CONTENTS

Introduction
Types of Stepper Motor
Variable Reluctance Stepper Motor
Permanent Magnet Motor
Hybrid Motor

Classification criteria
Classification based on type of winding
Classification based on Rotor Type
Classification based on Control type

Conclusion

Abstract
Stepper motors are widely used in automation systems for carrying out precise
objectives. There are various kind of stepper motors available in the market for carrying
out different objectives in automation arena. The intent of this report is to fetch important
knowledge of different types of stepper motors. Apart from the theoretical aspects of the
three well known types of stepping motors this report presents here the classification of
stepper motor based on the construction of rotor, the drive mechanisms and the type of
windings. The information given in this report provided a good base for understanding
the control mechanisms of stepper motor drives.

Introduction
Stepper motors or Stepping motors are unconventional type of DC motors and are considered a
potential candidate for precise automated works because they can be controlled directly by
computers or microcontrollers. The unconventional feature in them is the output shaft rotation
that is not continuous but in a series of discrete angular intervals. These angular intervals are
also known as steps. When a stepper motor receives one pulse it takes one step ahead either in
CCW or CW depending on the applied signal. The frequency of the pulses define the speed of
rotation. At higher stepping rate the shaft rotation is smooth enough so that it resembles an
ordinary motor. The motor always moves at a known angle therefore it is ideally suited for openloop position control. Typically the stepper motor has step angles between 1.8 to 90. The
torque is typically within the range of 1 Nm to 40Nm. Industrial applications include high
speed pick and place equipment and multi-axis CNC machines, often directly driving lead
screws or ball screws. In the field of lasers and optics they are frequently used in precision
positioning equipment such as linear actuators, linear stages, rotation stages, goniometers,
and mirror mounts. Other uses are in packaging machinery, and positioning of valve pilot stages
for fluid control systems. Commercially, stepper motors are used in floppy disk drives, flatbed
scanners, printers, plotters, slot machines, image scanners, compact
disc drives, intelligent
lighting and many more devices [1].

Types of Stepper Motor

Broadly there are three types of Stepper Motors when operating principle is taken into
consideration
1. Variable Reluctance
2. Permanent Magnet
3. Hybrid

Variable Reluctance Stepper Motor

It has the following structure

Wound Stator
Soft Iron multi toothed Rotor

In this type of motor the rotation occurs when rotor teeth are attracted to those stator poles that
are energized. This type of stepper motors are also known as tin-can motors. In these motors
there is only one source of excitation therefore also known as singly excited motors. In fig.1 the
motor has 4 sets of windings arranged as A A BB CC and DD. The pairs are 180 degree
parted with each other. When voltage is applied to a certain pair of windings the current flows
through the winding, and a magnetic flux is developed in the two air gaps associated with that
pair of windings. The magnitude of the flux crossing the air gap and the flux density (flux divided
by the surface area of the pole) for a given applied MMF (product of current and turns in the
coils) depends upon the length of the air gap and the nature of the rest of the magnetic circuit,
which includes the stator and rotor poles, the stator and rotor yokes, and, to a lesser extent, the
other three sets of poles and air gaps. The radial air gap between the stator and rotor poles is
the most influential parameter in determining the flux density in most cylindrical reluctance
machines; in disk or pancake configurations, the axial air gaps play a similar role. In fig. 1, the
poles of phase B are aligned to have a minimum reluctance position. A magnetic circuit tends
always to seek this minimum reluctance position and there is a strong force tending to maintain
this position. As long as the phase B coils are energized, the rotor will remain in this position. In
a reluctance stepper motor, this technique is used to hold the rotor in a certain position. The
magnitude of current required for the holding phase coil depends upon the magnitude of the
holding torque that must be maintained. When a rotor pole is exactly half-way between two
stator poles, the poles are said to be in an unaligned or maximum reluctance position.

