IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, vol. PAS-94, no.

5, Sept&r/Octo&r

1975

A MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR SINGLE-STACK STEP MOTORS

H. D. Chai

IBM Corporation
Endicott, New York

1. INTRODUCTION
The principle by which step motOK operate i s as old as
James Clark Maxwell's famous treatise on Electricity and Magnetis~dllpublished in themiddleof
the 19th century. The effectof teeth in thedynamo-electric machines was studied in
detail by C a r t e u i nthe early part of the 20th century.
In the 193O's, the British Navy developed the first practical device that madeuse of the centering effect exhibited by
o w e d ironteeth when energized electricallyi7.8]. Thede
vice wasused for remote positioning systems in transmitting the
rotation of a shaft driven by a mechanically operated trammitter. DuringWorld War II, the U.S. Navy applied this device
in various naval equipment such as a gyro compass repeater.

However, its practical usefulness was short-lived with

the emergence of closed -loop servo-motors during the years
1944 to 1957. In this period,servo-motorswere
popularbecause solid-state devices and digital computerswere still in
their infancy and the majority of devices were analog-oriented.
Therewere threemajorfactorsinvolved
in the rebirth
of stepmotors. First, with the increasing sophistication of servo -devices in military applications, there was a need for de
vices that were inexpensive and reliable.

The second factor was the rapid advance in digitalcomputertechnologybeginning

in the latefifties.
Computersystems required many control devices, and the use ofservo-motors
required digital-to-analog signal conversion. This was c e r
tainly inconvenient. Consequently,step
motors, whichwere
well adapted for digital operation, were the right choice.
The thirdfactor was therapid progress being mode i n
solid state devices. Up
to this time step motors were driven by
relaysorcommutatingdevicesusing
brushes [9]. These drive
mechanisms were slow, bulky, and unreliable due to wear.
Now,compact,
low -cost, high-pulse-ratesolid-statedevices permitted inexpensive drive circuits to be built.

fer function for a stepping motor for a single-step response with

zero initial conditions, He assumes theinductanceterm to be
zero and erroneously relates the voltage linearly with displacement instead ofvelocity.Kieburt~8]improves
on thetransfer
functionby using the linearizedvelocity term in thevoltage
equation. However,he alsoneglectstheinductance term.
Departing from the above transfer function approaches
which assume a simplified excitation toque in the equation of
mofion,Snowdonand
Madsen[9]developa toque equation as
a function of
theangulardisplacement
and time-varyingexcitation current. They developtheequation by assuming permeance which i s sinusoidal in space. W i t hi t various properties of the motorare explained. Their results do not explain
the existence of a cogging toque for PM motors i n the absence
of the excitation.
The first Comprehensive PM stepping motor analysis was

published by Robinson[13]n1969. A modified version waspublkhed in the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics and 1 1
ControlInstrumentation
in 19691141. In the report,
Robinson
presents bath single and multi-step response using the constant
current and phase plane techniques. From the analysis he concludes: (1) that a step motor can be defined in terms of a naturalfrequency and adampingratio;
(2) thatthe motor cannot
respond if the applied toque is greaterthan 0.707 times the
stall toque and(3)
thatthe motor cannot follow a sequential
set of stepcommands i f the rotor lags the command position by
more than two steps.
In his derivationofthe
motor toque, Robinsonuses a
permanentmagnet dipole as therotor.
With this model, the
resulting toque i s sinusoidal, which i s correct in form; however, i t should be mentioned that actual rotors are far from being permanentmagnets.Consequently,
theaccumteelectromagnetic phenomena takingplace i n thetoothed gap cannot
be explained with this model.

A secondcomprehensive work i s reported by SinghIlSI.

He develops ageneralmathematical
model to study dynamic
characteristics ofboth
permanentmagnet (PM) and variable
reluctance (VR) motors of single-andmulti-stack types, He
begins with the development of a mathematical model for multiBailey[lO]comparesthestepping motor to position and stack motors (Warner Electric type) andextends theresulting
velocity servos, using Laplace transfons with single stepand
formulation to the single-stack VRand PM motors. In thesinglealso periodic-impulse inputs. 0'Dond.lue [I 11 develop& th, ., 5 stack model,heassumes
that the windingdistribution around
the stator i s sinusoidal. His formulation does not show the existence of the cogging toque in permanent magnet (PM) step moton.
Although stepmotorshavebeen
in existencefor many
years, exceptforthelast
few years,most
of the analysis was
limited to a single-stepresponse of a second-order system.

