Question Bank for Electric Drives

Questions from module 1

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)

Classify electric drives?

Explain the importance of power modulator?
Explain the importance of control unit in an electric drive system?
What are the advantages of electric drives?
Explain what are the parameters which influence the choice of the motor of a drive?
Compare between AC and DC drive and state which drive is superior and why?
Explain the 4 quadrant operation of hoist mechanism.
Write the fundamental torque equation for a variable inertia drive system?
What are different components of load torque explain with proper mathematical formula
and graph?
10) Given below are the Torque Vs Time Requirements of a drive system.

Chose an appropriate dc motor for each of the graph?

11) A weight of 500Kg is being lifted up at an uniform speed of 1.5m/sec by a winch driven
by a motor running at a speed of 1000 rpm. The moment of inertia of the motor and the
winch are 0.5 and 0.3 kg-m2 respectively. Calculate the motor torque and the equivalent
moment of inertia referred to the motor shaft. In the absence of weight, motor develops a
torque of 100Nm when running at 1000rpm.
12) In the mechanism shown in the figure, motor drives the winch drum through a reduction gear
with a gear tooth ratio of 0.1. the friction torque at the winch shaft is 15Nm and at the motor shaft
is 10 Nm. The motor speed is 1500 rpm calculate the equivalent moment of inertia of the drive
referred to motor shaft and the motor torque if the gears have an efficiency of 90%.

13) In the figure given below load is to be driven by a motor which runs at 600 rpm. Find the
equivalent inertia of the load and the minimum power rating of the motor which would be used
for driving the load.
14) The above given load is to be driven by a motor which runs at 600 rpm. Find the equivalent
inertia of the load and the minimum power rating of the motor which would be used for driving
the load.

15) For a drive system the electromagnetic torque and the load torques are given as
and respectively. Obtain the equilibrium points and determine their steady state stability.
16) A drive has the following parameters:
J =1kg-m2 , T = 15 0.01N, Nm , passive load torque TL =0.005N, Nm where N is the speed in
rpm. Initially the drive is working in steady state. Now the drive is to be reversed. For reversing
the motor characteristic is altered such that T = 15 0.01N, Nm for positive as well as
negative values of N. Calculate the reversal time.
17) A drive has the following parameters:
J =10kg-m2 , T = 15 + 0.05N, Nm , passive load torque T L = 5+0.06N, Nm where N is the speed
in rpm. Initially the drive is working in steady state. Now the drive is braked by electrical
braking. The torque of the motor in braking is given by T = 10 0.04N, Nm. Calculate the
Taken by the drive to stop.

18) Find steady state stability for all the possible operating points of each of the graphs?

19) For a drive system the electromagnetic torque and the load torques are given as Te
=1+2m and TL = 3 mrespectively. Obtain the equilibrium points and determine
their steady state stability.

20) The total friction and windage losses of a drive system at different speeds are given as in
the table
Loss in watts
52.5
110
210

Speed
RPM
30
60
100

in

Considering all the components of frictional torque are present except static friction.
Calculate the combined friction and windage loss at a speed of 200 RPM.

Questions from module 2

1) Classify dc motor on the basis of field excitation?
2) Compare between separately excited motor and shunt motor, used for armature control dc
drive and explain which motor gives superior performance?
3) What type of speed control method is used for dc drive system?
4) Compare between armature voltage control and field control method of a dc drive and
explain which type of speed control is better?
5) Compare between armature voltage control and armature resistance control?
6) Compare between separately excited and series motor drives?
7) What are the different region of operation of dc motor explain with proper graph?
8) Compare performance of dc motor working in a constant torque region and constant
power region operation, which region gives a better performance?
9) What are the different methods of braking of dc separately excited motor?
10) What are the different types of braking is used for dc series machine?
11) Why regenerative braking to not possible series machine?
12) Compare between dynamic braking and plugging?
13) The figures given below show the speed requirements of a drive system.
Explain what kind braking will be used in each case?

