Electric drives are an important part of the industrial engineering. In the industrial countries approx. 60 % of all electrical energy produced is transferred into mechanical energy. About 30 % of the used speed electric drives are constructed adjustable, in other words they are freely adjustable regarding totation and torque.

The fields of applications are various so that only a few examples are mentioned:

• traction drives for the railway and road vehicles
• drives in machine tools and robots
• cranes and other feeders or hoisting engines
• pumps and ventilators
• drives in motor vehicles such as generator, window regulator, throttle valve actuator (e-gas)

The lecture starts with the crucial constructions of the drives:

• D.C. machines
• asynchronous machines
• synchronous machines
• as well as an overview of small drives

On the basis of the construction of the machine the functionality is explained. Then the important mathematical relationships for the description of the operating behavior such as rotation torque characteristics are derivated. On this basis methods of the speed control for braking and starting are discussed. Here especially switching modes of converters are described. Regarding asynchronous and synchronous machines the lecture only deals with the behavior in the electric sinusoidal steady state vibration. The dynamic processes in induction machines are introduced in the lecture "Energietechnik II - Dynamic of Electric Machines". The field converter and power electronic will be deeper introduced in the lecture "Energietechnik III".

• Erich-Herbert Lämmerhirdt: Elektrische Maschinen und Antriebe, Carl Hanser Verlag, München, Wien, 1989
• Rolf Fischer: Elektrische Maschinen, Carl Hanser Verlag, München, Wien, 1989
• G. Müller: Elektrische Maschinen, VDE-Verlag GmbH, Berlin u. Offenbach, 1985
• Schröder: Elektrische Antriebe 1, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg und New York 1994
• Hans Kleinrath: Grundlagen elektrischer Maschinen, Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Wiesbaden 1975
• Hans Kleinrath: Stromrichtergespeiste Drehfeldmaschinen, Springer-Verlag, Wien und New York,1980
• R. Flosdorff, G. Hilgarth - Elektrische Energieverteilung; Teubner 1994
• Fritz Kümmel: Elektrische Antriebstechnik, Teil 1: Maschinen, VDE-Verlag GmbH, Berlin und Offenbach 1986