".'*

Paper T 75 165-6,recommended andapprovedby

the IEEE Rotating
Machinery Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society for presentation at
the IEEE PES Winter Meeting, New York, N.Y., January 26-31, 1975. Manuscript
available
for. printing December 11, 1974.
submitted March 7 , 1974; made

This paperdevelops asimplemathematical

model for
both PM (Permanent Magnet) and VR (Variable Reluctance) motors based on amagneticequivalentcircuit,
whose derivation
i s discussed
elsewhere
Using the air-gap
peneancebetweentoothedmagnetic
structures, thegeneral toque formula
i s developed.Alsothegeneral
expressions of inductances and

1508

back EMF terms are given. Then thegeneral formulation i s

appliedto simple PM and VR motorswhose analytical results
can be easily extended
t o many-toothed devices usually found
in practice.
Themodelestablishes
theexistence of cogging toque.
I t shows the analytical differences between PM and VR motors.
It shows that PM motorsare equivalent t o synchronousmotors
with manypoles when excited with 2-phase sinusoidal input.
Finally, aset ofdifferential equations that describe thedynamics of bifilar-wound step motors with commutating capacitor
are given.

plFl

- Norton's Equivalent

Fig. 2

Circuit of Fig. 1

I i and li, are currents i n bifilar-wound currents usuallyfound i n

4-phase PM stepmotors.For
unifilarcoil arrangements as
found i n VR motors, welet l i B be zero. N i s number of turns
of each coil, which i s assumed to be same for a l l phases.

2. TORQUE
The toque on the rotor i s
Figure 1 shows a magneticequivalent circuitof a K phasestepmotor.The
branchcontaining permeance P
, and
magneto-motive force F
, simulatesapermanentmagnet
i n PM
motors.For
VR motors that branch does not exist. A detailed
explanationleading totheequivalentcircuitgiven
i n Fig. 1
i s given elsewhere[l6]; therefore it w i l l not be repeated here.

By using the equivalent circuit, we develop an expression for a toque on the rotor. W e can obtain the mmf drop aF, very quickly using the Norton's
cross the coil andthegap
equivalent circuit (Fig. 2). From the Figure wesee that

+ F,P,

P, Fi

R.

1
-,

Pi

reluctance

8, = Mechanical angle giving actual angle of

and the flux through i *

qi

(F

where

pole i s

rotation of the rotor.

F, ) P i

= N(li

B e = Electrical angle defined by

Iia )

NR= Number of teeth on the rotor.

Equations (2) and (4) determine the fluxes and the rotor
F, i s a given
torque once the necessaryparametersareknown.
or calculablequantity.
P, and F, are relatedto permanent
magnet which can be estimated. PI i s the gap penneancewith
properties that

Fo

. .., PK , and ,P are the air gappermeances at the stator

poles # 1 , . . ., # K and the permanentmagnet(henrys).
9 , . . ., e
and c
are the fluxes i n the stator poles # l , ...,
PI,

#k and the$&manenrmagnet (webers).

F,, . . ., F , and F, are the excitation mmf's in the stator poles

...,

(One tooth

pith rotation i s equal to 360 elect. deg.)

. ..

#1,

N,en,

fK and the permanentmagnet(amp-turns).

F, i s the mmf drop across the stator-rotor gap including the ex

1.

It i s periodicwith respect to Be

2.

PzP,,

, ... Pk

ments.ForaK-phosemotor,
placement i s 360/K.
Thenwe
series giving

p i = P,

can expresspermeance
m

,P cos m
m=1

citation source.

differonly i n angular displacerespective electrical angular d i p

ti

i n terms of a Fourier

P ~ sin
' n t,

(5)

n= 1

where
Fig. 1

- Madnetic Equivalent Circuit for K-PhaseStep

Motor
=

1509

Be

- (i- 1)- 2n
K

i = 1, 2 ,

...K

(6)

For VR motors X,i

In practice,teeth
have even symmetry.Thus
sinecoefficients are zero. Also it is shown i n the appendix that d o m
inant components are d-c and 1st h a m i c terms.The 4th harmonic component gives rise to the cogging toque found i n PM
motors. We can
then write permeance as

8 = Po +

K-1

pK

Po

P C O S Be

+ P

('e

P4

2*-)

COS

K-1

and

,P are zero.

