EECE 474

Electric Drives
Spring 22-23

Dr. Farid Chaaban

Assignment 3

Monday, April 17, 2023

Charbel El Khoury
Abbas Nizam
Georgio Abou Jaoude
1) Problem 1:
A stepper motor, driven by a bipolar drive, has the following parameters
L = 50 mH, R = 2 Ω, and I = 5 A.
Determine the supply voltage and the forcing resistance, if needed, such that the rated current flows
when the transistor is on, and the phase current decays to zero in 1 ms when the transistor is off.

𝑑𝑖 5−0
In a bipolar drive and during turn-off, 𝑉𝑜 = 𝑅𝑎 𝐼 + 𝐿 = 2 × 5 + 0.05 × = 260 𝑉
𝑑𝑡 0.001
𝑉𝑜 𝑉𝑜 260
Also 𝐼 = so 𝑅𝑓 = − 𝑅𝑎 = − 2 = 50 Ω
𝑅𝑎 +𝑅𝑓 𝐼 5

2) Problem 2:
A 3-phase permanent magnet stepper motor required for one particular application must be
capable of controlling the position of a shaft in steps of 7.5º, and it must be capable of running at
speeds of up to 300 rpm.
a. How many poles must this motor have?
b. At what rate must control pulses be received in the motor’s control unit if it is to be driven at
300rpm?

a. We know that Z=360/α with α being the step angle. So Z=360/7.5= 48 steps/rev.
Moreover, Z= n x Ph with n being the number of rotor poles and Ph the number of stator phases.
Since this is a 3-phase machine, n = Z/Ph = 48/3 =16 rotor poles.

b. This motor requires 48 pulses to complete one revolution, thus, to complete 300 revolutions we
need 300x48 =14 400 pulses. Moreover, to reach 300 rpm, the 300 revolutions must be completed
in 1 minute or 60s. So, in 1 s, we need 14400/60 =240 pulses.
The rate of pulses is 240 pulses/s.

3) Problem 3:
A powerful bipolar permanent magnet stepper motor used for positioning a valve has a rated
current of 13 A, a winding resistance of 60 mΩ, a winding inductance of 0.77 mH, a 0.16Nm
detent torque, and a holding torque of 9.5 Nm at 50 steps per second [sps]. Its step rate is 200
steps per revolution, and the rotor inertia is 0.7x 10- 3 kgm2.
The motor is chopper- driven at 65 V and it develops a torque of 2.2 Nm at 10000 sps. Calculate:
a. The speed [rpm] and power [hp] of the motor when it is operating at 10000 sps.
b. The time constant of the windings [in ms]
c. The time [in μs] to reach 13 A when 65 V is applied to the winding.

𝑓×60 10000×60
a. The speed of the motor 𝑛 = = = 3000 𝑟𝑝𝑚
𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝/𝑟𝑒𝑣 200

2𝜋
The power developed by the motor 𝑃 = 𝜔 × 𝑇 = × 3000 × 2.2 = 691.15 𝑊 = 0.926 ℎ𝑝
60

𝐿 0.77×10−3
b.𝜏 = = =12.8 ms.
𝑅 60×10−3

c. Maximum current reached with V=65 V: I=V/R =65/0.06=1083.33 A

Rise time =I max/τ=1083.33/0.0128 = 84635 A/s.

Thus the time needed is t=13/84635 = 153.6 µs.

4) Problem 4:
A stack of 2 armatures in a hybrid stepper motor each has 50 salient poles (teeth). Calculate:
a. The angle between two successive teeth on an armature.
b. The angle between one tooth on one armature and the next tooth on the other armature.
c. The angle of advance per pulse.

a. The 50 teeth are distributed on the 360º of the shaft, therefore the angle between the middle of
2 consecutive teeth would be 360/50 = 7.2º.

b. Since one tooth on the opposite shaft must sit in the middle between 2 of the teeth of the first,
the angle between 2 consecutive teeth on different armatures will be 7.2/2 =3.6º.

c. Angle of advance = 360/100 =3.6º.