Figure 1 VR Stepper motor [9]

Theoretically, no torque is developed in the unaligned position, and it is considered a neutral

position. In practice, it may be difficult to find an exact neutral position due to pole flux fringing
effects, stator-rotor pole overlap, and dimensional inaccuracies. Also there is no residual torque

to hold the rotor at one position when turned off [9]. In fig. 1, the rotor poles adjacent to phase
DD are approximately in the unaligned position. In all other relative positions of rotor and stator
poles, a torque is developed when a phase is energized, always tending to move the poles into
the aligned or minimum reluctance position. For example, in fig. 1, if phase B is de-energized
and the coils of phase C are energized, the rotor poles near the phase C stator poles will tend to
move into alignment with the stator poles. This will result in a clockwise step of motion. On the
other hand, if phase A were energized, a counter-clockwise step of motion would result. The
configuration of fig. 1 is known as an 8/6 configuration, that is, Ps=8 and Pr=6. Looking at the
geometry of fig. 1, it is easily seen that the magnitude of one step is 15 mechanical degrees. In
general, it can be shown that for any pole configuration [3,5]
Step size = 360

(1)

Where,
Ps= Number of stator poles
Pr= Number of rotor poles
Therefore, if we want to increase the resolution we need to increase the number of stator and
rotor poles. For example an 8/10 motor will have a step size of 6 mechanical degrees. The
resolution can be increased also by changing the control algorithm. The torque in a VR stepper
motor is expressed by eq. 2 as shown below [3]
=

(2)

Where
= Coil current
= Total No. of Turns per phase i.e twice the turns per coil
= Permeance (reciprocal of reluctance)
= Number of phase windings
= Motor shaft speed (red/sec = 2 RPM/60)
= Motor developed torque
Eq. 2 does not account for the effects of saturation of the magnetic circuit. For cases where
most of a rotor or stator pole or both become saturated, often called global saturation, the first
term in parentheses in Eq. 2 becomes a product of iN and the saturation flux density (a constant
value) in the air gap. Thus, the developed torque changes from a function of the square of the
exciting coil current to a first power of the current as saturation increases in the magnetic
members of the machine. The Permeance variation in eq. 2 shows the structural characteristics
of stepper motor. Permeance or reluctance cannot be measured directly. However, permeance
is related to inductance by the square of the turns of the exciting coil and inductance can be
readily measured by many techniques. Stepper motor torque is usually expressed in terms of

the inductance variation as seen at the terminals of the exciting coil. Taking the average of Eq. 2
over a time period equal to the time for a rotor pole to move from the unaligned position to the
aligned position, the average torque developed in one phase of a stepper motor is
(

)(

(3)

Where
(

)=

Average developed torque

= No. of stator poles

= RMS coil current (A)
= Maximum Inductance
= Minimum Inductance

= Unit of torque

This is the average torque available to move a load inertia one step as the result of the
energizing of one phase winding. In practice, there may be more than one phase winding
energized over some periods of time, a technique called phase overlap, which will increase the
motor developed torque over that given in Eq. 3. But Eqs. 2 & 3 show that torque is primarily a
function of the pole face area and an inverse function of the air gap between the rotor and stator
poles. These two parameters largely determine the size of a stepper motor to move a given load
inertia, even in physical configurations considerably different from that shown in fig. 1. Figure 2
& 3 shows the torque speed characteristics and improvement in high speed torque resulting
from turn reduction.

Figure 2 Torque-speed characteristics of a stepper motor as a function of applied voltage [3]

Figure 3: Improvement in high-speed torque resulting from turns reduction [3]

Permanent Magnet Motor

It differs fundamentally with the VR stepper motor as the rotor is toothless and permanent
magnets are included as part of its structure. The rotor has poles that are energized externally.
Due to these poles the magnetic flux intensity is greater than that of the VR stepper motors and
hence it has better torque characteristics then the VR stepper motors. But it has low resolution
that is typically in the range of 7.5 to 15.

Figure 4 Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor [4]

In some cases, the permanent magnet is in the shape of a disk surrounding the rotor shaft. One
arrangement is a magnetic disk which consists of north and south magnetic poles interlaced
together. The number of poles on the magnetic disk varies from motor to motor. Some simple
PM stepper motors such as the one in fig. 2 only have two poles on the disk, while others may
have many poles. The stator usually has two or more coil windings, with each winding around a
soft metallic core. When electrical current flows through the coil windings, a magnetic field is
generated within the coil. The metallic core is placed within the coil windings to help channel the
electromagnetic field perpendicular to the outer perimeter of the magnetic disk. Depending upon
the polarity of the electromagnetic field generated in the coil (north pole, out of the coil, or south
pole, into the coil) and the closest permanent magnetic field on the disk, an attraction or
repulsion force will exist. This causes the rotor to spin in a direction that allows an opposite pole
on the perimeter of the magnetic disk to align itself with the electromagnetic field generated by
the coil. When the nearest opposite pole on the disk aligns itself with the electromagnetic field
generated by the coil, the rotor will come to a stop and remain fixed in this alignment as long as
the electromagnetic field from the coil is not changed.
These types of Stepper motors are available with two kind of windings i.e bipolar and unipolar.
Where bipolar is also known as monofilar and unipolar as bifilar. The main difference is that in a
bipolar/monofilar we have only one winding per bobbin. And in unipolar/bifilar winding we have

