Review of Methods for Determining the Moment of Inertia and Friction Torque of Electric Motors

Abstract

Our research group, at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Debrecen, has extensively studied the dynamic modelling and simulation of electric motor’s over the past ten years. Many simulation programs have been developed for various motor types. The technical parameters and characteristics of the motors are used as input data for the above-mentioned programs. Among these data, important dynamic characteristics are the moment of inertia and friction torque of the rotor. The friction torque includes windage, ventilation, bearing and brush friction losses. In many cases, however, the manufacturer does not provide these data in the datasheet, so they must be determined experimentally. Several methods exist in the scientific literature for the above purpose. Our research group has also developed and applied such methods in recent years. This publication reviews these methods by presenting the applied experimental setups and procedures. In addition, considering the available literature data and our previous experience, we give the accuracies that can be achieved by the methods and any difficulties that may arise during the experiments and the related computational procedures.