6.685 Electric Machines, Course Notes 1: Electromagnetic Forces

This section of notes discusses some of the fundamental processes involved in electric machinery. In the section on energy conversion processes we examine the two major ways of estimating electromagnetic forces: those involving thermodynamic arguments (conservation of energy) and field methods (Maxwell’s Stress Tensor). But first it is appropriate to introduce the topic by describing a notional rotating electric machine. Electric machinery comes in many different types and a strikingly broad range of sizes, from those little machines that cause cell ’phones and pagers to vibrate (yes, those are rotating electric machines) to turbine generators with ratings upwards of a Gigawatt. Most of the machines with which we are familiar are rotating, but linear electric motors are widely used, from shuttle drives in weaving machines to equipment handling and amusement park rides. Currently under development are large linear induction machines to be used to launch aircraft. It is our purpose in this subject to develop an analytical basis for understanding how all of these different machines work. We start, however, with a picture of perhaps the most common of electric machines.