Development of the Electrical and Magnetic Model of Variable Reluctance

Speed Sensors
Robert A. Croce Jr., Ph.D.1, Igor Giterman1
1
Harco Laboratories, 186 Cedar Street, Branford, CT 06405, USA

Abstract
This paper presents the electrical and magnetic analytical model as well as experimental validation of the output
characteristics of variable reluctance speed sensors. The objective of this study is to develop a universal model which is capable
of predicting the dynamic performance of speed sensors. This model will be used to further optimize existing speed sensor
designs as well as aid in the development of new products. Experimental tests were performed and compared with the simulated
results in order to validate the feasibility of the model. The simulated results of this sensor was shown to align within reason to
the fabricated experimental characteristics, indicating that this model can be a powerful tool which has the potential to be applied
across a vast majority of sensor designs. Furthermore, an equivalent electrical model has been developed which enables the
suppression of higher order harmonic frequencies at the output, and to allow the sensor to operate at all desired frequencies
without exceeding or falling below the voltage levels typically dictated by design requirements.

1. Introduction to ensure noiseless and seamless interfacing with zero-cross

detection and associated signal conditioning circuitry. For the
Variable reluctance sensors are used to measure position purposes of this model, the ferromagnetic material consists of
and speed of moving ferrous objects. Their versatility, a toothed gear fabricated out of 430F solenoid quality stainless
simplistic design and relatively low cost of manufacturability steel. For the magnetic simulation of this sensor a finite
make them attractive for use in aerospace [1] and automotive element analytical model was developed which allowed us to
[2] industries where it is desired to quantify the rotational simulate the magnetic fields present around the sensor while
speed of engine components such as crankshafts and turbines. rotating the test gear at discrete angular rotational steps. The
The variable reluctance sensor consists of a permanent magnet flux linkage in the coil was then calculated at each rotation.
and a ferromagnetic pole piece surrounded by a coil of wire. Here, a MATLAB program was used to provide an automated
The sensor generates an analog voltage output signal when a testing environment which enabled full control over the finite
ferromagnetic material passes by the tip of the pole piece. element software as well as provided a means for data
This induced voltage follows Faraday’s Law of Induction, collection and analysis. Additionally, by knowing the discrete
stated by the following equation as: rotational time steps a transient waveform was reconstructed
𝑑𝜙 and compared with experimentally gathered waveform data.
𝑉 = −𝑁 (1)
𝑑𝑡
where 𝑁 is the number of turns in the coil, 𝜙 the magnetic 2. Experimental Procedures
flux induced in the coil and 𝑡 is the time elapsed during the a. Fabrication of Test Gears
change in magnetic flux. The magnitude of the induced Two tests gears were created to analyze the effect of
voltage is therefore a direct function of the flux linkage in the different tooth geometry on the signal output. 430F solenoid
coil as a function of time. quality ferritic chromium-iron stainless alloy (Dunkirk
A powerful analytical design tool would enable the Specialty Steel) was chosen as the gear material due to its high
prediction of output voltages and transient waveform shapes magnetic permeability, low residual induction and excellent
as a function of physical parameters including, but not limited corrosion resistance. The first gear fabricated had a total of 20
to, sensor component materials and sizes, gear tooth
geometry, tooth spacing and gear material. The ability to
accurately model dynamic sensor performance would enable
the optimization of performance and cost of existing products,
as well as aid in the design of new products and systems.
In this study, we have developed both a magnetic and
electrical model of variable reluctance sensors which has (A) (B)
shown good correlation to data collected from experimental
sensors. The magnetic model can be primarily employed to Figure 1: (A) 430F testing
model the transient electromagnetic response of the sensor, gear with 20 teeth; (B) 430F
whereas the electrical model can be used to adjust the output testing gear with 10 teeth; (C)
Photograph of fabricated
(C)
gears.
1
 using the LeCroy ScopeExplorer Software for analysis and
Table 1: Measured Sensor Parameters.
comparison to simulated data.
Frequency Rs
Zs (Ω) Phase (°) Ls (mH) Xs (Ω) f. Simulation Software
(Hz) (Ω)
100 90.49 9.28 22.80 14.35 89.36 Electromagnetic finite element simulations were performed
120 91.05 11.06 22.90 17.23 89.40 and controlled using MATLAB. The electrical model was
developed and simulated using OrCAD Capture.
1000 172.27 55.89 22.70 142.53 96.59
10000 1205.80 67.45 18.40 1112.60 462.70 3. Results and Discussion

