The iron armature motor ................................................................................................7 The hollow rotor motor..................................................................................................8 The disc armature motor ................................................................................................8 Nominal quantities .........................................................................................................9
2. 3. 4. Torque constant and back-EMF constant .................................................................................... 10 Power conversion......................................................................................................................... 12 Servomotor characteristics .......................................................................................................... 13
The motor steepness.....................................................................................................13 Thermal limits..............................................................................................................14 Maximum mechanical power.......................................................................................15 Maximum efficiency....................................................................................................16
5. 6. Voltage controlled servomotor..................................................................................................... 18
The model ........................................................................................................20 The ohmic loss and temperature dependent constants.....................................21 De-rating by the ambient temperature .............................................................21 Transient analysis.............................................................................................22 DC-brushless....................................................................................................25 AC-Synchronous Servo Motors.......................................................................28 Comparison of motors with and without brushes ............................................30 Attention to ....Losses related to the iron ........................................................31 Sinusoidal or trapezoidal EMF and the amplifier ............................................33 Comparison motor types ..................................................................................33 The iron armature motor ..............................................................................33 The hollow rotor motor................................................................................35 The disc armature motor ..............................................................................35 Load cases........................................................................................................37
7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.6.1 7.6.2 7.6.3 7.7
8.
Low cost...........................................................................................................49 Pulse width and frequency modulation............................................................49 Four quadrant operation...................................................................................50 The transfer function of a PWM amplifier ......................................................52 Gain errors and offset.......................................................................................55 Cables...............................................................................................................57 The smaller the better?.....................................................................................57 Introduction......................................................................................................58 The application field of linear drives ...............................................................58 Consequences of a direct drive ........................................................................59
Actuators ...................................................................................................................................... 61
12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.7.1 12.7.2 12.7.3 12.7.4 12.8
13.
Electro dynamic actuators................................................................................61 Force and dissipation .......................................................................................64 The voltage.......................................................................................................65 The stroke and the factor K..............................................................................65 Heat transfer.....................................................................................................66 Mechanics ........................................................................................................67 Electro dynamic actuator types........................................................................72 The loudspeaker ...........................................................................................72 A sledge actuator..........................................................................................74 A flat actuator ..............................................................................................75 Moving magnet ............................................................................................76 Summary ..........................................................................................................79 Electronic commutation ...................................................................................81 DC-brushless....................................................................................................81 AC-synchronous motors ..................................................................................82 Comparison ironless and iron core linear motors ............................................84 Linear motor, moving magnet..........................................................................85 the K-factor ......................................................................................................86 The resistance R ...............................................................................................87 The steepness S ................................................................................................88 The thermal resistance Rth ................................................................................88 Life-time ..........................................................................................................88 Amplifier choice ..............................................................................................89
Linear motors........................................................................................................................... 80
Literature...................................................................................................................................... 90
Preface
Precision engineering is highly linked with modern production equipment, where accuracy is linked to speed. For example accuracies of nanometers are required in a settling time expressed in milli-seconds in a wafer scanner. Wire-bonders, component mounting equipment, wafer-handlers and dye-handling robots are other examples. This puts high demands on the technologies involved. Machine stability and sufficient high vibration modes have to be obtained to get a good controller performance. Thermal stability is required to allow accurate measurements and to prevent frame or tool deformations. Actuators should produce the exact controller requested force directed to the centre of mass to prevent excitations in other degrees of freedom. The author is active in this field of interest as industrial designer for electrical drive systems for more than 30 years and these lecture notes reflect a part of the knowledge gained with the electrical drives in the central position. Extending the knowledge on electrical drives is mainly driven by the high demanding projects done by Philips Applied Technologies for its customers. The electrical drives are the linking pin in these notes, directed to electrical drives for precision engineering. In preparing these notes the decision is made to give preference to a system approach. Many times a reference was made to thermal aspects, dynamics, control, electronics and the consequences of tolerances. The electrical drives are considered here as a component to be selected, based on its characteristics. The consequence is that typical motor design issues are described, but not analyzed by means of mathematical formulations, as can be found in the literature directed to the design of motors and actuators.
1.
Introduction
In controlled systems the information obtained from sensors or commanded signals is used to influence the state of the system. The signals are used to exert forces or to control other types of actuators (fans, valves, heaters, etc.). In electro-mechanical systems it is generally necessary to convert electronic signals to mechanical forces or torques. The specific characteristics of the actuator may be of noticeable influence on the performance of controlled systems. Several types of electromechanical actuators exist. Examples are rotating or translating (linear) DCmotors, step motors, AC-synchronous motors and AC-asynchronous motors. All these motors have different characteristics and are specially suited for a typical application. In this section some basic theory on electro-mechanical actuators will be presented. Tools used to select motors for a certain application will be introduced. Finally a first impression of the influences on the control system behaviour will be presented. If we only need a constant speed, for instance for a transport system, we could take an ACsynchronous motor or an AC-asynchronous motor. Looking to the dynamical behaviour one will see however for these motors a considerable time-constant or oscillating response. In a servo system, motors with a well predictable response, as holds for the DC-motor, are preferred. This can also be obtained for the two mentioned AC-motors with the vector control technology, but this requires an advanced and expensive motor controller and the related costs can only be accepted for powers above 1 kW. The majority of servo-systems within Philips are in the range 1 ... 400 watt, so we will concentrate on the DC-motors. Examples of DC-motors are: disc armature (Fig. 1.1), hollow rotor (Fig. 1.2), iron armature (Fig. 1.3) and brushless (Fig. 1.4).
The toothed structure of the rotor gives rise to cogging, which are reduced by skewing the rotor slots in the more expensive motors. Strengths The power density, defined as Pmech/volume, is by far the highest, because the magnets only have a small air gap to overcome. The rest of the flux path consists of the magnetically highly conductive iron. The end result is less weight, less volume and low price. The iron guarantees mechanical robustness; the windings are anchored in it by means of a moulding resin. Considerable attention has generally been given to secure fixing of the winding head and to the connections to the collector. A high resistance to centrifugal forces and accelerations is achieved in this way. The thermal capacity is great because of the presence of the rotor iron; short-time peak powers are consequently readily absorbed. The small dimensions resulting from the high power density do generally result in the thermal resistance Rth1 being slightly higher. A low mechanical time constant can be achieved through the slim structural shape of the rotor in combination with the high power density; < 5 ms is feasible. The large number of producers means that second sourcing is possible at good prices.
Weaknesses
The rotating iron produces cogging in addition to eddy current and hysteresis losses. The fact that the conductors are located in the slots of the iron rotor gives rise to a substantial self-inductance of the rotor windings. This makes the commutation of the rotor coils difficult. It also gives rise to a time constant in the control loop; with fast torque changes the selfinductance means that the amplifier must have a safety margin on the voltage if it is to overcome L.di/dt. The drawbacks of the iron armature motor will not be found in the hollow rotor motor. In this motor the windings are located in the air gap and together form a cage that has been made into a solid entity with resins. This cage has then been fixed to the shaft of the motor.
Weaknesses The power density is a factor 3 lower than that of comparable iron armature motors, because appreciably larger magnets must be used. Greater vulnerability to peak torques and high speeds. The cage construction has lower limits than the iron armature rotor. In the absence of the rotor iron the thermal capacity is low. At the same time the thermal resistance Rth1 is moderate because of the large air gaps and the impeded heat dissipation via the shaft. This motor is therefore better suited to short-time loads. An increase of 3* in the thermal load can be achieved by the introduction of a forced air current via a separate blower.
NOMINAL QUANTITIES
Nominal values of torque and speed (or current and voltage) are generally given for an ambient temperature. The main usefulness this has is that it makes comparison with other motors possible. At the same time a life of the motor can be given under these conditions. For the user of a motor this life
is a reference point. But only very rarely will we come across an application that satisfies the nominal conditions, so a life expectancy must always be given with more than a little caution.
2.
The principle mechanism for electro-motors is the Lorentz-force. In this paragraph this mechanism will be presented.
df t = dq. B.va .
2.1
It is based on the theory of special relativity. Although very interesting this will not analysed here (see Interpretation of Classical Electromagnetism, W.G.V.Rosser, ISBN 0-7923-4197-2). The speed of the charge dq is given by:
v a = dl
dt
2.2
The current [ampere] in the conductor is, according the definition of Ampere:
I = dq
dt
2.3
The force [newton] on the conductor is obtained by substitution and integration over the length of the wire. The force equals:
f t = B. I .l.
2.4
The field B is assumed to be generated by a permanent magnet. For a motor with N windings on a radius r, the torque [newton.meter] equals:
T = N . f r .r = N .B. I .l.r = K t . I .
2.5
So, the torque is proportional to the current, when using a permanent magnet. For this reason, motors with a permanent magnet are used in servo systems. This type of motors we will call servomotors. Now the induced voltage, the back EMF will be analysed. If the conductor is moving in a field B (in the direction given in figure 2.1b), the force on the charge dq is given by: df a = dq.B.vt . The force
10
per unit of charge, dfa/dq, is per definition the electrical field strength E [V/m]. The voltage difference over the conductor, known as the back-EMF (electro-magnetic force) is the line integral of the fieldstrength E:
EMF = Edl =
0 0
a dl = B.vt .l. dq
2.6
For a motor with N windings on a radius r rotating with the speed [rad/sec] we have the next relation:
EMF = N .B.l.r.
vt = K e . . r
2.7
So the EMF is proportional to the motor speed if the field B is constant. The back-EMF constant is equal to the torque constant and we will use from now on the symbol K with as units [Nm/A]! Be aware of the units applied; many times one will meet Kt with the units Nm/A and Ke with as units V/1000 rpm. From now on the symbol E will be used for the back EMF, because this is the usual symbol.
11
3.
Power conversion
The motor windings have a resistance R. There fore we must supply a voltage U to the motor according:
U = E + I .R.
3.1
The incoming electrical power Pel is partly converted to mechanical power and dissipation:
Pel = U . I = E . I + I 2 R
Applying the formula for the back-EMF we arrive at:
3.2
Pel = K . .. I + I 2 .R.
Substitution of K.I=T leads to:
3.3
Pel = .T + I 2 .R,
what can be recognized as:
3.4
3.5
The loss in the motor Pdiss results in to a temperature rise of the windings. The maximum temperature of the windings limits the allowable continuous current (and torque) of the motor. An important conclusion is that for the mechanical power holds:
Pmech = E. I = K . . I .
3.6
12
4.
Servomotor characteristics
U = I .R + E =
T R + K . K
4.1
0 =
U K
4.2
S=
K2 R
4.3
T = S .( 0 )
With a blocked rotor one obtains the stall-torque Ts:
4.4
Ts =
=K
U R
i = U/R , T s =K.U/R
4.6
Ts
U=constant T
S=Ts / 0,0
= U/K
0
S=
K 2 K 2I 2 T 2 = = R RI 2 Pdiss
4.7
13
It has to be mentioned that the stall torque Ts and no-load speed 0 depend both linearly on the supply voltage U. Substitution proves:
S=
Ts
4.8
In data sheets one will find the damping factor Km, which is equal to S.
