Module IV
Module IV
Classification of Actuators
motion. There are two links namely the cam itself which acts as an input member. The other link that acts as an
output member is called the follower. The cam transmits the motion to the follower by direct contact. In a cam
follower pair, the cam usually rotates while the follower translates or oscillates. Complicated output motions
which are otherwise difficult to achieve can easily be produced with the help of cams. Cams are widely used in
internal combustion engines, machine tools, printing control mechanisms, textile weaving industries, automated
machines etc.
Necessary elements of a cam mechanism are shown in Figure 2.
A driver member known as the cam
A driven member called the follower
A frame which supports the cam and guides the follower
A ratchet is a device that allows linear or rotary motion in only one direction. Figure 3. shows a schematic of
the same. It is used in rotary machines to index air operated indexing tables. Ratchets consist of a gearwheel and
a pivoting spring loaded pawl that engages the teeth. The teeth or the pawl, are at an angle so that when the
teeth are moving in one direction the pawl slides in between the teeth. The spring forces the pawl back into the
depression between the next teeth. The ratchet and pawl are not mechanically interlocked hence easy to set up.
The table may over travel if the table is heavy when they are disengaged. Maintenance of this system is easy.
The Geneva drive is also commonly called a Maltese cross mechanism. The Geneva mechanism translates a continuous
rotation into an intermittent rotary motion. The rotating drive wheel has a pin that reaches into a slot of the driven wheel.
The drive wheel also has a raised circular blocking disc that locks the driven wheel in position between steps. There are
three basic types of Geneva motion mechanisms namely external, internal and spherical. The spherical Geneva
mechanism is very rarely used. In the simplest form, the driven wheel has four slots and hence for each rotation of the
drive wheel it advances by one step of 90°. If the driven wheel has n slots, it advances by 360°/n per full rotation of the
drive wheel.
Spindle drives
The spindle drives are used to provide angular motion to the workpiece or a cutting tool. Figure 6. shows the
components of a spindle drive. These drives are essentially required to maintain the speed accurately within a
power band which will enable machining of a variety of materials with variations in material hardness. The
speed ranges can be from 10 to 20,000 rpm. The machine tools mostly employ DC spindle drives. But as of late,
the AC drives are preferred to DC drives due to the advent of microprocessor based AC frequency inverter.
High overload capacity is also needed for unintended overloads on the spindle due to an inappropriate feed. It is
desirous to have a compact drive with highly smooth operation.
Fig: 8. Solenoid
A solenoid chime is wound on a cylindrical, hollow, plastic or phenolic form with a movable, solid iron or steel core. The
core can travel in and out of the coil along its axis. The coil is oriented vertically; the core normally rests somewhat below
the coil center. When a current pulse is applied to the coil, the magnetic field pulls the core forcefully upward. Inertia
carries the core above the center of the coil, where the core strikes a piece of metal similar to a xylophone bell.
Electromechanical Relay
Fig: 9. Relay
We have two sets of electrically conductive contacts. Relays may be “Normally Open”, or “Normally
Closed”. One pair of contacts are classed as Normally Open, (NO) or make contacts and another set which are
classed as Normally Closed, (NC) or break contacts. In the normally open position, the contacts are closed only
when the field current is “ON” and the switch contacts are pulled towards the inductive coil.
In the normally closed position, the contacts are permanently closed when the field current is “OFF” as
the switch contacts return to their normal position. These terms Normally Open, Normally Closed or Make and
Break Contacts refer to the state of the electrical contacts when the relay coil is “de-energized”, i.e, no supply
voltage connected to the relay coil. Contact elements may be of single or double make or break designs. An
example of this arrangement is given below.
The relays contacts are electrically conductive pieces of metal which touch together completing a circuit
and allow the circuit current to flow, just like a switch. When the contacts are open the resistance between the
contacts is very high in the Mega-Ohms, producing an open circuit condition and no circuit current flows.
