UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SYDNEY Introduction

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING Voice coils are widely used loud speakers. When excited by an
electrical current of a specified waveform, the voice coil carrying the
48531 Electromechanical Systems
current will move (vibrate) and produce a sound by the specified
waveform since the force
Voice Coil Motors F = Bli
is proportional to the current.
Topics to cover: This idea can be extended to direct
1. Introduction 2. Magnetic Circuits drive linear actuators for applications
Voice Coil
that require positioning over a small B
3. EMF in Voice Coil 4. Force and Torque range from microns to inchs, such as Iron Core
5. Mathematical Model 6. Performance beam steering mirrors, pilot valve B
control, and hard disk drives.

Introduction Introduction
- Voice Coil Velocimeter - Voice Coil Velocimeter

In the vibration test of mechanical engineering, a simple electromag-

netic device consisting of a wire wrapped coil and a magnet is used
to both drive the system (voice coil motor) and measure the velocity
of the system (velocimeter). Enlarged view of the voice coil velocimeter
 Introduction Introduction
- Hard Disk Drive - Hard Disk Drive (Cont.)
Schematic cut away
Hard disk drive or direct access storage devices is one of the major view of a hard disk
applications for voice coil motors.

Introduction Introduction
- Hard Disk Drive (Cont.) - Hard Disk Drive (Cont.)

Old hard disk drives use

stepping motor for position
Brushless spindle motor and the drive circuit board. control of read/write head
 Introduction Introduction
- Hard Disk Drive (Cont.) - Hard Disk Drive (Cont.)

New hard disk drives use

voice coil motors for position
control of read/write head Schematic illustration of read/write head position control using
voice coil motors for large hard disks

Introduction Introduction
- Hard Disk Drive (Cont.) - Hard Disk Drive (Cont.)
Read/write head
of a small size
hrad disk

Read/write head of a small size

hrad disk
 Introduction Magnetic Circuits
- General Purpose Voice Coil Linear Actuator - Lateral Voice Coil Motors
B Iron Iron
The idea of voice coil motor/actuator can Moving Moving
Coil Coil
be employed for general purpose linear
drives. Iron Iron
B

B Iron Iron

B B Moving
Moving Coil
Coil
Iron Iron

B B

The structure can be either cylindrical or rectangular

Magnetic Circuits EMF in Voice Coil

- Rotary Voice Coil Motors - Arc Type Rotary Voice Coil Motor
l1
lm d
g
B B Read/Write
x i i Head
Iron

B B
R
dλ
Moving Coil The emf in the voice coil can be calculated by the Faraday’s law e =
Moving Coil dt
Iron where λ = λ1 + λm , λ1 = L1i , and λm are the flux linkages of the voice
coil due to the current in the coil and the permanent magnet. Therefore,
B B B B d i d λm
Iron Iron e = L1 + Note that L1 is independent of coil position.
dt dt
Cross sections of rotary voice coil motors used in hard disk drives
 EMF in Voice Coil Force and Torque
- Arc Type Rotary Voice Coil Motor - Arc Type Rotary Voice Coil Motor
If the coil has N1 turns, the self inductance is The total force acting on the coil can be calculated by
i independent of the coil position and can be F = 2 Bg N1l1i = K f i
Φ
determined as N 12
L1 = Assume the distance between the coil center and the shaft is R. The
R core
torque produced by the coil is then
where Rcore is the reluctance of the core.
l1 The induced emf in the coil due T = FR = 2 Bg N1l1 Ri
lm d to the permanent magnets can be
B
g
B Note that the force can also be calculated by
calculated as
x
dλ ∂W f ' 1 2 dL1 1 2 dLm dL
Iron em = m = 2 B g N 1l1v = K g v F= = i + Im + iI m 1m
dt ∂x 2 dx 2 dx dx
B B where v = dx/dt is the speed and Since dL1/dx = 0 and dLm/dx = 0, we have the above results.
Bg the flux density in air gap.

