Armature-reaction

This distortion causes a shift in the neutral plane, which affects commutation. This change in the neutral plane and the reaction of the magnetic field is called ARMATURE REACTION.

For proper commutation, the coil short-circuited by the brushes must be in the neutral plane. Consider the operation of a simple two-pole dc generator, shown in the illustration. View A of the figure shows the field poles and the main magnetic field. The armature is shown in a simplified view in views B and C with the cross section of its coil represented as little circles.

The symbols within the circles represent arrows. The dot represents the point of the arrow coming toward you, and the cross represents the tail, or feathered end, going away from you. When the armature rotates clockwise, the sides of the coil to the left will have current flowing toward you, as indicated by the dot. The side of the coil to the right will have current flowing away from you, as indicated by the cross.

The field generated around each side of the coil is shown in view B of figure 1-8. This field increases in strength for each wire in the armature coil, and sets up a magnetic field almost perpendicular to the main field.

Armature-reaction.

Now you have two fields � the main field, view A, and the field around the armature coil, view B. View C of the illustration shows how the armature field distorts the main field and how the neutral plane is shifted in the direction of rotation.

If the brushes remain in the old neutral plane, they will be short- circuiting coils that have voltage induced in them. Consequently, there will be arcing between the brushes and commutator. To prevent arcing, the brushes must be shifted to the new neutral plane.

(back) (top) (next) (return to generators page)