Pt. Krein, ANALYSIS OF CORONA MOTORS AND MICROMOTORS BY MEANS OF EFFECTIVE GAP CONDUCTIVITY, IEEE transactions on industry applications, 31(4), 1995, pp. 752-760
Corona motors are of possible interest in miniature applications becau
se of their insensitivity to material properties and their ability to
produce torque with de excitation. These motors act through repulsive
forces, and can be built in self levitating arrangements to minimize f
riction. The nonlinear electrical characteristics are modeled through
Fourier analysis of the stator input voltage and current waveforms. An
equivalent gap conductivity is defined, and used to provide a lineari
zed model of the charge and field distributions at the rotor surface.
The analysis helps explain how a corona motor generates high speeds wi
th de excitation, and points out the basis for its asynchronous operat
ion. Experimental tests of a macroscopic motor confirm that the model
successfully describes the basic behavior of a corona motor. Operation
of a small (100 mu m) cylindrical motor is considered through simulat
ion. Such a device is expected to be capable of very high speeds with
de input and no special control.