THERMAL LIMITS
The dissipation of the motor is limited by the maximum allowed temperature max of the winding isolation. With a thermal resistance Rth between the windings and the ambient, and the temperature amb one obtains the maximum allowable dissipation Pmax,diss as:
Pdiss ,max =
max amb
Rth
4.9
Pdis = I 2 R =
T2 . S
4.10
Combination of the two preceding formulas leads to a maximum allowable continuous torque (T100):
max ambient
Rth
4.11
Servomotors do not operate in continuous duty. The peak torque, necessary during acceleration can be much higher, because the motor accelerates only during a limited period of time. Suppose a motor operates in a cycle of Tcycl; during .100% of this time the torque T is produced. The dissipated power is given now as:
T2 P = . S
This loss should not exceed Pdiss,max, so:
4.12
Pdiss ,max =
2 T100 T2 = . S S
4.13
T = .T100
4.14
This torque level can be drawn in the torque speed curve (figure 3) as a function of . One has to be aware that Pdiss,max, and so also T, depends on the ambient temperature!
14
Ts
10 %
U nom T
25 % 50 % 100 %
0,0
Figure 4.2, T by thermal limits
When the torque changes rapidly in time an other definition is used many times; the effective torque Trms, which is defined as:
Trms =
1 2 T (t ) dt t c tc
4.15
The time interval tc is the cycle time of the process involved. Then holds:
P=
2 Trms S
4.16
Pmech = .T = T .( 0
T )= S
4.17
dPmech 2T = 0 dT S
The torque level is given consequently as:
4.18
T=
0S
2
Ts 2
4.19
Pmech ,max =
02 S
4
U2 4R
4.20
15
This can be found at the middle of the torque speed curve. Indicated in the graph is the line Pmax; on this line all points (,T) with maximum output power can be found as a function of the supply voltage U.
Ts
Torque
P mech T
max
Ts
2
P mech, max
0,0
/2
Speed/power
4.21
with Tfr as the friction torque of the motor and d as the viscous damping coefficient (the speeddependent friction). The torque T for maximum efficiency is determined by:
Ts2 + S .T fr .Ts d =0T = d+S dT
torque T
4.22
P out
0 /2
speed/power
16
torque SOA
0.5
P comm
T25 T100
Unom
opt
speed
17
5.
A servomotor can be controlled in two ways. The most common way in professional systems (factory mechanization, robot systems) is controlling the motor current with a current amplifier, what means that the output current is proportional with the input signal for the amplifier. By controlling the current one control directly the motor torque. For smaller motors, used in consumer systems, a linear voltage amplifier is often used. By controlling the motor voltage one control more or less the speed. To indicate why is said more or less the inductance of the motor is added to the voltage equation, leading to:
u=E+L di + i.R dt
5.1
5.2-5.5
1 = 2 0 e m s + m s + 1
with:
5.6
e = L / R, m =
J .R J = K2 S
5.7
The electrical time constant e is in general much smaller than m. The conclusion is that one deals with a second order system, what has to be considered as a complication for the design of the controller.
current source u i K T
+ _
1 sJ
T load
voltage source u 1
+ _
i K
T
+ _
R(1+s) e
1 sJ
T load
18
u = K . +
R L dT + T. K K dt
5.8
The speed and torque as a function of time are in general determined by the application. A complication is that the resistance R rises with =4 % per 10K and that the motor constant K falls with some percent per 10K by the temperature dependence of the magnet strength. Usually symbol for the relative decrease of the motor constant is kt [%/K]. Concerning this last dependency one has to refer to the motor data sheets, where one also will find a usual tolerance on the resistance R and motor-constant K of 5 to 10 %. Taking the effects mentioned above one has to take more affects into account to obtain the required supply voltage for the motor-amplifier. One has to consider also the voltage drops over:
mains connectors
+
E
_
supply amplifier cable motor
These additions also hold for the voltage of a current amplifier. In chapter 14 a more extended list of amplifier choice related items will be given.
19
6.
6.1
Thermal aspects
THE MODEL
In the paragraph on the thermal limits of the motor, it was said that the maximum power dissipation is limited. This dissipation will result in a temperature rise of the motor. Because of the thermal capacity of the motor, the temperature will rise according to a first order response, with a time constant. Rotor and stator have their own thermal time constants, which can be found by applying the thermal network model, indicated in the figure.
R th1 rotor stator
th2
ambient
I s
Tem
pL+R( r )
+ - d Thyst
+ - Tfric TCog()
1 p
1 pJ
sign()
Cth
Cth 2
ambient Functions of time: ,r ,s,U,i,E,T load Figure 6.1.2, Full model for a motor with brushes
20
6.2
A simplified example will be given now, assuming no damping, friction and hystersis in the motor. Target is to link the temperature rise and the rms torque Trms, taking into account the temperature dependency of the resistance () and the motor constant (kt).
P=
2 2 Trms T 2 R .(1 + . r ) Trms Ramb .(1 + .P.(Rth1 + Rth2 )) R( r ) = rms amb = 2 2 K( s ) 2 K amb .(1 + k t . s )2 K amb .(1 + k t .Rth2 .P) 2
6.2.1
with P as the copper losses. Be aware of Ramb and Kamb, numbers belonging to the actual ambient temperature, which might differ from the values Rref and Kref at the reference temperature used in data sheets from the motor supplier. Rearrangement leads to:
2 2 2 2 2 P 3 .K amb k t Rth 2 + 2 P 2 k t K amb Rth 2 + P.{K amb Trms Ramb .( Rth1 + Rth 2 )} Trms Ramb = 0 2
6.2.2
The roots of this third order equation in the power loss P can be obtained in analytical form either by numerical methods, with as result that a direct link exists between the torque Trms and the losses P. The temperature rise of the rotor and stator follow by the multiplication of the solution P with Rth1+ Rth2 and Rth2 respectively.
6.3
The link between the ambient temperature amb, the maximum allowed rotor temperature r,max and the maximum allowed continuous torque T100 can be obtained with the following approach, based on r,max=100 C.
ref = 30 rmax = 100 Rth1 = 0.5 Rth2 = 0.3 K := 1 R=6 kt := 0.002 Rmax := R 1 + (rmax ref) P (amb) := s (amb) := Rotor resistance at max rotor temperature Allowed losses now Resulting stator temperature Resulting motor constant Resulting allowed torque P ambi P (ref)
(rmax amb)
Rth1 + Rth2
)
2
De-rating coefficient
Ti
Pi
50 ambi
100
50 ambi
100
21
T100 ( amb ) = K .
Rth 2 .( r max amb ) ( r max amb ) ref 1 + k t R.(1 + .( r max ref )).(Rth1 + Rth 2 ) Rth1 + Rth 2
6.3.1
De-rating is not only a question of going to tropical areas, mounting a motor in a warm housing has the same consequences!
6.4
TRANSIENT ANALYSIS
A transient analysis is given as the next example. Included are now the thermal resistances Rth1, Rth2, Cth1 and C th2, the temperature dependency of the rotor resistance R and the motor constant K, with their initial value based on the reference temperature ref, whereas amb holds as the actual reference temperature. Let us assume a torque Trms, giving Pref as loss when the rotor and stator temperature equals ref. With Figure 6.1.1 one gets as the set differential equations:
6.4.1
6.4.2
For the rotor and stator are used r0 and s0 respectively as initial values. Let us assume that the
motor load, a constant torque, is removed after 450 seconds. The problem is solved with Mathcad as follows in fig. 6.4.1.
22
r0
i := 0 .. imax 1
si := Zi , 2
Ti := i
tmax imax
200
400 Ti
600
800
1000
23
108.414 ri si
150 100 50 0
20
0 0
200
400 Ti
600
800
1000 999
24
7.
The mechanical commutation with brushes and a commutator is the main cause of performance limitations for this type of motors. The maximum brush current limits the maximum torque, the maximum speed is determined by the lift of the brushes, the maximum voltage by the limited lamellae voltage and the mechanical output by the commutation power handling capacity of the commutation system. Furthermore it is a fact that the limited reliability of motors with brushes is highly related to mechanical troubles with the brushes. The principal geometry of a servomotor with brushes is given by permanent magnets on the stator and (heat generating) coils on the rotor. So the thermal resistance from the heat source towards the cool ambient is high, because the heat has to be transferred over the air gap. Electronically commutation removes the limitations from the brushes and the other geometry, as given in the next figure, leads to a better heat transfer to the ambient.
Coil a Stator Magnet
Coil c
Coil b
7.1
DC-BRUSHLESS
The following figure represents the six-step controller in combination with an ECM. Some logical circuits control by means of six power transistors the current entering the coils. In the simplest form the motor is provided with 3 coils, which are mounted in the stator under and spatial angle of 120 degrees. To obtain a trapezoidal induced voltage as function of the rotor position one applies a careful distribution of the winding sides of each coil over the stator slots in combination with a fitted magnet shape and magnetization.
25
S1
N
S3
S2
Current I ref
Figure 7.1.1, DC-brushless
The spatial distribution over 120 degrees leads also to an electrical phase shift of 120 degrees between the 3 induced voltages in the coils (EMF), as indicated by the next figure.
EMK
0
PWM-logic
Position
Hall Decoder
Coil 3
0
Coil 2
0
Coil 1 =0 2
7.2
In the next figure the relations between the rotor position and the current, the induced voltage and the transferred power Pmech are indicated. The currents are in phase with the induced voltages, block shaped and have an alternating polarity. Adding the contributions of the 3 coils leads to a constant torque:
26
T=
P
k =1
7.3 = 2.K .I
mech , k
Coil 3
Coil 2
EMK
Coil 1
Pmech Current
=0
2
Figure 7.1.3, Induced voltage
So the value of the torque is determined by the value of the current. Furthermore a characteristic of this type of control is that two coils are carrying current at the same instant of time. The figure also reveals that at 6 positions within one revolution the current distribution over the coils has to be changed. This is the background of the term six-step control.
1 1 3 1 4 3 2 3 5 2 3 2 3 1 6 2 2 2 3 1 1 3 2 1
27
unstable behaviour might be the result near the commutation positions. By adding some hysterisis in the Hall elements instability can be prevented. If the motor consists of more than 1 pole pair; e.g. p pole pairs, the number of fluctuations will be 6.p times per revolution. The figure 7.1.3 of this paragraph suggests that the shape of the current can be as a square wave. However at increasing speed the time constant of the coil (L/R) becomes a limiting factor, also when current control is used. The result is a decreasing value of the mean value of the current with as result a decreasing torque-constant.
7.2
The operation of the second family of brushless motors is based on a sinusoidally varying EMF in respect to the rotor position. The magnetization of the rotor and the winding geometry in the stator can used to obtain this EMF, as show in the next figure. The current in the three coils have exactly the same phase as the EMF. First the torque production under this condition will be analysed.
Suppose the motor is running at a constant speed. The mechanical power produced by each coil j is given by:
2 Pmech, j = E , (t ).i (t ) = E.I . sin 2 ( .t + j ) 3
7.2.1
Pmech = 1,5.E.I T = Also for this motor holds: E (:) . So we may write: T (:)I .
Pmech
1,5.E.I
7.2.2
7.2.3
7.2.4
Fulfilling the condition that the same phase angle holds for the current and EMF of a coil leads to a similar situation as for the DC-brushless motor; the torque production is determined by the current amplitude.
28
To obtain the phase-equality of the current and EMF the control circuit has to fed by a signal representing the actual rotor position at each moment of time, whereas a DC-brushless motor is satisfied with 6 pulses per revolution. Another significant difference with the DC-brushless motor is that the current of each phase has to be sensed to obtain the sinusoidal shape, as indicated in the next figure.
+
AC synchronous
3
brake
PWM-logic
PI PI PI - + -+
Logic Prom
Generate 3 sinuses
+
X X
I Ref
controller
Re f
So the required bandwidth for the amplifier of an AC-synchronous motor is not determined by the specified control loop bandwidth only but also by the required torque capability at high speed.
