Paper Sensor Vr

8/2/2019 Paper Sensor Vr

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Electronic Applications Ing. Xavier Rosero

Magnetic Sensors

The market for magnetic velocity sensors is expanding rapidly, particularly in the automotive industry where theyare used in a variety of mechatronic systems such as antiskid braking systems (ABS), traction control (TC),four-wheel drive systems, etc. However, as the number of applications grows, the specifications these sensorsare expected to meet are becoming more and more demanding. Larger signals are required to improve signalto-noise ratios and to relax manufacturing tolerances, thus lowering the cost. Despite the current interest inthese sensors, the literature on the subject is insufficient and often limited to the description of a specific device(Foster 1988, Podeswa and Lachman 1989, Rowley and Stolfus 1990). Sometimes various technologies are

compared (Ohshima and Akiyama 1989b), but because of the large number of possible approaches, thecoverage of each concept remains overly general. In-depth analyses backed by theoretical frameworks arelacking, with some exceptions (Lequesne et al. 1996, Pawlak et al. 1991d, Ramsden 2001). Such analyseswould allow us to understand and assess the relative importance of various design elements to the overallperformance and provide the means for design optimization. They would not only be desirable, but also timely,because the emergence of new materials and manufacturing technologies holds the promise forimproved configurations. This chapter attempts to fill this gap by providing both the theoretical background aswell as practical optimization examples based on a number of novel sensor configurations.

The magnetic VR sensors feature a coil as a sensing device, a stationary PM operating in close vicinity of arotary ferromagnetic wheel, sometimes called a target wheel or an exciter wheel. The outer surface of the wheelfeatures a succession of teeth and slots which vary the magnetic permeance as the wheel rotates. This affectsthe magnetic flux pattern and the corresponding flux variations are sensed either by a pickup coil in the case of

the VR sensor, shown conceptually in Figure 1, or by a galvanomagnetic semiconductor such as a Hall-effect orMR sensor, as presented in Figure 2. These two sensor types will be referred to as VR sensor and solid-statesensor, respectively. PM wheels are also used instead of ferromagnetic wheels (Ohshima and Akiyama 1989a,Podeswa and Lachman 1989, Saito et al. 1988), with a solid-state device sensing the alternation of north andsouth poles on the magnet surface. However, these sensors can be used only in more protected environmentsand, because of magnet costs, the magnet wheel must be small. Their applications are, therefore, more limitedand, for this reason, they were not included in this study. High-resolution sensors, such as resolvers (Ohshimaand Akiyama 1989b, Podeswa and Lachman 1989) or absolute magnetic encoders, which rely on Permalloy-based magnetoresistors reading dense magnetic patterns (Miyashita et al. 1987, Pawlak et al. 1996, Schroederet al. 1996), are much more expensive. They are designed differently and are beyond the scope of this paper.

FIGURE 1VR sensor components. (From Lequesne, B. et al., Transactions of IEEE/IAS,32(5), 11661175, 1996. Withpermission.)


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FIGURE 2Magnetic speed sensor with a semiconductor. (From Lequesne, B. et al., Transactions of IEEE/IAS, 32(5),11661175, 1996. With permission.)

Theory of Magnetic Sensors

We first present a general theory of VR, which underscores both the similarities and differences between thetwo concepts. The theory is then applied to the specifics of each case. New configurations that make use of newmaterials and manufacturing technologies are presented. The analysis shows how the new designs can beoptimized for given applications. Both the modeling approach and the superiority of the new designs are provenexperimentally. The magnetic sensors studied depend on a stationary magnet as a source of magnetic flux andon the modulation of that flux by the movement of the exciter wheel. As the wheel rotates, the teeth, the slots,

and the magnet assume various positions that can be characterized by the angular distance between somearbitrary location on the wheel and some other arbitrary location on the stationary magnet. The wheel rotation

results in magnetic permeance variations, which can be expressed as a function P(). The permeance P(),shown in Figure 3, is a periodic function with a period Tequal to the tooth pitch. Its maximum and minimum

values, Pmax and Pmin, correspond to magnet locations across a wheel tooth or a wheel slot, respectively. Thepermeance variations affect the operating point of the PM and result in flux variations that are also periodicfunctions with a period T.

On the surface of the sensor facing the wheel, one can define an active area A, which corresponds to the crosssection of the magnetic core in the VR-sensor case (the center pole in Figure 1) or to the area of the

semiconductor in the solid-state sensor case (Figure 2). In principle, the flux density at any point on A is a

function not only of the sensor position , but also of the location of on A. However, variations over A areneglected in this section in order to obtain simplified formulae amenable to physical interpretation.

Thus, a flux-density function B(), uniform over A, can be defined that corresponds to the permeance variations

mentioned earlier. B(), like P(), is periodic with a period Tequal to the tooth pitch and features maximum andminimum values, Bmax and Bmin, across the centers of the wheel teeth and slots, respectively. The analysis is,

therefore, based on the assumption of a uniform air gap flux-density function B() over the active area A, whichis commonly done in electric machine theory.