If we use first two terms of the Fourier sines for permeance,we

find for

40,

+ P4

cos 4 ('e

- 2 r T)

The subscript for the coefficientofthe

1st harmonic
terms i s intentionally left out to avoid confusion with Pi

3. INDUCTANCES

Xi
n=l

The flux linking i* coil is related to inductances by

K
K
P
L,
10 +
~ h *
In*+X,
(84
n=1

4. BACK EMF COEFFICIENTS

We define back EMF coefficients as
where L,
i s a mutug!
,L,
i s thatbetween i
are bifilar-woundcoils
flux linkage on the i"

ch
inductancebetween i
and n , coil:
and nmcoil
where n" and nmcoilr
occupying same n * pole;and Xi,
is
coil due to the permanent magnet.

From (1) and (2)

Kg,
represents aself-inducedterm
i n the i" coil,
represents acoupling term,andKgimrepresents
coupling
due to the permanent magnet,

Kgij

With the approximation of

we find from (lo), (11)

- N2Pli I -

Kgii
The partialderivativesof
gives inductances which are

4i

Lip

K,

= N Pi

( 9 )with

KPo + P,

Kgif

(1

= Kp N

Po

Plj

2Kp Po)sin

[(sin

5,

ti

+sin

Kp Psin 2 f i ]

tj ) +

P
sin
PO

[ 1-KP{

'

respect to current

and (13a)

I-

KPo

Also the flux linkage due to the permanent magnet i s

which give
=
Kg.i

1510

Id PIi.

[ (1 - 2Kp Po ) sin 5 , - K,

P sin 2Si)

All the inductance terms and back EMF coefficients are

givenin
terms of permeances. The air gap permeances are
solely dependent on the tooth geometry [ 17 1
Consequently,
L's and KgOr can be calculated Once Ps are known.
In the following sections we use theforegoing f o m lation to investigate specific types of

mootrs.

5. SINGLE -STACK PM MOTOR

For clarity let ususe a 4-pole stator, 5-tooth rotor, 4phase PM stepmotor as shown i n Fig. 3. This motor i s chosen
because i t i s the simplest 4-phase device whose analytical result
can be easily extended to many-toothed devices with minimum
effort.

Fig. 3

- PM 4

Motor with 4-pale Stator, 5-tooth Rotor

and Phase
In order to evaluate the toque, let ussuppose for single-phase energization

Fi =

Here

-F,

= -NI.

The solution of (4) gives

= 4

N, = 5
8e =

5
8
,

K,

--e

4P0

+ ,P

where T,

- -1

represents a cogging toque

4P0

and A T includeshigher-order
terms. Notethatthe
cogging
torque i s independent of the energization, but is dependent.on
P
I t h a s a4-cyclevariation
overatooth pitch (Fig. 4). E+
(hjreveals that in theory i t i s possible to eliminate the cogging
t o q u e by proper tooth design to el iminate P,
This elimination
canbeusefulforthe
motor application in office
environment
from human factors point of view.

where

Lo =

;f

Tc I

Po

Stable Points:
Back EMF Coefficients are from (14)

- II

Llsin f i

Kgii

Kglj

= I j [ T1(sin

ti

= Om, 90, 1 8 V , 270'

Fig. 4

- L2 sin 2 f i 1

+ s i n f j ) + Lzsin

8,

(ti

+ fj

)1

- Cogging Toque

Fig. 5 shows the toque profile with single phase energization as i n ( 1 6 ) for the case where only the first harmonic
term i s considered. Stablepointsare at 8, = 0 and 3
6
0
' and
unstable point at Be = 180'.
This toque profile is validonly
when the energizing current i s small such that

where

1511

where T,

and AT are neglected.

Equation (18) results if we replace F

Compare (18) with (16).

and Oe in (16) by

$ NI

NI,
0,

and
Fig. 5

- Toque Profile of a PM Motor with Single Phase

= -F,

Energization (F,

= -NI)

For high current, the toque profiles become those shown

in Fig. 6.

e,

- 45'.

