Analyzing the Design and Performance of a DC Linear Stepper Motor

This paper describes the design and modelling of a DC linear stepper motor (DLSM), to investigate the air-gap magnetic flux density and the static features of the thrust force under the DC current excitation condition, while taking the nonlinear properties of iron materials used into account. A Finite Element Method (FEM) study utilizing software called a MagNet was employed to model and construct a linear DC motor. The thrust force, air-gap flux density, and static thrust force at various airgaps were compared in simulation and real time. The result showed that the magnetic flux density presents a sinusoidal shape in both the simulation and measurement, where the peak error value was around 7.14%. A comparison was made with thrust force, as the armature current has different values; the results show that the difference between the experimental and computed peak value was 8.07%, while the error between the measured and simulated value was 5.02% when the thrust force was measured at different air gap lengths.

Automated summary

This paper describes the design and modeling of a DC linear stepper motor (DLSM) to investigate its magnetic flux density and static thrust force under DC current excitation while considering the nonlinearity of iron materials. A Finite Element Method (FEM) study using MagNet software was conducted to model and construct the motor. The simulations and measurements showed that the magnetic flux density had a sinusoidal shape, with a peak error of around 7.14%. Comparison of the thrust force at different armature currents and air gap lengths revealed differences between experimental and computed values of 8.07% and between measured and simulated values of 5.02%.