Design, Development and Electromagnetic Analysis of a Linear Induction Motor

Linear induction motors (LIMs) are a very effective drive mechanism for actuation and transportation systems. LIMs are capable of generating a non adhesive thrust force, providing both propulsion and levitation forces and is hence considered as a promising propulsion system [1]. LIMs are used in rapid transportation, baggage handling conveyors (belt conveyors), crane drives, theme park rides, induction pumps, impact extrusion machines, flexible manufacturing systems etc. This is attributed to various advantages LIMs have such as, high starting thrust, simple mechanical design and construction, alleviation of gears between motor and the motion device, no backlash, small friction and sustainability for low speed and high speed applications making LIM a strong candidate in applications with linear motion. Force can be uniformly applied to the conveyor belt over a wide area without any mechanical contact by using LIMs to drive conveyor belts, making the drive independent of frictional losses between the rollers and belt. This paper presents a design guide for a longitudinal flux single sided linear induction motor for conveyor application. The design parameters have been verified using two dimensional finite element analysis (2D-FEA). Test results imply the features of LIM that make it a strong candidate for simple conveyor applications.