An electrostatic induction motor utilizing electrical resonance for torque enhancement

An electrostatic induction motor utilizing electrical resonance to enhance its torque is introduced in this paper. The motor has patterned electrodes embedded on both of its stator and rotor, and driven by three-phase excitation voltage applied to its stator electrodes. The rotor electrodes are connected to external inductances and resistances through slip rings. The torque of the motor is maximized at resonant condition, where the slip frequency is equal to the resonance frequency of the system. A working prototype of the motor was constructed with 18-layered film electrodes. The maximum torque of the motor was 20 mNm at 10 rpm with an excitation by three-phase voltage of 0.9 kV/8.25 kHz. The motor could start itself and rotate in balance with frictions at a speed of 75 rpm with 0.9 kV/8.35 kHz excitation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.