UNIT 2

STEPPER MOTOR

SYLLABUS

STEPPER MOTOR

STEPPER MOTOR
A stepper motor is a pulse-driven motor that changes the angular position of the rotor in steps. These
motors rotate a specific number of degrees as a respond to each input electric pulse.
Typical types of stepper motors can rotate 2, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 15 per input electrical pulse. Rotor
position sensors or sensor less feedback based techniques can be used to regulate the output response
according to the input reference command.
Types of stepper motors:
1.Variable Reluctance
1. 1
1.2

Single Stack
Multi stack

2.Permanent Magnet
3.Hybrid motors.
Applications
Printers.
Disk Drives.
Machine Tools.
Robotics.
Tape Drives.

Variable Reluctance

Permanent Magnet

Hybrid motors

STATOR

Stator made of stacked steel core and has windings

ROTOR

Rotor is made up of
Ferromagnetic material
(or) Iron

WORKING

When Stator energized, When Stator energized,

rotor tends to align with rotor tends to align by
Low Reluctance path
Attraction or Repulsion
principle

Attraction or Repulsion
principle

STEP SIZE

Medium step sizes

possible (15)

smaller step
sizes possible
(1.8)

Permanent magnet

Medium step sizes

possible (45)

Both Iron & Permanent

magnet

Variable Reluctance
Stepper
Motors
1.1 Single Stack Variable
Reluctance Stepper Motors
Construction
Circuit configuration of a typical 4-phase,
2-pole, single-stack, variable reluctance
stepper motor.
The stator is made of a single stack of
steel laminations with the phase windings
wound around the stator poles.
The rotor is made of ferromagnetic
material without any windings.
The number of poles in the stator and
rotor windings has to be different.
Principle
The main principle of operation depends
on aligning one set only of stator and
rotor poles by energizing the stator
windings.
When Stator energized, rotor tends to align with Low

1.1 Single Stack Variable

Reluctance Stepper Motors
Working
Maximum to Minimum step
achieved using three types of
available. They are
1. 1-phase ON or
operation)
2. 2-phase ON mode
3. Half step
(combination of above)
SWITCHING PATTERN

Step Angle

Motor Shaft Speed

angle is
switching
(Full step
operation

Working of Single Stack VR Stepper

Motor
1-phase ON or
(Full step operation)

At a time only one winding is

energized.
For each pulse rotor moves to an
angle of 30
When stator poles are energized
the rotor teeth position moves to
align with stator teeth.

Phase A

Phase B

Phase C

theta

2-phase ON

In this mode two phases are

energized simultaneously (AB, BC,
CA, AB, etc).
The rotor experiences torque from
both phases and comes to rest at the
point mid-way between the two
adjacent poles.

Phase A

Phase B

Phase C

Half step
operation

It is a combination of 1-phaseON and 2-Phase-ON modes.

The
three
windings
are
energized in the sequence of
(A, AB, B, BC, C, CA, A, etc).
When A winding is excited the
rotor position will be at 0o
When both AB winding is
excited the rotor position will
be at 15o
When A winding is excited the
rotor position will be at 30o
When both AB winding is
excited the rotor position will
be at 45o
Phase A

Phase B

Phase C

theta

0o

15o

30o

45o

theta

0o

15o

30

45o

60o

75o

60o

90o

105o

75o

90o

Variable Reluctance
Stepper Motors

1.2 Multi Stack Variable Reluctance

Stepper Motors
Construction
In this type, the motor is divided
along its axis into a number of
stacks. Each stack is energized by a
separate winding (phase) as shown
in Figure.
These stacks are
magnetically
isolated from each other.
These motors are characterized by
have the same number of teeth in
each of the stator stacks as those in
each of the rotor stacks.
The most common type is the threestack, three-phase motors; however,

1.2 Multi Stack Variable Reluctance

Stepper Motors
Working
Energizing phase (stack) A:
when stack A winding is energized, the
rotor teeth will move to align
themselves with the stator teeth is
stack A as shown in Figure
Energizing phase (stack) B:
when stack B winding is then
energized while stack A
winding is de-energized, the rotor
teeth will move to align themselves
with the stator teeth is stack B. This
will result in a clockwise rotation of
the rotor by 10 as shown in Figure
Energizing phase (stack) C:
Same as above.
The direction of rotation can be
reversed by reversing the switching
sequence.