5) Problem 9:
A 3-phase VRSM has the following parameters:
Ra = 2 Ω , La = 50 mH , I = 5A (rated winding current)
Each phase is controlled by a unipolar drive circuit. The (forcing) resistance connected in series
with the winding is Rf = 10 Ω and that with the free wheeling diode is Rd = 5 Ω.
a) Determine the electrical time constants (τ on and τ off) at turn-on and turn-off of each phase.
b) Determine the value of the supply voltage Vs.
c) If phase current conducts for 3(τon + τoff), determine the maximum value of the stepping rate
(steps per second) of the motor.

𝐿 𝐿
a. 𝜏𝑜𝑛 = = 4.167 𝑚𝑠 and 𝜏𝑜𝑓𝑓 = = 2.95 𝑚𝑠
𝑅𝑎 +𝑅𝑓 𝑅𝑎 +𝑅𝑓 +𝑅𝑑

b. 𝑉𝑜 = 𝐼𝑎 × (𝑅𝑎 + 𝑅𝑓 ) = 60 𝑉

c. τ = 3(τon + τoff) = 21.351 ms

The maximum stepping rate is the inverse of the duration when the current is conducting in
seconds, thus stepping rate (max) = 1/.021351 = 46.83 steps/s.

6) Problem 10:
A 3- phase permanent magnet stepper motor has a 6- pole stator (i.e. 3 phases) and a mechanical
step 15o. If the stator receives 1800 pulses per second, determine the:
1- Number of poles in the rotor.
2- Number of steps per revolution.
3- Maximum rpm or shaft speed of the motor.

1. The number of steps per revolution Z = 360/ α with α being the step angle. So Z=360/15= 24
steps/rev.
We also know that Z= n x Ph with n being the number of rotor poles and Ph the number of stator
phases.
Since this is a 3-phase machine, n = Z/Ph = 24/3 =8 rotor poles.
2.The number of steps/rev is Z= 24 steps/rev.
3.The maximum shaft speed of the motor can be computed though:
N=60xf/Z = 60 x 1800 /24 =4500 rpm

7) Problem 11:
Calculate the pulse rate (in pulses/s) required to obtain rotor speed 2400rpm for a stepper
motor having a resolution of 200 steps/revolution.
To reach 2400 rpm and having a resolution of 200 steps/rev, the needed pulse rate is:
𝑍 × 𝑛 200 × 2400
𝑓= = = 8000 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑠𝑒𝑠/𝑠
60 60

8) Problem 12:
Given: A VRSM has 50 teeth on its rotor and 6 poles on its stator. The motor’s step angle is of
7.5degrees per step. The motor is being driven by a controller that can provide a maximum speed
of 2000 steps/s.
a) What is the maximum rotational speed of the rotor in rpm?
b) Suppose the controller accelerates the motor from standstill to its maximum speed in 5 seconds.
Calculate the average acceleration in rad/s2 of the rotor.
c) Suppose the motor is required to produce a torque of 0.5Nm. What is the minimum amount of
power required to achieve this torque at maximum speed?
d) Suppose that the motor is required to operate at a torque of 0.5Nm and at a speed of 2000rpm,
but the controller’s maximum speed is 1500rpm. Can the required torque and speed be achieved?
If yes, what step angle is required for this output?

Solution:
a. Z=360/α=360/7.5=48
Max rotational speed=2000/48=41.67rps=41.67×60rpm=2500rpm

b. Using the final rotational speed of the rotor to determine its average acceleration during the 5
second accelerating period.
Since the motor is being accelerated from rest, the final rotational speed is the maximum rotational
speed that we got in part (a).
Final rotational speed=2500×2π/60=261.8 rad/s
Initial rotational speed=0 rad/s
Average acceleration=(261.8-0)/5=52.36rad/s2

c. P=τ×ω=0.5×261.8=130.9W
So the minimum amount of electrical power that the controller must supply to the motor to achieve
a torque of 0.5Nm at its maximum speed is 130.9W.

d. ω=steps/s×α/360
So ω=209.44rad/s and α=50.23degrees/step
Therefore, since the step angle is less than the maximum step angle of 7.5 degrees per step, it is
possible to achieve the required torque and speed with this controller by using a step angle of 50.23
degrees per step.