Drawing a schematic of a DC motor circuit with a mechanical load connected to the rotor

Question

For the following schematic of an electromechanical system, I would like to:

1- reduce and optimize the code as much as possible for the following:

• drawing a line from its center by specifying its length and rotation (e.g. the line below N_1 and above N_2)

• find a more compact way to position and draw the pattern-filled rectangle instead of defining coordinates

• find a more optimized way to place the twisted arrows halfway between the vertical lines and the motor and cylinder

2- center the current arrow i_a between the resistance and the inductance,

3- understand the reason behind the existence of the gap between (M1.east) and the horizontal line next to it.

4- know why do I need to write down the unit mm for xshift and yshift to make it work as expected.

5- move E_a with its positive and negative signs to the right to be horizontally aligned with the circuit terminals. i.e. both signs and terminals and E_a should be horizontally aligned.

Further recommendations and code reductions are highly appreciated.

\documentclass[border=5mm]{standalone}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage[american,siunitx]{circuitikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows,shapes,calc, positioning, patterns, decorations, decorations.markings}

\newcommand{\mymotor}[2] % #1 = name , #2 = rotation angle
{\draw[thick,rotate=#2] (#1) circle (10pt)
    node[]{$\mathsf M$} 
    ++(-12pt,3pt)--++(0,-6pt) --++(2.5pt,0) ++(-2.8pt,6pt)-- ++(2.5pt,0pt);
    \draw[thick,rotate=#2] (#1) ++(12pt,3pt)--++(0,-6pt) --++(-2.5pt,0) ++(2.8pt,6pt)-- ++(-2.5pt,0pt);
}

\begin{document}

    \begin{tikzpicture}[damper/.style={thick,
            decorate,
            decoration={markings,  
                mark connection node=dmp,
                mark=at position 0.5 with 
                {
                    \node (dmp) [thick, inner sep=0pt, 
                    transform shape, 
                    rotate=-90, 
                    minimum width=15pt, 
                    minimum height=10pt, draw=none] {};
                    \draw [thick] ($(dmp.north east)+(4pt,0)$) -- 
                    (dmp.south east) -- (dmp.south west) -- 
                    ($(dmp.north west)+(4pt,0)$);
                    \draw [thick] ($(dmp.north)+(0,-8pt)$) -- 
                    ($(dmp.north)+(0,8pt)$);
        }}},]

        \draw (0,2) to[R=$R_a$,o-,  f=$i_a$] ++(2,0)  to[L,cute inductor, l=$L_a$,]  ++(2,0)  to[sV, color=white, name=M1] ++(0,-2) to[short,-o] ++(-4,0);
        \mymotor{M1}{90}

        \draw (0,2) to [open, v=$E_a$] (0,0);

        \draw[thick] (M1.north) -- ++(1.5,0) -- +(0,0.5) node [anchor=south] {$N_1$} -- +(0,-0.5) coordinate (N1);

        \draw[->] ([xshift=7.5mm,yshift=-2mm]M1.north)  to [out=-60,in=60, looseness=4] ++(0,0.4) node [above=1mm] {$T_m, \theta_m$};

        \draw[thick] ([yshift=-2]N1) -- ++(0,-1.5) node [below] {$N_2$} ++(0,0.75) -- ++(1,0) node [cylinder, black, shape border rotate=180, draw,
        minimum height=2, minimum width=1, aspect=0.5,cylinder uses custom fill, cylinder end fill = gray!20,anchor=west] (c) {Load Inertia};

        \draw[->] ([xshift=-5mm,yshift=-2mm]c.west)  to [out=-120,in=120, looseness=4] ++(0,0.4) node [above=1mm] {$\theta_L$};

        \draw [damper] (c.east) -- node[above=3mm] {$d_1$} ++(0:2) ++(0,-1) coordinate (pttrn);


        \draw[preaction={fill=gray!10},pattern=north east lines,pattern=bricks] (pttrn) rectangle ++(0.5,2);
    \end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

Answer 1

1

find a more optimized way to place the twisted arrows halfway between the vertical lines and the motor and cylinder

Define a pic and use.

