with which it is applied, and inversely proportional to the area of contact. Hence, the smaller the area (i.e., the sharper the cutting implement), the less force is needed to cut something.

When referring to propagating plants, cutting is one of the methods that can be used. It involves cutting a part of the plant typically a healthy shoot, with sharp and sterile scissors or any other cutting device, and then placing the removed part in water. Some cuttings do not require water. Certain shoots when cut are able to grow when placed in vermiculite or potting soil. However, the former is the easiest to do as most shoots when cut from the main plant need time to grow roots, and then they are able to be transferred to potting soil.