Model Identification and Control of Electromagnetic Actuation in Continuous Casting Process With Improved Quality

This paper presents an original theoretical framework to model steel material properties in continuous casting line process. Specific properties arising from non-Newtonian dynamics are herein used to indicate the natural convergence of distributed parameter systems to fractional order transfer function models. Data driven identification from a real continuous casting line is used to identify model of the electromagnetic actuator device to control flow velocity of liquid steel. To ensure product specifications, a fractional order control is designed and validated on the system. A projection of the closed loop performance onto the quality assessment at end production line is also given in this paper.

Magnetic force distribution and deformation law of sheet using uniform pressure electromagnetic actuator

The distribution of magnetic forces and current on sheet and coil was analyzed in detail according to the structural parameter of the coil which was invalid.The result shows that the current direction based on simulation result agrees with the principles of uniform pressure electromagnetic actuator.The reason for coil failure was proposed.Then the magnetic forces on the sheet were input into an explicit finite element software ANSYS/LS-DYNA to analyze the deformation law of the sheet.

Fabricating a Micro Electromagnetic Actuator with High Energy Density

This paper introduces a new technology to fabricate a micro electromagnetic actuator with high energy density without an enclosed magnetic circuit. This technology includes fabricating multi-turns planar micro coils and fabricating the thick magnetic （NiFe） core on the silicon wafer. The multi-turns planar micro coils are fabricated by the electroplating method from the surface along the line and by dynamically controlling the current density of the copper electrolytes. In order to fabricate thick NiFe plating,the adhesion properties between the NiFe plating and the silicon substrates are improved by changing the surface roughness of the silicon substrates and increasing the thickness of the seed layer. Furthermore,the micro electromagnetic actuator is tested and the energy density of the actuator is evaluated by force testing. The experiments show that the microactuator is efficient in producing high magnetic energy density and high magnetic force.

Dynamic friction modelling and parameter identification for electromagnetic valve actuator

A new modified LuGre friction model is presented for electromagnetic valve actuator system.The modification to the traditional LuGre friction model is made by adding an acceleration-dependent part and a nonlinear continuous switch function.The proposed new friction model solves the implementation problems with the traditional LuGre model at high speeds.An improved artificial fish swarm algorithm(IAFSA)method which combines the chaotic search and Gauss mutation operator into traditional artificial fish swarm algorithm is used to identify the parameters in the proposed modified LuGre friction model.The steady state response experiments and dynamic friction experiments are implemented to validate the effectiveness of IAFSA algorithm.The comparisons between the measured dynamic friction forces and the ones simulated with the established mathematic friction model at different frequencies and magnitudes demonstrate that the proposed modified LuGre friction model can give accurate simulation about the dynamic friction characteristics existing in the electromagnetic valve actuator system.The presented modelling and parameter identification methods are applicable for many other high-speed mechanical systems with friction.

Design and fabrication of a bistable electromagnetic microactuator

An electromagnetic microactuator with two stable positions is presented. The actuator consists of a cantilever beam with two free ends, a torsional beam with two fixed ends, planar coils and permanent magnets. The cantilever beam has two stable positions due to the use of permanent magnets. With electromagnetic actuation arising from the planar coils, the cantilever beam will switch from one stable position to the other. Mechanical and magnetic analysis are carried out on the actuator, and the device with a size of 2.2 mm × 2.5 mm is fabricated with the UV-LIGA technology. The test results show that a current pulse with an amplitude of 70 mA is needed for actuator＇ s switching between the two stable states, and the switching time is no more than 6 ms. Displacement of the end of cantilever is about 15 μm.

EMC design for actuators in the FAST reflector

An active reflector is one of the three main innovations incorporated in the Five-hundredmeter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope（FAST）.The deformation of such a huge spherically shaped reflector into different transient parabolic shapes is achieved by using 2225 hydraulic actuators which change the position of the 2225 nodes through the connected down tied cables.For each different tracking process of the telescope,more than 1/3 of these 2225 actuators must be in operation to tune the parabolic aperture accurately and meet the surface error restriction.This means that some of these actuators are inevitably located within the main beam of the receiver,and Electromagnetic Interference（EMI）from the actuators must be mitigated to ensure the scientific output of the telescope.Based on the threshold level of interference detrimental to radio astronomy described in ITU-R Recommendation RA.769 and EMI measurements,the shielding efficiency（SE）requirement for each actuator is set to be 80 d B in the frequency range from 70 MHz to 3 GHz.Therefore,Electromagnetic Compatibility（EMC）was taken into account in the actuator design by measures such as power line filters,optical fibers,shielding enclosures and other structural measures.In 2015,all the actuators had been installed at the FAST site.Till now,no apparent EMI from the actuators has been detected by the receiver,which demonstrates the effectiveness of these EMC measures.

