Lecture Stepper Motor

EPM 421

Prof. Dr. Eyhab Aly Kamel

Three Phase Stepper Motor Construction
A stepper motor is an electromagnetic incremental device that
converts electric pulses into shaft motion (rotation). Each electric
pulse that is applied causes these motors to revolve a certain
number of degrees.

Or the stepper motor is an electromagnetic actuator. It is an

incremental drive (digital) actuator and is driven in fixed angular
steps.

Or the stepper motor is a special type of motor whose rotor

rotates through a fixed angle step in response to each input
electrical pulse provided by the control circuit. The angle through
which the motor shaft rotates for each command is called a step
angle. It is represented as 'α'.
By another words a motor in which the rotor turns in discrete
movements is called a stepper motor. A stepper motor, as its
name implies, turns in discrete movements called steps. After
the rotor makes a step, it stops turning until it receives the next
command (or signal). These types of motors are used in many
control systems, since the position of a shaft can be controlled
precisely with them.
Principle of Operation

Stepper motor operation can be easily explained by considering a

series of electromagnets or solenoids arranged in a circle as
shown in the next figure. When these solenoids are energised in
sequence, their fields interact with the rotor, causing it to turn
either clockwise or counter clockwise, depending upon the input
commands (or signals). The stepping angle (α) is determined by
the design of the motor, but it should not be greater than 180° in
any case.
Rotor movement
 To clarify more the stepper motor or stepping motor has a
rotor movement in discrete steps. The angular rotation is
determined by the number of pulses fed into the control
circuit. Each input pulse initiates the drive circuit which
produces one step of angular movement. Hence, the device
may be considered as a digital-to-analogue converter.

The characteristic property of the stepper motor is the step-by-

step turning of the motor shaft. One complete turn of the shaft is
made up from an exactly specified number of steps, which is
determined by the motor design. This property meets the
requirement for operating directly from digital signals.
The stepper motor can thus be the bridge between digital
information and incremental mechanical displacement.
Step Angle
The angle by which the rotor of a stepper motor moves when one
pulse is applied to the stator (input) is called step angle. This is
expressed in degrees. The resolution of positioning of stepper
motor is decided by the step angle. Smaller the step angle the
higher is the resolution of positioning of the motor. The step
number or resolution of a motor is the number of steps it makes
in one revolution of the rotor.

Higher the resolution, grater is the accuracy of positioning of

objects by the motor. Stepper motor are realizable for very small
step angles.
Equivalent circuit for four-phase Stepper Motor
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Variable Reluctance (VR) Stepper Motor
A variable reluctance (VR) stepper motor might have a single
stack or multiple stacks.
i- Single-Stack Variable Reluctance Motor
A Variable reluctance stepper motor has salient-poles or toothed-
stator. The stator has concentrated winding places over the stator
poles (teeth). The number of phases of the stator depends upon the
connection of stator poles. Usually three or four phases winding are
used. The rotor is slotted structure made from ferromagnetic material
and carries no winding. Both the stator and rotor are made up of high
quality magnetic materials having very high permeability so that the
exciting current required is very small. When the stator phases are
excited in a proper sequence from dc source with the help of
semiconductor switch, a magnetic field is produced. The
ferromagnetic rotor occupies the position which presents minimum
reluctance to the stator field. That is, the rotor axis aligns itself to the
stator field axis.
Four phase 4/2 VR stepper motor
The previous figure is a four-phase, 4/2-pole (4 poles in the
stator and 2 in the rotor), single-stack, variable reluctance
stepper motor. Four phases are A, B, C and D are connected
to dc source with the help of semiconductor switches SA, SB,
SC and SD respectively. The phase winding of the stator are
energised in the sequence A, B, C, D, A. When winding A is
excited, the rotor aligns with the axis of phase A. The rotor is
stable in this position and cannot move until phase A is de-
energised. Next, phase B is excited and A is disconnected.
The rotor moves through 90 in clockwise direction to align with
the resultant air gap field which now lies along the axis of
phase B. Further, phase C is excited and B is disconnected,
the rotor moves through a further step of 90 in the clockwise
direction. In this position, the rotor aligns with the resultant air
gap field which now lies along the axis of phase C.
Thus, as the phases are excited in the sequence
A, B, C, D, A the rotor moves through a step of
90 at each transition in clockwise direction. The
rotor completes one revolution through four steps.
The direction of rotation can be reversed by
reversing the sequence of switching the winding,
that is A, D, C, B, A. it is seen that the direction of
rotation depends only on the sequence of
switching the phases and is independent of the
direction of currents through the phases.
ii- Multi-Stack Variable Reluctance Stepper Motor

