ELECTRICAL MACHINES

By Dr. M. Chinna Obaiah,

Assistant Professor (Sr), SELECT, VIT Vellore.
 Special Machines

 Stepper Motor
 Servo Motor
 Brushless DC Motor
 Stepper Motor
 A stepper motor is an electromechanical device which converts electrical pulses into
discrete mechanical movements.
 The shaft or spindle of a stepper motor rotates in discrete step increments when
electrical command pulses are applied to it in the proper sequence.

 Motor that moves one step at a time during its rotation.

− A digital version of an electric motor
− Each step is defined by a Step Angle

 Step Angle : The angle between two successive positions of a stepping motor.
 Why a Stepper Motor?

 Relatively inexpensive
 Ideal for open loop positioning control
 Can be implemented without feedback
 Minimizes sensing devices
 Just count the steps!
 Torque
 Holds its position firmly when not turning
 Eliminates mechanical brakes
 Produces better torque than DC motors at lower speeds
 Positioning applications
 Main Components Stator
Consists of Rotor
 Stator
− Holds multiple
windings/phases
 Rotor
− Magnetized
or
− Non-magnetized
1

2 2

S
Magnetized
1 rotor
multiple
windings/phases

Non-Magnetized
rotor (iron)
 Step Angle - β

The angle between two successive positions of a stepping motor.

 As small as 0.78o to 90o

 Most commonly used – 1.8o, 2.5o, 7.5o, 15o

β = (Ns-Nr) x 360o = 360o

Ns.Nr mNr

Ns – No. of Stator poles (teeth)

Nr – No. of Rotor poles (teeth)

m - No. of stator phases

Resolution
Resolution = No. of steps/revolution
= 360o/β
 Working Principle of Stepper Motor
 The stepper motor rotor is a permanent magnet, when the current flows through the
stator winding, the stator winding to produce a vector magnetic field.
 The magnetic field drives the rotor to rotate by an angle so that the pair of magnetic
fields of the rotor and the magnetic field direction of the stator are consistent.
 When the stator's vector magnetic field is rotated by an angle, the rotor also rotates with
the magnetic field at an angle.
 Each time an electrical pulse is input, the motor rotates one degree further.

 The angular displacement it outputs is proportional

to the number of pulses input and the speed is
proportional to the pulse frequency.
 Change the order of winding power, the motor will
reverse.
 Therefore, it can control the rotation of the stepping
motor by controlling the number of pulses, the
frequency and the electrical sequence of each phase
winding of the motor.
 Stepper motor operation

The top electromagnet (1) is turned on, The top electromagnet (1) is turned
attracting the nearest teeth of a gear- off, and the right electromagnet (2) is
shaped iron rotor. With the teeth aligned energized, pulling the nearest teeth
to electromagnet 1, they will be slightly slightly to the right. This results in a
offset from electromagnet 2 rotation of 3.6° in this example.
 Stepper motor operation (contd.,)

The left electromagnet (4) is enabled,

The bottom electromagnet (3) is
rotating again by 3.6°. When the top
energized; another 3.6° rotation
electromagnet (1) is again enabled, the
occurs.
teeth in the sprocket will have rotated by
one tooth position; since there are 25 teeth,
it will take 100 steps to make a full rotation
in this example.
 Types of Stepper Motors

 Variable Reluctance stepper motor

 Non-magnetic, geared rotor
 Permanent Magnet Stepper motor
 Magnetic rotor
 Hybrid stepper motor
 Combines characteristics from PM and VR
 Magnetic, geared rotor
 Variable-Reluctance (VR) Stepper Motor

Toothed Rotor and Toothed Stator

Principle of Operation:
Reluctance of the magnetic circuit formed
by the rotor and stator teeth varies with the
angular position of the rotor
Here, energize coils A and A’ (Phase A)
Rotor “steps” to align rotor teeth 1 and 4
with stator teeth 1 and 5
 Energize Phase C
Energize coils B and B’ Rotor steps forward another 15°
(Phase B) Energize Phase D
Rotor steps “forward” Rotor steps forward another
15°
Rotor teeth 3 and 6 align
with Stator teeth 1 and 5

Repeat the sequence

Energize Phase A
Rotor steps forward again
 Switching Circuit for the stepper motor
Close switches in order 1, 2, 3, and 4 to turn the
rotor “clockwise”
Close switches in reverse order - 4, 3, 2, and 1 to
change rotation to the opposite (counter-clockwise)
direction

Variable-Reluctance Stepper Motor Typical Driver Circuit

F = “filter” block
C = Up/Down Counter
D = Decoder
S = Electronic Switch
(transistor)
 Modes of operation –VR type
 1-phase ON – full step operation
 2-phase ON
 Half-step – alternate 1-phase & 2-phase mode
 Micro stepping
A B C D A B C D A B C D
+ 0 0 0 + + 0 0 + 0 0 0
0 + 0 0 0 + + 0 + + 0 0
0 0 + 0 0 0 + + 0 + 0 0
0 0 0 + + 0 0 + 0 + + 0
+ 0 0 0 + + 0 0 0 0 + 0
0 0 + +
1-phase ON 2-phase ON
Mode- ABCDA 0 0 0 +
Mode- AB, BC, CD, DA,
AB + 0 0 +
+ 0 0 0
Half-step
Mode- A, AB, B, BC, C ,CD, D, DA, A
 Permanent Magnet (PM) Stepper motor
 Rotor poles – permanent
magnet
 Greater resolution as pole
pairs increase or Additional
Phases
 Modes of Operation – PM type
• 1-phase ON mode

• 2-phase ON mode

• Half step mode

 Hybrid stepper motor
 Combination of VR and PM

 Wound Stator poles – (similar to VR)