Vacuum Switching Technology for Future of Power Systems

Even though switching in vacuum is a technology with almost 100 years of history,its recent develop-ments are still changing the future of power transmission and distribution systems.First,current switch-ing in vacuum is an eco-friendly technology compared to switching in SF 6 gas,which is the strongest greenhouse gas according to the Kyoto Protocol.Vacuum,an eco-friendly natural medium,is promising for reducing the usage of SF 6 gas in current switching in transmission voltage.Second,switching in vacuum achieves faster current interruption than existing alternating current(AC)switching technolo-gies.A vacuum circuit breaker(VCB)that uses an electromagnetic repulsion actuator is able to achieve a theoretical limit of AC interruption,which can interrupt a short-circuit current in the first half-cycle of a fault current,compared to the more common three cycles for existing current switching technologies.This can thus greatly enhance the transient stability of power networks in the presence of short-circuit faults,especially for ultra-and extra-high-voltage power transmission lines.Third,based on fast vacuum switching technology,various brilliant applications emerge,which are benefiting the power systems.They include the applications in the fields of direct current(DC)circuit breakers(CBs),fault current lim-iting,power quality improvement,generator CBs,and so forth.Fast vacuum switching technology is promising for controlled switching technology in power systems because it has low variation in terms of opening and closing times.With this controlled switching,vacuum switching technology may change the“gene”of power systems,by which power switching transients will become smoother.

Dynamic performance of linear electromagnetic actuators in a stray magnetic field:theoretical analysis and experimental verification

Linear electromagnetic actuators(LEAs) are widely used in tokamaks,but they are extremely sensitive to and are prone to fail in a high-strength stray magnetic field(SMF),which is usually a concomitant with tokamaks.In this paper,a multi-physics coupling analysis model of LEA,including magnetic field,electric circuit and mechanical motion,is proposed,and the dynamic characteristics of LEAs in SMFs are studied in detail based on the proposed model.The failure mechanism of LEAs in SMFs is revealed,and the influence of SMFs on the dynamic performance of LEAs is studied and quantified.It is shown that the failure threshold of the LEA selected in this work under the rated condition is 27 mT and 14 mT in the positive and negative direction,respectively.Under a typical SMF of 10 mT in the negative direction,the closing time of the LEA will be extended by 40%,while its opening time will be shortened by about 10%.Experimental tests are also conducted,which verify the validity of the proposed model and the analysis results.This paper provides a basis for the diamagnetic optimization design of LEA,and it is of great significance to ensure the reliable operation of the tokamak.

Experimental investigation on using the piezoelectric and electromagnetic vibration absorbers in milling

The paper presents an active control system that counteracts the development of chatter vibration. The vibration amplitude depends on the dynamic properties of the machine tool, cutting tool and work-piece. In the paper we analyze the case when the loss of machining stability is caused by the work-piece. The proposed active control system employs electromagnet or piezoelectric actuator to suppress vibration during milling. The active control introduces damping into the system, thereby raising the critical depth of cut and reducing forced vibration amplitude. It enables stable cutting under a much wider range of cutting parameters that for the uncontrolled system. Cutting tests are performed on JAFO FYN-50 machine with mill DIN 845 B-25 K-N HSS to demonstrate an effectiveness of the proposed systems.