A multi-stack (or m-stack) variable reluctance stepper

motor can be considered to be made up of m identical
single-stack variable reluctance motors with their rotors
mounted on a single shaft. The stators and rotors have the
same number of poles (or teeth) and, therefore, same
poles pitch. For m-stack motor, the stator poles in all m
stacks are aligned, but the rotor poles are displaced by 1/m
of the pole pitch angle from one another. All the stator pole
windings in given stack are excited simultaneously and,
therefore, the stator winding of each stack forms one phase.
Thus, the motor has the same number of phases as the
number of stacks.
Multi-stack variable reluctance stepper motors are widely
used to obtain smaller step size, typically in the range of 2
to 15 degrees.
The variable reluctance stepper motors, both single and
multi-stack type, have high torque to inertia ratio. The
reduced inertia enables the variable reluctance stepper
motor to accelerate the load faster.
The next figure illustrates the cross-section of a three-stack
(three-phase) motor parallel to the shift. In each stack,
stators and rotors have 12 poles. For a 12-pole rotor, the
pole pitch is 30.
Multi-Stack Stepper Motor
Types of Stepper Motors

There are two basic types of magnetic stepper

motors
(i) Permanent-magnet (PM) stepper motor
(ii) Variable-reluctance (VR) stepper motor.

(1) Permanent-magnet (PM) Stepper Motor

A stepper motor in which rotor is made of

permanent magnet having even number of poles
is called a permanent-magnet (PM) stepper
motor.
Construction

The stator of a permanent-magnet stepper motor

carries the similar winding as that of a conventional
two-phase, three-phase or higher poly-phase
induction or synchronous motor. The end terminals of
all the windings are brought out to the terminal box for
DC excitations. The stator is a multi-polar (having a
number of poles for different steps) type. The rotor
may be a salient pole type. But generally, it is a
smooth cylindrical type. It is made out of ferrite
material which is permanently magnetized. Hence the
motor is known as a permanent magnet stepper
motor.
Working

The next figure shows a typical PM stepper motor. With stator

winding A1 – A2 energised only, for the polarity shown in the
figure the PM rotor is “locked” in the position shown. If stator
coil A1 – A2 is de-energized and B1 – B2 is energised, the
polarity of south (S) is produced at B1 and north (N) at B2,
causing the PM rotor to rotate 90° in response to the
excitation torque produced by the winding B1 – B2. The
excitation torque is maximum when the angle between the
PM rotor and stator winding is 90°. Reversing the current in
windings A and B, consecutively, in turn, results in continuous
clock wise rotation of the PM rotor. Instead of reversing the
supply voltages feeding each phase, a simplified switching
arrangement using two solid-state (transistors or thyristors)
switches accomplishes the current reversals in each phase of
the two-phase windings, as shown the figure.
Since the number of teeth (or poles) on a rotor of
given diameter is limited, it might appear that the
solution to smaller stepping lengths is to increase the
number of phases. But, as shown in the previous
figure increasing the number of phases (or stacks)
results in a corresponding increase in the number of
solid-state driven circuits. Since increasing the number
of phases produces no particular performance
advantages, steppers are rarely found having more
than three phases or stacks. Finally, if reversal of the
stepping motor is desired, the switching steps shown
in the table (reading from top the bottom) may be
reversed by performing the sequences steps 4-3-2-1
(reading from bottom to top).
A new type of PM stepper motor has overcome the rotor size
and weight problems that limit the maximum speed which motor
can achieve. The rotor of this new type of stepper motor is a disc
rather than the more typical cylinder. The rotor is a thin disc
made from rare-earth magnetic material.
Because the disc is thin, it can be magnetised up to a hundred
individual tiny magnets, evenly spaced around the edge of the
disc. Conventional PM steppers are generally limited to a
minimum step angle of 30°, for a maximum of 12 steps per
revolution. The new thin-disc motors are generally half the size of
the ordinary stepper motors and weigh 60% less.
The disc of the stepper motor is supported on a onmagnetic
hub, the disc and hub together form the rotor. The disc
magnets are polarised with alternating north and south
poles, as shown in the figure. A simple C-shaped
electromagnet forms the field poles. When one of the
phases is energized the rotor will align itself with the
electromagnetic field generated. Then, when the first phase
is turned off and the second is turned on, the rotor will turn
by one-half of a half (or one-quarter) of a rotor pole to align
itself with the field from the second phase. So that the rotor
keeps turning in the same direction, the second phase is
turned off and the first phase is turned on again.
Example # 1
Example # 2
To obtain a stepping angle of 7.5° for a 3-phase PM stepper
motor, how many poles should the rotor have?
2 Variable-reluctance (VR) Stepper Motor

