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Description of

Constant Torque Version of Orbic Prototype Electric Motor without Permanent Magnets

Prefix and Suffix– This description presumes High Speed, Axial Flux Motor with No Permanent
Magnets or Rare Earth Content as an introduction and reference. The constant torque version differs
in the profile of the steel portion of the rotor blades, from the one earlier shown. The new shape is
shown in Figure 1. The constant torque also depends on a switching power drive circuit that regulates
the drive current as a function of rotor position to a particular profile. The resulting combination of
profiles will be referred to as the Orbic Profile Motor This description is followed by a mathematical
analysis that predicts torque and power, and compares this motor's potential with the published
specifications of existing permanent magnet motors, using the best and most expensive permanent
magnet material: sintered and ground NdFeB. The suffix document is written in MathCad 2000 and is
titled: Analysis of Orbic Constant Torque Profile Motor.

Side View Slanted View

Sector 1

Sector 2

Sector 3

Sector 4

End View

Figure 1
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.Background Theory – The strongest Electromagnets are stronger than the strongest permanent
magnets. Electromagnets are used to magnetize permanent magnets, because the electromagnets
are stronger. Electromagnets, of copper and ferromagnetic materials can create twice the flux density
in the working air gap of a motor, as the remenance flux density Br of the strongest permanent
magnets. The stored energy to be transferred to the rotor as measured by available B-H energy area
in the working gap, is more than twice the B-H energy available to the best permanent magnet motors
Figure 2 shows the B-H curves of powdered iron [Micrometals #26] silicon steel, and air, along with the
second quadrant portion of the B-H curve of sintered and ground NdFeB, the best and most expensive
permanent magnet material. Available working areas are between the curves and the vertical axis.
The working gap of the Orbic Saturation Motor advances along the Air curve, and recedes along a
mixed curve, having only the air gap of the clearances on each side of the rotor. The air gap is the only
portion available for energy storage. During transfer to torque-displacement energy, the tip of potential
receding curves travels along at the saturation flux density of powdered iron. Any NdFeB motor can
only operate over some portion of the area to the right of the second quadrant demagnetization curve.
Silicon steel has a higher saturation flux density than powdered iron, and, using novel alignment means
such a air bearings, the clearance gaps can be reduced. This will give the indicated improvement in
working B-H area in future profile motor designs.

Overall – This is an axial flux, variable reluctance, two phase motor. The energy storage is maximum
when the rotor voids are at the working gaps between the stator slugs. The energy storage is minimum
when these gaps are nearly filled with rotor steel. To those not familiar with gapped inductor energy
storage, this may seem counter intuitive. One rationalization: The stored energy may be shown
graphically on the B-H hysteresis curve as ½ B X H. If this is rewritten as ½ B^2/mu, then, since air
has a mu of 1, and steel has mu in the thousands, the contrast in energy storage is apparent.

Rotor – Figure 1 shows one of five blades of the rotor, running in the gap between two of the six rows
of slugs. The rotor is made from strong ferromagnetic steel. The profile of the ferromagnetic portion of
the rotor is of such a shape that it creates the function of inductance vs rotor angle, that is shown in
Figure 4. High remenance, wide hysteresis loop, is not a problem for rotor steel, since the direction of
magnetic flux through each section of the rotor does not change with rotation. The high strength of
steel allows the rotor to turn at extremely high speed. In production models, the rotor voids will be filled
with insulating non-ferromagnetic material, such as plastic laminate or ceramic, to limit the turbulence
in the cooling air flow.
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B-H Plots for NdFeB, Powdered Iron, Silicon Steel, Air, and
Mixed Media

24000
Magnetic Flux Denxity

18000
[Gauss]

NdFeB_typ
12000 P.I.#26
Air
6000 Silicon Steel
Mixed
0
-12000 -6000 0 6000 12000 18000 24000
Magnetizing Force [Oersted]

Area available to NdFeB - 60.5 MegaGaussOersted

Area used by Profile Prototype. - 156.5 MGOe. Ratio - 2.6:1

Area available with Silicon

Steel and zero clearance - 234.4 MGOe. Ratio - 3.9:1

Figure 2
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B-H Plots for Motor Working Gap

Rotor Sector 2
24000
Rotor Sector 1
Magnetic Flux Denxity [Gauss]

18000

12000

Air
6000 Mixed

Tip Path

Rotor Sector 4
0
0 6000 12000 18000 24000
Magnetizing Force [Oersted]

Figure 3
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Graphical Representation of Current, Inductance, and Energy

in each of the Wound Inductors that form the Motor Stator
These ordinates are shown as a function of rotor angle
counter clockwise from the start of shading of Inductor A core slugs.
by rotor iron. A half rotation [pi radians] is shown.
The second half rotation is the same as the first, except
that the direction of the current is opposite.
Current direction changes in the region where current magnitude is low.
The two graphs share a common rotor position reference axis.

Inductor A

------- Sector 1 ------ -- 2 -- -- 3 -- -- 4 ---

1.2
Per Unit Max Valu

1
Magnitude
0.8 of Current
Inductance
0.6
0.4 Energy

0.2 Torque
0
0 0.8 1.6 2.4 3.2
Angle [radians]

Inductor B

1.2
Per Unit Max Valu

1
Magnitude
0.8 of Current
Inductance
0.6
0.4 Energy

0.2 Torque
0
0 0.8 1.6 2.4 3.2
Angle [radians]

Figure 4
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Explanation – During the previous rotor sector 4, the current is brought to the point that the flux in the
slugs is at saturation flux density. As the steel of the rotor fills the gaps, during sector 1 rotation, the
coil drive current is decreased, so that the flux density in the slugs remains at the saturation flux density
of powdered iron. At the end of the sector 1 rotor advance, The original gap of .030” is reduced to two
clearances of .0025” each. Thus the inductor A effective magnetic path becomes about 1/6 of it's
former value, over the rotation angle of sector 1. This decreases the energy storage to 1/6 of it's
maximum, with the 5/6 passed to the rotor as torque times displacement. The remaining stored
energy is returned to the source, as inductor A is discharged during sector 2. A constant torque is
generated during sector 1, due to the linearly decreasing stored energy. The interaction of the rotor
profile. with the drive current profile, produces a constant torque, shown as a constant slope of the
2
energy vs angle curve. If the energy is expressed as ½ I x L, then the rotor profile creates the
Inductance vs angle curve, and the current profile interacts to create the constant slope, and constant
torque shown. The energy is thus forced out of inductor storage, into shaft torque times the π/2 angle
of the sector. During the rotation of sector 2, the inductance is held constant, while the current is
brought to zero. There is no torque, because, with the gaps continually filled with steel, there is no
change related to rotor angle. During sector 3, The inductance is rapidly changed back to minimum,
while the current is held at zero, and the direction of available drive current is reversed, still no torque.
During sector 4, energy is loaded into the constant low inductance, by increasing current of the
opposite polarity. There is no rotor involvement, rotor void throughout the sector, no torque.

Inductor B – As shown, in the lower half of the graph, Inductor B goes through the same sequence of
rotor sectors, displaced by π/2, by being physically displaced in it's mounted position.

Sectors related to the B-H curves – Figure 3 shows the action described above as a path of the
average operating point of the material in the working gap, as the rotor turns through the sectors.

Conclusion – This description shows why we expect an Orbic Profile Motor to outperform any
permanent magnet motor with the same volume of working gap. In the following paper, Analysis of
Orbic Constant Torque Profile Motor, see the application of the dimensions of the motor to predicted
torque and power, as well as a comparison to available permanent magnet motors.