Thus the excitation of two phases with NI results i n the

shift i n the detent positioa and the increase in holding toque
by a factor of @for the
1 harmonic term and by a factor of
2 forthe secondharmonicterm.Conversely,
we can obtain
the same holding toque by exciting onephase with
the
rated current.

fief

6. SINGLE-STACK VR MOTORS
Fig. 7 shows a simple VR motor with 4-pole stator, 5tooth rotor,and 4-phase windings. An obvious difference between this motorand the PM motordiscussed previously is the
absence of the permanent magnet.

,P

Here

F,

= 0.

Fig. 7

- VR Motor with 4-pole

U
Stator, 5-tooth Rotor and

4-Phase Windings

Fig. 6

- Toque Profile of

Expressions forinductances and back EMF coefficientsarethe

same as those i n Sec. 5 except Kgim which i s zero.

PM Motor with Single P k e

Energization

With the energization

A few interesting observations can be made from Fig. 6.

For K, less than 0.5, thestable and unstablepoints are the
sameasthose
for K, = 0. ForKa greater than 0.5, the stable
points shift from theprevious onesand approach 90'and 2700
as K increases, The greaterthevalueof
Ka, thegreaterthe
maxfmum toque. The maximum toque pointsshift
135' and
225' asK, increases. A practical implication of this phenomenon i s that with large NI a higher holding t o q u e can be o b
tained at the expense of positional accuracy.

F1=

NI

45
P (N1)'sin
32

ee

The corresponding toque profile i s shown i n Fig. 8. I t has one

cyclevariation over one toothpitch.
The toque i s proportVR and
ional to (NI)' , This i s themajordifferencebetween
PM motors. In a PM motor t o q u e i s proportional to (NI).

In order to increase the toque output, i t i s common p r a e

tice to energize two sets of coils. This i s equivalent to letting

F1 = - F 3

NI

The resulting toque becomes

Fig.

8 Toque Profile of a VR Motor with Single Phase

Energization

7. TWO-PHASE A-C OPERATION OF PM MOTOR

A PM stepmotor canbe made to behave like a synchronous motor with many poles offering l o w speed, high toque
capability. For examplea 1.8' motor (50 rotorteeth)rotates
at 72 rpm with 2-phose 60 Hz input.

1512

Fig. 9a s h o w s coil connections necessary formachine

operation.Coils
in poles 1 and 3 areconnected i n series.The
same i s true for the coils
i n poles 2and 4. Fig. 9c shows the
resulting electrical equivalent circuit.
Fig, 9d gives the equivalent circuit in a simplified form.

The voltage equations are referring to Fig. 9d

E,

= R,I,

dxa

dt

EO

kh

where E, and E, are applied sinusoidal voltoges with a certain

phase shift between them,

q-

Eb

x,

x,

x, - 1 3
x 2 - x,

I, = I, = - I 3

I, = I, = -I*

I
I

To evolwte inductances La,

which i s given by

sider X,

x,

+ L33

= (LI1

, ,L,

1 I,

2L13

and La,

, we

con-

From (14)
La,

= 2L0

2
I

EO

2
3L"

= -L
3

We see from (24) that the mutual coupling term i s zero.

With thecoil arrangementsshown
i n Fig, 90, first harmonic
components drop out. Higherharmonic components still exist.
However, their contributions are small. Also the back emf term
is solely due tothe permanentmagnet alone. Thus electrical
equations are greatly simplified giving

Eb
9

E,
RC

= RcI,

Laa-

d Ia
dt

de e

+ K sin Be
dt

R,, ,,L
K are all constants.
where the
coefficients
g
equation for Eb i s in a similar form.

E,

= R,Ib

+ Lbb

dt

dlb
-

dt
where

KgCOS',

(26)

The

d e

(27)

Laa = Lbb

TO obtainthe toque characteristics, let us excite the

windings with the current sources such that

1513

F, = - F 3 =

- NI coswt

F2 = - F

- NI

sin wt

(28)

Keeping only the first harmonic term, thesolution of

the toque formula (4) with (28) gives

set

dissipation can present a limitation to the motor operation.

Fig. 1% shows an electricalequivalentcircuitofthe
bifilar-wound motor. As in the case forthe a - c excitation
bifilar wound
(Section 7), exceptforthecouplingbetween
coils, themutualinductance
t e r m are smallcompared tothe
selfinductance terms, L, and theycan beneglected.
The
i s practically unity
couplingbetweenthebifilar-woundcoils
and i s denoted by M i n Fig. 1%.
L and M are

ee = w e t
'e
where
we = Electrical angular velocity of rotor
Se

= Initial electrical angle orpower angle of rotor

Here M i s taken as positive.