Formula to calculate step angle of Multi Stack VR

Assume that the total number of stacks (phases) is N while the total number of teeth in each stack
is x. The tooth pitch ( p ) can be expressed by,

ADVANTAGES OF VR STEPPER MOTOR:

Low rotor inertia
High torque to inertia ratio
Capable of high stepping rate
Light weight
Multi-stack modes are available

DISADVANTAGES
Normally available in 3.6 to 30 degrees
Low efficiencies at low voltages and stepping rates .

Permanent Magnet Stepper

Motors
Construction
Permanent magnet (PM) stepper motors
are similar in construction to that of
single-stack, variable reluctance stepper
motors except that the rotor is made of
permanent magnet.
Rotor is Cylindrical in nature
Permanent magnet stepper motor that
rotate at maximum of 90 step to
Minimum of 45 step.
PM stepper motors offer many features
compared to variable reluctance type such
as,
Higher inertia and consequently lower
acceleration (deceleration) rates.
Larger step sizes, ranging from 30 to
90 compared to step sizes as low as 1.8
for variable reluctance stepper motors.
Generate higher torque per ampere of

Working of PM Stepper Motor

1-phase ON or
(Full step operation)

At a time only one winding is

energized.For each pulse rotor
moves to an angle of 90
Stator windings energized with
the polarity of current.
A+ refers to the positive current
in phase winding A and A- refers
to the negative current in phase
A.

Phase A

Phase B

theta

0o

90o

180o

270o

0o

2-phase ON

In this mode two phases are

energized simultaneously (AB, BC,
CA, AB, etc).
The rotor experiences torque from
both phases and comes to rest at the
point mid-way between the two
adjacent poles.

Phase A

Phase B

theta

Half step
operation

It is a combination of 1-phaseON and 2-Phase-ON modes.

Phase A

Phase B

theta

0o

45o

90o

135o

45o

180o

135o

225o

225o

270o

315o

315o

45o

0o

ADVANTAGES OF PM STEPPER MOTOR

High stepping rate capability.
High efficiency at lower steeds and lower stepping rates.
Higher holding torque capability.
Better damping due to presence of rotor magnet.
DISADVANTAGES
Performance affected by change in magnetic strength.

Hybrid Stepper Motors

Construction
Hybrid stepper motors have similar
stators
construction
to
that
of
variable reluctance stepper motors.
However, their rotors constructions
combine both variable reluctance and
permanent magnet constructions.
The rotors are made of an axial
permanent magnet at the middle and
two identical stacks of soft iron poles
at the outer ends attached to the
north
and
south
poles
of
the
permanent magnet.
The rotor poles connected to the
north pole of the permanent magnet
forms north pole, while the other form
the south poles as shown in figure.

Cross section view of 4-pole stator and

5-pole rotor hybrid stepper motor

Hybrid Stepper Motors

Modes of Operation:
Consider a 3-phase, 3-poles
stepper motor as shown in Fig.1.
When energizing phase B, the
rotor starts to rotate in an
anticlockwise direction to align
itself with pole 2.
It is supposed theoretically,
that the rotor will come to rest
once its axis is aligned with pole
2 axis. However, practically, due
to the inertia of the rotor, the
rotor will overshot and pass the
central line of pole 2. After that,
the magnetic field generated
from pole 2 pulls the rotor in the
opposite direction.
The rotor will swing around the
central line of pole 2 until finally

Fig. 1

3-phase, 3-poles stepper motor

Fig. 2 Effect of inertia on rotor angular speed and

angular position

There are two main modes of operation of stepper

motors that can be summarized as follows:
Start-Stop Mode: In this mode the motor is
controlled to settle down (rest) after each step
before advancing to the next step. The
rotational speed will be in the form of pulses
that drops to zero at the end each step while
the rotor position will be in the form of pulses
also but with an increasing steady state value
with time as shown in Fig.
Slewing Mode:
In this mode the motor is controlled to rotate at
a constant uniform speed without stopping at
the end of each step and the rotor position
varies linearly with time.
The torque speed characteristic of this mode
will not be affected by the system inertia
because of the constant speed. Moreover, for a
specific pulse rate (500 steps per second) this
mode allows the motor to drive higher torque
load as in the start-stop mode

Modes of Excitation
1) Excitation Sequence in the
single-phase-on operation

In this mode of operation only

one phase is excited at any time
so it is called single-phase-on
operation.