teeth, equally spaced out 0.1540” over a diameter of 1.8739” a. Experimental Results
with a depth of 0.25”. The second gear contained 10 teeth Figure 2 displays a cross-sectional representation of the
equally spaced out 0.1540” over the same 1.8739” with the sensor geometry and testing gear.
same depth of 0.25”. The fabricated gears can be seen in
Figure 1.
b. Fabrication of Speed Sensors
The sensor used for this study was a Harco fabricated high
performance speed sensor. In short, the assembly consisted of
a NdFeB permanent magnet (n4520), ferritic stainless steel
pole piece (430FR) and a 1700 turn coil employing 39 AWG
magnet wire surrounding the pole piece.
c. Material Characterization
1) 430F Annealing for Magnetic Properties – Fabricated
gears were annealed at 1500 °F for 2 hours then cooled
100 °F per hour to 800 °F. Surface oxidation of gears Figure 2: Cross-sectional representation of the speed sensor
post-annealing was removed by sand blasting the geometry and the 20 tooth testing gear.
finished part.
2) Rockwell Hardness Evaluation – B-scale Rockwell As indicated in Section 1, the operational principle of this
hardness values of 430F gears were evaluated before and sensor is based on the changing magnetic flux as a function of
after the annealing procedure by using a time by passing a ferrous material by the pole piece tip. It can
Wilson/Rockwell hardness tester. A hardness of 80 therefore be concluded that the magnitude of the magnetic
HRB and 78 HRB was measured before and after field generated can be altered by the ferromagnetic properties
annealing, respectively. of the testing gear. Henceforth, it would be imperative to
quantify the effect the magnetic permeability has in
d. Measurement of Sensor Parameters determining the resultant magnetic field coupled into the coil.
It is known that magnetic characteristics of ferritic stainless
Sensor inductance and resistance were measured using a
steels can degrade after machining. Subsequent to gear
QuadTech 1715 Digibridge LCR meter. Series resistance and
inductance values were obtained at frequencies of 100, 120 fabrication, an annealing process was implemented to re-align
1,000 and 10,000 Hz using 0.25V level measurement. the crystal lattice in order to achieve an even atomic structure
and optimize the magnetic properties of the alloy. To quantify
Inductance and resistance measurements as a function of
frequency can be seen in Table 1. It is noteworthy to mention the effect this annealing has on the output characteristics, the
sensor was tested before and after annealing, and the peak-to-
that the true sensor inductance values become apparent at
peak voltages were compared. Figure 3 shows the peak-to-
higher frequencies and true resistance values are taken under
DC conditions. This yields L and R values of approximately peak voltage as a function of frequency before (a), and after
(b) annealing. As elucidated from the plots, the annealing
18 mH and 90 Ω, respectively.
protocol had a trivial effect on the induced magnetic field (i.e.
peak-to-peak voltage), which resulted ca. 1-2% increase in
e. Sensor Data Collection and Analysis
magnitude. This increase of 1-2% can be considered
negligible give that experimental errors due to gaping,
Experimental data was carried out using the SureServo component tolerance, coil winding and other assembly
Motor Driver with a SureServo Low/Medium Inertia Motor. procedures have been observed to amount to approximately
The motor driver was programmed to achieve test gear speeds 5%.
ranging from 600 RPM (200 Hz for the 20 tooth gear and 100
Hz for the 10 tooth gear) to 18,000 RPM (6,000 Hz for the 20 a. Magnetic Model and Simulation
tooth gear and 3,000 Hz for 10 tooth gear). The output of the Finite element analysis used to model and simulate the
speed sensor was analyzed on a LeCroy Waverunner-2 Digital output voltage generated by the sensor as a function of gear
Oscilloscope, and raw transient data was recorded via RS-232 frequency. Figure 4 shows a static simulation of the sensor
2
 Figure 4: Simulation environment of the variable
reluctance speed sensor.
coil was translated to peak-to-peak voltage by correlating the
time step with Δɸ, per equation (1). The simulated output as a
function of frequency when compared with experimental data
can be seen in Figure 5. The red curve illustrates the
experimental data and the blue curve the simulated data. It is
noted that the experimental curve contains adverse physical
electromagnetic phenomena such as Eddy currents and skin
effects which can degrade performance. These effects have
been observed and can be attributed to the slight deviation of
experimental data from true linear operation (R2 = 0.9995),
which is observed in simulation (R2 = 1). In an effort to
compensate for this non-linear behavior at higher frequencies,
the experimental curve was scaled by the varying inductance
as a function of test frequency seen in Table 1, which is
assumed to be caused by the presence of Eddy currents. By
employing this scale factor, experimental data approaches
linear operation (R2 = 0.9999). The simulated data deviates an
average of approximately 8% over the full range of
frequencies tested (200  6,000 Hz).
Figure 3: Effect of gear annealing ((A) 20 tooth gear, (B)
Figure 6 illustrates the experimental vs. simulated transient
10 tooth gear) on sensor output voltage.
response of the sensor with both testing gears. The simulated
with the pole piece tip located in the center of the gear gap, waveform reconstruction is able to closely simulate the
with magnetic flux lines indicating the magnitude and experimental shape, indicating that accurate modeling of
direction of induced magnetic fields. The physical dimensions sensor transient shape has been achieved and is able to be used
and electromagnetic parameters used in the simulation can be as an optimization tool for gear tooth sizing and spacing.
seen in Table 2.
b. Electrical Model
MATLAB was used automate the simulation environment by
rotating the test gear a discrete rotational steps, while The equivalent electrical circuit can be modeled as a series
capturing the flux linkage at each step. The flux linkage in the