A stepper motor in which rotor is made of laminated steel having

teeth at the outer periphery to obtain variable reluctance is called a
variable reluctance (VR) stepper motor. The essential difference
between the VR stepper motor and the PM stepper is that the VR
rotor and the rotor torque is developed as a result of reluctance
torque. That is, the rotor moves to that position where reluctance is
minimised, and air-gap flux is maximised.

Construction

Variable reluctance stepper use a ferromagnetic multi-toothed rotor

with an electromagnetic stator similar to the PM stepper. A typical
three-phase design is illustrated in the next figure has 12 stator
poles spaced 30° apart; the rotor has eight poles spaced at 45°
intervals.
Working

The stator poles are energised sequentially by the

three-phase winding. When current is supplied to phase-1,
the rotor teeth closest to the four energised (magnetised)
stator poles are pulled into alignment. The four remaining
rotor teeth align midway between the non-energised
reluctance between rotor and stator field. Energising
phase-2 produces an identical response. The second set
of four stator poles magnetically attracts the four nearest
rotor teeth, causing the rotor to advance along the path of
minimum reluctance into a position of alignment. This
action is repeated as the stator’s electromagnetic field is
sequentially shifted around the rotor. Energising the poles
in a definite-sequence produces either clockwise or
counterclockwise stepping motion.
The exact increment of motion (step angle) is the difference in
angular pitch between stator and rotor teeth, in this case 30°
and 45°, respectively, for a net difference of 15°. The VR
stepper’s step angles are small, making possible finer
resolution that can be obtained with the PM type. Maximum
stepping rates generally are higher than that in the PM
stepper. Also, because of the non-retentive rotor, VR steppers
do not have detent torque when unenergised.

A typical VR stepper uses a stator with 12 fields. Poles are set

about 30° apart and grouped for three-phase operation where
each phase has four coils set 90° apart. The rotor has eight
teeth spaced 45° apart. VR steppers have a maximum
stepping speed of about 18,000 steps/s, much higher than the
PM stepper can produce. At high speeds, however, the VR
stepper tends to overshoot and must be damped.
Applications
Stepper motors are often used as output devices for
microprocessor-based control system as in paper drives on
printers and X – Y graphical plotters. For example,

(i) In a graphical plotter pen driven by X-axis and Y-axis steppers

is controlled by a microprocessor whose phase-controlled
signals operate the drive circuits producing phase currents for
each stepper motor.

(ii) These motors are also used in closed-loop servo-systems,

replacing conventional DC servomotors in DC-operated
servomechanisms, to position machine tools and valves.

