See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/324453173

Generalised Model of Multiphase Tesla’s Egg of Columbus and Practical

Analysis of 3-Phase Design

Article  in  Istanbul University - Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering · April 2018

DOI: 10.5152/iujeee.2018.1824

CITATIONS READS

0 793

3 authors, including:

Mehmet Onur Gulbahce Derya Ahmet Kocabas

Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University Istanbul Technical University
23 PUBLICATIONS   89 CITATIONS    33 PUBLICATIONS   149 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Eddy Current Brake Design and Analysis View project

Reduction in Space Harmonic Effects by Structural Changes in Induction Machines View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Mehmet Onur Gulbahce on 21 November 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 RESEARCH ARTICLE
Electrica 2018; 18(2): 151-158

Generalised Model of Multiphase Tesla’s Egg of Columbus

and Practical Analysis of 3-Phase Design
Atamer Gezer1, Mehmet Onur Gülbahçe2, Derya Ahmet Kocabaş2
Ford Otosan R&D Center, Istanbul, Turkey
1

Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
2

Cite this article as: A. Gezer, M.O. Gülbahçe, D.A. Kocabaş, “Generalised Model of Multiphase Tesla’s Egg of Columbus and Practical Analysis of 3-Phase
Design”, Electrica, vol. 18, no: 2, pp. 151-158, 2018.

ABSTRACT

“Tesla’s Egg of Columbus” is the name given to the experiment conducted in 1893 by Nikola Tesla that proved the existence of rotating magnetic field
produced by two-phase AC winding. In this study, a generalized mathematical magnetic field model for m-phase “Tesla’s Egg of Columbus” is presented
in detail, and a novel 3-phase model of “Tesla’s Egg of Columbus” is designed analytically by means of generalized expressions. Electrical and geometric
quantities are calculated, and the system is analyzed by finite element analysis (FEA). The designed system is manufactured and tested for rated current
and for constant and variable frequency with eggs made of different materials. Optimized frequency for materials and geometries are obtained and
compared.

Keywords: Tesla’s Egg of Columbus, 3-phase rotating magnetic field, mathematical model

Introduction

Nikola Tesla first introduced rotating field theory to science in 1882. In 1883, he invented the
first induction motor that operates by rotating field principle. In 1888, he secured his patent
for his polyphase alternating current motors, generators and rotating filed principles [1]. He
named his project “Tesla’s Egg of Columbus” which describes the basic principles of rotating
magnetic field and induction motors and he presented it to the World Colombian Exhibition
in 1893. The name “Egg of Columbus” comes from the real story of Christopher Columbus who
asked for ship support from the Queen of Spain for his journey to India. The Queen wanted
him to make an egg stand vertical in balance. He broke the sharper edge of the egg, used
that side to enable the egg to keep standing vertically, and thus he earned support from the
Queen. In Tesla’s project, an egg made of copper rotates around a vertical axis while it keeps its
balance on a surface placed over the space inside a circular iron core. This proves the existence
of rotating magnetic field [1].

The basic operational principle of Tesla’s Egg depends on the rotation of total magnetic flux
density vectors created at the centre of the stator core which are induced by the magnetomo-
Corresponding Author: tive force (mmf ) created by two phase alternating current winding. With this project, Nikola
Mehmet Onur Gülbahçe Tesla managed to keep the copper egg rotating vertically around its main axis with a gyro-
E-mail: scopic motion. This provided the effects of rotating field in a practical way. The printed sketch
[email protected] in his paper, published in 1919 in the Electrical Experimenter journal, is shown in Figure 1 [2].
Received: 13.11.2017
In the project, two separated alternating current windings placed with an angle of 90° be-
Accepted: 23.03.2018
tween their axes were wound around a toroidal iron core. Tesla introduced the production of
© Copyright 2018 by Electrica rotating field in the air-gap inside the stator core when two-phase voltage with an electrical
Available online at
phase difference of 90° was applied to these windings. He placed an oval engraved wooden
http://electrica.istanbul.edu.tr
layer (egg-board) towards the centre over the whole air-gap inside the core. He analysed the
DOI: 10.5152/iujeee.2018.1824