Electromagnetic control of the instability in the liquid metal flow over a backward-facing step

The tile-type electromagnetic actuator(TEA)and stripe-type electromagnetic actuator(SEA)are applied to the active control of the perturbation energy in the liquid metal flow over a backward-facing step(BFS).Three control strategies consisting of base flow control(BFC),linear model control(LMC)and combined model control(CMC)are considered to change the amplification rate of the perturbation energy.CMC is the combination of BFC and LMC.SEA is utilized in BFC to produce the streamwise Lorentz force thus adjusting the amplification rate via modifying the flow structures,and the magnitude of the maximum amplification rate could reach to 6 orders.TEA is used in LMC to reduce the magnitude of the amplification rate via the wall-normalwise Lorentz force,and the magnitude could be decreased by 2 orders.Both TEA and SEA are employed in CMC where the magnitude of the amplification rate could be diminished by 3 orders.In other words,the control strategy of CMC could capably alter the flow instability of the liquid metal flow.

A measurement system of magnetism parameters for motion control

Magnetism parameters vary with the position and the speed of electromagnetic actuator's motion parts.The measurement unit presented in the paper can be applied to get the position and the speed feedback information from the measurement of electromagnetism parameters,and can constitute the untouched feedback sensing unit in the closed-loop motion control,and it adapts to the diversified feedback control of electromagnetic actuator.The digital miniaturization meter,based on MSP430 single chip processor,which can do the multi-purpose measurement of Φ & B through the menu selection,can be used for the electromagnetic actuator's performance evaluation and improvement,and also the online quality control in production process.Both real-time data graph and data table can be displayed in the meter.The paper presents the system's structure,describes the principle,discusses the working modes,and shows the software flowchart and the measuring results.

Design and Optimization of the Electromagnetic Actuator in Active-Passive Hybrid Vibration Isolator

The design and optimization of actuators are difficult andcritical for the active-passive hybrid vibration control system. Inthis paper, an electromagnetic actuator model is establishedbased on Ohm’s Law for magnetic circuit considering theleakage flux. The 600N electromagnetic actuators are designedand optimized based on ANSYS simulation according to theengineering request. Its transient characteristics are studied. Theeffects of different structural parameters on its output force areanalyzed. The experimental results show that the structureparameters and output force characteristics of the designedelectromagnetic actuators satisfy the practical requirement.

Loss Analysis of Electromagnetic Linear Actuator Coupling Control Electromagnetic Mechanical System

As an energy converter,electromagnetic linear actuators(EMLAs)have been widely used in industries.Multidisciplinary methodology is a preferred tool for the design and optimization of EMLA.In this paper,a multidisciplinary method was proposed for revealing the influence mechanism of load on EMLA’s loss.The motion trajectory of EMLA is planned through tracking differentiator,an adaptive robust control was adopted to compensate the influence of load on motion trajectory.A control-electromagnetic-mechanical coupling model was established and verified experimentally.The influence laws of load change on EMLA’s loss,loss composition and loss distribution were analyzed quantitatively.The results show that the data error of experiment,and simulation result of input energy,mechanical work,and iron loss is less than 3%.The iron loss accounts for less than 54.9%of the total loss under no-load condition,while the iron loss increases with the increase of load.For iron loss distribution,only the percentage of inner yoke keeps increasing with the increase of load.The composition and distribution of loss are the basis of thermal analysis and design.

A Sub-100 mg Electromagnetically Driven Insect-inspired Flapping-wing Micro Robot Capable of Liftoff and Control Torques Modulation

Inspired by the unique,agile and efficient flapping flight of insects,we present a novel sub-100 mg,electromagnetically driven,tailless,flapping-wing micro robot.This robot utilizes two optimized electromagnetic actuators placed back to back to drive two wings separately,then kinematics of each wing can be independently controlled,which gives the robot the ability to generate all three control torques of pitch,roll and yaw for steering.To quantify the performance of the robot,a simplified aerodynamic model is used to estimate the generated lift and torques,and two customized test platforms for lift and torque measurement are built for this robot.The mean lift generated by the robot is measured to be proportional to the square of the input voltage amplitude.The three control torques are measured to be respectively proportional to three decoupled parameters of the control voltages,therefore the modulation of three control torques for the robot is independent,which is helpful for the further controlled flight.All these measured results fit well with the calculated results of the aerodynamic model.Furthermore,with a total weight of 96 mg and a wingspan of 3.5 cm,this robot can generate sufficient lift to take off.