(iii) Further, since the signals fed to a stepper consist of a digital

pulse train (of 0s and 1s), at a given repetition rate, the stepper
may also serve as a digital-to-analog converter.
Example # 3
A simple stepper motor and its associated control unit are
shown in the next figure. This figure shows a two-pole
three-phase stator with a permanent-magnet rotor. If a dc
voltage is applied to phase a of the stator and no voltage is
applied to phases b and c, then a torque will be induced in
the rotor which causes it to line up with the stator magnetic
field Bs, as shown in the figure.
Now assume that phase a is turned off and that a negative
dc voltage is applied to phase c. The new stator magnetic
field is rotated 60° with respect to the previous magnetic
field, and the rotor of the motor follows it around. By
continuing this pattern, it is possible to construct a table
showing the rotor position as a function of the voltage
applied to the stator of the motor. If the voltage produced by
the control unit changes with each input pulse in the order
shown in Table 10-1, then the stepper motor will advance by
60° with each input pulse.
Operation of a stepper motor.

(a) A voltage V is applied to phase a of the stator. causing

a current to flow in phase a and producing a stator a
gnetic field Bs. The interaction of Br and Bs produces a
counterclockwise torque on the rotor.

(b) When the rotor lines up with the stator magnetic field.
The net torque falls to zero.

(c) A voltage - V is applied to phase c of the stator.

causing a current to flow in phase c and producing a
stator magnetic field Bs. The interaction of Br and Bs
produces a counterclockwise torque on the rotor. causing
the rotor to line up with the new position of the magnetic
field.
Reluctance-type stepper motors are often built with a four-phase
stator winding instead of the three-phase stator winding
described above. A four-phase stator winding reduces the steps
between pulses from 60 electrical degrees to 45 electrical
degrees. As mentioned earlier, the torque in a reluctance motor
varies as sin 20, so the reluctance torque between steps will be
maximum for an angle of 45°. Therefore, a given reluctance-type
stepper motor can produce more torque with a four-phase stator
winding than with a three-phase stator winding.
if a stator has N phases, it takes 2N pulses per electrical
revolution in that motor. Therefore, the relationship
between the speed of the motor in revolutions per minute
and the number of pulses per minute becomes
Summary
A stepper motor rotates by a specific number of degrees
in response to an input electrical pulse. Typical step sizes
are 2, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 15 for each electrical pulse. The
stepper motor is an electromagnetic incremental actuator
that can convert digital pulse inputs to analog output shaft
motion. It is therefore used in digital control systems. A train
of pulses is made to turn the shaft of the motor by steps.
Neither a position sensor nor a feedback system is normally
required for the stepper motors to make the output
response follow the input command. Typical applications of
stepper motors requiring incremental motion are printers,
tape drives, disk drives, machine tools, process control
systems, X–Y recorders, and robotics.
The figure illustrates a simple application of a stepper motor in the
paper drive mechanism of a printer. The stepper motor is directly
coupled to the platen so that the paper is driven a certain incremental
distance whenever the controller receives a digital command pulse.
Typical resolution of commercially available stepper motors ranges
from several steps per revolution to as many as 400 steps per
revolution and even higher. Stepper motors have been built to follow
signals as rapid as 1200 pulses per second with power ratings up to
several horsepower.

Paper drive using stepper motor

Open Loop Operation

One of the most significant advantages of a

stepper motor is its ability to be accurately
controlled in an open loop system. Open loop
control means no feedback information about
position is needed. This type of control
eliminates the need for expensive sensing and
feedback devices such as optical encoders. The
position is known simply by keeping track of the
input step pulses.
Single-Stack Stepper Motor