2) Excitation Sequence in the

two-phase-on operation

In this mode of operation two

phases are always in excited
condition so it is called twophase-on operation.
In
two-phase-on
drive
the
oscillation damps more quickly
than the case of the one phase-on
drive mode

3) Excitation Sequence in the

half-step operation (threephase motor)

In this mode of operation one or

two phases excited .

Speed Torque
Characteristics

Static Characteristics

Torque vs Angle characteristics

Torque vs Current characteristics

Dynamic Characteristics

Torque vs Angle characteristics

The stepping motor is first kept stationary at a

rest (equilibrium) position by supplying a current
in a specified mode of excitation, say, singlephase or two phase excitation. If an external
torque is applied to the shaft, an angular
displacement will occur.

Maximum of static torque is termed the 'holding

torque', which occurs at =M.

At displacements larger than M, the static

torque does not act in a direction towards the
original equilibrium position, but in the opposing
direction towards the next equilibrium position.
Holding Torque: It is the maximum load torque
which the energized stepper motor can with stand
without slipping from the equilibrium state.
Detent torque: It is defined as the maximum
load torque which the un energized stepper motor
can with stand without slipping.
Torque vs Current characteristics

The holding torque increases with current, and

this relation is conventionally referred to as T/I
characteristics.

Dynamic Characteristics

Holding torque The maximum torque

produced by the motor at standstill.
Pull-In Curve The pull-in curve defines a
area referred to as the start stop region.
This is the maximum frequency at which the
motor can start/stop instantaneously, with a
load applied, without loss of synchronism.
Maximum Start Rate The maximum
starting step frequency with no load
applied.
Pull-Out Curve The pull-out curve defines
an area referred to as the slew region. It
defines the maximum frequency at which
the motor can operate without losing
synchronism. Since this region is outside
the pull-in area the motor must ramped
(accelerated or decelerated) into this
region.
Maximum slew rate: This is defined as
the maximum frequency (stepping rate) at
which the unloaded motor can run without
losing steps.

Drive Circuit
There are two main drive circuits for stepper motors, namely
Uni-polar
Bi-polar drive circuits.
Uni-polar Drive Circuit
This circuit is suitable for three phase variable reluctance stepper motors.
The transistor (power switch) of each winding has two modes of operation as follows:
On Mode: When sufficiently high base current flow through the transistor base it turn ON and
acts ideally like a short circuit. The phase winding inductance is very large and consequently
results in slow rate of building the phase winding current that might result in unsatisfactory
operation of the stepper motor at high stepping rates. Therefore, the external resistance is
connected in series with the phase winding to reduce the time constant.
OFF Mode: switch is turned OFF and acts as an open circuit. The phase winding current will
continue to flow through the freewheeling path formed by the freewheeling diode (Df) and the
freewheeling resistance (Rf).

Bi-polar Drive Circuit

This circuit is suitable for permanent magnet or hybrid stepper motors.
T1 and T2 are in the On Mode: This is done by injecting sufficiently high base
current through their bases simultaneously. Each transistor acts ideally like a short
circuit. Consequently, the current will flow as indicated by the solid line in Figure.
The inductor is then energized.
D3 and D4 are in the On Mode: This mode follows the switching OFF of T1 and
T2. In this mode, the phase winding current cannot change its direction or decay to
zero instantaneously after turning OFF of T1 and T2 because of the phase winding
inductances. Thus the current continue to flow through of D3 and D4 as indicated
by the dotted line. The inductor discharges and the energy is returned back to the
DC source.
Reverse direction of rotation of the motor can be achieved by activating T3
and T4. When T3 and T4 are turned OFF the freewheeling path will provided
through D1 and D2

Microprocessor Based
control of stepper motor

Closed Loop Control

The major disadvantage of the open loop scheme is that in

case of a missed pulse, there is no way to detect it and correct
the switching sequence. A missed pulse may be due to
malfunctioning of the driver circuit or the pulse generator. This
may give rise to erratic behaviour of the rotor.
In this sequel the closed loop arrangement has the advantage
over open loop control, since it does not allow any pulse to be
missed and a pulse is send to the driving circuit after making sure
that the motor has rotated in the proper direction by the earlier
pulse sent. In order to implement this, we need a feedback
mechanism that will detect the rotation in every step and send the
information back to the controller. Such an arrangement is shown
in Figure. The incremental encoder here is a digital transducer
used for measuring the angular displacement.