two winding per bobbin. The consequences of bipolar/monofilar are that an electronic circuit (an
H bridge or a bipolar power supply) is must for the reversal of direction of motor. Less number of
switches are required for motor with unipolar/bifilar windings. The presence of the permanentmagnet rotor results in a lower operating power requirement than that of the VR motor. It also
contributes to good damping (settling) characteristics because of the un-energized detent
torque. This type of construction is not suitable for small step angles. Figure 5 shows the typical
pull in and pull out curves. The pull-out torquespeed curve is also shown, and it can be seen
that for a given load torque, the maximum steady (slewing) speed at which the motor can run is
much higher than the corresponding starting rate. The larger the load inertia the smaller the pullin area. We can see from the shape of the curve that the step rate affects the torque output
capability of stepper motor. The decreasing torque output as the speed increases is caused by
the fact that at high speeds the inductance of the motor is the dominant circuit element [9].

Figure 5:Typical pull-in and pull-out curves showing effect of load inertia on the Pull-in torque [9]

In fig. 5 the following terms are used

Holding torque: The maximum torque produced by the motor at standstill
Pull In curve: The pull-in curve defines a area referred to as the start stop region. This
is the maximum frequency at which the motor can start/stop instantaneously, with a load
applied, without loss of synchronism.
Maximum Start rate: Maximum starting step frequency without any load
Pull Out Curve: The pull-out curve defines an area referred to as the slew region. It
defines the maximum frequency at which the motor can operate without losing
synchronism. Since this region is outside the pull-in area the motor must ramped
(accelerated or decelerated) into this region.
Maximum Slew Rate: The maximum operating frequency of the motor with no load
applied.

Hybrid Stepper Motors

In an effort to enhance the performance characteristics of stepper motor, this kind of motor
combines the best features of VR and PM stepper motor. Hybrid motors generally develop the
highest torque-to-current ratio of any type of motor. As a result, their weight and volume are
often less than those of other motor types for a specific application. At the same time, the initial
cost of hybrid motor in considerably more than that of reluctance machines, and the control
circuitry tends to be more complex. The rotor-stator configuration of the common types of hybrid
motors results in a smaller step angle than those of most reluctance steppers It has better step
resolution, torque and speed. Typical step angles are from 3.6 to 0.9. The rotor is toothed as
well as equipped with an axially magnetized concentric magnet around its shaft.

Figure 6 Hybrid Stepping motor [3]

One of the more common commercial hybrid steppers is illustrated in fig.6 .This configuration
has two sections of rotor laminations separated by a permanent magnet. The two rotor sections
are displaced circumferentially from each other by one-half of a rotor tooth pitch. The stator has
an even number of salient poles with many teeth on the air gap surfaces. The stator and its pole
windings are the same throughout the axial length, that is, not displaced circumferentially.
Figure 6 shows the radial cross section at one end of the rotor; the other end is displaced
circumferentially by one-half of a tooth pitch. The stator coils are usually wound individually, but
connected externally for either two-phase or four-phase operation with either series or parallel
connection of the individual coils. It is thus seen that, in the case of the eight-pole configuration
shown in fig. 6, the stator and rotor teeth are aligned in the middle of poles P1 and P3 and fully
unaligned (maximum reluctance condition) in the middle of P1 and P3. The reverse condition is
true at the opposite rotor section due to the displacement of the rotor teeth in this section. It is
also seen that the primed poles of the P2 and P4 combination are aligned in fig. 6 and the
reverse would be true at the other rotor section. The rotor of fig. 6 moves in a stepping mode
related to the number of rotor teeth, Nr, the number of stator teeth, Ns, and the number of poles
per phase winding, p. The stator teeth are counted according to their pitch as if they were

distributed around the stator periphery just as are the rotor teeth. Like the reluctance stepper
described above, stepping motion in the hybrid machine also requires a relationship between
teeth and poles, such that[3]
N = qN

(4)

