Workshop 6:

Basic Transient Rotational Motion

ANSYS Maxwell 2D V16

© 2013 ANSYS, Inc. May 21, 2013 1 Release 14.5

 About Workshop
• Large Rotational Motion
– Maxwell Transient solver can consider interactions between transient
electromagnetic fields and mechanical motion of objects.
– Maxwell Transient (with motion) includes dB /dt arising from mechanically
moving magnetic fields in space, i.e. moving objects. Thus, effects coming from
so-called motion induced currents can be considered.
– Rotational motion can occur around one single motion axis.
– This workshop represents a quick start to using rotational motion. It will exercise
rotational motion in Maxwell 2D using a rotational actuator (experimental
motor) example. Workshop consists of three parts
Example1: Large Rotational Standstill
Example2: Large Rotational Constant Speed
Example3: Large Rotational Transient Motion

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 Rotational Large Motion
• The Maxwell Approach
– Maxwell separates moving from non-moving objects.
– All moving objects must be enclosed by one so-called band object.
– For rotational motion, the band object must be cylindrical
– Maxwell considers all moving objects (inside the band) to form one single
moving object group.
– Constant Speed mode:
• If the model is setup to operate in constant speed mode, Maxwell will not
compute mechanical transients.
• However, changing magnetic fields owing to speed wm, i. e. dB/dt effects are
included in the field solution.
– Mechanical Transient mode:
• In case inertia was specified, Maxwell will compute the motion equation in
each time step.
Jm · d2jm(t) / dt2 + kD(t) · djm(t) / dt = Ty(t) + Tm(t)

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 Open Input File
• Open the file
– Select the menu item File  Open
– Browse to the file WS6_BasicTransient_RotationalMotion_input.mxwl and
open it
– Prior to employing large motion, the electromagnetic part of the model should
work correctly. Users are well advised not to setup a complex model completely
at once rather work in steps. Perform few test simulation on the
electromagnetic part alone before trying run complex setup with motion.
• Examine Geometry
– For this quickstart, please study the winding setup and background.
– We use stranded windings with constant current (to generate a fixed stator flux
vector around which Rotor1 will oscillate later). Also, eddy effects will be
excluded.
– Verify that Symmetry Mutiplier is set to 1
– Verify that Model Depth is set to 25.4mm

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 Crate Band
• Determine Size of Band Object
– Select the menu item View  Visibility Active View Visibility
– In Active View Visibility window,
• Uncheck the Visibility for all parts apart from Stator1 and Rotor1
– Select the menu item Modeler  Measure  Position
– Move the curser to the end vertex of Rotor1 and just place on it (Do not click)
• Read the Distance value from the Measura Data window (51.05 mm).
– Move the curser to the inner vertex of Stator1 and just place on it
• Read the Distance value (53.75 mm).
– Press Esc to exit measure
– Thus, band should have a radius of 52.4 mm. Here, 52.5 mm will be used.

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 Crate Band (Contd…)
• Draw Band Object
– Select the menu item Draw  Circle
1. Using the coordinate entry fields, enter the center of circle
– X: 0, Y: 0, Z: 0, Press the Enter key
2. Using the coordinate entry fields, enter the radius
– dX: 52.5, dY: 0, dZ: 0, Press the Enter key
• Change Attributes
– Change the name of resulting sheet to Band1
– Change the transparency of the sheet to 0.9
– Select the menu item View  Visibility  Show All  Active View

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 Example 1: Large Rotational Standstill