A basic circuit configuration of a four-phase, two-pole, single-stack,

variable-reluctance stepper motor is shown in the next figure. When
the stator phases are excited with dc current in proper sequence, the
resultant air gap field steps around and the rotor follows the axis of
the air gap field by virtue of reluctance torque. This reluctance torque
is generated because of the tendency of the ferromagnetic rotor to
align itself along the direction of the resultant magnetic field.
The figure shows the mode of operation for a 45 step in the clockwise
direction. The windings are energized in the sequence A, A + B, B, B +
C, and so forth, and this sequence is repeated. When winding A is
excited, the rotor aligns with the axis of phase A. Next, both windings
A and B are excited, which makes the resultant mmf axis move 45 in
the clockwise direction. The rotor aligns with this resultant mmf axis.
Thus, at each transition the rotor moves through 45 as the resultant
field is switched around. The direction of rotation can be reversed by
reversing the sequence of switching the windings—that is, A, A + D, D,
D + C, etc.
Basic circuit for a four-phase, two-pole
stepper motor
 Operating modes of
stepper motor for 45 step
A multipole rotor construction is required in order to obtain smaller
step sizes. The construction of a four-phase, six-pole stepper motor
is shown in the next figure. When phase A winding is excited, pole
P1 is aligned with the axis of phase A, as shown the next figure.
Next, phase A and phase B windings are excited. The resultant
mmf axis moves in the clockwise direction by 45, and pole P2,
nearest to this new resultant field axis, is pulled to align with it. The
motor therefore steps in the anticlockwise direction by 15. Next,
phase A winding is de-excited, and the excitation of phase B
winding pulls pole P3 to align with the axis of phase B. Therefore, if
the windings are excited in the sequence A, A + B, B, B + C, C, . . .
, the rotor rotates in steps of 15 in the anticlockwise direction.
Multiple stepper motor for 15 step
Multi-stack Stepper Motor

Multi-stack variable-reluctance-type stepper motors are

widely used to give smaller step sizes.

The motor is divided along its axial length into magnetically

isolated sections (“stacks”), and each of these sections can
be excited by a separate winding (“phase”). Three-phase
arrangements are most common, but motors with up to
seven stacks and phases are available.
The next figure shows the longitudinal cross section (i.e., parallel
to the shaft) of a three-stack variable-reluctance stepper motor.
The stator of each stack has a number of poles. The figure shows
an example with four poles. Adjacent poles are wound in the
opposite sense, and this produces four main flux paths. Both stator
and rotor have the same number of teeth (12 in the figure).
Therefore, when a particular phase is excited, the position of the
rotor relative to the stator in that stack is accurately defined, as
shown in the figure. The rotor teeth in each stack are aligned,
whereas the stator teeth have a different orientation between
stacks, as shown in the developed diagram of rotor and stator
teeth in the figure.
Therefore, when stack A is energized, the rotor and stator teeth in
stack A are aligned but those in stacks B and C are not aligned, as
shown in the figure. Next, if excitation is changed from stack A to
stack B, the stator and rotor teeth in stack B are aligned. This new
alignment is made possible by a rotor movement in the clockwise
direction; that is, the motor moves one step as a result of changing
excitation from stack A to stack B. Another step motion in the
clockwise direction can be obtained if excitation is changed from
stack B to stack C. Another change of excitation from stack C to
stack A will once more align the stator and rotor teeth in in stack A.
However, during this process (A to B to C to A) the rotor has moved
one rotor tooth pitch, that is, the angle between adjacent rotor teeth.
Cross section of a three-stack, variable-reluctance stepper
motor parallel to the shaft.
 Teeth position in a four-pole, three-stack, variable-reluctance
stepper motor. (a) Phase A excited. Rotor and stator teeth are
aligned. (b) Developed diagram for rotor and stator teeth for phase
A excitation.
PERMANENT MAGNET STEPPER MOTOR
The permanent magnet stepper motor has a stator
construction similar to that of the single stack variable-
reluctance type, but the rotor is made of a permanent
magnet material. The next figure shows a two-pole,
permanent magnet stepper motor. The rotor poles align
with two stator teeth (or poles) according to the winding
excitation. The figure shows the alignment if phase A
winding is excited. If the excitation is switched to phase B,
the rotor moves by a step of 90.
Note that current polarity is important in the permanent
magnet stepper motor, because it decides the direction in
which the motor will move. The figure illustrates the rotor
position for positive current in phase A. A switch over to
positive current in phase B winding will produce a clockwise
step, whereas a negative current in phase B winding will
produce an anticlockwise step. It is difficult to make a small
permanent magnet rotor with a large number of poles, and
therefore stepper motors of this type are restricted to larger
step sizes in the range 30 to 90.
Permanent magnet stepper motor
Permanent magnet stepper motors have higher inertia
and therefore slower acceleration than variable-
reluctance stepper motors. The maximum step rate for
permanent magnet stepper motors is 300 pulses per
second, whereas it can be as high as 1200 pulses per
second for variable-reluctance stepper motors. The
permanent magnet stepper motor produces more
torque per ampere stator current than the variable-
reluctance stepper motor.