151
 Electrica 2018; 18(2): 151-158
Gezer et al. 3-Phase Design of Tesla’s Egg of Columbus

In order to produce a rotating field with m phase winding, all

phase windings have to be placed in a symmetrical geometry
and all phase spreads should be of the same widths. Windings
must be supplied with a m phase symmetrical alternating cur-
rent. In 2 poles (2p=2) and m phases symmetric structure, a to-
tal of (2π/m) radian section for each phase is reserved. For each
phase, (π/m) radian phase bands are formed by dividing this part
into two, which are placed on reverse sides of stator at an angle
of 180°. Under each pole, an electrical phase difference between
the phase winding axes is created by placing the windings at a
geometrical difference of (2π/m) [4-7]. The number of turns of
the phases (N) must be equal for symmetry. Nm(θ) represents the
Figure 1. The sketch of Tesla’s Egg of Columbus experiment that was phase position of N number of turns for mth phase winding (1).
published in the journal of Electrical Experimenter in March 1919 [2]

N 1 (θ) = N
effects of rotating magnetic field on a copper egg, brass balls
2π
and iron disks when they were placed on the wood. The supply −j
N 2 (θ) = N.e m
frequency fluctuated between 25-300 Hz and the ideal operat- (1)
4π
ing frequency was found to be 35-40 Hz [2]. N 3 (θ) = N.e
−j
m

A design for Tesla’s two-phase inductor was given in order to M

2π(m−1)
demonstrate a rotating field based on the famous Tesla’s Egg of −j
N m (θ) = N.e m
Columbus without establising a generalised model for multi-
phase structure [3].
When the number of poles are 2, the geometric angle (αgeo) and
In this study, generalised mathematical expression of mmf electrical angle (αelec) are the same. If the number of poles are
created inside the air-gap was derived for polyphase windings more than two, then the geometric angle and electrical angle
having been inspired by Tesla’s Egg of Columbus that was re- differ from each other and the structure given for two poles is
alised by two-phase ac winding and basic principles of design repeated for each pole by accepting the width of each pole “elec-
criteria for m-phases. Starting from this point, a 3-phase ver- trically 180°”. Geometric angle can be converted into electrical
sion of the system that does not exist in previous studies was angle by multiplying it with a coefficient of p as in (2) [6]. In gen-
designed analytically by calculating the necessary electrical eral, phase spreads must have a width of [2π/(m.2p)] in radians.
and mechanical quantities. The design was then analysed by
Finite Elements Method (FEM). Various rotating objects made aelec = ageoP (2)
of different materials (copper, aluminium, brass) with different
geometries (egg, disc) were manufactured. Test setup was in- The value and the direction of the ampere-turn (mmf ) of one
stalled and was supplied by variable frequency voltage while phase winding which is positioned on the axis of phase wind-
keeping the current constant. The most efficient geometry, ing depends on the instantaneous value of the sinusoidal
material and supply frequency for a geometry were measured phase current. When m-phase alternating voltage is applied
and observed. to each phase of the m-phase winding with a phase difference
of (2π/m) radians, m different mmf phasors are located within
Generalised Ampere-Turn Expression of Multi-Phase the gap each having their own instantaneous values [7]. The
Tesla’s Egg of Columbus instantaneous values of the phase currents can be seen in (3).
I is the effective value, Im(ωt) is the the instantaneous value of
The idea of installing more than one winding to a single machine the mth phase.
paved the way for multi-phase alternating current machines. The
proof of rotating field by Tesla’s Egg of Columbus opened the
I (ωt) = 2 I.cos(ωt)
1
way to the design of rotating alternating current machines. In
previous studies, only two-phase design details are given with- 2π
I 2 (ωt) = 2 I.cos(ωt −
)
out generalising the design criteria [3]. Multi-phase electric mo- m
tors are more advantagous in terms of power density and utility 4π
I 3 (ωt) = 2 I.cos(ωt − )
factor. But as the number of phases increases, the need for multi- (3) m
phase power supplies arises. 3 phase is the accepted common M
number of phases in the engineering world. Therefore, in this pa-
per, a generalised model is given and practical implementation
2π(m −1)
I m (ωt) = 2 I.cos(ωt − )
is performed only for a 3-phase system. m

152
 Electrica 2018; 18(2): 151-158
Gezer et al. 3-Phase Design of Tesla’s Egg of Columbus

Individual and resultant ampere-turn expressions created by of main dimensions, winding arrangement, etc. by assump-
one and m phases are given in (4) and (5-6), respectively. tions, and the second step includes the necessary corrections
and experimental verification studies [3]. Electromagnetic
F1 (θ,t) = N1 (θ) .I1 (ωt)
(4) design will start with determination of the magnetic flux and
current density under the fixed magnetic core dimensions and
F(θ,t) = F1 (θ,t ) + F2 (θ,t ) + F3 (θ,t ) + L L Fm (θ,t ) (5)
required number of turns will be calculated. The procedure is
F(θ,t) = N1 (θ) .I1 (ωt) + N 2 (θ) .I 2 (ωt) completed after validation of the proposed air-gap flux density
(6) by finite element analysis (FEA).
+N 3 (θ) .I 3 (ωt) + L L N m (θ) .I m (ωt)