Also the selection of the supply voltage of the amplifier has to be done carefully; one has to consider the required rise time of the torque, the level of the torque, the speed and the commutation process. It can be proven that one needs as amplifier specification at least:
dT 2 K 2 U ph ph = + S . + ( p. . .T ) T + dt 3 S
2
7.2.6
29
P (t ) =
T 2 (t ) .T dT + + .T S S dt
7.2.7
7.3
The lifetime of electronically commutated motors is determined by the bearings only. The torque performance is given by the thermal limitations of the electrical isolation. In rare cases one also meets a torque limitation to prevent demagnetisation of the magnets.
Torque
ECM-limits
thermal limit brushes or demagnetisation
T
T 25
T 100
brush fire
0,0
n (speed)
30
An overview on the strong points of the ECM: 1) Life-time of more than 30000 hour, 2) high torque production at the same position allowed; this is limited for the brush motor by local commutator heating, 3) increased reliability (one has to consider the bearings only), 4) it is possible to use a supply without mains transformer (select the 300 V motor-type), 5) no pollution by carbon dust and no sparking, 6) very limited sensitivity for air-pollution, 7) robust mechanical construction, 8) the measurement of the temperature of the stator windings is easy; guarding the motor temperature allows now that one applies the motor at the performance limits, 9) the heat generation in an ECM occurs in the stator; the heat-resistance from the heat source towards the ambient is significantly lower than for a motor with brushes, with the heat source on the rotor. At the end leads this to a higher ratio between performance and volume, 10) the high heat-capacity of the stator allows a longer overload time, 11) reduced dimension by the absence of the brushes and commutator.
7.4
ATTENTION
In general high power magnets as NdFeB or SmCo are in applied in the rotor of an ECM. Those magnets generate high field densities in the stator iron. This is very attractive when one prefers a high ratio between performance and volume. However this implies also iron-losses in the stator when the motor rotates. In an experiment the stator temperature of an ECM is considered at 5000 rpm; a second motor realizes this speed. The ECM was disconnected from its supply. Under these conditions only eddy-current losses and hysteresis losses can be found in the stator. These losses resulted into a temperature rise of 50 degrees! This phenomenon can also be approach from another way, namely look to the required current to obtain a certain value of the torque at increasing speed. The following figure reveals an increase of 50 %. The stator copper loss rises to more then 200 % and one has to deal also with the heating by ironlosses. This coupled phenomenon limits the performance of an ECM!
31
T10
Figure 7.4.2, T10, T30, T50, T80 and T100 for a motor
We can regard eddy current losses as a viscous friction; a good approach is to say that: Peddy = d.2, so that the total losses are:
Pdiss + Peddy =
(T + .d )2 + (1 - ).
( .d) + 2 .d Q max S
2
7.4.1
Qmax is the maximum allowed losses, based on the maximum allowable stator temperature. If we employ a duty cycle , then T is related to the duty cycle and the rotational speed as follows:
T ( , ) =
) - .d
7.4.2
32
However the high iron-losses at high speeds are not a principal limitation for the ECM. The application of less powerful magnets as ferrite or a reduced NdFeB-magnet volume allows speeds up to 20000 rpm. However a reduction of the steepness S has to be accepted here. Iron losses are also related with the flux-variation caused by a varying supply current. The current from a PWM-amplifier varies per definition and this introduces additional iron losses. It is stated that the performance of an ECM is also related to the amplifier used; current ripple reduction leads to a higher performance! Reminder: beneath the reduced iron loss one also obtains a reduced copper loss, because the RMSvalue of the current drops for the same value if the torque. Summary for the speed limitations of the ECM: 1) at increasing speed less torque becomes available at the shaft, because an increasing part is absorbed by the stator iron losses, 2) the occurrence of a time delay between the current and the induced voltage by the inductance of the stator coils. For the EC-DC motor is this effect related to the limited supply-voltage and for the AC-synchronous motor one has to add to this the phase shift over the motor-amplifier.
7.5
It is possible to combine an amplifier, intended for an EC-DC motor, with an AC-synchronous motor. The background can be a required cost reduction or the availability of a motor with a certain performance. This combination will suffer with a torque fluctuation of at least 13 %! This also holds for the combination of an AC-synchronous amplifier and an EC-DC motor. The number of 13 % can be proven by analysing the torque production of an EC-DC motor at a three-phase sinusoidal supply system.
7.6
7.6.1
As the name suggests, it is a feature of such motors that the rotor consists of a wound lamination core. On closer examination we see that the lead-outs of the rotor teeth widen. The function of this widening is to reduce the reluctance of the air gap; in combination with the small air gap (< 0.5 mm) the result is that relatively little magnetic material is needed to achieve field strengths in the rotor plate of 1 Tesla or more.
33
Strengths
The power density, defined as Pmech/volume, is by far the highest, because the magnets only have a small air gap to overcome. The rest of the flux path consists of the magnetically highly conductive iron. The end result is less weight, less volume and low price. The iron guarantees mechanical robustness; the windings are anchored in it by means of a moulding resin. Considerable attention has generally been given to secure fixing of the winding head and to the connections to the collector. A high resistance to centrifugal forces and accelerations is achieved in this way. The thermal capacity is great because of the presence of the rotor iron; short-time peak powers are consequently readily absorbed. The small dimensions resulting from the high power density do generally result in the thermal resistance Rth1 being slightly higher. A low mechanical time constant can be achieved through the slim structural shape of the rotor in combination with the high power density; < 5 ms is feasible. The large number of producers means that second sourcing is possible at good prices. The rotating iron produces cogging in addition to eddy current and hysteresis losses. A reduction of cogging can be obtained by applying skewing of the slots; a full removal of the cogging is rarely possible by tolerances on magnet dimensions, positioning, strength and homogeneity.
Weaknesses
The fact that the conductors are located in the slots of the iron rotor gives rise to a substantial self-inductance of the rotor windings. This makes the commutation of the rotor coils difficult.
34
It also gives rise to a time constant in the control loop; with fast torque changes the selfinductance means that the amplifier must have a safety margin on the voltage if it is to overcome L.di/dt. The drawbacks of the iron armature motor will not be found in the hollow rotor motor. In this motor the windings are located in the air gap and together form a cage that has been made into a solid entity with resins. This cage has then been fixed to the shaft of the motor.
7.6.2
Inside the cage there is a stationary magnet. The tolerances of the cage force suppliers to select a large air gap. Because of this structure the reluctance for the magnets is factors greater than in the iron armature motor; the magnetic field must cross four air gaps and pass the cage twice. Achieving acceptable field strength requires large magnets in these motors.
Weaknesses
7.6.3
The feature of this motor is an axially oriented magnetic field and a disc-shaped rotor. The rotor disc can consist of rotor windings, which have been made into a solid whole with epoxy. Another form of construction is a printed circuit board on which a track pattern has been etched.
35
Magnets are placed on both sides of the disc to obtain a sufficiently strong field.
Weaknesses
36
Aspect vs. motor type Power (Watt) S/J (relative) m (msec) e (msec) nmax (rpm) Commutation Torque ripple Iron loss Lifetime (hour) Therm. cap. Max. temp. Price/Watt Robustness
Iron rotor 10 - 3000 100 % 5 - 20 1-3 3000 yes yes 3000 + 155 ++ +
Disk rotor 100 - 5000 70% 5 - 20 0.1 8000 ++ no no 5000..20.000 +/100 - 150 +/+
LOAD CASES
If the servo loop has the task of driving a load at an almost constant torque and speed (a static load), it is easy to show in Fig. 7.7.1, where the working point of the motor is. Verification of the maximum permissible value of the torque and the speed is followed by a check on Trms, which must be less than T100. And if the point Trms/nominal speed is also between the lines of Popt and opt, then we have a suitable motor. If this is not the case, a transmission can provide a solution. Lets say that we have the working point 1 in Fig. 7.7.1. For the mechanical power we have Pout = load.Tload. A transmission (without losses) with a transmission ratio i leads to Tmotor = i.Tload and motor = load/i. The result is that, depending on the value of i, a different point on the curve in Fig. 7.7.1 can be used.
P max
torque
SOA
opt
speed
37
Dynamic load
Contrasting with this static load is the pure dynamic load, which is characterised by a load torque that is only used for the constant acceleration and deceleration of the load and motor. This means that the moments of inertia of load and motor in combination with the desired accelerations determine the motor torque required. With a transmission ratio i, the torque required is as follows:
& load i
7.7.1
The transmission ratio i largely determines what torque the motor must deliver. Since the cost price of a motor and the maximum torque are closely linked, a low torque is preferable. The question now is what transmission ratio i must be chosen in order that a minimum torque T suffices. Depending on the load, the curve of the motor torque as a function of the transmission ratio can be a flat or a strong minimum (see Fig. 7.7.2). Differentiation of the above equation to motor leads to the condition that is known as INERTIAL MATCH". With i = load/motor formula 7.7.1 gives us:
7.7.2
i=
J motor J load
7.7.3
The fact that there is a minimum can be explained as follows: if an extremely large transmission ratio i is chosen, the term in equation 7.7.2 with the moment of inertia of the load will predominate and the torque will grow proportionately to i. This leads to an initial conclusion: reduce i. If this were to go too far, then the term in the formula with the motor moment of inertia would predominate. The reason is that with a low i the angular velocity of the motor is high, so that a lot of energy has to be expended on the acceleration/deceleration of the motor.
torque
SOA i
T(i)
T(i) i
speed
Fig.7.7.2 The curve of the motor torque and speed as a function of the transmission ratio i for two cases
The curve of the motor torque as a function of i is an hyperbola (: 1/i) at low values of i, which leads to the conclusion: increase i. Result: somewhere there is an optimum.
38
7.7.4
The procedure to follow to see whether a particular motor is suitable for this dynamic load: 1) Determine the transmission ratio that goes with the "Inertial Match". 2) Process the moment of inertia of a suitable transmission (seen from the motor side) in the total moment of inertia and over one or more strokes see whether the "Inertial Match" can be achieved in combination with available transmissions. 3) After 2) are all the working points of the motor inside the SOA? (maximum torque, maximum speed; this point is also called "Worst-case operation point"). 4) Is Trms less than T100? Since T100 falls at elevated speeds with electronically commutated motors, a safe design is obtained if the value of T100 at the maximum speed occurring in the design is compared with Trms. It is recommended that the curve of the motor torque be drawn as a function of the transmission ratio, because depending on motor moment of inertia, mechanical time constant and required acceleration for example there can be a flat area around the optimum. Analysis of the open loop transfer function of a servo system shows that an advantage can be obtained by the selection of a certain ratio between the moments of inertia of the motor and the load plus transmission. Choosing equal ratio or simply deliberately a relatively light motor also depends on the position of the sensors. The dissertation by Mr Groenhuis (TU Eindhoven) goes into this more deeply.
39
8.
INTRODUCTION
For each servo system containing a brushless servo motor questions arise concerning the amplifier voltage needed. This appendix describes the link between DC-based servo systems and AC synchronous motors.