Hybrid stepper motors are also commercially available in

which the rotor has an axial permanent magnet at the
middle and ferromagnetic teeth at the outer sections as
shown in the next figure. Smaller step sizes can be
obtained from these motors, but they are more expensive
than the variable-reluctance-type stepper motors.
Rotor of a hybrid stepper motor
Rotor of a hybrid stepper motor
DRIVE CIRCUITS

 The command signals for a stepper motor are normally

obtained from low-power logic circuits that are built with
TTL or CMOS digital integrated circuits (ICs).

 The driving current available is either 20 mA at 5 V (TTL)

or 1 mA at 5−15 V(CMOS).

 However, a typical variable-reluctance stepper motor

producing a torque of 1.2 Nm has a rated winding
excitation of 5 V and 3 A.

 Therefore, power amplification stages are required

between the low-power command signals and the high-
power stepper motors.
Variable-reluctance stepper motors require more than two
phases (three phases are typical). The phase currents need only
be switched on or off and current polarity is irrelevant for torque
production. Permanent magnet stepper motors require two
phases, and the current polarity is important.

Unipolar Drive Circuit

The next figure shows a simple unipolar drive circuit
suitable for a three-phase variable-reluctance stepper
motor. Each phase winding is excited by a separate drive
circuit. The main switching device is a transistor. A phase
winding is excited by applying a control signal to the base
of the transistor. The control signal may require several
stages of amplification before it attains the required current
level for the base of the transistor.
Unipolar drive circuit for a three-phase
variable-reluctance stepper motor.
Bipolar Drive Circuit
Bipolar Drive Circuit in the next figure shows one phase of a bipolar
drive circuit suitable for a permanent magnet or hybrid-type stepper
motor. The transistors are switched in pairs according to the current
polarity required for the phase winding. For example, transistors T1
and T2 are turned on simultaneously so that current can flow from
left to right in the phase winding, as shown in Fig. 8.24. If
transistors T3 and T4 are turned on simultaneously, current will flow
in the opposite direction.
The four diodes D1 to D4 connected in antiparallel with the
switching transistors provide the paths for the freewheeling
currents. For example, when T1 and T2 are switched on, current
flows from dc supply to T1, phase winding (left to right), T2, and
back to dc supply. When T1 and T2 are switched off (by removing
their base currents) current in the phase winding cannot decay
instantaneously because of winding inductance. The current
therefore flows through diodes D3 and D4 to the dc supply, as
shown in the next figure by dashed lines.
One phase of a bipolar drive circuit
Example # 4
A three-phase variable-reluctance stepper motor
has the following parameters:
Rw =1Ω
Lw =30 mH (average phase winding inductance)
I=3 A (rated winding current)
Unipolar drive circuit for a three-phase variable
reluctance stepper motor.

Design a simple unipolar drive circuit such that

the electrical time constant is 2 msec at phase
turn-on and 1 msec at turnoff. The stepping rate is
300 steps per second.
When the transistor conducts, the reverse voltage across the
diode Df is Vs =45 V. The peak current of the freewheeling diode
is 3 A, which is the phase winding current at the instant the
transistor turns off.
Application of stepper Motor

1. Used for operational control in computer peripherals,

textile industry, IC fabrications & Robotics etc.
2. It is also used in typewriters, line printers, tape drivers,
floppy disk drives, CNC machines, X-Y plotters etc.
3. It is also used in commercial, military & medical
applications.

Advantages of stepper Motor

1) No feedback is normally required for either position or
speed control.
2) Positional error is not cumulative.
3) Stepper Motors are Compatible with digital equipments.
4) It requires less maintenance.
5) It is mechanically simple and free from contamination.
Example # 5
Example # 6
Example # 7