When the contacts are closed the contact resistance should be zero, a short circuit, but this is not always
the case. All relay contacts have a certain amount of “contact resistance” when they are closed and this is called
the “On-Resistance”, similar to FET’s. With a new relay and contacts this ON-resistance will be very small,
generally less than 0.2Ω because the tips are new and clean, but over time the tip resistance will increase
DC/AC Motors
DC motors
A DC motor is a device that converts direct current (electrical energy) into rotation of an element (mechanical energy).
These motors can further be classified into brushed DC motor and brushless DC motors.
Brush type DC motor
A typical brushed motor consists of an armature coil, slip rings divided into two parts, a pair of brushes and horse shoes
electromagnet as shown in Fig 11. A simple DC motor has two field poles namely a north pole and a south pole. The
magnetic lines of force extend across the opening between the poles from north to south. The coil is wound around a soft
iron core and is placed in between the magnet poles. These electromagnets receive electricity from an outside power
source. The coil ends are connected to split rings. The carbon brushes are in contact with the split rings. The brushes are
connected to a DC source. Here the split rings rotate with the coil while the brushes remain stationary.
commutator. The main purpose of the commutator is to overturn the direction of the electric current in the
armature. The commutator also aids in the transmission of current between the armature and the power source.
The brushes remain stationary, but they are in contact with the armature at the commutator, which rotates with
the armature such that at every 180° of rotation, the current in the armature is reversed.
Advantages of brushed DC motor:
The design of the brushed DC motor is quite simple
Controlling the speed of a Brush DC Motor is easy
Very cost effective
Brushless DC motor
Control of DC motors
the average value is varied (Fig 13). Fig 14. Shows how PWM can be obtained by means of a basic transistor
circuit. The transistor is switched on or off by means of a signal applied to its base.
The above are examples of open-loop control; this assumes that conditions will remain constant, e.g. the
supply voltage and the load driven by the motor. Closed loop control systems use feedback to modify the motor
speed if conditions change. Fig 17 shows some of the methods that might be employed.
In Fig 17 (c) the system is completely digital and PWM is used to control the average voltage applied to the
armature.
AC motors
AC motors convert AC current into the rotation of a mechanical element (mechanical energy). As in the case of
DC motor, a current is passed through the coil, generating a torque on the coil. Typical components include a
stator and a rotor. The armature of rotor is a magnet unlike DC motors and the stator is formed by
electromagnets similar to DC motors. The main limitation of AC motors over DC motors is that speed is more
difficult to control in AC motors. To overcome this limitation, AC motors are equipped with variable frequency
drives but the improved speed control comes together with a reduced power quality.
Synchronous motor
A synchronous motor is an AC motor which runs at constant speed fixed by frequency of the system. It requires
direct current (DC) for excitation and has low starting torque, and hence is suited for applications that start with
a low load. It has two basic electrical parts namely stator and rotor as shown in fig. 19. The stator consists of a
group of individual wounded electro-magnets arranged in such a way that they form a hollow cylinder. The
stator produces a rotating magnetic field that is proportional to the frequency supplied. The rotor is the rotating
electrical component. It also consists of a group of permanent magnets arranged around a cylinder, with the
poles facing toward the stator poles. The rotor is mounted on the motor shaft. The main difference between the
synchronous motor and the induction motor is that the rotor of the synchronous motor travels at the same speed
as the rotating magnet.
The stator is given a three phase supply and as the polarity of the stator progressively change the magnetic field
rotates, the rotor will follow and rotate with the magnetic field of the stator. If a synchronous motor loses lock
with the line frequency it will stall. It cannot start by itself, hence has to be started by an auxiliary motor.
