Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Energy-Conversi on Principles
we are concerned here with the electromechanical-energy-conversion pro- Wcess, which takes
place through the medium of the electric or magnetic field of the conversion device. Although the
various conversion devices operate on similar principles, their structures depend on their function.
Devices for measurement and control are frequently referred to as transducers; they generally
operate under linear input-output conditions and with relatively small signals. The many examples
include microphones, pickups, sensors, and loudspeakers. A second category of devices
encompasses force-producing devices and includes solenoids, relays, and electromagnets. A third
category includes continuous energy-conversion
equipment such as motors and generators.
This chapter is devoted to the principles of electromechanical energy conversion
and the analysis of the devices which accomplish this function. Emphasis is placed on the analysis
of systems which use magnetic fields as the conversion medium since the remaining chapters of
the book deal with such devices. However, the analytical techniques for electric field systems are
quite similar.
The purpose of such analysis is threefold: (1) to aid in understanding how energy conversion takes
place, (2) to provide techniques for designing and optimizing the devices for specific requirements,
and (3) to develop models of electromechanical- energy-conversion devices that can be used in
analyzing their performance as compo- nents in engineering systems. Transducers and force-
producing devices are treated in this chapter; continuous energy-conversion devices are treated in
the rest of the book.
The concepts and techniques presented in this chapter are quite powerful and can be applied to a
wide range of engineering situations involving electromechanical energy conversion. Sections 3.1
and 3.2 present a quantitative discussion of the forces in electromechanical systems and an
overview of the energy method which forms the basis for the derivations presented here. Based
upon the energy method, the remainder of the chapter develops expressions for forces and torques
in magnetic-field-based electromechanical systems.
F = q(E + v B) (3.1)
gives the force F on a particle of charge q in the presence of electric and magnetic fields. In SI
units, F is in newtons, q in coulombs, E in volts per meter, B in teslas, and v, which is the velocity of
the particle relative to the magnetic field, in meters per second.
Thus, in a pure electric-field system, the force is determined simply by the charge on the particle
and the electric field
F = qE (3.2)
The force acts in the direction of the electric field and is independent of any particle motion.
In pure magnetic-field systems, the situation is somewhat more complex. Here the force
F = q(v B) (3.3)
is determined by the magnitude of the charge on the particle and the magnitude of the B field as
well as the velocity of the particle. In fact, the direction of the force is always perpendicular to the
direction of both the particle motion and that of the magnetic field. Mathematically, this is indicated
by the vector cross product v B in Eq. 3.3. The magnitude of this cross product is equal to the
product of the magnitudes of v and B and the sine of the angle between them; its direction can be
found from the fight-hand rule, which states that when the thumb of the fight hand points in the
direction of v and the index finger points in the direction of B, the force, which is perpendicular to
the directions of both B and v, points in the direction normal to the palm of the hand, as shown in
Fig. 3.1.
For situations where large numbers of charged particles are in motion, it is con- venient to rewrite
Eq. 3.1 in terms of the charge density p (measured in units of coulombs per cubic meter) as
Fv = p(E + v B) (3.4)
where the subscript v indicates that Fv is aforce density (force per unit volume) which in SI units is
measured in newtons per cubic meter.
The product pv is known as the current density
J = pv (3.5)
which has the units of amperes per square meter. The magnetic-system force density
Fv = J x B
For currents flowing in conducting media, Eq. 3.6 can be used to find the force density acting on
the material itself. Note that a considerable amount of physics is hidden in this seemingly simple
statement, since the mechanism by which the force is transferred from the moving charges to the
conducting medium is a complex one.
For situations in which the forces act only on current-carrying elements and which are of simple
geometry (such as that of Example 3.1), Eq. 3.6 is generally the simplest and easiest way to
calculate the forces acting on the system. Unfortunately, very few practical situations fall into this
class. In fact, as discussed in Chapter 1, most electromechanical-energy-conversion devices
contain magnetic material; in these sys- tems, forces act directly on the magnetic material and
clearly cannot be calculated from Eq. 3.6.
Techniques for calculating the detailed, localized forces acting on magnetic ma- terials are
extremely complex and require detailed knowledge of the field distribution throughout the structure.
Fortunately, most electromechanical-energy-conversion de- vices are constructed of rigid,
nondeforming structures. The performance of these devices is typically determined by the net
force, or torque, acting on the moving component, and it is rarely necessary to calculate the details
of the internal force distribution. For example, in a properly designed motor, the motor
characteristics are determined by the net accelerating torque acting on the rotor; accompanying
forces,which act to squash or deform the rotor, play no significant role in the performance of the
motor and generally are not calculated.