Then
wt

- Be

= wt

wet

6,

(30)

Note that the average toque supplied by the motor is zero un-

I e55
w

= w e = 5wm

where Wm is the mechanical angular velocity of the rotor.

equation (29) reduces to

The

like a synchronousmotor
Thus PM stepmotorbehaves
with manypoles. In this particular example (NR = 5) with the
60 Hz excitation frequency (w = 3600 rpm), therotor vel*
city wm i s 720
If the number of teeth on the rotor i s 5 0
(corresponding to 1.8 stepmotor),
therotor velocity will be
72 rpm. In largecontroloperations (such as radar trackingor
milling machines) where speed of operation i s low, a stepmotor has advantages over a synchronous motor because of a simplified gear reduction mechanism,

rpm.

(b) Electrical Equivalent Circuit

8. BIFILAR-WOUND PM
MOTORS

Fig. 10

A bifilar winding is probably the most widely used winding scheme for PM motors. Its winding schematic i s shown i n
Fig, l o a . Two separate coils are woundaround each pole and
connected to a simple power supply i n such a way that flux reversal in each polecanbeattained.
This scheme avoidsthe
need for a bipolar drive circuit which requires more electronic
components.
$1
RS

A capacitor connected between the bifilar-wound coils

(Fig. lob) prevents a possible transistor breakdown (represented
by switches in the figure) due to high voltage generated asthe
transistor i s turned off abruptly. Also by proper choice of the
capacitor value, arunning t o q u e choracteristiccanbe
tailored to specific needs [ 18 1

The electrical equations defining the bifilar-wound motor ore

V,

- Bifilar-Wound Motor

= R, (Im+

In) +

Rclm+

dt

V,

$+!

= RI(lm

I n ) + Rc',

- M-

L-

+ Em

(32)

dt

+ L-

M-

dt

'In

+ E

dt

I i-21

+;find

where the subscript m signifies current i n a winding with switch

on, while the subscript n signifies that with switch off.

sw3

(a) WindingSchematic

The back emf terms

One drawback to this arrangement i s that only half of
the winding space i n a stator pole i s actively used at one excitation. Hence, foragiven
coil, only one half of the possible mmf i s generated resulting i n a lower toque.
But by use
of a finer coil,
mrnf can be increased,and the rise time ofthe
currentcan bereduced.
With thefiner coils, however, heat

1514

E,

(Em 8 En ) are given by

a,d t

- KgsinBe-

d e

dt

= Kgsin 8,

E,

E* = -

e,

sw1

sw2

ON

ON

ON

Mode

sw3

sw4

d e

ON

(34)

dt

4
After s a m e manipulation (32) 8.

ON

ON

3
ON

ON

9. SUMMARY

(33) can beput into a

form

A general linear mathematical madel for a single-stack

PM or VR stepmotor i s developed in the paper. This model i s
based onasimplemagneticequivalent
circuit. Using air-gap
permeances betweentoothed structures as fundamental parameters, general formulas for the toque on the rotor, inductances,
andback EMF terms aredeveloped.Also
using fundamental
and first harmonic Fourier components for the permeances, approximate formulas for the inductances and back EMF terms are
given, This approximation i s a goodonebecause
valuesof
higher harmonic components are small for normally used toothed
structures found i n step motors.

The formulasare then applied to a 4-pole

stator, 5toothrator motor (bath PM 8. VR types) with different energC
zation conditions. The simple structure i s chosen forthe sake
of clarity.
toque found i n PM motors
It i s shown thatthecogging
i s due to 4th harmonic component of the permeance and flux of
the permanent magnet. I t has a 4-cycle variation over a single
toothpitch.
The major difference between PM and VR motors
i s that in PM motors the toque i s proportion$ to NI, while in
VR motors the toque i s proportional to(NI)
Therefore,we
can expect that PM motors have faster initial acceleration than
VR motors for small values of NI.

The mechanical equation i s

where J, K,
TL
T,,
are, respectively, inertia, dawping constant,
friction toque, and lead toque.