Where,
q = is an integer
N =No. of Rotor teeth
N =No. of Stator teeth
p = Number of poles per phase winding
For the configuration shown in fig.6, the stator is wound two-phase; hence,
p= =4
Nr=50
Ns=48 (if inter-polar spaces are filled with teeth of the same pitch);
Therefore, q=1 and the plus sign is used.
The electromagnetic torque developed in a hybrid stepper motor is due to both reluctance and
PM torques. The latter is generally the major torque component and is a function of the
interaction of the two magnetic fields in the air gap, one due to the ampere-turns of the stator
current and the other due to the permanent magnet, or [3]
T

K(NI)

(5)

Where,
= Permanent magnet flux per pole
K = A constant depending on the motor geometry and winding configuration
The numerical evaluation of hybrid motor torque is complex and generally requires detailed
analysis of the air gap geometry and magnetic field distribution by computer techniques such as
finite elements The PM torque is generally larger than the reluctance torque in hybrid motors,
although, of course, this depends upon many factors such as the type and size of the
permanent magnets used as well as winding and geometrical considerations. One advantage of
the hybrid stepper over the pure reluctance stepper is a relatively large holding torque, that is,
the torque maintaining a specific rotor-stator position with zero exciting current in the windings.
This is a requirement in many stepper motor applications and often mandates the PM type and
determines the size of the motor. Stepper motors are rated in terms of the number of steps per

second, the stepping angle, and load capacity in ounce-inches and the pound-inches of torque
that the motor can overcome. The number of steps per second is also known as the stepping
rate. The actual speed of a stepper motor is dependent on the step angle and step rate and is
found using the following equation [5]:
N=

(6)

Where,
=Motor speed in RPM
=Step angle, in mechanical degrees
=Number of steps per second
For example, if a motor has a step angle of 10 and is required to rotate at 200 RPM. Determine
the pulse rate (steps per second) for this motor. Using eq. 6 we can solve this
A complete revolution has 360, and with a step angle of 10 it will take 36 steps to complete
one revolution. Therefore,
200 rev./min 36 pulses/rev =7200 pulses/min
We have to divide it by 60 to get pulses/sec
7200/60=120 s/s
Figure 7 shows a plot of the relationship between pull-in torque versus pulses per second for a
typical stepper motor. From this curve, it is apparent that torque is greatest at zero steps per
second and decreases as the number of steps increases.

Figure 7: Torque versus steps per second for a stepper motor [5]

Classification based on Winding

The stepper motor can be classified as
1. Motors with center tapped windings
2. Motors without center tapped windings
Unipolar motors (fig.8) are the one that fall in the first category as discussed above. The motors
with center tapped windings have more number of wires for control and power purpose.
Generally they have 5 or 6 wires. Using OHM meter we can identify the wires. The center
tapped wires are connected to the power supply and the ends of the wires are alternatively
ground by using electronic switching. The Bipolar motors are the one that do not use the center
tapped windings as shown in fig. 9. Therefore the current runs through an entire winding one at
a time. Therefore the torque of bipolar motor is greater than the unipolar motors.

Figure 8: Unipolar Motor with Center tapped winding [9]

Figure 9: Bipolar Motor with Center tapped winding [9]

Classification based on Rotor Types

The stepper motor can be classified as the following in terms of rotor types

Rotor with Tooth

Toothless Rotor

Some stepper motors have rotor with teeth and VR motor is an example of such stepper motors.
The relationship among step angle, rotor teeth, and stator teeth is expressed using the following
equation [9]
=

360

(5)

Where
= Step Angle in degrees
Nr=Number of teeth in rotor core
Ns=Number of teeth in stator core
So for a motor with 12 teeth in stator and 8 rotor teeth the step angle will be 15. In case of a
toothless rotor as seen in PM stepper motor the magnetic force generated is much higher than
the variable reluctance type motor or the motors with toothed rotor [10]

Classification based on Stepping modes

Stepper motors can be classified in terms of the stepping modes also. They are classified as
under [9]

Wave Drive
Full step drive
Half step drive
Micro stepping

Figure 10 Unipolar (above) and Bipolar (below) wound stepper motor [6]

For all the discussion under this section please refer to fig. 10. In Wave Drive only one winding
is energized at any given time. The stator is energized according to the sequence A B A
B and the rotor steps from position 8 2 4 6. For unipolar and bipolar wound motors
with the same winding parameters this excitation mode would result in the same mechanical

position. The disadvantage of this drive mode is that in the unipolar wound motor you are only
using 25% and in the bipolar motor only 50% of the total motor winding
winding at any given time. This
means that you are not getting the maximum torque output from the motor. Figure 9 shows the
timing sequence of wave drive.

