Voltage-induction synchronous electrostatic motor

In this paper, a new voltage induction synchronous electrostatic motor (VISE motor) is introduced, and its performance is analyzed using analytical modeling. In the proposed motor, compared to similar size electrostatic motors, the power is significantly improved by using active electrodes on both rotor and stator. Besides, the rotor’s electrodes are charged indirectly (via induction electrodes supplied on both the rotor and stator) to eliminate the undesirable wiring system. This leads to the remarkable features of the new design, including the simplicity, compactness, and light weight despite the feasibility of providing contactless rotor. In order to investigate the performance, the approach of the capacitance coefficient matrix has been used in which the coefficients are numerically calculated using the finite element method. In addition, the induced voltages and torque equation of motor are analytically derived and verified using the fabricated prototype and experimental setup. Kinetics, design, and fabrication process of a prototype are presented, and some performance parameters of motor such as ripple, maximum speed, and synchronousness are experimentally examined. To improve the performance and smoothness of motor rotation, the skew design for rotor electrodes is used and evaluated by both modeling and experiments. There is an excellent agreement between the experimental observations and analytical results, both indicating the considerable improvement in the motor power.