The electromagnetic toque supplied by the motor is

Te = - K t [
where

Kt =

(11

-52

1 3 ) sin 8,

N (Fm
Pm)

(I,

- I*)c d e I

(39)

P
-

Po

Equations (X), (37)and (38) form acomplete set of

differential equations thatdescribe the multi-step operationof
abifilar-wound
PM step motor.Table I givesswitching modes
fortwo-phaseenergization.
There aretwo sets of equations
corresponding to (36)a(37). Forexample, for the mode 1 condition
l m = I, and I,

I, = I, and I,.

The toque expressions reveal that with fixed NI holding

toque can be increased by maximizing the first harmonic component of the permeance.Because
theFourier components of
the permeance depend on the tooth-to-valley ratio of the rotor
and stator teeth, a proper selection of the tooth-to-valley ratio
w i l l givea maximum toque. This problem i s discussed i n a r r
other paper [ 17 1

In Section 7 i t i s shown that with two-phase a-cexcitation, PM stepmotors behave like synchronousmotors with
it is
many p o l e s , thus providing slow-speed operation.Also
shown i n Sections 7 8. 8 that with proper winding connections
the effect of mutual coupling terms can be minimized resulting
i n greatly simplified electrical equations,

motors are exclusively used i n motor

At present,step
applications. There i s no reason why the permanent magnet (or
electromagnet)typecannot
be used os agenerator.
For example, reversingtheoperationdescribed
i n Sec. 7, a 1.8
"step generator" will deliver 60 Hz outputvoltage when i t i s

'

1515

prm.

rotatedat 72
Higher rpm w i l l result in higherfrequency
output. With the energyshortagearound
us, stepgenerators
withtheir simple,rugged,
reliable constructions may be attached to windmills or water wheels to generate useful electric
power.

10.

Bailey, S. J.,
"Incremental Servos,
Part
II: Operation and Analysis, " Control Engineering, Vol. 7, pp. 9 7
102, Dec.1960.

11.

O'Donahue, J. P., "Transfer Function for a Stepper M o t

or, I' Control Engineering, Vol, 8, pp. 103 -I&$, Nov
1961.

12.

Snowdon, A. L. and
Modsen,
E. W.,
"Characteristics
of a Synchronous Inductor Motor, I' AlEE Tmnsactions,
Applications and Industry, Vol. 81, p p 1-5, March 1962.

13.

Robinson,D. J., "Dynamic Analysis of Permanent Mag

net Stepping Motors, 'I NASA TN D-5094, Lewis Research
Center, Cleveland, Ohio, March 1969.

14.

Robinson,D.
J. andTaft, C. K., "ADynamic Analysis of Magnetic Stepping Motors, I' IEEE Transactions on
Ind. Elect, and Control Instr., Vol.IECl 16, No. 2, p p
111-125,Sept.1969.

15.

Singh, G.,
"MathematicalModelingof
Step
Motors;
Symp.Proceedings,
Incremental Motion Control Sys
terns andDevices,Part
I, pp. 60-148, Dept. of Elect.
Engr., Univ. of Illinois,March 27-31, 1972.

16.

Chai, H. D.,
"Magnetic Circuit and Formulation of
Static Toque forSingle-Stack
Permanent Magnet and
VariableReluctance StepMotors, 'I Symp.
Proc.,
Incremental MotionControl Systems andDevices,Dept.
of Elect. Engr., Univ. of Illinois, April 16-18,1973.

17.

Chai, H.
D.,
"Permeance Model & ReluctanceForce
Incremental
BetweenToothedStructures, " Symp.Proc.,
Motion Control Systems & Devices, Dept. of Elect. Engr.
Univ. of Illinois, April
16-18,1973.

18.

"Approaches to Stepping Motor ConPawletko, J. P.,

trols, '' Symp.Proc.,
Inc. Motion Cont. Sys. & Devices,Part
I, pp. 431-463, Dept. of Elect. Engr. Univ.
ofIllinois, March 27-31, 1972.

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1.

Maxwell, J. C.,
"Electricity andMagnetism,
University
ford
Press, N. y., 1892.

I'

Ox-

2.

Carter, F. W.,
"Note on Air-Gap and Interpolar I n duction, '' JIEE, Vol. 29, pp. 925-941, 1900.

3.

Carter, F. W.,
168-170,
1910.

4.

