Computer aided three dimensional magnetostatic analysis and application of iron cored permanent magnet spherical actuator

Abstract

In this study, a spherical actuator which has spherical permanent magnet rotor made of NdFeB slices and stator comprising mild steel and simple winding arrangement is described. The spherical rotor is housed within the spherical stator on a low friction constant teflon surface coating. Accommodated on the stator are three orthogonal windings (8 coils to be energized independently) enclosed by an outer spherical iron shell to increase the flux linkage. Without stator iron core, the values of magnetic field distribution formulated analytically are validated by finite element analysis and experimentally, and with stator iron core the torque values generated by rotor are validated by finite element method (by Ansoft Maxwell 3D) and experimentally. The permanent magnet rotor spherical actuator designed and applied is capable of ? 45°pan-tilt movements in addition to 360° rotation in an open loop circuit.