In this paper, a three-phase and two-pole version of Tesla’s Egg
When (1) and (2) are substituted in (5), (7) is obtained for the of Columbus is designed and design steps are given. Phase
resultant mmf by means of necessary trigonometric (Euler) spreads for one phase is 60° as explained above.
transformations [4].
Design of Magnetic Circuit and Calculation of Air-Gap
m
(7)
F(θ,t) = NI.e jωt Reluctance
2
The laminated magnetic core to be used is toroidal shaped
As can be seen in (7), the amplitude of total ampere-turn does with its geometric dimensions given in Table 1 and the top
not change according to time while the position of resultant and side views shown in Figure 2 where “D” represents the out-
magnetic field changes. The complex position vector rep- er diameter of the core, “d”, the inner diameter, “h”and “a”, the
resents the change of position. This vector accepts the centre cross-section height and width, respectively.
of stator as the origin of the coordinate system. The geomet-
rical locus of the end-point of the field vector is a circle. The Stator top view of three phase Tesla’s Egg of Columbus, includ-
expression in (7) is the mathematical expression of the rotating ing one phase winding that is wound around the core along
magnetic field that is produced by m-phase winding. its phase spread, and winding arrangement for two poles are
given in Figure 3. In order to accommodate three phase wind-
The speed of the rotating field is called synchronous speed (ns). ings, the stator is divided into 6 phase bands of 60°. Each coil
As the currents of m-phase winding complete one period, the is wound in reverse directions but connected in series and two
rotating field travels along two poles. When there are more windings are complementary to each other. These two wind-
than 2 poles, the rotating field completes its path by f/p times ings produce equal and opposite magnetic fields with respect
in seconds. Since the general unit for rotation is rpm or min-1, to each other.
synchronous speed can be calculated in terms of (8).
The magnetic circuit has symmetry and the total magnetic
60 ⋅ f flux within the air-gap (Φg) is the sum of the equal fluxes (Φµ)
ns =
(8) produced by winding parts on opposite sides of the core. By
p
assuming the permeability of magnetic core as infinite, the
equivalent magnetic circuit in Figure 4 is obtained.
When a closed loop made of conductive material (coils, cast
iron, disk, etc.) is placed inside a rotating magnetic field that is By assuming the flux to be equal within the air-gap, the circuit
generated by the currents flowing through the m-phase stator becomes easier to solve and the air-gap reluctance (ℜg) and
windings, voltage is induced in the conductive object due to the the air-gap flux (Φg) must be calculated using the magnetic cir-
relative motion. Current flows through the conductive material cuit dimensions. Since the air-gap flux produced by one phase
via closed paths and force is induced on the current carrying
winding passes through the air-gap with inconstant width, the
conductive material. A tangential force is applied to the conduc-
total reluctance of the gap must be calculated by evaluating in-
tors to force the material to rotate by the rotating field. Vectorel
tegral. The mean value of the cross-section area is used for ap-
interattraction between magnetic field provided by the induced
currents and magnetic field provided by stator currents causes
a torque production on the rotating object. When using con- Table 1. Core Dimensions
ductive materials such as an egg, spin top, disk or a coil wound Symbol Unit Value
around a cylinder, rotation begins. The egg, spin top, disk type
materials can stand upright by the centrifugal force induced. Outer diameter of the core (D) mm 300

Inner diameter of the core (d) mm 170

Design of the Three Phase Tesla’s Egg of Columbus
cross-section height (h) mm 80
Basically, generalized electric machine design consists of a two-
cross-section width (a) mm 65
step recursive method. The first step includes the obtainment

153
 Electrica 2018; 18(2): 151-158
Gezer et al. 3-Phase Design of Tesla’s Egg of Columbus

Figure 4. Magnetic Equivalent Circuit for one phase

Figure 2. Top and side view of magnetic core

Figure 5. Calculation of width of a. slice when diameter is divided into

k parts in order to obtain average air-gap crossection area (a=1,2,...k)

slice (i=1,2,,…k) given in (9). The sum of the slice sections and
the arithmetic average of all sections are calculated as in (10).
The drawing used for calculating the mean value of air-gap
area is given in Figure 5.