8.1
DC SYSTEMS
For DC voltage systems based on a classical servo motor with brushes there is a well-known formula,
u(t) = i(t).R + L
with:
d i(t) + K. (t) dt
[V] [A] [] [H] [N/A] [rad/s] [s]
8.1.1
u i R L K t
terminal voltage motor current terminal resistance terminal inductance motor constant rotational speed time
Taking into account the relation T(t) = K.i(t) for the torque, one can rearrange this expression as:
u(t) =
with
8.1.2
The momentary power needed is obtained by multiplying the previous equation by the current i:
8.1.3
40
8.2
AC SYNCHRONOUS MOTOR
ph = ph .sin(p. )
For the torque produced by this single coil we have:
8.2.1
T = i.
d ph d
= i. ph .p.cos(p. )
8.2.2
K ph = p. ph
8.2.3
The principle of AC synchronous motors is based on maintaining a coil current according to the following expression:
8.2.4
Substitution of the current in the voltage equation of a single coil, on the assumption that the inductance does not depend on the angle :
u ph = i ph .R ph +
d L ph .i ph dt
d ph dt
8.2.5
d iph (t) dt
8.2.6
K ph . .cos(p )
41
Here we applied = d/dt. Looking to this last expression one sees sine and cosine components.
u ph ( , t) = {iph (t).R ph + L ph .
di ph
dt
8.2.7
To obtain the amplitude of this voltage one differentiates the previous equation to p ; then one finds the angle of p at which the maximum can be found. Subsequent substitution leads to:
U ph = (i ph .R ph + L ph .
d iph dt
+ K ph
. ) + (L ph .i ph .p. )2
2
8.2.8
Before we continue with this expression the definition of the steepness and the motor constant for AC synchronous has to be given. The torque production of three coils together equals:
2 2. 3 T = K ph .iph .cos(p. + j. ) 2 = K ph .i ph 3 2 j=0
8.2.9
3 2 P = iph .R ph 2
The steepness S of a motor is defined as T2/P, so in this case we have:
2 3 K ph S= 2 R ph
8.2.10
8.2.11
K=
T i rms
8.2.12
The background of this definition is that one can get the motor constant simply by measuring the torque and dividing the result by the rms value of a phase current. With the relation
1 2 irms = iph . 2
we arrive at:
8.2.13
S= K = K 3 R ph 1.5 R phph
8.2.12
with Rphph as the phase-phase resistance. The definition of the steepness S with this K-factor becomes:
K=
3 2 .K ph 2
8.2.14
42
Now we return to the voltage expression; we want to get the peak value of the voltage over two phases, because this voltage determines the required power supply voltage. At the same time we also substitute the motor constant K and the electrical time constant = Lph/Rph.
U phph = 3 U ph =
2 K 3 S
dT T + . +S. + ( p. . .T dt
)2
8.2.15
Where a linear motor has to be analysed, this equation can be derived in the same way; after the introduction of:
S=
F P
8.2.16
and m as pole pitch (distance N-N poles) and v as the speed, one arrives at:
2 K U phph = 3 S
dF 2. .v. F F + . +S.v + dt m
8.2.17
To specify the amplifier one also needs to know the peak output power. Then the power of the three phases has to be included. Let j indicate the phases with j = 0, 1 or 2. For the phase currents we now have:
8.2.18
u ph , j = i ph , j .R ph +
d L ph i ph , j dt
d ph , j dt
8.2.19
ph , j ( , t) = ph , j .sin(p. (t) +
2. .j ) 3
8.2.20
8.2.21
It is nice to recognise in this equation the similar terms as found for a DC motor given at the beginning of this chapter. When for a linear movement in the x-direction a linear motor is applied the equation becomes:
F (t ) 2 .F(t ) dF (t ) + + v(t).F(t) S S dt
8.2.22
43
Speed vs time
1000
Force vs time
vi
Fi
500
0.05 ti
0.1
0.05 ti
0.1
400
20
Current vs time
Ui
200
Ii
10
0.05 ti
0.1
0.05 ti
0.1
4000
Pi
2000
0.05 ti
0.1
Figure 8.2.2, Example of the link between motion profile and amplifier requirements. CONCLUSIONS
The result of this exercise is that the determination of the supply voltage and power needed for an AC synchronous servo drive can be done by hand and the only input needed is: the motor constants K, S, and m or p the motion profile related force or torque in the form of F(t) , dF(t)/dt or T(t) and dT(t)/dt and the speed (v(t) or (t)) An example is now given that demonstrates the use of the voltage equations for an AC synchronous machine in combination with a third order motion profile.
44
9.
Motion profiles
When a load has to be moved from position A to position B within a given time one can apply all kind of speed versus time functions. Arguments to select a certain function might be: maximum speed needed maximum acceleration needed power dissipation in the motor a limited jerk (time derivative of the acceleration) amplifier power, voltage or current needed. Modern motion controllers allow the application of different motion profiles, which are called trajectories. For systems with a high demand on the accuracy one prefers the third order motion profile, which are characterized with a finite value of the jerk. The background of this jerk limitation is that a jerk energizes the mechanical vibrations in a motion system. The next figure shows three typical examples: a triangular speed profile a trapezoidal speed profile a third order speed profile
45
46
speed (peak)
acceleration (effective)
1 1.13 1.7
1 0.75 0.75
1 0.92 1.03
1 0.85 0.95
Normalized comparison for a load without damping and friction. The practical meaning of the preceding table is, that a lower dissipation in a motor can be obtained by applying a trapezoidal speed profile instead of a triangular profile, however then one has to take into account that: high jerk values are present again the maximum acceleration in increased 13 %; this holds also for the amplifier current The 3rd order speed profile prevents the high jerk, however then the acceleration, and so the motor current, is increased with 70 % and the dissipation with 6 % in comparison with the first speed profile. Despite the higher claims on the amplifier and motor this 3rd order motion profile is the nowadays standard for advanced production equipment. Remark: the relation between dissipation and the effective acceleration is quadratic a parabolic speed profile requires leads to a minimum motor dissipation. However this profile is hardly used based on its high initial acceleration level of 12.S/Ts2 in combination with a very high jerk at the start of the motion. To translate the preceding table into voltages and power required from the motor amplifier one should apply the related equations given earlier. The voltage required is obtained with the worst-case operation point, given by the highest acceleration in combination with a high speed. For a triangular and second order profile this is a unique instance of time at the end of the acceleration interval. For a 3rd order profile one has to scan the time interval with a decreasing acceleration and still rising speed. The torque or force in the case of a triangular and second order profile is in general constant between time intervals as indicated in the following figure.
T1
0,0
t1
t2
t4
t5
t6
t7
tc
47
This enables a simple equation to get the effective value for the torque (or force). Instead of using:
Trms =
1 T (t ) 2 dt , tc tc
9.1
Trms =
1 tc
T
i 1
.ti
9.2
It prevents integration, however it can only be applied in the case of constant torque- (or force) levels during the time intervals.
The conclusions are that the motion profile applied influences significantly: peak current, voltage and power of the amplifier and the dissipation in the motor.
48
10.
This chapter deals with the motor amplifier with having in mind the application of this amplifier in precision engineering designs.
10.1 LOW COST
It is sometimes sufficient to use a simple circuit to control a motor, as shown in Fig. 10.1.1. At the input of the operational amplifier (OpAmp) a reference for the motor current is compared with the actual current. If there is any deviation in the current, the transistor is made more or less conductive by changing the base voltage. The diode parallel to the motor provides protection for the transistor, activating if the transistor blocks so fast that the EMF and the voltage term L.di/dt together reach a value that is too high for the transistor in question. A limitation of this circuit is that only a positive current i can be controlled; this corresponds to a controlled torque in one direction. A torque in the other direction is not possible, because a transistor only allows the current to flow in one direction.
+
I ref
+ -
U ce
10.2
The greater or lesser pinching of the transistor means a high level of dissipation for the transistor itself, because the motor current i flows through the transistor continuously and there is a voltage drop uce (determined by the base-emitter voltage) between the emitter and the collector. The transistor dissipation is P = uce.i. Extreme, but very revealing is the determination of the losses at standstill, if the motor has to deliver maximum torque. This soon leads to physically large (and expensive) transistors, which have to be equipped with a cooling block and possibly even a fan. At the same time this approach is not in the least economical of energy, which can be completely unacceptable in the case of battery supply. The solution is to make use of the self-inductance of the motor. If the transistor is driven via the baseemitter voltage alternately within a return time T, fully non-conductive during Toff and fully conductive during Ton, then little transistor dissipation will remain (see Fig.10.2.1). The current im through the motor can be determined via simple first-order differential equations, which show that the ratio Ton/T determines the mean value of the current. There are two approaches. First, to keep Toff constant and to influence Ton via the controller; the cycle time is consequently a function of the desired current; in this case we speak of frequency modulation. The second approach is to keep the cycle time T constant, in which case the ratio Ton/Toff is varied. In this case we have pulse width modulation.
49
+
Im
Im
Id
I m =I d I
Ub
U ce
P=I * Uce U ce I
Ub
Toff Ton
Notes:
There are clear similarities to a heating boiler. The cycle time T is generally much less than 1 ms.
10.3
Four quadrant operation means that the motor can deliver both a positive and a negative torque and in both directions of rotation. The use of a motor in the four quadrants of the torque-speed plane is possible with the standard circuit shown in Fig. 10.3.1. This circuit is called the full H-bridge.
50
+
i L L
I ref Control
Fig. 10.3.2 A gives the path for the current with a torque in one direction, Fig. 10.3.2 B for the other direction. Here again one of the functions of the diodes is over voltage protection. The control of the transistors must be such that two transistors can never be conductive in the same branch simultaneously. Pulse width modulation and frequency modulation are the methods of control in this circuit. There are applications in which the motor returns energy to the power supply. In these circumstances the motor is working as a generator and will return current to the power supply via two recovery diodes. If no measures are taken, the voltage across the power supply capacitor C will rise sharply, the power supply eventually suffering damage. This can happen in a crane for example. This shortcoming can be solved by dissipating the energy released in a braking resistor Rbrake, as shown in Fig. 10.3.3. This resistor is used as the occasion arises via transistor Q. Of course it would be even better if the surplus energy went back to the mains. But the cost price of the additional electronics required often seems to be a barrier to such a step.
+ Rbrake
I ref Control
i
L
C
-
The presence of self-inductance in the circuit is highly desirable, because it is a means of limiting the ripple in the current. This is important because the dissipation in the copper of the rotor is proportional to irms and the output torque to imean! See for example Fig. 10.3.5, where the torque T is equal to zero. It is not uncommon to place an extra coil in series with the motor to reduce the current fluctuations due to PWM.
51
time
1 2 irms = i dt T 0
imean
1 = i dt T0
10.3.1
A second reason is that the fluctuations in the current also produce flux variations in the iron and the magnets of the motor. These variations induce eddy current losses, which can mean considerable dissipation if the self-inductance is too low. (Even at standstill and with Tshaft = 0!). Fig. 10.3.6 shows the measured current as a function of time for a moving coil motor in combination with a PWM amplifier without an extra coil. It also shows what we can expect if the motor details given in the product catalogue are used for calculating the current. The extreme difference is due to neglected eddy currents in the magnets and the yoke!
Current with PWM 1 0.8 0.6 0.4
0.2 0 -0.2 time in microsec. 1 74 147 220 293 366 439 512
10.4
The ideal behaviour of an amplifier is got when the output voltage or output current follows the input voltage perfectly. There are two effects that we must always consider carefully, that are the bandwidth and the linearity around the zero-axis crossing.
52
A standard value of the bandwidth is 500 ..1000 Hz. This may seem a lot when we think that for a speed control a bandwidth of 100 Hz is a high value. But what we have to remember is that long before the bandwidth a phase shift occurs that can be an impediment for control engineering.
