where Bg is the density of the flux within the air-gap expressed in C.G.S. lines per square centimetre, L is the active length of the conductor within the field in centimetres, and V is the velocity of movement in centimetres per second. Further, the direction in which the E.M.F. has the above maximum value is along the length of the conductor, its “sense” being determined by the direction of the movement[5] in relation to the direction of the field.
The second fundamental equation of the dynamo brings to light its mechanical side, and rests on H.C. Oersted’s discovery of the interaction of a magnetic field and an electric current. If a straight electric conductor through which a current is passing be so placed in a magnetic field that its length is not parallel to the direction of the lines of flux, it is acted on by a force which will move it, if free, in a definite direction relatively to the magnet; or if the conductor is fixed and the magnet is free, the latter will itself move in the opposite direction. Now in the dynamo the active wires are placed so that their length is at right angles to the field; hence when they are rotated and an electric current begins to flow under the E.M.F. which they induce, a mutual force at once arises between the copper conductors and the magnet, and the direction of this force must by Lenz’s law be opposed to the direction of the movement. Thus as soon as the disk of fig. 1 is rotated and its circuit is closed, it experiences a mechanical pull or drag which must be overcome by the force applied to turn the disk. While the magnet must be firmly held so as to remain stationary, the armature must be of such mechanical construction that its wires can be forcibly driven through the magnetic field against the mutual pull. This law of electrodynamic action may be quantitatively stated in an equation of mechanical force, analogous to the equation (I.) of electromotive force, which states the law of electromagnetic induction. If a conductor of length L cm., carrying a current C amperes, is immersed in a field of uniform density Bg, and the length of the conductor is at right angles to the direction of the lines, it is acted on by a force
F = BgLC × 10−1 dynes,
(2)
and the direction of this force is at right angles to the conductor and to the field. The rate at which electrical energy is developed, when this force is overcome by moving the conductor as a dynamo through the field, is EC = BgLVC × 10−8 watts, whence the equality of the mechanical power absorbed and the electrical power developed (as required by the law of the conservation of energy) is easily established. The whole of this power is not, however, available at the terminals of the machine; if Ra be the resistance of the armature in ohms, the passage of the current Ca through the armature conductors causes a drop of pressure of CaRa volts, and a corresponding loss of energy in the armature at the rate of Ca²Ra watts. As the resistance of the external circuit Re is lowered, the current C = Ea / (Re + Ra) is increased. The increase of the current is, however, accompanied by a progressive increase in the loss of energy over the armature, and as this is expended in heating the armature conductors, their temperature may rise so much as to destroy the insulating materials with which they are covered. Hence the temperature which the machine may be permitted to attain in its working is of great importance in determining its output, the current which forms one factor therein being primarily limited by the heating which it produces in the armature winding. The lower the resistance of the armature, the less the rise of its temperature for a given current flowing through it; and the reason for the almost universal adoption of copper as the material for the armature conductors is now seen to lie in its high conductivity.[6]
Since the voltage of the dynamo is the second factor to which its output is proportional, the conditions which render the induced E.M.F. a maximum must evidently be reproduced as far as possible in practice, if the best use is to be made of a given mass of iron and copper. The first problem, therefore, in the construction of the dynamo is the disposition of the wires and field in such a manner that the three directions of field, length of active conductors, and movement are at right angles to one another, and so that the relative motion is continuous. Reciprocating motion, such as would be obtained by direct attachment of the conductors to the piston of a steam-engine, has been successfully employed only in the special case of an “oscillator,”[7] producing a small current very rapidly changing in direction. Rotary motion is therefore universally adopted, and with this two distinct cases arise. Either (A) the active length of the wire is parallel to the axis of rotation, or (B) it is at right angles to it.
| Fig. 3. |
| Fig. 4. |
(A) If a conductor is rotated in the gap between the poles of a horse-shoe magnet, and these poles have plane parallel faces opposing one another as in fig. 3, not only is the density of the flux in the interpolar gap small, but the direction of movement is not always at right angles to the direction of the lines, which for the most part pass straight across from one opposing face to the other. When the conductor is midway between the poles (i.e. either at its highest or lowest point), it is at this instant sliding along the lines and does not cut them, so that its E.M.F. is zero. Taking this position as the starting-point, as the conductor moves round, its rate of line-cutting increases to a maximum when it has moved through a right angle and is opposite to the centre of a pole-face (as in fig. 3), from which point onward the rate decreases to zero when it has moved through 180°. Each time the conductor crosses a line drawn symmetrically through the gap between the poles and at right angles to the axis of rotation, the E.M.F. along its length is reversed in direction, since the motion relatively to the direction of the field is reversed. If the ends of the active conductor are electrically connected to two collecting rings fixed upon, but insulated from, the shaft, two stationary brushes bb can be pressed on the rings so as to make a sliding contact. An external circuit can then be connected to the brushes, which will form the “terminals” of the machine, the periodically reversed or alternating E.M.F. induced in the active conductor will cause an alternating current to flow through conductor and external circuit, and the simplest form of “alternator” is obtained. If the field cut by the straight conductor is of uniform density, and all the lines pass straight across from one pole-face to the other (both of which assumptions are approximately correct), a curve connecting the instantaneous values of the E.M.F. as ordinates with time or degrees of angular movement as abscissae (as shown at the foot of fig. 3), will, if the speed of rotation be uniform, be a sine curve. If, however, the conductor is mounted on an iron cylinder (fig. 4),[8] a sufficient margin being allowed for mechanical clearance between it and the poles, not only will the reluctance of the magnetic circuit be reduced and the total flux and its density in the air-gap Bg be thereby increased, but the path of the lines will become nearly radial, except at the “fringe” near the edges of the pole-tips; hence the relative directions of the movement and of the lines will be continuously at right angles. The shape of the E.M.F. curve will then be as shown in fig. 4—flat-topped, with rounded corners rapidly sloping down to the zero line.
| Fig. 5. |
But a single wire cannot thus be made to give more than a few volts, and while dynamos for voltages from 5 to 10 are required for certain purposes, the voltages in common use range from 100 to 10,000. It is therefore necessary to connect a number of such wires in series, so as to form an “armature winding.” If several similar conductors are arranged along the length of the iron core parallel to the first (fig. 5), the E.M.F.’s generated in the conductors which at any moment are under the same pole are similarly directed, and are opposite to the directions of the E.M.F.’s in the conductors under the other pole (cf fig. 5 where the dotted and crossed ends of the wires indicate E.M.F.’s directed respectively towards and away from the observer). Two distinct methods of winding thence arise, the similarity of the E.M.F.’s under the same pole being taken advantage of in the first, and the opposite E.M.F.’s under N and S poles in the second.