The width of ath slice in k slices is calculated by means of trigo-

nometric relations in (9).

xa = 2 d ⋅ a ⋅ k − a 2 ⋅ k2
(9)

According to (9), the average cross-sectional area of the air-gap

(Ag-mean) is calculated by (10).
k−1
h ⋅ ∑ xa
(10)
A gort = a=1
k −1
Figure 3. Magnetic Circuit and winding positions for one phase

The circuit shown in Figure 4 can be solved by calculating the

proximate calculation. The air-gap through the toroid is sliced total magnetic resistance related to the reluctance equation
into k pieces by 1 cm and the cross-section area of each slice is given in (11), and the average value of the air-gap magnetic
calculated by multiplying the toroid height by the width of ith flux density can be calculated as in (12).

154
 Electrica 2018; 18(2): 151-158
Gezer et al. 3-Phase Design of Tesla’s Egg of Columbus

F
(11)
ℜg =
Φg

Φ
Bg = g
(12)
A gort

Validation of Air-Gap Flux and Calculation of Number of

Turns Per Phase

Before calculating the number of turns per phase, the values of

current density and air-gap magnetic flux density must be cho-
sen. The current density was accepted as 4 A / mm2 and the mag-
netic flux density (Bg) in the air-gap as 400 mT. The conductor
dimensions and rated current are determined according to the
selected current density. The number of turns per phase was cal-
culated as 250 by using (7) and (11) for the selected initial condi-
tions. The location of the calculated number of turns on the mag-
Figure 6. Winding distribution diagram for each phase
netic core is given in Figure 6. For the other two phase windings,
conductor distribution is shifted 120° geometrically which is
already equal to electrical angle since the design has two poles.

Finite Element Analysis of the 3 phase-Tesla’s Egg

of Columbus

In this section, the design that is composed of the core and

windings is imported to a finite element analysis (FEA) soft-
ware after being sketched in a 3D drawing tool. This design is
analysed by FEM while the windings are supplied by a current
source at 50 Hz. During the numerical magnetic analysis, the
egg and the egg-board is neglected depending on their mag-
netic properties. The used structure for the analysis is given in
Figure 7 with the neglected egg and the egg-board in order to
help in understanding.
Figure 7. 3D Transient Magnetic Model of Tesla’s Egg of Columbus
After the analysis, the existence of the rotating field and the
value of the calculated air-gap field is confirmed. As a visual-
ised result, an instantaneous distribution and vectorial repre- tre of the whole air-gap inside the core. This engraving helps
sentation of magnetic flux density at the instant of ωt =3π/4 is the egg to be exposed to a more magnetic field. It also im-
given in Figure 8, 9; respectively. proves the stability of the egg during rotation.

After the analysis result confirmed the calculated flux density The dimensions of the egg are inspired from a previous design
within the air-gap , the manufacturing stage was started. for one phase and are given in Figure 10 [8]. For an easier pro-
duction, the egg is manufactured in two pieces that are the top
Manufacturing of The Three Phase Tesla’s Egg of and the bottom parts. This kind of production also helps to in-
Columbus crease the weight of the egg by fitting additional pieces made
of the same material.
The manufacturing stage of The Three Phase Tesla’s Egg of Co-
lumbus has four parts, namely productions of the toroidal core, The final product for the Three Phase Tesla’s Egg of Columbus
egg and egg-board and winding the coils around the core [8]. is given in Figure 11.

The core is produced using laminated steel. The windings are Laboratory Stage
wound around the core in phase spreads of three phases us-
ing a toroidal winding machine. The air-gap is covered by the The test stage is performed in two sub-stages, namely constant
placed egg-board made of pertinax. The egg-board is an oval and variable frequency supply at the calculated rated current
engraved wooden layer (egg-board) situated towards the cen- of the system.

155
 Electrica 2018; 18(2): 151-158
Gezer et al. 3-Phase Design of Tesla’s Egg of Columbus

Figure 8. Instantaneous Distribution of magnetic flux density at

ωt =3π/4

Figure 11. Test of Three Phase -Tesla’s Egg of Columbus

Test for Constant Supply Frequency

In this test, windings are supplied by 5 A of rated current at 50

Hz supply frequency via an

autotransformer. The set used for the constant supply frequen-

cies is given in Figure 12. For low levels of current, insufficient
rotational torque is induced resulting in a rotation at low levels
of angular speed on horizontal axis. For current levels close to
Figure 9. Distribution of magnetic flux density vectors at ωt =3π/4 rated current, a rotational torque at higher levels of angular
speed that is high enough to keep the egg rotating in the ver-
tical axis is induced.

Different rotational performances were recorded for alumini-

um disc, aluminium egg and copper egg.

Test of Variable Supply Frequency

In this test, rated current is applied to windings by a synchro-

nous generator, and the rotational performances of the con-
ducting objects are compared for variable frequency and
voltage values between 30 Hz and 70 Hz. The set used for the
variable supply frequencies is given in Figure 13.

