POWER

ELECTRONICS
AND
MACHINES
LAB_PROJECT

ALFRED MAZHINDU 09022270

Supervised by H.S Rajamani

CHOPPER CIRCUIT FOR DC MOTOR SPEED CONTROL

| Alfred Mazhindu

Contents
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 5
AIM ........................................................................................................................................... 5
OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................................... 5
Ability to: ...................................................................................................................................... 5
THE SPECIFICATION .......................................................................................................... 6
Motor: ........................................................................................................................................... 6
External High Power DC Supply: .............................................................................................. 6
External isolated low voltage dc supply: .................................................................................... 6
External Control Signals: ............................................................................................................ 6
THE CHOPPER CIRCUIT DIAGRAM ............................................................................... 6
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD LAYOUT (PCB) .................................................................. 7
FINISHED CHOPPER CIRCUIT ......................................................................................... 8
COMPONENTS ORDER SHEET FARNELL .................................................................. 8
METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 9
TESTING ................................................................................................................................. 9
Workbench testing Layout: ........................................................................................................ 9
Tests: ............................................................................................................................................. 9
EQUIPMENT USED:............................................................................................................ 10
OBSERVATIONS ................................................................................................................. 10
VOLTAGE AND CURRENT WAVEFORMS: ...................................................................... 10
MEASUREMENTS: .............................................................................................................. 11
CHOPPER CIRCUIT THEORY ......................................................................................... 12
CHOPPER CIRCUIT THEORY SIMULATION .................................................................. 13
COMPARISON OF THE WAVEFORMS .......................................................................... 13
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................... 13
COMPONENTS USED ......................................................................................................... 14
Resistors .................................................................................................................................. 14
Capacitors ............................................................................................................................... 14
Diodes ...................................................................................................................................... 14
Miscellaneous .......................................................................................................................... 14
Semiconductors ....................................................................................................................... 14
REFERENCE: ....................................................................................................................... 15

Alfred Mazhindu

Table of Figures
Figure 1: Chopper Circuit Schematic Diagram............................................................................ 6
Figure 2: PCB Layout form ARES Software Package ................................................................. 7
Figure 3: PCB Layout Conversion to PDF .................................................................................... 7
Figure 4: FINISHED CHOPPER DESIGN .................................................................................. 8
Figure 5: Chopper Circuit Test Layout ......................................................................................... 9
Figure 6: Waveforms ..................................................................................................................... 10
Figure 7: Graph of Speed/Duty Ratio .......................................................................................... 11
Figure 8: 4 Test points ................................................................................................................... 12
Figure 9: Chopper Circuit Theory ............................................................................................... 12
Figure 10: Theory Simulation ...................................................................................................... 13

Alfred Mazhindu

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Alfred Mazhindu

INTRODUCTION
The project report explains the designing, construction and testing of a simple chopper circuit for
controlling the speed of a 50V DC motor. DC motors are used in domestic, commercial and
industrial applications. The speed of these motors can be controlled with different available drives
on the marketplace. The high-quality of these drives rest on the size and application of the motor.
The chopper circuit components are, an Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT), Diode, Gate
driver and a regulated power supply. The IGBT is used because of its high efficiency and fast
switching and high-current control capability. It is an ideal for low duty cycle and low frequency,
lesser load variation and high voltage applications. IGBTs are typically found in ratings of 500V,
600V, 1200V, 2.2kV.
There are several steps in the designing and building of the chopper circuit. They are as follows:
1. Drawing of the circuit diagram,
2. Selecting components considering their ratings,
3. Designing the PCB layout,
4. Drilling the PCB component mounting holes,
5. Soldering of components,
6. Testing individual sub-circuits and testing the completed chopper circuit.

AIM
The aim is to construct and test an IGBT based chopper circuit for controlling the speed of a DC
motor.

OBJECTIVES
Ability to:
Understand power electronic circuit designing and power devices being used as well as
signal isolation techniques, ratings and power device drive circuit.
Draw and complete a circuit diagram of a chopper circuit built on one HCPL3022, an
IGBT and a diode using the Proteus design software package
Use designing software packages such as ARES.
Select proper devices and components from catalogues e.g. Farnell, Maplin etc.
Organise an order sheet to purchase components for making 100 units.
Design Printed Circuit Board layout using components provided.
Build a chopper circuit and test a finished circuit and record all results.

Alfred Mazhindu

THE SPECIFICATION
Motor:
Type: DC permanent magnet motor.
Voltage rating: 50 Volts dc
Current rating: 5 A
Power: 250W
External High Power DC Supply:
High voltage, high current (150V, 20A) fixed dc supply is externally provided.
External isolated low voltage dc supply:
An isolated low voltage dc supply is available to provide the power required for the gate
drive circuit. The supply voltage could vary from 15V to 20V.
External Control Signals:
A digital signal of 5 volts is used to control the motor via Pulse width modulation. This
signal is obtained from a signal generator.
The chopper circuit board will have an LED indicator to show if the gate drive is On or
OFF.
All external wires to be soldered directly to the PCB board.
Chip will be mounted on the board using a chip socket.