Table 2: Simulation Parameters

Electromagnetic
Material Dimensions
Properties
HC = 1034507 A/m,
Magnet NeFeB 0.4" x 0.328"
µr = 1.05
Non-linear BH
Pole Piece 430FR ⌀ 0.150" x 0.500"
Curve
Pole Piece Non-linear BH
430FR ⌀ 0.106" x 0.050"
Tip Curve
Cu
Coil Magnet 39 AWG n/a
Wire
Non-linear BH
Gear 430F ⌀ 1.8739"
Curve Figure 5: Experimental vs. simulated sensor curves.
3
 (A)

(B)

(C)

Figure 6: Experimental vs. Simulated transient waveform of

the speed sensor.
RL circuit excited by a sinusoidal voltage source, as shown in
Figure 7.
RCoil and LCoil are the internal resistance and inductance of
the coil, respectively, and were obtained experimentally using
a QuadTech 1715 Digibridge LCR Meter as discussed in
Section 2 (d). The sinusoidal input voltage source, VAC, is
Figure 8: (A) Simulation of sensor sine wave; (B)
modeled from open circuit experimental measurements
Simulation of sensor input, unwanted frequency harmonics
(without Load Components). This is a valid design
assumption given that under open circuit conditions, no closed and the final output; (C) Sensor input and output alone.
loop current flows through either RCoil or LCoil. RL and CL large tooth and/or tooth spacing with respect to the width of the
represent the external load components which can be pole piece tip. These erroneous frequency harmonics about 0 V
employed to adjust the output magnitude and/or resonant have been shown to be problematic due to the fact that the
frequency of the signal over the full frequency range of the sensor’s output signal will ultimately be connected to
design. interfacing electronics and signal conditioning circuits which
Careful attention must be directed towards higher-order signal employ zero-cross detection. Harco’s proprietary design
harmonics which are inherently present during periods of no eliminates the aforesaid higher order frequency components
magnetic flux generation, i.e. section of the gear containing a ensuring complete preservation of the sensor signal.
OrCAD was used to simulate the abovementioned frequency
harmonics during these flat transient periods and the resulting
signal after utilizing our design methodology. The sensor
parameters used for the simulation were 18 mH and 90 Ω.
Shown in Figure 8 (a) is the sine wave used as the source
signal. Flat periods were introduced into the signal to simulate
periods of no voltage generation to allow higher-order
harmonics to be displayed. Figure 8 (b) shows the simulation
result illustrating the frequency harmonics, traces yellow and
green, present during periods of no voltage generation. The
aforementioned oscillations were and the final output can be
Figure 7: Equivalent circuit model of the variable reluctance viewed as the purple trace. In Figure 8 (c), only the input and
sensor.
4
output signals were plotted. 5. References
As previously mentioned, the load components RL and CL of
Figure 7 can be employed to adjust the resonant frequency [1] Nebyloz, Alexander, Aerospace Sensors, Momentum
point of the equivalent circuit. By utilizing the correct parallel Press, New York, NY, 2012.
RL and CL combination, the circuit’s inherent resonant
frequency behavior will limit the output voltage ensuring that [2] Erjavec, Jack and Thompson, Rob, Automotive
the maximum voltage requirement will never exceed the peak- Technology: A Systems Approach, Delmar Cengage
to-peak value at resonance. Additionally, it is noteworthy to Learning, 6th Edition, Clifton Park, NY, 2014.
mention that this design method ensures that voltage levels at
low frequencies remains unaltered, thereby conforming to
design specifications which typically specify a minimum and
maximum amplitude and frequency range. Figure 9 illustrates
experimental data showing this load capacitance effect on
resonance. Here, it can be concluded that be choosing the
right load capacitance value under the correct experimental
conditions, a maximum voltage level is reached and is never
exceeded under all experimental frequencies.

Figure 9: Experimental sensor output curves demonstrating

the effect of load capacitance on resonance.

4. Conclusions

The results of the studies presented in this paper

demonstrated an electrical and magnetic analytical model for
variable reluctance speed sensors for aerospace applications.
In terms of electromagnetic modeling, the simulation results
fell within an average of 8% of experimentally collected data
for frequencies up to 6,000 Hz. Overall, the simulated model
correlated well with the experimental data given experimental
variances such as sensor assembly (coil winding, magnet
strength and dimensional tolerances), fabricated gear
tolerances and testing procedures such as air gap setting.
In terms of the electrical model, we were able to simulate
the effect of load resistance and capacitance has on sensor
output. The ability to remove harmonic frequency generation
from sensor signals gives us a huge leverage in design
flexibility as we can now use equivalent circuit resonance to
act as a self-limiting voltage clamp for all operating
frequencies.