The aim of this test is to determine the effect of frequency on

the objects to obtain the most ideal rotational motion “without
visual wobbling”. Visually, it was observed that the ideal value
of the frequency of copper and aluminium eggs is 60 Hz. Also
no significant change for the aluminium disk for different sup-
ply frequencies was recorded. The reason for this is the greater
torque generated over the large diameter of the disc by linking
Figure 10. 2D sketch of the Egg
more magnetic flux.

156
 Electrica 2018; 18(2): 151-158
Gezer et al. 3-Phase Design of Tesla’s Egg of Columbus

a b c

Figure 12. a-c. Rotational behaviour for different objects made of different materials in different geometrical shapes Copper egg (a); Alu-
minum egg (b); Aluminum disc (c)

while the coils were supplied by the calculated rated current at

constant and variable frequencieAmong all the materials, the
most efficient rotation was obtained for aluminium. The best
rotational performance was obtained for 60 Hz for the egg
made of aluminium. Aluminium disc was seen to be the most
stable and firmly rotating geometry among the objects due to
higher linked magnetic flux.

Peer-review: Externally peer-reviewed.

Conflict of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to de-

clare.

Financial Disclosure: The authors declared that this study has re-
ceived no financial support

Figure 13. The set used for the tests for Supplying by Variable Fre- References
quency and Voltage
1. N. Tesla, “Electro-Magnetic Motor“, US Patent Office, Aachen,
Conclusion US381968, 1888.
2. N. Tesla, “Tesla’s Egg of Columbus”. MECHATRONIKA, Electrical Ex-
In this study, a generalised mathematical model was created perimenter, 6, 774-808, 1919.
for the project called “Egg of Columbus” which, when the the- 3. M.L. Dorde, R.M. Petar, “ Design of Tesla’s Two-Phase Inductor “, In-
ory was introduced by Tesla, was intended only for two phase. ternational Symposium on Industrial Electronics, Banja Luka- Bos-
nia and Herzegovina, 115-122, 2014.
A three-phase version, which does not exist in the literature,
4. A.E. Fitzgerald, C.J. Kingsley. “Electric Machinery”, The McGraw-Hill,
was designed analytically. Calculated design information was
USA, 2003.
confirmed by numerical simulations based on FEM.
5. S.J. Chapman, “Electric Machinery Fundamentals”, The Mc-
Graw-Hill, USA, 2011.
In the manufacturing stage, designed windings were wound 6. A.F. Mergen, D.A. Kocabas “Windings in Electrical Machines”, Birs-
around a laminated toroid and a pertinaks board was placed en Publisher, Istanbul, Turkey 2012.
over the air-gap inside the toroid to enable the egg to rotate 7. A.F. Mergen, S. Zorlu “Electrical Machines-II”, Birsen Publisher, Is-
firmly. Copper and aluminium eggs and an aluminium disc tanbul, Turkey 2009.
were manufactured to use as rotating objects. Tests were per- 8. “Tesla’s Egg of Columbus–Production of working replicas”. http://
formed to obtain the effect of the geometry and the material www.rt17.hr/teslas-egg-of-columbus/. (16.04.2016).

157
 Electrica 2018; 18(2): 151-158
Gezer et al. 3-Phase Design of Tesla’s Egg of Columbus

Atamer Gezer received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Tur-
key, in 2016. He is a student the M.Sc. degree from 2018 in Electrical Engineering Programme, Institute of Science
and Technology, ITU. He is also an Electrical Distribution System Engineer on heavy commercial vehicles harness
design, Ford Otosan since 2016. His main subjects of concern are electrical machines, low voltage power distri-
bution system and harness components about automotive.

Mehmet Onur Gulbahce received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Istanbul University, Istanbul,
Turkey, in 2010. He received the M.Sc. degree in 2013 in Electrical Engineering Programme, Institute of Science
and Technology, ITU and since 2013 he has been a Ph.D. student in the same programme. He is also a research
assistant in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Electrics and Electronics Faculty, ITU since 2011. His main
subjects of concern are high-speed electrical machines, drive system and dc-dc converters.

Derya Ahmet Kocabas received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from ITU, Istanbul, Turkey, in 1994. He
received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Electrical Engineering Programme, Institute of Science and Tech-
nology, ITU, in 1997 and 2004, respectively. His main subjects of concern are design and control of electrical
machines, space harmonics, drive systems and power electronics. He joined to Department of Electrical Engi-
neering, Electrics and Electronics Faculty, ITU in 1995 and since January 2009 he has been an Assistant Professor.

158
View publication stats