THE CHOPPER CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

Circuit
15-20VDC INPUT

CHOPPER CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

PIN

PIN

50VDC INPUT
PIN

+
1

VO

MOTOR +

GND

VI

PIN

7815

R1 1K

C1 470nF

D1

C2 100nF

D1
20ETS12A

LED

MOTOR PIN

C3 470nF

U2
IGBT

HOLD CS
WP
SO
SI
SCK

R3 220

R2 12
HCPL 3120

GROUND

R4 0.05

PIN

PIN

PIN

Drawn By: Alfred Mazhindu

5V Signal Input

Figure 1: Chopper Circuit Schematic Diagram

Alfred Mazhindu

PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD LAYOUT (PCB)

Layout

Figure 2: PCB Layout form ARES Software Package

Figure 3: PCB Layout Conversion to PDF

Alfred Mazhindu

FINISHED CHOPPER CIRCUIT

Real Design

Figure 4: FINISHED CHOPPER DESIGN

COMPONENTS ORDER SHEET FARNELL

MANUFACTURERS
PART NO.

ORDER
CODE

ITEM
DESCRIPTION

MCF 0.25W 12R

9339108

RESISTOR,
0.25W 5% 12R

MULTICOMP

100

(>50<500)
0.011

1.10

MCF W Series

1700237

RESISTOR,
CARBON FILM,
0.125W, 1K

MULTICOMP
MCRE000037

100

(>50<500)
0.007

0.70

MCF 0.25W Series

9339299

RESISTOR,
0.25W 5% 220R

MULTICOMP

100

(>50<500)
0.011

1.10

THFU 2

1344123

CLIP, TO-220

FISCHER
ELEKTRONIK

200

>100
0.157

32.70

IRGB4055PBF

1298575

IGBT, 300V, TO220

INTERNATIONAL
RECTIFIER
IRGB4055PBF

100

>100
3.81

76.20

BFC247076474

1166041

CAPACITOR,
0.47F, 63V

VISHAY BC
COMPONENTS

100

>100
0.55

28.00

22247076104

1166036

CAPACITOR,
0.1F, 63V

VISHAY BC
COMPONENTS

100

>100
0.25

12.70

HCPL-3120-300E

9995439

OPTOCOUPLER,
2.0A, GATE
DRIVE O/P

AVAGO Technologies

100

>100
1.83

154.00

MCL034PD

1581112

LED, 3MM, 70,

HI-RED

MULTICOMP

100

>100
0.074

3.60

ES1AL

1559123

DIODE, ULTRAFAST 1A 50V

TAIWAN
SEMICONDUCTOR

100

>100
0.079

7.90

BA17815T

1831824

LINEAR REG,
1A, 15V,TO220

ROHM

100

>100
0.88

44.00

1-390261-2

1101345

SOCKET IC, DIL,

0.3", 8WAY

TYCO ELECTRONICS /
AMP

100

>100
0.28

1.40

Goods Total :
VAT:
Total Cost:

Alfred Mazhindu

MANUFACTURER

ITEMS
ORDERED

PRICE
EACH()

TOTAL
COST()

362.00
57.72

METHODOLOGY
Drawn the Chopper circuit diagram using the ISIS design software package.
Compiled a list of components that meet the specifications using the FARNELL
Catalogue.
Designed the printed circuit board layout using the ARES Design software package.
Drilled the component mounting holes on the PCB and soldered the components onto the
Circuit Board.
Tested each component with multimeter at every stage until the chopper circuit is complete
and ready for complete testing.

TESTING
Workbench testing Layout:

Figure 5: Chopper Circuit Test Layout

Tests:

T1- 15v
T2- .
T3-14.4v
T4- 0.42Amperes
Results
After soldering the components for the regulator section, with a 20Vdc input on pin 1, the
output was measured at pin 3 and recorded as 14.9Vdc.
The LED was also lit showing the presence of the 15v supply for the Gate driver.
With the Gate driver inserted, the output 5v square wave was obtained.
The complete circuit was tested using the set up shown below. Current and voltage
waveforms were observed and recorded.
A dc motor was connected to the output of the chopper circuit.