I
+
R
+
L E
e =
L , = R / Ramp R
10.4.1
I amp I=
E Ramp
(1 + s amp )
10.4.2
3 Ramp = 1 10
0
= 0.01 I/Iamp
Amplitude
i 1
Phase
Amp
1.2
Phase i
10
20
0.8
100
200 f i Frequency
300
400
30
100
200 f i Frequency
300
400
53
R = 10
0.0025 0.002 Amplitude i 0.0015 0.001 5 10 4 0 100 200 f i Frequency 300 400 Phase Amp Phase i
I/E
I/E
10
20
30
100
200 f i Frequency
300
400
ext+
54
10.5
The gain of a motor amplifier is one of the terms in the open loop gain, so variations caused by e.g. temperature dependency should be investigated in relation to the control stability. Offset in the case of a single phase amplifier for a motor with brushes or an actuator are in general no problem, because the I(ntegrator) action of the control will compensate this. A serious attention has to be given to gain errors and offsets in the case of an electronically commutating motor. In the case of a DC-brushless motor one will notice stepwise torque changes near the commutating positions when those amplifier errors exists. For an AC-synchronous motor the more complex consequences has to be described with equations. For the torque produced by one phase ph holds:
T ph = i ph .
d ph d
= i ph . ph .p.cos(p. )
10.5.1
K ph = p. ph
Let us assume deviating relative gains, Kamp(ph) and offsets Ioffset(ph) per phase.
10.5.2
10.5.3
ph
ph = 0
2 . ph K .cos(p. + 3 ).i
2
ph
ph =0
ph I offset (ph )
. .cos(p. + 23ph )
The conclusion is that gain errors and offsets are introducing position dependency in the torque. The frequency of the gain error related disturbance is twice the frequency of the offset related disturbance. So one has to analyse carefully the consequences of these amplifier errors when precision engineering drives are designed. As an initial value one can use 2 % gain error and 2 % of the maximum current (or voltage) as offset errors.
In graphical form one gets now including the output impedance Z of the current source amplifiers the following figure for a three phase system. By assuming a star point connection
55
of the three phases of the motor it is allowed to take the third current of the motor as the sum of the other two currents.
Offset1() K1
ref
K2 Offset2()
Figure 10.5.1, The amplifier errors combined with a thermal model of a rotating brushless motor.
A general representation of the amplifier, taking also into account the bandwidth of the current source is as follows.
Amplifier
K(,)
Load
Rm (,r ) Lm
Offset(,t)
K(, )
Bandwidth Gain Offset Impedance Figure 10.5.2, The amplifier as control loop component.
The frequency dependent behaviour of the current source and offset can be measured when the current amplifier output is short-circuited. The measurement of the output impedance should be done by adding a controllable voltage source in series with the amplifier output and load. Fix the current amplifier input on zero, make a frequency scan with the controllable voltage source and measure the current running through the source. J.C. Compter, Electrical drives for precision engineering designs, 2007 56
10.6
CABLES
When designing a system with a PWM power supply the designer must design to a short distance between the PWM power supply and the motor. The reason is that the wires to the motor are connected alternately to the + and the voltages of the power supply respectively with a high frequency and steep edges. This causes electro-magnetic interference in the surrounding area, which can for example affect sensor lines (the incremental encoder!) or prevent the installation from meeting inspection standards (= approbation). The subsequent installation of shielding involves additional expense through time lost as a result of the fault finding and the costs of re-cabling. The minimisation of the electro-magnetic interference is just one reason; another is the electrical resistance of the cable. For a 20-metre cable (out and back), with 30 wires of 0.2 mm section as conductors, this amounts to approximately 0.7 Ohm (without taking in to account a certain temperature rise). A servomotor with currents of 10 Ampere is no exception; this means a 7 Volt voltage loss over the cable and a 70-Watt loss. For the power supply, usually a servo amplifier, this means a higher specification in terms of voltage and power to be delivered! If we also think that a power supply voltage below 50 V does not usually mean any special requirements for approbation, the selection of a sufficiently thick cable can avoid many arguments. With voltage loss in mind attention must also be paid to the resistance of thermal fuses and the number of connectors in the cable between the amplifier and the motor. This latter point can involve a conflict with the division of a drive system into separate modules for logistical or service reasons.
10.7
The cost of a servomotor is of course linked to its size. Also the available space in equipment is forcing designers to apply the smallest motor possible in many cases. The application of a transmission is one way as far as the backlash, additional friction, the stiffness reduction and the higher motor speed can be accepted. The result is that the motor torque required is reduced and then one can go for a smaller motor, because the motor volume is linked with the torque capability. Also in Chapter 5 it is concluded that a motor should be used between 0.5 0 and 0 to combine a high efficiency and mechanical output power. So one should always look if a transmission leads to a smaller motor. But one should also include the cost of the amplifier; the smaller the motor the more power is needed to get the same mechanical output. So profit at the motor side is lost at the amplifier side. Additionally holds that a smaller motor leads to a higher operating temperature, so more heat is entering the equipment. The related drawbacks are potentially: shorter lifetime of the brushes and bearings shorter lifetime of the electrical insulation the rising heat leads to thermal expansion in the mechanics being a risk in high accuracy systems the positive effects of a well tuned feed-forward is partly lost by the temperature dependent motor constant K. So a transmission should be investigated always, but additionally using a motor at its limits leads to a rising development effort.
57
11
11.1
Linear motors and actuators are the most suited drives for advanced machines with a high accuracy and fast reaction time. An example is the lens actuator of a CD-player. This actuator type can be considered as an extreme example of a mass product with a short reaction time in combination with a high accuracy. The control loop bandwidth of this system goes up to 2 kHz.
11.2
The linear drive has got a clear position in the servo-technology for direct driven systems in the last decade. The main characteristic of a direct driven system is the absence of a mechanical transmission between the drive and the load. A mechanical transmission is for example a set of gear wheels or a gearwheel in combination with a toothed bar. This last combination can be used to transfer a rotation into a linear movement. Wear, play, a limited stiffness, hysteresis and friction are often performance limiting factors related to mechanical transmissions and the direct drive is the answer. Examples of direct drives are: a pneumatic of hydraulic cylinder a linear electric motor an air coil actuator or so called moving coil actuator a piezo-actuator. Pneumatic and hydraulic solutions are preferred when force levels of several thousands of Newtons are required and when the costs and volume of the compressor and pump respectively can be accepted. The accuracy and reaction time of these systems can be brought to the same level as an electric drive by the selection of fitted sensors and control valves. However this is outside the scope of this treatise.
58
Piezo technology can be considered as a mature technology for small movements; small because the contraction of piezo crystals is near 0.5 %. It is possible to realize a long stroke and accurate drive with three piezo crystals; the operation principle is like a human body, lift one foot, shift this in the required direction, put the foot on the ground and do the same with the other foot. This drive principle is highly suitable for electron microscope by the absence of interfering magnetic fields. However the limited speed and costs of those drives are arguments to search for alternatives many times. Lifetime issues by wear and fatigue are also met. Linear electrical drives and actuators are an alternative. Force levels exceeding 1000 N, speeds beyond 2 m/s and accuracies better than 1 micrometer are nearly on stock products. The combination of all these numbers is not so easy, because then the full system behaviour starts to be important. The behaviour of the bearing, sensors, mechanical dynamics, the control, power electronics starts to be important for short time intervals and thermal effects might disturb the absolute accuracy. Attention will be given here to linear motor and actuators for servo systems. The principal difference between these two is that the stroke of a linear motor can be extended with limited consequences. E.g. the extension of the magnet strip of a linear motor is all needed to get a longer stroke. The definition of a servo system is not given until now. Within the context of electrical drives we consider a drive as a servo system when the object to be moved has to follow accurately a changing (electronic or software) reference. This reference might be linked to the acceleration, speed or position. Control engineering learns that accuracy is gained when the control behaviour of the loop components is predictable. Electric motors and actuators with permanent magnet are the ideal components within this respect and the rising strength and falling costs of modern rare earth magnets (Samarium-Cobalt and especially Neodymium-Iron-Boron) have given these drive components a very competitive position.
Figure 11.2.1, A gantry with linear motors 11.3 CONSEQUENCES OF A DIRECT DRIVE
The lack of a transmission means that the force and speed have to be the same for driving motor or actuator and the load. The required force level determines highly the costs of the motor/actuator with as consequences that one should not expect reduced motor costs in comparison to a solution with a rotating motor and a rotation to linear transmission. But direct drive means also one looses the acceleration torque needed for the transmission and an example is known where the total costs of a spindle driven solution was comparable with a linear direct drive.
59
Usually a linear encoder is applied as position sensor and those costs exceed highly the costs of a rotating encoder. At the other hand the advantage obtained is that less mechanics can be found between the load and the sensor, so the sensor reading reflects more accurate the load position. Standardization is brought to a high level for rotating electric motors and one can find easily alternative systems from competitors. This does not hold for linear motors and the rising integration of the motor, amplifier, bearings and position sensor makes it in general difficult to switch from one supplier to another. The design of a linear drive system should start with an analysis of mechanics to locate the reaction forces and the centre of mass, because the fast rising forces of linear motors and actuators (e.g. rising from 0 to 1000 Newton in 5 millisecond) will initiate easily all vibration modes in a mechanical construction. The transmission between a rotating motor and the load reduces the disturbance sensitivity for forces acting on the load. It is seen many times that an increased control loop bandwidth has to be used for a direct driven system to get a similar disturbance rejection. Chapter 12 will give attention to actuators; chapter 13 deals with linear motors and chapter 14 gives a critical view on the motor constants in general.
60
12
Actuators
The most famous electrical actuator is the electro magnet of a doorbell. However one will meet this rarely in servo systems because its main characteristic is a force that depends on the ratio of the current and the air gap to the power of two. Control engineering rules on stability are valid only for linear systems and this is the reason why actuators with a linear transfer function are preferred. Examples of linear transfer functions are: the force linearly related to the current, a displacement linearly related to the voltage applied the speed linearly related to the voltage applied. An additional preference is that the actuator should not have preferred positions as can be seen when a supply voltage is removed. An example is the cogging torque present in fan motors and in toy motors. Those torques are external disturbances in the eyes of a control engineer, which has to be counteracted by an additional control action with at least a transient error during set point changes. Exceptions in this respect are the electronic throttle of fuel engines and hoisting equipment, where safety has to be guaranteed when the electric supply fails. First attention will be given to the electro dynamic actuator, which can be found in loudspeakers, CDplayers and many servo systems.
12.1
The electro dynamic actuator is characterized by a current carrying coil in the field of a permanent magnet where holds that the coil moves relatively with respect to the magnet. The design with a moving coil is widely spread, because then one will find: the highest ratio possible between the force and the moving mass a good linear relation between force and the current and no preferred positions. Figure 12.1.1 shows the geometry consisting of: a magnet and an iron yoke, which concentrates the field in a gap a coil in this gap a coil carrier, which transfers the force to the load and this carrier also removes the heat from the coil to the ambient and the yoke. This description allows many forms, but only the rotational symmetric geometry will be discussed here.