Synchronous speed of an AC motor is determined by the following formula:
120 x f
𝑁𝑠 =
𝑝
Induction motor
In an induction motor there is no external power supply to rotor. It works on the principle of induction. When a
conductor is moved through an existing magnetic field the relative motion of the two causes an electric current
to flow in the conductor. In an induction motor the current flow in the rotor is not caused by any direct
connection of the conductors to a voltage source, but rather by the influence of the rotor conductors cutting
across the lines of flux produced by the stator magnetic fields. The induced current which is produced in the
rotor results in a magnetic field around the rotor. The magnetic field around each rotor conductor will cause the
rotor conductor to act like the permanent magnet. As the magnetic field of the stator rotates, due to the effect of
the three-phase AC power supply, the induced magnetic field of the rotor will be attracted and will follow the
rotation. However, to produce torque, an induction motor must suffer from slip. Slip is the result of the induced
field in the rotor windings lagging behind the rotating magnetic field in the stator windings. The slip is given
by,
Synchronous speed − Actual speed
S= x 100
Synchronous speed2𝑎
Advantages of AC induction motors
• It has a simple design, low initial cost, rugged construction almost unbreakable
• The operation is simple with less maintenance (as there are no brushes)
• The efficiency of these motors is very high, as there are no frictional losses, with reasonably good power
factor
• The control gear for the starting purpose of these motors is minimum and thus simple and reliable operation
In this type of motor, the rotor is a permanent magnet. Unlike the other stepping motors, the PM motor rotor has
no teeth and is designed to be magnetized at a right angle to its axis. Figure 21. shows a simple, 90⁰ PM motor
with four phases (A-D). Applying current to each phase in sequence will cause the rotor to rotate by adjusting to
the changing magnetic fields. Although it operates at fairly low speed, the PM motor has a relatively high
torque characteristic. These are low cost motors with typical step angle ranging between 7.5⁰ to 15⁰.
Figure 22. shows the construction of Variable Reluctance motor. The cylindrical rotor is made of soft steel and has
four poles as shown in Fig. It has four rotor teeth, 90⁰ apart and six stator poles, 60⁰ apart. Electromagnetic field is
produced by activating the stator coils in sequence. It attracts the metal rotor. When the windings are energized in a
reoccurring sequence of 2, 3, 1, and so on, the motor will rotate in a 30⁰ step angle. In the non-energized condition,
there is no magnetic flux in the air gap, as the stator is an electromagnet and the rotor is a piece of soft iron; hence,
there is no detent torque. This type of stepper motor is called a variable reluctance stepper.
Hybrid stepping motors combine a permanent magnet and a rotor with metal teeth to provide features of the variable
reluctance and permanent magnet motors together. The number of rotor pole pairs is equal to the number of teeth on
one of the rotor’s parts. The hybrid motor stator has teeth creating more poles than the main poles windings (Fig.23).
Rotation of a hybrid stepping motor is produced in the similar fashion as a permanent magnet stepping motor,
by energizing individual windings in a positive or negative direction. When a winding is energized, north and
south poles are created, depending on the polarity of the current flowing. These generated poles attract the
permanent poles of the rotor and also the finer metal teeth present on rotor. The rotor moves one step to align
the offset magnetized rotor teeth to the corresponding energized windings. Hybrid motors are more expensive
than motors with permanent magnets, but they use smaller steps, have greater torque and maximum speed.
Step angle of a stepper motor is given by,
360°
Step angle =
Number of poles
Servomotor
Servomotors are special electromechanical devices that produce precise degrees of rotation. A servo motor is a DC
or AC or brushless DC motor combined with a position sensing device. Servomotors are also called control motors
as they are involved in controlling a mechanical system. The servomotors are used in a closed-loop servo system as
shown in Figure 24. A reference input is sent to the servo amplifier, which controls the speed of the servomotor. A
feedback device is mounted on the machine, which is either an encoder or resolver. This device changes mechanical
motion into electrical signals and is used as a feedback. This feedback is sent to the error detector, which compares
the actual operation with that of the reference input. If there is an error, that error is fed directly to the amplifier,
which will be used to make necessary corrections in control action. In many servo systems, both velocity and
position are monitored. Servomotors provide accurate speed, torque, and have ability of direction control.
DC servomotors
DC operated servomotors are usually respond to error signal abruptly and accelerate the load quickly. A DC
servo motor is actually an assembly of four separate components, namely:
DC motor
Gear assembly
Position-sensing device
Control circuit
AC servo motor
In this type of motor, the magnetic force is generated by a permanent magnet and current which further produce
the torque. It has no brushes so there is little noise/vibration. This motor provides high precision control with
the help of high resolution encoder. The stator is composed of a core and a winding. The rotor part comprises of
shaft, rotor core and a permanent magnet.