\tikzset{rotarrow/.pic={
\draw[thin,->] (-0.2,-0.2)  to [out=-60,in=60, looseness=4] ++(0,0.4) node [above=1mm] {\tikzpictext};
},
}

% \draw (0,0) -- pic[pic text={$\theta$}]{rotarrow} ++(1.5,0); %<-use pic

2

Use a short in between resistor and inductor and use flow arrow there.

\draw (0,2) to[R=$R_a$,o-] ++(2,0) to[short,f=$i_a$] ++(0.1,0) to[L,cute inductor, l=$L_a$,]  ++(2,0)  to[sV, color=white, name=M1] ++(0,-2) to[short,-o] (0,0);

3

M1 is a sinusoidal voltage source (sV). So its trying to access the east node of sV not mymotor. You can fix it by increasing the radius of circle in \mymotor. Or you can just use the elmech element.

\draw (M1) node[elmech,scale=0.7]{M};

4

Default unit is pt. See this questions: Different dimensions with shift and xshift and Setting “cm” as default unit of measures in tikzpicture

5

Use tikz path

\path (0,2)node[below]{+} -- node[midway]{$E_a$} (0,0)node[above]{-};

\documentclass[border=5mm]{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage[american,siunitx]{circuitikz}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows,shapes,calc, positioning, patterns, decorations, decorations.markings,quotes}
\tikzset{rotarrow/.pic={
\draw[thin,->] (-0.2,-0.2)  to [out=-60,in=60, looseness=4] ++(0,0.4) node [above=1mm] {\tikzpictext};
},
}

\begin{document}
    \begin{tikzpicture}[damper/.style={thick,
            decorate,
            decoration={markings,  
                mark connection node=dmp,
                mark=at position 0.5 with 
                {
                    \node (dmp) [thick, inner sep=0pt, 
                    transform shape, 
                    rotate=-90, 
                    minimum width=15pt, 
                    minimum height=10pt, draw=none] {};
                    \draw [thick] ($(dmp.north east)+(4pt,0)$) -- 
                    (dmp.south east) -- (dmp.south west) -- 
                    ($(dmp.north west)+(4pt,0)$);
                    \draw [thick] ($(dmp.north)+(0,-8pt)$) -- 
                    ($(dmp.north)+(0,8pt)$);
        }}},]

        \draw (0,2) to[R=$R_a$,o-] ++(2,0) to[short,f=$i_a$] ++(0.1,0) to[L,cute inductor, l=$L_a$,]  ++(2,0)  to[short,  name=M1] ++(0,-2) to[short,-o] (0,0);
        \draw (M1) node[elmech,scale=0.7](M2){M};
        \path (0,2)node[below]{+} -- node[midway]{$E_a$} (0,0)node[above]{-};
        \draw[thick] (M2.east) -- pic[pic text={$T_m,\theta_m$}]{rotarrow} ++(1.5,0) -- +(0,0.5) node [anchor=south] {$N_1$} -- +(0,-0.5) coordinate (N1);

        \draw[thick] ([yshift=-2]N1) -- ++(0,-1.5) node [below] {$N_2$} ++(0,0.75) --  pic[xscale=-1,pic text={$\theta_L$}]{rotarrow} ++(1,0) node [cylinder, black, shape border rotate=180, draw,
        minimum height=2, minimum width=1, aspect=0.5,cylinder uses custom fill, cylinder end fill = black!70,anchor=west,xshift=-0.15cm, fill opacity=0.2,text opacity=1] (c) {Load Inertia};
        \draw [damper] (c.east) -- node[above=3mm] {$d_1$} ++(0:2)   node[draw, rectangle, minimum height=2cm, minimum width =0.5cm,anchor=west,preaction={fill=gray!10},pattern=north east lines,pattern=bricks]{};
    \end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}