61
u = R.i + N.
d dt
12.1.1
The flux consists of two parts, the first part given by L.i and the second part induced by the permanent magnets. The values of this last part depends on the relative position x of the coil with respect to the magnet. With Figure 12.1.3 holds now:
N. = L.i(t) + N.B.l.x
12.1.2
X
Figure 12.1.3, A coil in the field of a permanent magnet system
The time derivative of the coupled flux N . satisfies:
N.
d x d i dx d di = N. x dt + i dt = N. x dt + L. dt dt
12.1.3
One should be aware that this last results only holds in the case that the inductance L does not depend on the position x. The next step to come to the force is the multiplication of equation 12.1.1 with the current i to get the power balance, with as result:
P = u.i = i 2 .R + i.N.
d di d x = i 2 .R + i.N. + i.L. dt x dt dt
12.1.4
Rearrangement gives:
u.i = i 2 .R + i.N.
dx d (0.5 L.i 2 ) + x dt dt
12.1.5
62
The left hand term represents the incoming electrical power. The electrical dissipation Pdiss is given by i2.R and the change of the stored magnetic energy is linked to the last term. The second right hand term must be consequently the power going to or coming from the mechanical part of the system.
One has to follow the following line of thinking to prove that the stored magnetic energy is given by
Li 2 . Suppose that a switch close at t=0 to connect a coil to a voltage source with U as voltage. The U U t . At t=T holds I T = T . current in the coil rises according i (t ) = L L
1 2
Pmech = F .v = F.
dx dt
12.1.6
The combination of the equation 12.1.5 and 12.1.6 leads to the force:
F = i.N.
12.1.7
The ratio between the force in [Newton] and the current in [Ampere] is called the force constant Kf ; this ratio becomes:
Kf =
F = N. i x di dx + N. . dt x dt
12.1.8
u = i.R + L.
12.1.9
This last term is well known as the EMF (the electro motoric force). The word motoric force is based on the fact that a movement is required to get the voltage. It should be noted that the second term is based on the change of the current level! The EMF can be rewritten as:
EMF = N.
dx = N.v. x dt x
12.1.10
The ratio between the EMF in [Volts] and the speed in [m/sec] is usually indicated as Ke with the equation:
K e = N.
12.1.11
Ke [V sec m-1] and Kf [N Amp1] are clearly equal to each other with the given S.I. units and from now on we will use for both the motor constant K. Question: Prove with the preceding equations that the mechanical power is given by: Pmech=EMF.i . Equation 12.1.11 gives implicitly a way to determine the motor constant K. Suppose one connects the coil with an electronic integrator and starts moving the coil while measuring the position x, starting from x0. The output of the integrator will be:
63
12.1.12
The derivative of Uint to x has to be obtained by post processing the data and now holds:
dU int (t ) d ( x ) =N dx dx
12.1.13
This means, that the motor constant can be determined without having the usual troubles with friction in the case one uses a force sensor.
12.2
The temperature of the coil is always the performance-limiting factor in electro mechanics. The cause of the temperature rise is the dissipation in the current carrying coil in relation to a finite thermal conductivity for the heat flow to the ambient. This paragraph will spend attention to this performance limitation. The time dependent force F [N] in servo systems is clearly linked to the dissipation. For the current holds by using the motor constant K [N/A]:
i (t ) =
F (t ) . K
Tc Tc
12.2.1
With R [] as the electrical resistance of the coil one gets as time averaged dissipation:
P= 1 1 R i (t ) 2 .Rdt = Tc 0 Tc K 2
F (t ) .Rdt
2 0
12.2.2
The time Tc is the cycle time of the process to be controlled. To link the requirements of the mechanics to the dissipation P we introduce the effective force Frms as:
Frms =
1 c 2 F ( t ) dt , Tc 0
12.2.3
It is also very helpful to introduce the steepness S=K2/R. The value of Frms is determined by the load characteristics (mass, damping and a spring constant) and the movement to be realized in time (position, speed and acceleration). The steepness S is a figure of merit for each actuator. The combination of the introduced variables gives:
P=
2 Frms . S
12.2.4
It should be clear by the preceding text that one always needs the peak force level and the effective force Frms to determine if an actuator is fitted for a job. Remark: in English data sheets one will meet many times the constant Km, which is equal to S and called the specific damping. The link between damping and this constant is that a short-circuited actuator gives S [Ns/m] as damping. The induced voltage EMF leads to a current I, which gives finally with the motor constant K an opposing force according:
64
F = K .I = K .
EMF K .v = K. = S .v. R R
12.2.5
This relation between force and speed can be found also for viscous dampers. So a short-circuited permanent magnet based actuator behaves like a viscous damper.
12.3
THE VOLTAGE
U (t ) = i (t ). R + L
di (t ) + K. v (t ). dt
12.3.1
L [H] is the self-inductance of the actuator. For this type of actuators holds in general L/R ~ 1 millisecond. The speed of coil is given by v(t). Substitution of F=K.i leads to:
U (t ) = F (t ).
R L d F (t ) + + K. v (t ). K K dt
12.3.2
The application determines the functions v(t) and F(t), so these are required to get the maximum voltage needed. The motion profile determines v(t); Figure 12.3.1 gives the common motion profiles. F(t) is coupled with v(t) via the mechanical behaviour of the load in terms of mass, friction and stiffness.
Triangular
Trapezoid
Third order
12.4
The consequence of displacements is of course a relative moment of the coil with respect to the yoke. The motor constant K is in general a function of the relative position and this position dependency can be reduced by extending the length of the coil or by extending the length of the gap in the axial direction. The first solution leads to more dissipating copper without an increase of the force and the second leads to a bigger yoke and magnet. A position dependency of K of 10 to 20 % is hardly a risk for the control loop stability. However when one applies a feed forward for e.g. the acceleration force one will over- or under compensate the acceleration force leading to a rise of the servo errors. The conclusion is that one has to specify the stroke and the allowable position dependency of the motor constant K before ordering or designing an actuator.
65
12.5
HEAT TRANSFER
The dissipation in the coil leads to a temperature rise, which is limited by: the maximum allowable temperature of the wire insulation class (90 tot 220 C), the temperature dependent mechanical stability of the synthetic materials used the decreasing strength of permanent magnets at rising temperature (0.1 .. 0.2 %/K for modern rare earth magnets. Additionally holds that the heat flow to the ambient might be restricted and that the copper resistivity rises with 0.4%/K (so 60 degrees temperature rise means a rise of the coil resistance with 24 %). This kind of considerations leads to a certain allowable temperature rise max for the coil. The following figure represents the thermal model of an electro dynamic actuator, including the heat capacity of the coil and the yoke. For the sake of simplicity we will only analyse the steady state behaviour allowing us to forget the heat capacities. The assumption is also made that Re can neglected, what is allowed when the coil is not fixed to a heat conducting body or frame.
Cu i .R(Cu )
2
R th,1 Re R th,2
Yoke
C th,1
C th,2
amb
Figure 12.5.1, Thermal model
The ambient temperature is indicated by amb and the total thermal resistance between copper and ambient by Rth [W/K]. The temperature of the copper follows with:
12.5.1
Rth,1 is the thermal resistance between the coil and the yoke, Rth,2 is the thermal resistance from the yoke to the ambient. The first one, Rth,1, is determined by: the width of the air gap at both side of the coil the material and surface of the coil carrier (paper or aluminium) the winding technology applied (wild or orthocyclic) the speed of the actuator with respect to the yoke the thermal contact between the wires and the coil carrier the thickness of the insulation layer on the wires the altitude The inner and outer surface of the coil and coil carrier are transferring the heat under the assumption the Re can be neglected. When the total surface is given as A, we can introduce the specific heat conductivity according:
1 . A. Rth
12.5.2
For a vertical plate in free air holds approximately =10 W/m2K; other shapes like a cylinder can go up to =14 W/m2K. The presence of cool surface on a short distance will reduce the thermal resistance significantly. The value of Rth,2 depends on:
66
the external surface and shape of the yoke and magnet is the yoke mounted to a heat transferring frame the presence of a forced airflow.
The position dependency of the motor constant K is discussed in the preceding paragraph. In this paragraph is introduced the temperature dependency of the resistance. Both are influencing the voltage and power consumption, as described in Chapter 6.
12.6
MECHANICS
Electrical aspects are linked now to the thermal aspects. Mechanical aspects are not requiring special attention, because the material stress remains in general far below a dangerous level. The most critical part is the coil, which can be made very robust by applying the orthocyclic winding technology in combination with melting the wires to each other by means of a thin nylon layer on top of the wire insulation. The only exception is that the shear stress on the glue layer between the coil and the coil carrier might become a danger at a maximum coil temperature. The electro dynamic actuators described are intended to linear movements. The application of a linear air bearing system is an expensive solution (investment in air equipment, maintenance and energy consumption) with as additional penalty the weight of the moving member of the air bearing. An alternative is a leaf spring construction, but this starts to be bulky when the stroke exceeds some millimetre. Many times a solution is found by applying a pivot point, with the attractive option that the position of the pivot point with respect to the actuator and load can be used to maximize the system performance. Roller bearings are nice when they are rotating over big angles, but they are not fitted for small repetitive rotations. A set of leaf spring acting as a pivot point is here the solution. Those components are commercially available and this paragraph is directed to the bearing system A weak spot of those leaf spring designs is a limited stiffness for forces, which gives in combination with the mass eigen-frequencies and position errors. So, for a design as given in the next figure, one should minimize the forces in the pivot point. For wire bonding an ultra sonic transducer has to land on a silicon dye to fix a wire on the surface of the dye. It is preferred to minimize the virtual mass as seen by the landing area to prevent any damage during landing. Now we have two design objectives. A third objective, minimizing the peak force required, will be added in the next paragraph.
l J beam ,m r
Figure 12.6.1, A tool.
v c
67
crystal
12.6.1
Jbeam is the inertia of the beam in its centre of mass. The impact mass at the landing zone is given by:
mimpact =
l2. 1 + r2 J = m 12 1 2 . 1 (r + l. 2 ) 2 (r + l. 2 )
12.6.2
Lets us assume as stiffness of the landing zone c and assume as landing speed vb. The impact force follows as the result of energy conservation:
F = vb . mimpact .c = vb . m.c
1 l 2 . 12 + r 2 . ( r + l. 1 ) 2 2
12.6.3
Differentiation to r gives at r = 1/6 l a minimum impact mass mimpact = m! The force acting on the bearing is the next question. The force F de-accelerates the beam:
12.6.4
& & =
6. F . m. l
12.6.5
This means that the centre of mass get a linear de-acceleration according:
& & a = 1 l. . 6
The vertical force is:
12.6.6
Fm = m.a.
12.6.7
Substitution of 12.6.5 and 12.6.6 in 12.6.7 proves F=Fm, so the landing force is fully spend to the deacceleration of the centre of mass. No force is left on the bearing and excitation of vibrations on the bearing is prevented.
68
The acceleration of the ultra sonic transducer in a wire bonder is pre-described to fulfil the requirement of e.g. 14000 components per hour. The impact mass and bearing force must be minimized and now the actuator is added and of course a minimum peak force is preferred, because this allows the smallest actuator and amplifier. There is no doubt that the costs are reduced in this way, it is also likely that the highest control loop bandwidth can be reached with this line of thinking. Give the best values of r1 and r2 is the task.
r2 r1 a x1 x2 m mb act 2 mb J work m work
0.07
0.02 0.015
0.015
0.06
0.05
0.01
0.01
0.04
0.03
0.08
0.09
0.1
Mimpact
Figure 12.6.4, The impact mass in [kg] versus r1 (horizontal) and r2 (vertical) in [m].
69
6 7
0.03
Fact
Figure 12.6.5, The actuator force in [N] versus r1 (horizontal) and r2 (vertical) in [m].
0.07
0.06
0.02
0.015
0.01 0.005
0.05
0.03
FLZ
Figure 12.6.6, The bearing force in [N] versus r1 (horizontal) and r2 (vertical) in [m].