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 Assign Motion
• Specify motion
– Select the object Band1 from history tree
– Select the menu item Maxwell 2D  Model  Motion Setup  Assign Band
– In Motion Setup window,
• Type tab
1. Motion Type: Rotation
2. Rotation Axis: Global:Z
3. Positive:  Checked
• Data tab
1. Initial Position: 0 deg
• Mechanical tab
1. Angular Velocity: 0 rpm
• Press OK
Note: Initial position of 0deg indicates that motion will start at t = 0 with the rotor
position being as in the geometry. A non-zero initial position would start with
Rotor1 rotated by jm0 from the current position. Angular velocity of 0rpm
indicates that rotor will be under standstill condition
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 Mesh Operations
Note: Meshing is a very critical issue with respect to simulation speed and accuracy.
Here a coarse is applied which will just yield satisfactory results.
For torque computation, the most critical areas are the airgap and its
immediate proximity. Thus, the band mesh is crucial for accurate results.
A mesh Operation is automatically created after motion setup which will ensure
refinement of mesh in the gap region between Band and Stator/Rotor. We will
also apply a length based mesh on the surface and inside of Band1
• Assign Mesh Operations on Band
– Select the object Band1 from the history tree
– Select the menu item Maxwell 2D  Mesh Operations  Assign  Inside
Selection  Length Based
– In Element Length Based Refinement window,
1. Name: Band_Length
2. Restrict Length of Elements:  Unchecked
3. Restrict the Number of Elements:  Checked
4. Maximum Number of Elements: 5000
5. Press OK
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 Mesh Operations (Contd…)
• Assign Mesh Operations on other Objects
– In Similar way specify Mesh operations of other objects as specified below
– All Coils
1. Name: Coils_Length
2. Maximum Number of Elements: 100
– Rotor1
1. Name: Rotor_Length
2. Maximum Number of Elements: 1000
– Stator1
1. Name: Stator_Length
2. Maximum Number of Elements: 1000
– Background1
1. Name: Background_Length
2. Maximum Number of Elements: 1000
Note: Simultaneously selecting all coils will try to assign 100 tetrahedrals to all coil
objects, i. e. about 25 to each

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 Analyze
• Create Analysis Setup
– Select the menu item Maxwell 2D  Analysis Setup Add Solution Setup
– In Solve Setup window,
1. Stop Time: 20 ms
2. Time Step: 5 ms
3. Press OK
• Run the Solution
– Select the menu item Maxwell 2D  Analyze All
• Plot Mesh
– Select the menu item View  Set Solution Context
– In Set view Context window,
• Change Time to 0.02 s
• Press OK
– Select the menu item Edit  Select All
– Select the menu item Maxwell 2D  Fields  Plot Mesh
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 Example 2: Large Rotational Constant
Speed
• About Example
– We will now operate the rotational actuator at a very slow constant speed.
– Remember, there is only one magnetic excitation present in the model – namely
constant coil current with stranded windings. Alternatively, Rotor1 could have
been assigned permanent magnet properties. Eddy effects have been switched
off for all objects.
– We can now use Transient with Large Motion to monitor cogging torque effects.

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 Modify Design
• Create a Copy of Design
– Select the tab Large_Motion_Standstill from the Project manager window, right
click and select Copy
– Right click on the Project Name in Project Manager window and select Paste
– Change the name of the design to Large_Motion_ConstantSpeed
• Modify Rotation
– Expand the tree for Model from Project Manager window
– Double click on MotionSetup1 to open Motion Setup window
– In Motion Setup window,
• Data tab
1. Change Initial Position to -61 deg
• Mechanical tab
1. Change Angular Velocity to 1 deg_per_sec
• Press OK
Note: Rotor as drawn has a -29° offset. This is taken to be the zero position for the
transient solver. By giving an extra -61°, positive rotation of 1 °/s starts at -90°.