Alfred Mazhindu

EQUIPMENT USED:
Multi-meter
Dual Channel Oscilloscope Hitachi Oscilloscope V212 20MHz
DC Power Supplies Thurlby Thunder PL320 32V -2A
Farnell LS30 -10 PSU
Signal Generator Pulse Generator 502
DC Motor arrangement
Soldering Iron
Drilling machine

OBSERVATIONS
Increasing the pulse width of the control signal from the generator; it increases the motor speed, in
reducing the speed of the motor the pulse width has to be reduced. This confirmed the theories
covered in the lectures on pulse width modulation (PWM). Both the voltage and current
waveforms had sharp spikes, due to the capacitances and stray inductances from the wires,
component junctions. The oscilloscope used had a frequency of 40 MHz, so the well-defined
resonance frequencies couldnt be obtained.
The current waveform was more distorted than the voltage waveform as shown in Figure 5:
VOLTAGE AND CURRENT WAVEFORMS:
Waveforms

Figure 6: Waveforms

Alfred Mazhindu

10

MEASUREMENTS:
Duty Ratio Calculation

Duty Ratio % =

Duty Ratio vs Speed Graph

90
80
70
60
50
Duty Ratio % 40
30
20
10
0
0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Speed (rpm)
Figure 7: Graph of Speed/Duty Ratio

Speed
(rpm)
2530
2371
2185
2052
1888
1750
1580
1498
1290
1117
960
829
702
598

Duty
Ratio
80
76
72
68
64
60
56
52
48
44
40
34
30
24

Ton
4
3.8
3.6
3.4
3.2
3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
1.8
1.6
1.4

Period
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

Table 1: Measurements of Ton and Speed

T1- 15v T2- T3-14.4v

Alfred Mazhindu

T4- 0.42Amperes

11

Vs
D1

Isolated Dc supply

Vmotor

T1

T2
S1

T4

HCPL
312
3020

T3
Rsense

Figure 8: 4 Test points

CHOPPER CIRCUIT

L1
1mH

D1
DIODE

R1
20
Diode Current
I=-9.92214e-11
VSwitch

R2

VGate
V=15

S1

V2

VSWITCH

100V

10

V1
I=1.97149
Current

VPULSE

Figure 9: Chopper Circuit Theory

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12

CHOPPER CIRCUIT SIMULATION

Simulation

Figure 10: Theory Simulation

COMPARISON OF THE WAVEFORMS

The theory demonstrates waveforms of both voltage and current without harmonics. The
voltage spikes across the motor are not perfect as of the current over it. For instance the pulse
width is amplified the current waveform distortion increased. The distortion may possibly due
to lost capacitances and inductances in the motor, cables and components. Preferably linking a
capacitor across the power supply would filter the harmonic components. In both
circumstances, the diode current flows through the load as the voltage falls to zero, ensuring a
constant current flow through the load.

CONCLUSION
Completely the objectives were seen as planned. The condition was fascinating and inspiring to
be able to design a chopper circuit for controlling the speed of a dc motor. The packages used
in this design (ISIS then ARES), modelled a real experiment to the entire project. Considering
components on data sheets from different websites and catalogues was interesting. Compelling
some additional times outside the scheduled time, to encounter data for the project. The project
was a hands on job and experience of soldering and testing the circuits, it was a proper
knowledge gained. I also found out that its so easy to set up the test equipment, including the
motor, signal generator, oscilloscope and voltmeter provided.
The outcomes obtained form testing, shown that the voltage and current waveforms are well
not defined as they actively in a simulation. The real results shown that the lost capacitances
and inductances present a portion of harmonics in circuits, therefore the waveforms have
spikes. Apparently the entire project was a very effective in terms of designing and testing.

Alfred Mazhindu

13

COMPONENTS USED
Resistors
R1= 1k (carbon film)
R2= 12 (carbon film)
R3= 220 (carbon film)
R4= 005 Bare metal strip
Capacitors
C3=470nF
(polyester)
C2=100nF (polyester)
C1=470nF (polyester)
Diodes
3mm diameter (RED)
Fast recovery diode
Miscellaneous
8 Pin Integrated Circuit base/ holder
Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
Semiconductors
IGBT SOT 78B

IGBT SOT 78B

Figure 11: IGBT SOT 78B

GATE DRIVE HCPL3120

Figure 12: HCPL 3120

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VOLTAGE REGULATOR 78L15

Figure 13: Regulator

RECOVERY DIODE

Figure 14: Diode

REFERENCE:
Farnell (2010) Component Order List, [Online], Available: http://uk.farnell.com/
[16 November 2010]
Rajamani, H.S & Browning, J (2010) Power Electronics Project-Gate Drives for MOSFET/IGBT,
[Blackboard], Available: 2010-1 SEM1 POWER ELECTRONICS AND MACHINES
(ENG2043M_2010-1_SEM1_A)> ASSIGNMENTS> Power Electronics Project >
Labproject2010 [02 November 2010]
Rajamani, H.S (2010) Chopper Circuit Theory, (Blackboard), Available: 2010-1 SEM1 POWER
ELECTRONICS AND MACHINES (ENG2043M_2010-1_SEM1_A_MODULE MATERIAL >
Package of Simulations Part 1 [24 November 2010]
DATASHEETS from Farnell order lists http://uk.farnell.com/

Alfred Mazhindu

15