Mathematical Model Mathematical Model

- Electrical Circuit Equation - Mechanical Equations
The electrical circuit equation for the voice coil is The mechanical system for a hard disk K
d ( L 1i ) d λ m drive is illustrated on the right hand side. Spring
V = Ri + + R L1 By Newton’s law, we have
dt dt i F B
For the arc type rotatry voice coil motor, dv
F − Fload =m Damper
the self inductance is indepen-dent of the dt Coil of
V em
coil position, and the above equation where F = Kfi mass m
becomes di
V = R i + L1 + em is the electromagnetic force produced by the current in the coil,
dt
K f = 2 Bg N 1l1 the electromagnetic force constant, and
where em = dλm/dt = 2BgN1l1v = Kgv is the induced emf in the coil due
to the permanent magnet, Kg = 2BgN1l1 is the emf constant, and v = Fload = Kx + Bv
dx/dt is the speed. is the load force due to the spring and damper.
 Mathematical Model Performance
- State Equations - With Current Source Supply
When the electrical and mechanical equations expressed in the form With a current source power supply, the electrical transient can be
of state equations, we obtain ignored. Only the mechanical transient needs to be considered. To
di R Kg 1 simplify the problem, let us consider an arc type voice coil motor
=− i− v+ V
dt L1 L1 L1 supplied by an ideal square wave current source under no load. The
governing equations of the system are :
dv Kf K B
= i− x− v dv F dx lm
dt m m m = and = v B
g
dt m dt x i
dx
and = v where F = Kfi Iron
dt
These equations can be solved together with initial conditions The initial conditions are assumed to be B
zero, i.e. v ( 0 ) = 0 , and x ( 0 ) = 0
i ( 0 ) = i0 , v ( 0 ) = v 0 , and x ( 0 ) = x 0

Performance Performce
- With Current Source Supply (Cont.) - With Voltage Source Supply
The following waveforms illustrate the response of an arc type With an ideal voltage source power supply, the response of an arc
voice coil motor under a square wave current source excitation. type voice coil motor can be obtained by solving the state equations
of the system. When the mechanical load is accounted for, the state
i equations must be solved numerically. If no mechanical load is
0 t assumed, however, analytical solution can be obtained.
F The governing equations of the system in this case are :
F = Kfi
0 t di
= −
R
i−
Kg
v+
1
V
dv
=
Kf
i and
dx
= v
dt
v dt L1 L1 L1 dt m
1
∫ F dt K g = 2 B g N 1l1
t
v =
m 0
0 t where K f = 2 B g N 1l1 and
x x and the assumed initial conditions are
m
∫ vdt
t
x = i ( 0 ) = 0 , v ( 0 ) = 0 , and x ( 0 ) = 0
0 t
0 tm
 Performance Performance
- With Voltage Source Supply (Cont.) - With Voltage Source Supply (Cont.)
The analytical solution of the motor under a square wave voltage source
excitation is: It is important to note that i ≠
(e s t − e s t ) v = K f ∫ tia dt and x = vdt ∫
E t
For 0 ≤ t < ta , ia = 0 and v < 0 at t = tm . The coil
L1 (s1 − s2 )
1 2

m 0 0 reverses its direction of

motion.
1 ± 1 − 4(τω 0 ) 
where 1  2 L Kg K f
s1 , s2 = − τ = 1 and ω 0 =
2τ   R mL1 Therefore, this type of voltage
For ta ≤ t ≤ tm , control is not used in disk
x = x(ta ) + ∫ vdt
t drive applications where it is
v = v (t a ) +
Kf
∫
t
id = Ad e s1t − Bd e s2 t id dt and crucial that the coil bring the
m ta ta
where R/W heads to a specified
 Ad  1  s2 e − s1ta − e − s1ta   ia (t a ) d id track and stay there during
 =    and G =
 Bd  s2 − s1  − s1e − s2 ta e − s2 t a   G  dt t = ta
reading and writing data.

Performance Performance
- With Voltage Source Supply (Cont.) - Improving Voice Coil Motor Performence by Shorted-Turn
In practice, a voltage profile In a voice coil motor, the accelerating force on the moving coil is
based on the voltage controlled directly proportional to the current in the coil. Therefore, the faster the
phase plane trajectory is used. current rises, the faster the coil would respond. For a hard disk drive,
the access time would be shorter. One way to accomplish this is to
place a copper tube (shorted turn) concentric to the moving coil.

lm
g R L1≈ 0
B i
x i
Copper Tube
V em
B
Iron