Figure 11: Wave control Drive [9]

In Full Step Drive you are energizing two phases

phases at any given time. The stator is energized
according to the sequence AB AB AB AB and the rotor steps
steps from position 1 3 5
7.. Full step mode results in the same angular movement as 1 phase on drive but the
mechanical position is offset by one
on half of a full step. The torque output of the unipolar wound
motor is lower than the bipolar motor (for motors with the same winding parameters) since the
unipolar motor uses only 50% of the available winding while the bipolar motor uses the entire
winding. Figure 12 shows the timing diagram of full step drive

Figure 12: Timing diagram of Full step drive [7]

Half Step Drive combines both wave and full step (1&2 phases on) drive modes. Every second
step only one phase is energized
rgized and during the other steps one phase on each stator. The
stator is energized according
ccording to the sequence AB B AB A AB B AB A and
the rotor steps from position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. This results in angular
movements that are half of those in 11 or 2-phases-on drive modes. Half stepping can reduce a
phenomena referred to as resonance which can be experienced in 1- or 2- phases-on drive
modes. The timing sequence of half step drive is shown in fig.
fig 13.

Figure 13: Timing diagram of Half Step drive [7]

The excitation sequences for the above drive mode are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1Excitation
Excitation sequences for different drive modes [9]

PHASE
A
B
A
B

Wave Drive
2
3
4

Normal Full step

1
2
3
4

Halff Step Drive

3
4
5
6

In Microstepping Drive the currents in the windings are continuously varying to be able to break
up one full step into many smaller discrete steps. Figure 14 shows the timing diagram of a
microstepping drive

Figure 14: Timing sequence of Microstepping drive [7]

Microstepping reduces the stepper motors resonance problem. Although the resonance
frequency depends upon the load connected to the rotor, it typically occurs at a low step
step-rate.
We have already seen that the step-rate
step rate doubles in Half Step mode compared to Full Step
mode. If we move the motor in microsteps, i.e., a fraction of a full step (1/4, 1/8, 1/16 or 1/32),
then the step-rate
rate has to be increased by a corresponding factor (4, 8, 16 or 32) for the same
rpm. This further improves the stepper performance
performance at very low rpm. Moreover, microstepping
offers other advantages as well like Smooth movement at low speeds, Increased step
positioning resolution, as a result of a smaller step angle Maximum torque at both low and high
step-rates[9], But microstepping
stepping requires more processing power. If we study the flow of current

for full or half steps, we conclude that the value of current in a particular coil is either no current
or a rated current. However, in microstepping, the magnitude of current varies in the windings.
The function of a microstepping controller is to control the magnitude of current in both coils in
the proper sequence. Figure 15 shows the variation of current in each winding as a result of
rotating flux corresponding to Ipeak in the air gap. So for each increment of electrical angle , a
flux and a torque corresponding to IPEAK is produced at an angle , thus producing a constant
rotating flux/torque, which makes microstepping possible. But in practice, the current in one
winding is kept constant over half of the complete step and current in the other winding is varied
as a function of sin to maximize the motor torque, as shown in fig. 16.

Figure 15: Currents in stator during Micro step and the resultant current [8]

Figure 16: Phase Current relationship [8]

Summery
The idea behind the report is to investigate the process of torque generation due to various
available designs. It can be estimated that the torque produced by a stepper motor depends on
several factors including the step rate, the drive current in the windings and the drive design or
type. The different kinds of stepper motors provide varying flexibilities in term of step size, the
torque and the RPM. This report combined with the control methods is a good approach of
understanding the stepper motor drives.

References
[1]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepper_motor#Stepper_motor_ratings_and_specifications
[2]. Industrial Circuits application note Stepper Motor Basics.
[3]. Chapter 2 Types of motor and their characteristics Unknown by Tylor and Francis
[4]. Matthew Grant Quick start for beginners to drive a stepper motor Application note 2974
[5]. http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/ph/p/id/287
[6]. http://www.solarbotics.net/library/pdflib/pdf/motorbas.pdf
[7]. http://knol.google.com/k/stepper-motor-microstepping-tutorial#
[8]. http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/appnotes/00822a.pdf
[9]. http://www.nmbtc.com/step-motors/engineering/winding-diagram-and-switchingsequence.html
[10].
http://www.chinamotorparts.net/blog/2010/12/30/