70
alu a
3 3 2.7 . 10 . kg. m
specific weight Alu specification tip acceleration resulting angular speed distance mass centre tool and tip distance end of the beam and too mass tool inertia tool beam height beam width beam mass left side beam mass right side mass actuator coil per newton
1. 3 mb2( r2 ) . r2
2
2 275 . m. sec a ( r1 ) r1 x1 0.078 . m x2 0.05 . m Mwerk 0.072 . kg 4 2 Jwerk 0.25 . 10 . kg. m .m h 0.015 b 0.008 . m mb2( r2 ) alu. h. b . r2 mb1( r1 ) alu. h. b . ( r1 x2)
cmot
3 1 2 . 10 . kg. newton
Jwerk ( r1 J ( r1 , r2 ) J ( r1 , r2 )
2
2 x1) . Mwerk
mb1( r1 ) . ( r1
x2)
cmot. ( r1 ) . r2
r1 J ( r1 , r2 ) . ( r1 ) r2 jmax 25 r1i 0.001 . i. m x1. 0.8 r2j ( 0.002 . j 0.025 ) . m Jtoti, j J r1i , r2j Mimp r1i , r2j r1imax = 0.102 m cmot. F ( r1 , r2 )
Mimpact, j i
Facti, j
F r1i , r2j
r2jmax = 0.075 m
mb2( r2 ) r2 )
Assumed impact force Total mass Position mass centre i.r.t. tip
r1 2 x2 2 Mwerk. x1
cmot. F ( r1 , r2 ) . ( r1 x( r1 , r2 )
mb2( r2 ) . r1
mb1( r1 ) .
dzz( r1 , r2 ) . mtot( r1 , r2 )
FL r1i , r2j
71
12.7
Several types of the electro dynamical actuators will be treated in the following chapter and the most dominant differences will be indicated.
1 L F = i 2. 2 z
12.7.1.1
F = i.N.
d pm dz
12.7.1.2
The reluctance force is based on a position dependent self-inductance, which is clearly changing when the coils in figure 12.7.1.1 moves.
72
Fig. 12.7.1.2, Example of the current and position dependency of the force of a moving coil actuator.
The theoretical background of the reluctance force is given first, starting with the voltage equation for the coil:
u = R.i + N.
dx d di.L + N. pm = i.R + dt dt x dt
12.7.1.3
Let us assume that the current is fixed in time. Multiplication with the current gives the power balance:
u .i = i 2 .R + i
dL.i dx + N. dt x dt
12.7.1.4
The first and third term at the right hand side are treated earlier as the dissipation and the power going to the mechanics. For the second term holds under the assumed time independent current:
12.7.1.5
Pmagn =
12.7.1.6
The remaining part of the power in equation 12.7.1.5 has to go consequently to additional mechanical power.
dx 1 2 L dx 1 L = i Frel = i 2 dt 2 x dt 2 x
12.7.1.7
Comparing the equations 12.7.1.2 and 12.7.1.7 shows a linearly and quadratically dependency on the current respectively. This explains why reluctance forces start to be important at high current levels.
73
There is a very simple method to verify if reluctance forces are present by measuring the force at a positive and negative current. As a rule of thumb holds that a reluctance forces start to be significant when the current density exceeds 10 A/mm2. Let us assume the following relation between force and current.
F = c1 ( x ).i + c2 ( x ).i 2
At a fixed position x holds now for +I Amp and I Amp.:
12.7.1.8 12.7.1.9
F + = c1 ( x ). I + c2 ( x ). I 2 F = c1 ( x ). I + c2 ( x ). I 2 c1 ( x ) = F+ F I c2 ( x ) = F+ + F I2
So, by current reversal one can find if a reluctance force exists and if it has to be considered as relevant. An extreme improvement is reached in the last two decade as far as magnets are concerned. The most popular magnet type around 1970 was ferrite, with 0.37 T as strength. Nowadays NdFeB is the favorite material with 1.2 .. 1.4 Tesla as strength. More powerful or compacter designs can be made now. Typical examples of NdFeB based magnet systems are given in Figure 12.7.1.3. An important issue is that the magnet fields outside the yoke are highly reduced compared to a configuration as given in Figure 12.7.1.1.
74
75
12.7.4
MOVING MAGNET
An interesting actuator for a short stroke (<2 cm) at a force level of 100 is given in Figure 20.
76
Iron
Magnet current current Figure 12.7.4.1, Short stroke moving magnet actuator.
+ -
The two coils in the inner bore are electrically connected in series in opposite direction. The two iron disks on the magnet concentrate all the flux of the magnet to guide it radially through the copper to the stator iron. The enclosed flux of each coil is changing when the magnet is moving, so a force is created when current is going through the copper. The simplicity of the production and robustness of this actuator is the major attractive side. The ideal behavior of an actuator is a position independent force in combination with a linear relation between the generated force and the current. There are four issues here to be discussed, a cogging and a reluctance force and damping. Cogging is present when the actuator has preferred positions when no current is in the coils. Here is the mid position indeed a preferred position for the magnet and this effect becomes more dominant with a shorter iron tube. This is the reason why the iron tube is extended in comparison to the coils. Reluctance is present when the inductance is position dependent and the moving iron disks give indeed a position dependency. The motor constant K [N/A] depends on the position. Damping is present when a force is opposing when the magnet is moving with a certain speed, even when the coils are disconnected. The explanation that damping exists here is based on the position dependent flux in the stator iron. The flux going through in a thin ring of the stator near the iron disk is changing when the magnet moves. The derivation of the (estimated) damping goes as follows: Radius of the magnet R 0.02 . m Surface of the magnet Amagn . R2
Bmagn d Ri Ro ddx
0.5 . tesla
Assumed flux density in the magnet Flux Thickness of the disks Inner radius cylinder Outer radius cylinder The change of the flux The induced voltage The specific resistivity of iron The resistance of a ring with the axial length d
Amagn. Bmagn 3 4 . 10 . m
3 26 . 10 . m
29 . 10
3.
EMF ( v ) 2 The dissipated power as a function of the spee P ( v) of the translator R P ( v) The damping found for both sides damping( v ) 2 . v2 1 1 damping( 1 . m . sec ) = 38.945 newton . sec . m
77
Laminated iron is used in electric motors and transformers to reduce these eddy currents losses, but the only way to laminate the stator here is to apply strips oriented radially and this is rather expensive. Another option is to apply a cylinder of powdered iron (highly compressed iron particles with an insulating surrounding, but this technology is very young. Another option is to apply iron with 3 to 4 % silicon, known as SiFe to increase the resistivity with approximately a factor 5, but it is hard to get this as solid iron. So what remains is make a cylinder of a rolled SiFe-sheet of 0.5 mm with e.g. 6 layers; this solution is however never applied. Suppose that the shaft is made of iron. The left hand side is then a magnetic north pole and the other side a magnetic south pole. Handling this actuator starts to be difficult and not every bearing type is fitted for operation in a strong magnetic field. So stainless steel shafts are preferred. This problem can be prevented by changing the concept as given in Figure 12.7.4.2. The production of the shaft is an easy job compared to the previous design but it is very likely that the magnets has to be ordered as segments of e.g. 45 degrees.
Iron
Magnet
+ -
current current
78
The relative permeability of ferrite and rare earth magnets is nearly equal to 1, so the self-inductance will not change when the magnet moves. Here one will not find a reluctance force consequently. A cogging force is present, but can be reduced highly by a suited dimensioning. The local flux density in the iron is dependent on the position of the magnets and changing the local flux density in iron requires a non-reversible energy flow, which is linked to the magnetic hysteris of the SiFe type used. A user of this actuator will notice this as a virtual static friction. It is further likely that the mass of the moving magnet exceeds significantly the moving mass of a moving coil actuator with the same force level; acceptable or not is determined by the application. A general remark for all linear actuators with a moving magnet and iron at the fixed world: high bearing forces when the alignment is not done well.
12.8
SUMMARY
Linear short stroke actuators are treated as components to be used as part of a drive system and the link between the system requirements and specification of the drive is made. Several actuator types are analyzed and attention is given to the strong and weak aspects.
79
13.
Linear motors
Rotating motors are available on the market based on brushes and on electronic commutation. A lifetime of 20.000 hours for the brushes can be expected for disk motors. However the required conditions to obtain this lifetime for linear motors based on brushes cannot be fulfilled. Major points are the flatness of a long commutator and the repetitive start or stop action at a fixed position. So, linear motors with brushes are very rare, nearly all linear motors are based on electronic commutation and that means that position sensing is required to feed the electronics with position information. Two principles can found nowadays. The first consists of a magnet strip and an armature consisting of an iron core and coils and the second one has two magnet strips with and ironless coil block between the magnets strips.
Magnets Magnetstrip
Figure 13.1, the iron core motor
80
13.1
ELECTRONIC COMMUTATION
Magnets Magnetstrip
Figure 13.1.1, The iron core linear motor
The layout of an electronically commutating linear motor with an iron core is given in Figure 13.1.1. One part is provided with permanent magnets and the armature is provided with coils. The current values in the coils, usually a 3-phase system, are link to the armature position with respect to the magnets strip and the current amplitude is linked to the required force level. Similar as holds for rotating motors holds here as commutation principles: DC-brushless, based on square wave currents and AC-brushless, based on sinusoidally currents.
13.2
DC-BRUSHLESS
Figure 13.2.1 gives the basic circuit for a DC-brushless linear motor. Some digital circuits are controlling the transistors linked with the coils. The motor is provided with sets of three coils. Within each set are the individual coils spatially shifted that the EMFs are shifted 120 degrees wit respect to each other. Very specific is that the EMFs behave trapezoidally as a function of the position.
+
0
EMF
Coil block
S1
S3
0
Hall Decoder
ref
v, s
=0
13.2.1
Figure 13.2.2 gives the tranferred power per coil and summing the power leads to the same transferred power level at each instant of time. Assuming a constant speed leads now to a constant force level.
81
=0
13.3
AC-SYNCHRONOUS MOTORS
The second group of brushless motors is based on a sinusoidally changing EMF. To get this sinusoidal behaviour one adapts the magnet dimensions and/or coils shapes and the shape of the teeth in the case of an iron armature. Figure 13.3.1 shows how the current has to behave as a function of the position in relation to the EMF values. The next figure shows the mechanical power produced. The underlying equations are the same as valid for a rotating electronically commutated motor, which are described earlier.
1 I1i I2i I3i 0
2 i
2 i
82
The mechanical power produced per coil and the sum as a function of the position in rad.