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 Analyze
• Modify Solution Setup
– Expand the tree for Analysis from Project manager window
– Double click on Setup1 to open Solve Setup window
– In Solve Setup window,
1. Change Stop Time to 180 s
2. Chnage Time Step to 5 s
3. Press OK
Note: By rotating at a speed of 1 °/s 180 s long, Rotor will move 180°, i. e. from -90°
to +90°, at 5°/step.
• Run the Solution
– Select the menu item Maxwell 2D  Analyze All

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 Plot Torque Vs Time
• Create a Plot
– Select the menu item Maxwell 2D  Results  Create Transient Reports 
Rectangular Plot
– In Reports window,
• Category: Torque
• Quantity: Moving1.Torque
• Select New Report

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 Example 3: Large Rotational Transient
Motion
• About Example
– We will now operate the actuator as a one-body oscillator. Inertia will be
specified as well as some damping. We can expect Rotor to oscillate around the
stator flux axis (y-axis) at some natural frequency f0, which can be approximated
as: c
f0  1 y
2 J
– J in kgm2 is the total moment of inertia acting on Rotor. cy in Nm/rad is the
magnetic rigidity. As an analogy it can be understood as a mechanical spring
spanned between Rotor and Stator, whose force coming from magnetic field.
– We can roughly calculate rigidity c from cogging torque function (stable limb):
Ty 400 mNm
cy    2.3 Nm/rad
j m rad(10 )
– Assuming inertia J = 0.0024 kgm2, an approximated f0 = 5 Hz results.

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 Modify Design
• Create a Copy of Design
– Copy the design Large_Motion_ConstantSpeed and rename it as
Large_Motion_MechTransient
• Modify Rotation
– In Motion Setup window,
• Data tab
1. Change Initial Position to 0 deg
• Mechanical tab
1. Consider Mechanical Transient:  Checked
2. Initial Angular Velocity: 0 deg_per_sec
3. Moment of Inertia: 0.0024 Kgm^2
4. Damping: 0.015 N-m-sec/rad
5. Load Torque: 0 NewtonMeter
• Press OK
Note: This causes 15 mNm resistive torque at 1 rad/s. We expect oscillation between -
29° to +29° (w. r. t. stator flux axis) at f0 < 5 Hz with damped amplitude.

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 Analyze
• Modify Solution Setup
– Expand the tree for Analysis from Project manager window
– Double click on Setup1 to open Solve Setup window
– In Solve Setup window,
1. Change Stop Time to 0.5 s
2. Chnage Time Step to 0.01 s
3. Press OK
Note: From f0, we can expect a >200 ms cycle. At 10 ms timestep we will sample one
cycle >20 times.
• Run the Solution
– Select the menu item Maxwell 2D  Analyze All

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 Results
• Create Plots for Speed and Position
– Select the menu item Maxwell 2D  Results  Create Transient Report 
Rectangular Plot
– In Reports window,
1. Solution: Setup1: Transient
2. Parameter: Moving1
3. X: Default
4. Category: Speed
5. Quantity: Speed
6. Press New Report
7. Change Category to Position
8. Quantity: Position
9. Press New Report

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 Results (Contd…)
• View Plot
– Expand the tree for Results from Project Manager window
– Double click on Torque plot that was created previously

• From Results, it can be seen that

– Ty looks as expected from previous simulations.
– wm corresponds to Ty‘s first derivative and is correct.
– jm oscillates around +29°, which is the stator flux axis (y) with respect to the
initial position.
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 Appendix : Variable Explanation:
jm(t) Mechanical angular position in rad (angles can also be given in degrees).
jm0 Initial jm in rad. Note that the drawn rotor position is considered as jm0
= 0.
djm(t) / dt, wm(t) Mechanical angular speed in rad/s.
wm0 Initial wm in rad/s.
d2jm(t) / dt2 Mechanical angular acceleration in rad/s2.
Jm Moment of inertia in kg·m2. This is the total inertia acting on the moving
object group. If extra inertia needs to be included (i. e. inertia not
geometrically modeled), just add this to Jm.
kD(t) Damping koefficient in Nm·s/rad. For kD = 1 Nm·s/rad, resistive torque
of 1 Nm would be generated if the moving parts turn at 1 rad/s. kD can
be a function of t, wm, or jm.
Ty Magnetically generated torque in Nm.
Tm Mechanical extra torque in Nm, this can be a constant or a function of t,
wm, or jm. Note, that a positive Tm value will accelerate rather than
brake.
t The current simulation time in s.

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