Wide Range Drive of Hybrid Stepping Motor with Flux-Weakening Control

Because the application range of motors for position control is extending in industry, hybrid stepping motors that can realize position control easily have become popular. However, stepping motors have some disadvantages: the possibility of pull-out under certain load conditions, and low efficiency due to iron loss. Consequently, a system designer must choose the motor-driver combination very carefully. This paper proposes high-efficiency drive of a hybrid stepping motor in a wide speed range by vector control, without the occurrence of pull-out. It is shown that lead angle control is equivalent to flux-weakening control, and that the maximum torque depends on the maximum inverter voltage at high speed. The effect of iron loss suppression by flux-weakening control is verified experimentally. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 174(4): 68-74, 2011; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.21022