0 2 i 4 6
83
13.4
A comparison in general terms is given in the following table. Short stroke Long stroke Volume Cogging (at I=0 Amp.) Load on the bearings Noise level Frms/Fpeak Ftop/moving mass Accuracy during constant speed Explanation: Stroke: the costs of the magnet strips start to be dominant at a long stroke. Volume: iron core motors are more compact by using the magnets more efficient. In the case of water-cooling holds, that this can be done more efficient in iron core motors. Cogging: the interaction between the teeth of the iron core and the magnets leads to preferred positions which are detectable easily at i=0. A usual level is 2 to 5 % of the continuous allowed force level. For a control loop is this noticeable as a disturbance, which can be counteracted by a (learning) feed forward. Always one should specify the amplitude of the cogging and its spatial frequency. Load on the bearings: for an iron core motor holds as load on the bearing 2 to 5 times the peak force of the motor, whereas the bearing load of an iron core can neglected usually. The consequences are that the bearing moving mass will be significantly higher for an iron core motor. In cases where a air bearing is used the presence of a high pretension is attractive. Accuracy: at standstill the controller, the amplifier and the sensor determine the accuracy and resolution for both motor types. At constant speed are cogging and the high bearing loading the causes of a limited accuracy for the iron core motors. Noise level: the teeth structure of the iron core motor moving along the magnet strip gives highly changing attraction and shear forces with noise as consequence. Frms/Fpeak: this ratio is low for ironless motors and the application (mechanics and the motion profile to be realized) might give rise to a preferred motor type. Ftop/moving mass: the iron of an iron core motor is the issue involved. The mass of the load determines to what extent this has to be considered as a selection criterium. The market moves clearly to ironless linear motors, because the costs of the widely used magnet material, NdFeB, is dropped with a factor of ten in the last ten year. So, the efficient use of the magnet material in an iron core motor became less important. Ironless + + + + 0.05 + 3-10 nano-meter Iron core 0 + + 0 0.4 0 microns
84
13.5
The previous linear motor concepts are based on moving copper and magnets fixed to the world. Figure 13.5.1 gives a concept based on moving magnets and the coils fixed to the world. This motor was the heart of a successful lithographic machine for many years with 5 nano-meter accuracy. The two moving iron yoke are fixed to each other and provided with SmCo magnets. The coils are wound around and fixed to a bar of SiFe sheets, glued well to a nearly solid body.
IJzer
+ stroom _ stroom
Magneet (4*)
Figure 13.5.1, Linear motor with moving magnets and a long stroke
The direction of the currents in the stator coils is linked to the required force direction and their strength determines the force value, as seen before in the AC-synchronous and DC-brushless linear motor. The coils are connected in two series connections, consisting the coils 1,3, 5 and 2,4,6 respectively. Two amplifiers are needed to feed the motor. Of course one has to apply also here a position sensor for the electronic commutation. The bar is made of the SiFe sheets to reduce eddy currents damping and magnetic hystersis friction to improve the servo behaviour. It is an advantage to use the double-sided construction to reduce the bearing load. The series connection means, that all coils are carrying current, so losses can be found over the total length of the motor. This is the payback for preventing moving motor cables. This motor concept is rather rare, in spite of its attractive aspects, no cogging no moving motor cables the coils can be cooled by e.g. a water channel The weak spots are: iron losses copper loss over its full length. The stroke is mainly limited by the first vibration mode of the SiFe bar and 40 cm is realistic.
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The constants
The users of motors, rotating and linear, are always selecting a motor on the base of data given in data sheets. The lack of standards in the field of servo motor specifications complicates a comparison. One has to consider carefully the test conditions (e.g. ambient temperature, frame(s) used and airflow conditions) in order to prevent the selection of a too weak motor. One should also be keen on tolerances on the motor constants; generally holds 5% to 10% as tolerance on the torque (or force) constant K and the resistance R. Already this tolerance has severe consequences for the loss and the specification for the motor amplifier. The relevant constants will be treated in the following paragraphs with having in mind linear motors.
14.1
THE K-FACTOR
The following issues are involved with respect to the motor constant K: Current level; the load requires a certain torque or force level and a changing motor constant K means a changing current level. Voltage level; in the voltage equation of a motor one can find the EMF, linearly related to the speed via K and the current, for a given force (or torque) linear related to 1/K. It depends on the motor, load and motion profile whether one can find a rising or decreasing voltage in combination with a decreasing motor constant K. Power losses; the losses in the motor are linearly related to square of the current, so P(:)1/K2 Control loop behavior; the motor constant is one of the components of the open loop gain. Another open loop gain changes always the phase and gain margin. Feed forward; a deviating motor gain leads to wrong feed forward value, so K-factor deviations leads to a lower efficiency of the feed forward. So consequences can be found in the motor, the amplifier and the control loop behaviour. Items influencing the K-factor are: The magnets o The tolerance on the strength of magnets is usually 5% to +5%. With calibration one can obtain commercially the range 2% to +2%. The sensitivity is simple, 5% higher strength means +5% in the K-factor o The magnetisation direction can deviate from 6 to +6 degrees. The sensitivity for the magnetisation direction depends on the motor type, so only the motor designer can determine this sensitivity. o The mechanical tolerance on the dimensions of the magnets o The accuracy of the magnet positioning in a stator bore or on a magnet strip o The temperature dependency of the modern rare earth magnets equals -0.2 %/K for NdFeB magnets and 0.05%/K for SmCo magnets (this explains why SmCo magnets can be found in servo-motors in spite of their relatively high costs) Based on these items we distinct as effects temperature dependency, position dependency of the K-factor and a potential variation in the mean value of the K-factor over production series. Not mentioned in the list are long-term effects; the strength of NdFeB magnets is slowly decreasing in time and this has to be investigated when stability within 1 % over 10 years has to be given. The coils o There exists a link between the position accuracy of the coils within the coil block of ironless motors and shape of the coils of ironless motors respectively and the position dependency of the motor constant exists. Again holds here that only a designer can give exact numbers concerning this sensitivity.
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The air gap o The air gap in an linear iron core motor is determined by the supporting bearings. A smaller gap leads to a higher magnet field and consequently to a rising motor constant K and rising attracting force. It should be clear that the alignment requirements of the bearings with respect to magnets strip are high given a usual value of 0.25 mm as air gap. o The position of the coil block between the two magnet strips of an ironless linear motor is of course depending on assembly accuracies and the extent of deformations of the strips (e.g. by gravity). One should be aware of a rising motor constant when the coil block leaves it mid-position between the strips. Simultaneously one will find then forces perpendicular on the plane of the coil block. So absorbing the stacked tolerances in equipment by uncertainty in the coil block position requires a careful analysis.
Magnetic saturation o The field of the coils in an iron core motor can magnetically saturate the iron of the
armature. The result is that the flux density caused by the magnets decreases with finally a decreasing motor constant at a rising current level. So for iron core motors one should ask a supplier the behaviour of the motor constant as a function of the current level for a certain value of the air gap.
The items given above are based on the experience built up by designing linear drives for precision equipment. It is overdone to check all these aspects for a linear transport system! It should be noted that the constant K gives together with the current the force or torque produced in the motor; the shaft torque is got from this number by subtracting the internal motor damping, friction, cogging and that part of the force or torque needed for the acceleration. Additionally has to be mentioned, that amplifier gain errors and offsets influences the force or torque of electronically commutated motors, as described earlier.
14.2
THE RESISTANCE R
The following issues are involved with respect to the resistance R: Voltage level; in the voltage equation of a motor one can find the term i.R, so a rising resistance means that a higher voltage should be available. Power losses; the losses in the motor are linearly related to square of the current times the resistance, so P=i2.R. So consequences can be found in the motor and the amplifier. Items influencing the resistance are: Temperature dependency of the resistance Copper wire is considered as the best material for motor coils, by its low specific resistivity. But this material has as temperature dependency +0.4 %/K. A temperature rise from 25 to 100 degrees, not unusual, leads to 30 % increase of the coil resistance Tolerances The tolerance on copper wire resistance is 2 % conform standards. In addition to this tolerance there is the elongation of the wire during the coil winding process, where up to 12 % can occur. A usual tolerance on the resistance (at a specified temperature of e.g. 30 degrees Celsius) is 5 tot 10 %. Eddy currents in the magnets, yoke and armature Eddy currents exist when a rapidly changing flux goes through an electrically conducting material. One will notice the presence of those eddy currents by a rising resistance at an increasing frequency. To predict to what extent one has to counteract this effect is rather
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difficult, because it is linked to the material used in the motor, its geometry and the slope of the current in time. Brushes Is the resistance including the resistance of the brushes? Sometimes is listed the armature resistance, sometimes the terminal resistance. Cabling The resistance of the cabling is not a part of the motor, but the amplifier must overcome this resistance.
14.3
THE STEEPNESS S
The steepness S equals K2/R. The preceding paragraphs show the factors influencing K and R, so it should be clear, that the steepness is subject to much variation.
14.4
Data sheets are mentioning always the thermal resistances, but the lack of standards for servomotors allows many test conditions. Questions to be answered by the supplier are at least: Is the motor mounted to a frame; what material is used and what are the dimensions? What is the orientation? Is air moving freely around the motor? What is the relation between the speed and the thermal resistance? The thermal resistance is a function of the temperature of the heated body and the ambient temperature by the changing ratio between convection and radiation. Consequently one should know the temperatures involved. What is the reference altitude? A de-rating of the allowed loss of 5%/km altitude should be applied. Suppliers have two interests, getting the best position in comparison to competitors and to prevent customer disappointments. So open the discussion with a supplier as soon as fitted to ensure that your own conditions are in line with the test conditions.
14.5
LIFE-TIME
The lifetime of electric motors are dominantly determined by the bearings and, in the case of a motor with brushes, by the latter. A lifetime indication can be listed in data-sheets; however, most likely this number is based on the motor running continuously at a constant speed. That is rarely the case in servo-systems and it remains always the responsibility of the designer to verify the lifetime. As far as the bearings are concerned we have to consider: radial and axial load temperature acceleration (noticed: slipping roller cage!) ambient conditions (e.g. glass particles) repetitive point-to-point movements and grease concentration at the end of the stroke PWM supply induced capacitive currents running through the bearings. The life of brushes are influenced by peak currents repetitive point to point movements current pulses by PWM peak voltage of the amplifier temperature
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vibrations ambient conditions (e.g. dust, humidity must be >5 gr. H2O/m3 for carbon brushes) speed current at standstill the materials used for the commutator the materials used for the brushes. The prove that lifetime is good can only be given on the base of a Weibull graph (a statistical method), based on at least 6 samples. Imagine that the target lifetime is 3 year and the sales department has to wait on the test results .. Then one should consider the temporary application of electronically commutating motors to bring the system on the market, because the lifetime of bearings is far better predictable than the lifetime of brushes.
14.6
AMPLIFIER CHOICE
Based on the contents of the preceding chapters we can summarize all relevant items related to the specification of an amplifier: the cable and connectors between the amplifier and the motor the temperature dependent K-factor and resistance R the commutation system (brush resistance and voltage drop over the contact layer between brushes and commutator) the voltage drop over the end-stage of the amplifier the voltage drop over the supply at high currents. voltage fluctuations of the mains a margin on the peak current and voltage for control purposes tolerances on the motor constant and resistance given by the supplier uncertainties concerning the load data changing ambient conditions (ambient temperature or altitude) damping by eddy currents in the motor friction related to the bearings and brushes a position or current level depending motor constant bandwidth output impedance noise level PWM induced motor losses and life time reduction offset, drift and phase gain errors in the case of 3-phase amplifiers non linear behavior around zero current for PWM-amplifier. This in addition to costs, volume, standardization, interfacing, safety, serviceability, remote sensing, communication protocols, mains and radio interference, cooling, electro-magnetic compatibility, approbation, life time, stability, supply voltage, supply voltage disturbance rejection, monitoring, etc.
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Literature
[1] P.L. Huricks, Handbook of Electromechanical Product Design, Longman Scientific and Technical, ISBN 0-582-04083-3 [2] Kenjo, T. and S. Nagamori Permanent-Magnet and Brushless DC-Motors Oxford Science Publications [3] H. Wayne Beaty and James L. Kirtley, Jr Electric motor handbook, Mc Graw Hill, ISBN 0-07-035971-1 [4] Hans-Dieter Stolting & Eberhard Kallenbach, Handbuch Elektrische Kleinantriebe, Hanser, ISBN 3-446-21007-5
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