"MagneticCentering of Dynamo-ElecCarter, F. W.,

tric Machinery, 'I Minutesof Proc. of Institution o f c i v i l
Engineers, Vol. 187, pp.311-318,1911-1912.

"PoleFace

Loss,

I'

JIEE, Vol.

5.

"Air Gap Induction,

Carter, F. W.,
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884-888, 1901,

6.

Carter, F. W.,
ElectricMachine,
1926.

7.

Proctor, J.,
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ineering, Vol. 34, pp.74-88,Feb.1963.

'I

54,

pp.

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8.

Kieburtz, R.B.,
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"A Review of Stepper
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April 1968.

1516

Discussion

REFERENCE

R. M.Mathur (University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Man., Canada): The

author has presented a very interesting analysis of the single stack step
motor based on its magneticequivalent circuit. The term Pm in equation
5 and in Fig. 1 and elsewhere in paperdoesrepresent two different
parameters and hence leads to confusion. In the paper the author has
made reference to an appendix not included in the paper while justifying the terms retained in the permeance function under each pole of the
stator. The 4th harmonic component is retained because, as is shown
later in the paper, it gives rise to the cogging torque. It appears that this
conclusion is valid only for a four phase stator and five tooth rotor. I
believe thatthe
orderofpermeanceharmonic
which givesrise to
cogging in PM motors is given in general term by m = abs [K/N -Kl .
It is also noted that this higher order permeance term has been n e g c t e d
for the computation of inductances.
The results of equation 16 and Figs. 5 and 6 of the paper, although
referred to, as for single phase energization, have in fact two phases, 1
and 3, of a 4-phase motor energized. The interpretation of the results
of Fig. 6 presents a problem because for Ka = 0, unless PmFm is infinite, there should be no torque.Further the base torquefor each
curve is different. The equation [ 181 has been obtained by replacing
NI byJi-NI. This method seems unjustified considering that the m.m.f.
of each phase is asquare
orat best trapezoidal space function.
In equation 16 the first term is on account of permanent magnet
excitation whereas the second term is entirely on account of variation
in reluctance. The reluctance torquefrom this equation is a second
harmonic component whereas in equation 19it is shown to be a
fundamental component. Evidentlyit
is on account of different
excitation conditions. The author may wish to clarify this observation.
In order to predict the performance of PM single step motors one
must evaluate the value of Fm. Would the author suggest the method
used by him? For the analysis of at least the steady stateperformance it
may be necessary to take saturation into account.Pickup and TippingA
have presented an excellent paper on this subject. Needless to say that
for dynamic performance the eddy current effect has to be somehow
incorporated in the analysis. The authorscomments in this regard
would be valuable.

[AIPickup,
I.E.D. and Tipping D.: Methodfor
predicting the
dynamic response of a variable-reluctance stepping motor,
Proceedings of I.E.E., Vol. 120, No. 7,July1973, pp.757-65.

H.D. Chai: The author appreciates the discussors point that the term
Pm in the paper represents two different parameters. Pm in Equation 5
representsa mth coefficientof the cosine series. Pm appearing elsewhere signifies permeance of a permanent magnet.
The sentence containing a reference to an appendix should have
been deleted. In order to reduce the length of the paper, the appendix
was omitted from the final manuscript. However, based on the authors
unpublished work and Reference 17 in the paper, it can be stated that
dominant permeance components are d-c and first harmonicterms.
Therefore, the paper neglects the higher order componentsin discussing
specific cases.
The 4th harmonic component was intentionally included to show
that the cogging torque for 4-phase PM motors, which are widely used
in industry, is due to this component. For other phases, the cogging
torque will be due to other component as the discussor pointed out.
By single phase energization, theauthor means that only one
winding is energized. In practical motors, Coil 1 and3 in Fig. 3 are
connected in series into a one continuous winding to an appropriate
power supply.
Ka = 0 in Fig. 6 approximately holds when the air gap flux due to
the permanent magnet dominates over that due to the energization flux.
Therefore, in practical operations where the energization flux is high a
pure sinusoidal torque is not attainable.
The idealized mathematical model. developed in the paper gives
basic insights intothe
operationof
step motors. Next areas of
investigation should includeeffects of eddy currentand non-linear
magnetic circuit.
Manuscript received April 2, 1975.

Manuscript received February 13, 1975.

151 7