14) Compare the performance of converter fed drive, during continuous and discontinues
current conduction.
15) Compare the performance of fully controlled and semi controlled converter fed drive.
16) Advantage of 3 phase converter fed drive over a 1 phase converter fed drive.
17) What are the factors causing discontinues conduction in a drive.
18) State the working of a dual converter drive over all 4 quadrants.
19) Differentiate between circulating current and non-circulating current mode of operation
of a dual converter drive also state which mode of operation is better and why.
20) Explain the effect of switching frequency on the performance of a chopper control dc
drive.
21) Explain the working of 2 quadrant chopper controlled drive.
22) Operation of a rectifier fed drive can be done in how many quadrants.
if the rectifier use unidirectional device
if the rectifier uses bidirectional device
23) Can a rectifier fed dc drive be operated in all four quadrants? Support your Answer.
24) Explain the process of dynamic braking in chopper control dc drive.
25) Dynamic braking is done in a chopper control dc drive where the external resistance
used 5ohm if the armature resistance of motor is 0.2ohm then find out the effective
resistance of armature circuit during dynamic braking if duty cycle is 0.7.
26) A dc separately excited motor is running at 800 rpm, driving a load whose torque is
constant .motor armature current is 500A.The armature resistance drop and rotational loss
are negligible .Magnetic circuit can be assumed to be linear .calculate motor speed and
armature current ,if the terminal voltage is reduced to 50% and field current reduced to
80%?
27) A 220v 800 rpm,80 A separately excited dc motor has armature resistance 0.121ohm ,
motor is driving at rated condition, a load whose torque is same at all speed, calculate
motor speed if voltage drops to 200v?

28) A 220V, 960 rpm, 80A dc series motor driving a load whose torque is constant at all
speed. resistance of armature and field winding are 0.05ohm each, calculate magnitude
and direction of motor speed and current if terminal voltage changed from 220v to -200v
and the no of turns in field winding reduced to 80% assumed linear magnetic circuit.
29) A dc shunt motor is running at 500 rpm driving a load whose torque is same at all speeds.
Armature current is 90A.The armature resistance is can be neglected and field circuit can
be assumed to be linear. if the source voltage is reduced to 80%, calculate the speed and
armature current of motor?
30) A 230 V, 750 rpm, 25A dc series motor is driving at rated condition a load whose torque
is proportional to square of speed .The combined resistance of armature and field is
1ohm. Calculate the motor terminal voltage and current for speed of 400 rpm, assume the
magnetic circuit to be linear.
31) A 220V, 800 rpm, 200 A dc separately excited motor has an armature resistance of 0.06
ohm. The motor armature is fed from a variable voltage source with an internal resistance
of 0.04 ohm .calculate the internal voltage of the variable voltage source when the motor
is operating in regenerative breaking mode at 80% of rated motor torque and 600 rpm.
32) A 220v, dc series motor running at 1000 rpm takes an armature current 100A driving at
constant torque ,resistance of field and armature winding is 0.05ohm each .when the
motor is operated in dynamic braking at twice the rated torque and 800 rpm. Calculate
the value of braking current and the braking resistance needed. Assume linear magnetic
circuit.
33) A 230 Volt, 870 rpm, 100A separately excited DC motor has an armature resistance if
0.05 ohms. It is coupled to an over hauling load with a torque of 400 Nm. Determine the
speed at which the motor can hold the load by regenerative braking.
34) A 220 Volts, 600 rpm, 500 A separately excited dc motor has Ra = 0.02 ohm and Rf = 10
ohm, is driving a load whose torque may vary from zero to rated motor torque and it is
now required to hold the rated load by dynamic braking at 1000 rpm without e.m.f
exceeding the value of 230 volts. Calculate the value of external resistance to be
connected to the armature.
35) A 230 volts, 1000rpm, 105A separately excited dc motor has an armature resistance of
0.06 ohms. Calculate the value of flux as a percentage of rated flux for motor speed of
1500 rpm when load is such that the developed motor power is maintained constant at
rated value for all speeds above rated speed.
36) A 220 volt, 200A, 750 rpm separately excited dc motor has ra = 0.05 ohms. It is driving a
load where torque has an expression TL = 500 0.25N, where N is the motor speed in
rpm. Speed below rated speed are obtained by armature voltage control and speed above
rated are obtained by field control (with rated armature voltage).
37) Find the motor terminal voltage and Ia when speed is 400rpm.
38) Calculate the value of flux as a percentage of rated flux when speed is 1500 rpm.
39) A 230 Volt, 960 rpm and 200 Ampere separately excited dc motor has an armature
resistance of 0.02 ohm. The motor is fed from a chopper which provides both motoring
and braking operation. The motor has to be braked using dynamic braking done with the