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FIGURE 3Exciter wheel permeance variation. (From Lequesne, B. et al., Transactions of IEEE/IAS, 32(5), 11661175,1996. With permission.)

Usually, this assumption leads only to neglecting harmonics. VR sensors are different, however, in that theuseful part of their output signal is the peak-to-peak voltage and harmonics may contribute to it. More

comprehensive formulae, are therefore needed to calculate the output signal of an actual VR sensor. They arebased on flux-linkage variations for the two extreme sensor or target positions.

Conventional VR Sensors

A conventional VR speed sensor consists of a magnetic circuit, a coil, and a PM, which is located far from theexciter wheel, as shown in Figure 4. Conventional VR sensors feature no iron path, as shown in Figure 5(a).This is perceived to make the design simpler, more universal, and less expensive, but the flux is not properlyguided because there is no main magnetic path. Generally, less than 5% of the magnetic flux contributes to thesignal, which then relies almost entirely on the leakage flux. Traditionally, these sensors have had a largevolume to accommodate the large number of turns and a big PM necessary to develop the required signalstrength. This is because of their low efficiency, since only a small percentage of the PM flux contributes to thesignal development. A conventional sensor-wheel arrangement utilizes the modulation of magnetic flux by the

movement of the exciter wheel, which occurs predominantly in the xyplane, as presented in Figure 5 for twodifferent VR sensor arrangements with the exciter wheel. As the wheel rotates, the teeth, the slots, and themagnet assume various positions. The wheel rotation results in magnetic permeance variation, which is aperiodic function with a period equal to the tooth pitch. Its maximum and minimum values correspond tomaximum and minimum flux linkages in an xyplane, as presented in Figure 3.

By rotating an exciter wheel associated with the speed sensor, the permeance of the magnetic speed sensorchanges, and this affects the magnetic flux l inked to the coil.


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FIGURE 4Conventional VR sensor configuration and manual transmission speed sensor example: (a) VR sensorcomponents, (b) manual transmission speed sensor. ([a] From Pawlak, A.M. et al., Novel Variable ReluctanceSensors, Publ. No. 910902, Society of Automotive Engineers, Detroit, MI, 1991. With permission; [b] courtesy ofDelphi Corp.)

FIGURE 5Conventional VR sensor flux lines for two arrangements with exciter wheel for (a) maximum flux linkage and (b)minimum flux linkage. ([a] From Pawlak, A.M. et al., Novel Variable Reluctance Sensors, Publ. No. 910902,Society of Automotive Engineers, Detroit, MI, 1991. With permission; [b] from Lequesne, B. et al., Transactionsof IEEE/IAS, 32(5), 11661175, 1996. With permission.)

The highest permeance occurs in the sensor-tooth position and the lowest permeance occurs in the sensor-slotposition. The coil flux linkage changes due to permeance variation. The voltage signal induced by the coil (forspeed or position sensor signal) is proportional to the number of coil turns, the rate of the flux-linkage changewith respect to the time, as shown in Figure 6.


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FIGURE 6Sensor signal vs. time. (Courtesy of Delphi Corp.)

FIGURE 7

Exciter wheel configurations: (a) high-density powder, (b) low-density powder, (c) conventional machining.(Courtesy of Delphi Corp.)

High Performance VR Sensors

VR sensors whose configurations are different from those of conventional ones fall into the modern VR sensorcategory. In this category, both the distributed sensors and the stand-alone sensors are described. Recentdevelopments in new magnetic materials and manufacturing technologies enabled the introduction of newsensor configurations and sensor wheel arrangements, which led to dramatic improvements in VR sensorperformance. In particular, new PM materials with high-energy products, powder-metal manufacturingtechnology, bobbinless coil winding, and advanced plastic-molding technology can dramatically improveperformance. Powder-metal technology allows for low-cost exciter wheels and unconventional shapes of

magnetic circuit parts for the cost-efficient sensor. This technology was utilized for both the magnetic circuit andthe exciter wheel for the dual-magnet sensor configuration.


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FIGURE 8

Sensor signal vs. exciter wheel tooth width. (Courtesy of Delphi Corp.)

FIGURE 9Sensor signal vs. slot depth. (Courtesy of Delphi Corp.)


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FIGURE 10Sensor signal vs. magnet height. (Courtesy of Delphi Corp.)

FIGURE 11Sensor signal vs. center pole base thickness. (Courtesy of Delphi Corp.)


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FIGURE 12Front-mounted-magnet sensor with U-shaped magnetic structure: (a) sensor structure, (b) sensor-wheelarrangement. (Courtesy of Delphi Corp.)

FIGURE 13Front-mounted-magnet sensor with U-shaped magnetic structure. (Courtesy of Delphi Corp.)

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