Commutation

Commutation

The process of transferring current from one connection to another within an electric circuit. Depending on the application, commutation is achieved either by mechanical switching or by electronic switching.

Commutation was conceived over a century ago through the invention of the direct-current (dc) motor. When direct current is supplied to a winding on a rotor that is subjected to a stationary magnetic field, it experiences a rotational force and resulting output torque. As the stator north and south poles are reversed relative to the rotating winding, the rotor current is reversed by a commutator in order to maintain the unidirectional torque required for continuous motor action. See Direct-current motor, Windings in electric machinery

The principle is illustrated in Fig. 1. In its simplest form, a single rotor winding is connected between two segments of a cylindrical copper commutator which is mounted axially on the rotor. Connection to the external dc supply is through sliding carbon contacts (brushes). The segments have small insulated gaps at A and B. As A and B pass the brushes, the current in the rotor winding reverses. In the short interval where the brushes short-circuit the segments, the rotor current decays before building up in the reverse direction. The angular position of the brushes is selected to reverse the current at the appropriate rotor position.

Basic commutator for a dc motor

The same principle of commutation applies to the ac commutator motor and universal ac/dc motor, which are common in variable-speed kitchen appliances and electric hand tools. See Alternating-current motor, Universal motor

The equivalent of mechanical commutation occurs in solid-state converter circuits such as those used for rectifying ac to dc or inverting dc to ac. Figure 2 shows a three-phase converter widely used in industry. For simplicity, the ac supply network is represented by equivalent phase voltages in series with the effective supply inductance. (Often this inductance is mainly the inductance per phase of a converter transformer that interfaces the converter and the three-phase supply.) Usually, supply resistance is relatively low and plays a negligible role in the converter action. As shown, thyristors 1 and 2 are conducting the dc current from phase a to phase c. A smooth dc current does not produce a voltage across the inductance L in each phase. In the cyclic conduction sequence, the dc current is commutated from phase a and thyristor 1 to phase b and thyristor 3. To achieve this, thyristor 3 is gated in a region of the ac waveform when its forward voltage is positive. Turning it on applies a reverse voltage to thyristor 1 (phase b being more positive than phase a), which ceases conduction to complete the commutation of the dc current. This is repeated in sequence for the other thyristors in each ac cycle. See Converter, Semiconductor rectifier

Three-phase converter