chopper and a braking resistance of 5 ohms. Calculate the duty ratio of the chopper for a
motor speed of 600 rpm and breaking torque 1.5 times the rated value.
40) A three phase six pulse bridge converter working on 500V, 50 Hz supply feeds a
separately excited dc motor having a rated voltage of 250V. The motor draws a current of
181A at 250V and runs at 1500 rpm. The motor drives a load having a torque speed
characteristics given by
.
If the speed control of this motor is required from 1500 to 500 rpm determine the range
of firing angles. If the firing angle =0 for rated speed determine the line voltage. What is
the range of firing angle in that case. The resistance of the armature is 0.1 .
41) A 220V, 1500 rpm, 50A, separately excited dc motor with Ra = 0.5 is fed from a
circulating current dual converter with a source voltage of 165V L-L. Determine the
converter firing angles for the following operations.
Motoring operation at rated motor torque and 1000 rpm.
Braking operation at 75% rated motor torque and -800 rpm.
42) A 220 volt, 1200 rpm, 15 A separately excited motor has armature resistance and
inductance as 1.8 ohm and 32 mH respectively. The motor is controlled by a single phase
fully controlled converter with source voltage of 230volts 50 Hz. Identify the mode of
operation and developed torque must be calculated for
Firing angle = 60 degrees, speed = 450 rpm
Firing angle = 60 degrees, speed = 1500 rpm
Calculate the no load speed
43) A three phase dual converter feeds a 500V, 60A dc motor with a separate excitation. The
armature resistance is 1.5. The converter is fed from a 420V 50 Hz source. Assume the
voltage drop of 20V in the converter determine the firing angle and back emf for
motoring operation at full load current with motor terminal voltage of 450V.
44) A dc series motor has a magnetization curve given by a straight line Eb = 4.8 Ia +200 at a
speed of 800 rpm between 20 to 50 ampere. The series motor is lowering a load which
exerts a torque of 196.2Nm. In order to limit the descending speed of the load to a safe
value dynamic breaking is employed. Find the breaking resistance to be connected in
series with the motor armature for limiting the downward speed to 600 rpm. The total
armature resistance is 1. Neglect rotational losses.
45) The speed of a separately excited DC motor is controlled by an ideal step down chopper
circuit, with square load voltage wave form, which is supplied from an ideal dc source of
220 volts. The motor armature circuit resistance is Ra = 0.5ohms. The motor drives a
constant load torque requiring an average armature current of 20 ampere. Assume that
motor current is continuous and the motor back e.m.f constant Kb = 0.05 volts/rpm.
Obtain
The range of speed control and
The range of duty cycle.

Consider only armature resistance drop in the calculation.

46) The speed of a 15hp, 220 Volt, 1000 rpm dc series motor is controlled using a single
phase half controlled bridge converter. The combined armature and field resistance is 0.2
ohm. Assuming continuous and ripple free motor current, speed of 1000 rpm and motor
constant k = 0.03 Nm/amp2, determine
motor current
motor torque
for firing angle of 30 degree. The ac supply voltage is 250 Volts.

Questions from module 3

1) What are the factors affecting the torque of a induction motor in the linear region
torque- speed characteristics. Support your answer with mathematical expressions.
2) Compare the performance of squirrel cage and wound rotor induction motor.
3) What are the factors affecting speed in an induction motor?
4) What are the possible speed control methods for a squirrel cage induction motor.
5) What type of speed control methods are not applicable for squirrel cage induction
motor.
6) Explain the torque-speed characteristics of an induction motor over all the quadrants
clearly mentioning the different working region.
7) Which type of braking is not possible for squirrel cage induction motor and why?
8) What are the types of braking used for slip ring induction machine?
9) What is the benefits of dc dynamic braking over ac dynamic braking?
10) Explain the ranges of slip during:
(i) motoring (ii) Generating (iii) plugging (iv) dc dynamic braking (v) Regenerative braking
11) What are the various methods of starting an induction motor.
12) What are the disadvantages of the pole changing methods of speed control Methods?
13) What are the limitations of regenerative braking of induction motor?
14) What is the need of external rotor resistances during plugging of an induction motor?
15) Is plugging possible for a squirrel cage IM. Support your answer with particular
reasons?
16) Explain the benefits of three lid connection over two lid connections in dynamic
braking of an induction motor?
17) Explain the process of self-excited braking in an induction motor?
18) A 6 pole Induction motor is braked using zero sequence braking. What is the
minimum speed that can be achieved if
ac zero sequence braking is done
dc zero sequence braking is done
Assuming supply frequency= 50 Hz
19) An 3 phase induction motor is running at a speed of 1450 rpm with a full load taking
power from a 50Hz supply the machine braked by ac zero sequence braking .what is
the minimum speed that can be achieved by the process.