 Rotor poles – permanent magnet

 Rotor shape – not Cylindrical

 Direction – stator current polarity

Advantages / Disadvantages
Advantages:-
 Low cost for control achieved
 Ruggedness
 Simplicity of construction
 Can operate in an open loop control system
 Low maintenance
 Less likely to stall or slip
 Will work in any environment

Disadvantages:-
 Require a dedicated control circuit
 Use more current than D.C. motors
 High torque output achieved at low speeds
 Stepper motor applications

Paper feeder on printers

Stepper motors

CNC lathes
Stepper motor applications (contd.,)
 Computer peripherals
 Textile industries
 IC fabrications
 Robotics
 Applications requiring incremental motion
 Typewriters
 Line printers
 Tape drives
 Floppy disk drives
 Numerically-controlled machine tools
 Process control systems
 X-Y plotters
Servo Motors
 Servo Motors
 A servo motor is one of the widely used variable speed drive in industrial production
and process automation and building technology world wide.

 These not specified to any class of motors.

 These are intended and designed to used in motion control applications which requires
high accuracy positioning, quick reversing, and exceptional performances.

 It is a linear or rotary actuator that provides fast precision position control for closed-
loop position control applications.

 It is not used for continuous energy conversion

Applications:
 Robotics, Radar Systems
 Automated manufacturing systems,
 Machine tools, Computers,
 CNC Machines,
 Tracking Systems
Servo motors works on Servomechanism that uses position feedback to control the speed and
final position of the motor.

Servomechanism: is an automatic device that uses error-sensing negative feedback to

correct the action of mechanism.
Or
Closed-loop mechanism to nullify the error between the designed and actual value
automatically.

A Servo motor internally consists of

 Motor (AC or DC)
 Feedback Circuit
 Controller and
 Other Electronic circuit.
Brushless DC (BLDC) Motor
EVOLUTION

 CONVENTIONAL DC MOTOR

 PERMANENT MAGNET DC MOTOR (PMDC)

 BRUSHLESS PERMANENT DC MOTOR

(BLPMDC)
 Conventional DC Motors
• Converts electrical energy to mechanical energy

• Principle- When a current carrying conductor placed in a magnetic field experiences a

force

• Stator is made up of forced steel with inward projected poles and poles carry field
windings and rotor is of silicon steel stampings
 Permanent magnet DC motor
• Construction of PMDC is similar to conventional dc motor

• Stator poles are replaced by suitable permanent magnets

• No need to have field windings .

 Brushless Permanent Magnet DC Motor
• Brushless DC electric motor also known as electronically commutated motors
(ECMs, EC motors) are synchronous motors that are powered by a DC electric source
via an integrated inverter/switching power supply, which produces an AC electric
signal to drive the motor .
– magnetic fields generated by the stator and rotor rotate at the same frequency
– no slip
• The stator consists of several coils which current is led through Creating a magnetic field
that makes the rotor turns .
 Construction of BLDC

 It consist of two parts mainly stator & rotor

Stator:
 Stator is made up of silicon steel stampings with slots.

 The slots are accommodated armature windings.

 This winding is wound with specified no.of poles(even number).

 This winding connected a dc supply through a power electronic switching circuits

( inverter circuits) .
Rotor:
 Rotor is of permanent magnet

 no of poles on rotor is same as that of stator

 Rotor shaft carries a RPS (Rotor position sensor) and it provides information about the
position of shaft at any instant to the controller which sends signal to the electronic
commutator .

 The electronic commutator function is same as that of mechanical commutator in DC

motor
 Working Of BLDC Motor
 The rotor and stator of a BLDC motor are shown in the fig . It is clear that, the rotor of a
BLDC motor is a permanent magnet.

 The stator has a coil arrangement, as illustrated; The internal winding of the rotor is
illustrated in the Fig(core of the rotor is hidden here). The rotor has 3 coils,named A, B
and C.

 Out of these 3 coils, only one coil is illustrated in the Fig

for simplicity. By applying DC power to the coil, the coil
will energize and become an electromagnet .
 The operation of a BLDC is based on the simple force interaction between the
permanent magnet and the electromagnet.

 In this condition, when the coil A is energized, the opposite poles of the rotor and stator
are attracted to each other (The attractive force is shown in green arrow).

 As a result the rotor poles move near to the energized stator.

 As the rotor nears coil A, coil B is energized. As the rotor nears coil B, coil C is
energized. After that, coil A is energized with the opposite polarity . This process is
repeated, and the rotor continues to rotate.

Fig: Coil energizing sequence, A, B, C, A

 Unlike a brushed DC motor, the commutation of BLDC motor is controlled
electronically.

 It is important to know the rotor position in order to understand which winding will be
energized following the energizing sequence.

 Rotor position is sensed by different ways some of them are

1) Hall sensors 2) Optical encoders

Hall Sensors
When a magnetic field applied to a system with electric current a hall voltage
Perpendicular to the field and to current is generated. This was discovered by Edwin Hall
in 1879.
 Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages:
 Increased Reliability & Efficiency
 Longer Life
 Elimination of Sparks from Commutator
 Reduced Friction
 Faster Rate of Voltage & Current

Disadvantages:
 Requires Complex Drive Circuitry
 Requires additional Sensors
 Higher Cost
 Some designs require manual labor (Hand wound Stator Coils)
 Applications

 Consumer: Hard Drives, CD/DVD Drives, PC Cooling Fans, toys, RC

airplanes, air conditioners

 Medical: Artificial heart, Microscopes, centrifuges, Arthroscopic surgical

tools, Dental surgical tools and Organ transport pump system.

 Vehicles: electronic power steering, personal electric vehicles

 Airplanes: an electric self launching sailplane, flies with a 42kW DC/DC

brushless motor and Li-Ion batteries and can climb up to 3000m with fully
charged cells