2000 Oriental Motor U.S.A. Corp.

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Motor Sizing
With such a wide variety, how do I pick the right one?
Sizing an AC or step motor correctly for your application is very important. AC motors
tend to run hot when they are heavily or lightly loaded. Or, choose a step motor thats
too big or too small and youll encounter vibration or stalling problems. If you choose
a motor with too small of a rotor inertia youll never be able to get your load moving.
Selecting and sizing a motor correctly the first time is not too terribly difficult if you
follow a few simple steps. It also saves you time since you dont have to keep
sampling motors. Come with us now on a motor sizing adventure.
When were looking for a motor, we need a torque and a speed value. Once we have
them, its a simple matter to look at a torque/speed curve or motor specs to choose a
motor. But how do we determine the torque and speed value? Well, keep in mind
that torque is made up of two components, a constant component and an
acceleration component. The constant component is easily measured or calculated
and is usually due to gravity or friction. As the name implies, it is a torque value that is
constantly fighting against the motor.
The acceleration component of torque is a bit harder to determine. Since its very hard
to simulate a short, quick move with a torque wrench attached to your load, some
other way must be used. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of
view), we can use arithmetic. Since acceleration torque is a function of system inertia
and the acceleration rate, all we have to do is calculate both and multiply. In other
words, we first have to calculate the system inertia. Its not very difficult since most
systems can be idealized into shapes that have simple formulas for calculating the
inertia.
To size AC motors, we use the simple formula
t
JN
TA
6 . 9
=
where T
A
= Acceleration torque (oz-in)
J = Inertia (oz-in-sec
2
)
N = RPM (usually 1800)
t = Seconds, accel time
Once we have measured the constant torque, and calculated the acceleration torque
we add them together. We next multiply this value by some safety factor, usually about
1.5. Now, we look for a motor that has a starting torque about equal to this value and
a rated torque greater than the constant torque. Weve just sized an AC motor!
2000 Oriental Motor U.S.A. Corp. 2
Step motors are a bit more difficult. First we have to determine the acceleration rate.
All load motion, whether rotary or linear must be converted into motor motion. We
must figure out how many revolutions or degrees the motor must rotate. And, since
we know how much time we have to make the motion, we can determine the
acceleration rate and the peak motor speed.
One thing you should keep in mind is the rotor inertia. Generally, we would like to see
the load inertia to be no more than ten times the rotor inertia. For short, quick, high
performance moves, the ratio of load inertia to rotor inertia should be closer to 1:1.
So, depending on your system inertia and move parameters, you can then choose a
motor based on the rotor inertias given in our catalog.
At this point, all you have to do is add the rotor inertia to the system inertia and multiply
by the acceleration rate. Dont forget to use consistent units in your calculations! Now
that you have your acceleration torque, add it to your constant torque value, and
multiply by a safety factor of about 1.5. You now have a torque value and a peak
speed value and its a simple matter of looking at a torque/speed curve to see if the
motor can do the move. Simple, huh?
I realize that these procedures may be a bit overwhelming so dont be concerned. At
Oriental Motor USA, our application engineers do hundreds of sizings in any given
month. Just give us a call and well be happy to size a motor for you. We also provide
sizing sheets in the back of our general catalog for you to fill out and fax to us. Or, if for
some reason youd like to do it yourself, pick up the phone and well walk you through
it.