20) A 3 phase induction motor is running at 2900 rpm. When it is braked using dc
Dynamic braking, Find out the slip during the braking process or find out the Slip at
the beginning of braking if the machine is supplied for 50Hz.
21) A 3 phase induction motor running at 950 rpm braked using plugging. Find out the
Slip at the moment of braking.
22) A 3 phase induction motor is running at 1200 rpm is braked using regenerative
Braking. Find out the slip at the moment of braking
23) State the advantages of dc zero sequence braking over ac zero sequence Braking.
24) Explain why frequency control is avoided to be done in constant torque region of an
induction motor.
25) States the benefits V/f control over frequency control in constant torque region.
26) State the different VSI and CSI fed induction motor drives.
27) Explain the process of regenerative braking of an induction motor with proper circuit
diagram.
28) Explain the working of static Kramers drive .
29) State the limitations of krammers drive.
30) Differentiate between Kramerss drive and scherbiuss drive.
31) A 3 phase , 50hz 10 pole wound rotor , induction motor has its slip ring connected to
a slip power converter. The induction motor controls the speed of a load requiring
torque proportional to cube of speed . The speed is adjusted over a range from 50 570 rpm and the load requires a power of 4000 Kw at 570 rpm. For negligible
losses, Find the power handled by the slip power converter in terms of slip when the
slip power is returned to supply.
32) A 3 phase, 50 hz, 12 pole, induction motor has star connected rotor and resistance
measured across any two slip ring 0.04ohm. Its full load slip is 0.02. Calculate the
resistance to be inserted in the rotor circuit to reduce the full load speed to350 rpm.
The torque required by the load varies as the speed squared. Assume the torque speed
curve to be a straight line in the normal operating region.
33) At stand still the voltage across 2 slip ring of star connected rotor of 6kw its full load
slip is 2% .calculate the resistor insert to rotor circuit to reduce the full load speed to
5%.
34) Induction motor at slip frequency of 2hz when supplied for 3phase , 400v 50hz
supply for the same developed torque find the slip frequency at which it will run
when supplied from 3 phase , 340 v 40Hz supply. Slip ring at which the machine
develops maximum torque using 50hz supply is 0.1 neglect the stator impedance and
assume linear torque speed characteristics.
35) A 3 phase 420 volt, 4 pole, 50 Hz, star connected squirrel cage induction motor has its
speed controlled by Kramers drive. The turns ratio of rotor to stator is 0.8 and
transformer has a turns ratio from l.v. to h.v. side as 0.4. The inductor current is ripple
free. Losses in the rectifier, inverter, transformer and inductor are neglected. The load
torque is proportional to the speed squared and its value at 1200 rpm is 450 Nm. For
motoring operation at 1000 rpm calculate

 Rotor rectified voltage.

Inductor current.
Delay angle for inverter.
36) A 20 KW, 3-phase, 400V, 4-pole, 50 Hz squirrel cage induction motor, when working
at rated voltage and frequency, develops a full load torque at 1470 rpm. If the motor is
fed from a 40Hz source, with its voltage adjusted to give the same air gap flux as at
50Hz, then calculate
The voltage of the 30 Hz source.
The speed at which the motor would now run so that the half the full load torque,
as at 50 Hz, is developed.
37) A 3 phase, 50 Hz, 12 pole, induction motor has a star connected rotor and the
resistance measured across any two slip ring is 0.04 ohms and the full load slip of the
motor is 0.02. Calculate the resistance to be inserted in the rotor circuit to reduce the
full load speed to 350 rpm, the load torque being proportional to the square of speed.
Assume the torque slip curve to be linear.

Questions from module 4

1) Explain the heating and cooling curve of a machine
2) A machine while drawing a constant load has a temperature rise of 50 degree Celsius
if the heating and cooling time constant are 60mintuts and 40 minutes respectively
then find the temperature after 10 min shutting down the machine
3) Explain the different type of duty cycle.
4) State the difference between short time and intermediate time duty.
5) The half hour rating of motor is 100kw. The heating and cooling temperature constant
are 90 and 60 min respectively, the efficiency occur at 70% full load
6) What load the motor can deliver with an intermittent load of 10min followed by a
shutdown period of 10mins. The half hour rating of power is 50kw heating and
cooling time constant are 50min and 30mins respectively determine the load
subjected to the motor if the load is intermittent in motor and load cycle is off 30min
in which 20min shutdown period , the maximum efficiency occurs of 80% full load.
7) The periodic load torque requirement of a drive system is given as in the figure
below. Find out the power rating of the motor required for driving the above load at
1000 rpm.
8) The half hour rating of a motor is 100 kW. The heating and cooling time constants are
80 min and 120 min respectively. The maximum efficiency occurs at 70% full load.
Determine
Continuous rating of the motor.
The maximum load delivered by the motor if the motor is subjected to an
intermittent load of 10 min followed by a shut down period of 10 min.

9) The half hour rating of a motor is 100 kW. The heating and cooling time constants are
80 min and 120 min respectively. The maximum efficiency occurs at 70% full load.
Determine Continuous rating of the motor.