Clawed Miniature Inchworm Robot Driven by Electromagnetic Oscillatory Actuator

In this research we propose a novel inchworm robot, which is composed of an Electromagnetic Oscillatory Actuator （EOA） and claws. The EOA consists of a yoke, a magnet, and a coil. The overall robot size is 12.2 mm x 11 mm x 9 mm （length x height ~ width）. The locomotion of the robot is achieved by different amounts of slips when the robot stretches and contracts its front leg. To realize locomotion, the working conditions were calculated theoretically and the calculated input signal was applied to the robot. The performance of the inchworm robot was evaluated experimentally with varying input voltages and frequencies. A simple op-amps based driving circuit was used to provide a square-wave input. Travel speed, average distance per step of the robot, and moving distance of the leg and body at each step were measured. The maximum travel speed was 36 mm-s-1 at 30 Hz, which validates our simple locomotion strategy experimentally.

A Miniaturized Tadpole Robot Using an Electromagnetic Oscillatory Actuator

In this paper, we propose a miniaturized tadpole-like robot using an electromagnetic oscillatory actuator. The electro- magnetic actuator has a simple structure with a moving-magnet type and the body size is 13 mm （length） × 11 mm （height） ×10 mm （width）. A tail has the thickness of 100 μm and the length of 20 mm which is twice of the body-length （BL）. The tail attached to the oscillatory actuator generates undulatory propulsion for the forward swimming. Moreover, the tadpole robot enables the change of the direction by controlling input signal pattems applied to the oscillatory actuator. Prototypes of the tadpole robot have been manufactured and the thrust force and swimming speed are measured to evaluate the performance of the biomimetic robot in water at various tail-beat frequencies. The maximum thrust force is 42 mN at the tail-beat frequency of 30 Hz with voltage of 3 V, enabling the tadpole robot to swim at the speed of 210 mm·s^-1 （6 BL·s^-1）. The tadpole robot can also change its moving direction with the angular velocity of 21 deg·s^-1 at the half pulse pattem of 30 Hz.

Miniaturized Twin-legged Robot with an Electromagnetic Oscillatory Actuator

There have been many studies on the moving mechanism of micro robots, such as stick-slip, inchworm like motion, and impact drive. Novel actuators like lead zirconate titanate （PZT）, Shape Memory Alloy （SMA）, magnetostrictive materials, electromagnetic actuators, electoractive polymers, ultrasonic linear motors, and dielectric elastomers are utilized to realize the moving mechanism. The use of a conventional electromagnetic actuator is unfavorable, because of a few drawbacks, such as generation of stray magnetic fields, hard to miniaturize to the millimeter scale because of 3D integration and a scaling law, and power consumption to maintain a certain position. This research presents a micro robot that uses an electromagnetic actuator customized and developed for micro robot. The electromagnetic actuator is designed from a Brushless Direct Current （BLDC） motor to overcome the drawbacks mentioned above. The developed robot is composed of two electromagnetic actuators. The overall size of the robot is 20 mm × 11 mm× 9 mm （length × height × width） and the weight is 3 g. The developed robot is able to move bidirectionally with a maximum moving speed of 15.76 mm·s︿-1 （0.79 body-length per second）. The optimal conditions of an input signal are calculated theoretically and verified with experiments.

Liquid metal spiral coil enabled soft electromagnetic actuator

Soft robot is a kind of machine form with flexible deformation capability. Making flexible actuators has recently become a hot research topic in the field. In this study, we demonstrated the facile fabrication of a soft electromagnetic actuator using liquid metal coil of Ga-In alloys, and designed several illustrative mechanical devices, such as jellyfish like robot, soft fishtail and flexible manipulator. Measurements of the liquid metal coil's electrical properties confirmed that the liquid metal coil was mechanically stable under 48% uniaxial strains. Furthermore, the resistance of the liquid metal coil is stable under 60° bending deformation. Tests on the liquid metal coil's driving properties confirmed that the liquid metal coil(55 mm×55 mm×1 mm) could reach the maximum displacement amplitude of 21.5 mm with the current of 0.48 A. It was shown that the electromagnetic interaction between the magnet and the liquid metal coil enables the coil as a highly efficient actuator. The mechanisms lying behind were interpreted and future applications of such system were discussed.

Moving Mechanism of a High-speed Insect-scale Microrobot via Electro-magnetically Induced Vibration

This paper presents the moving mechanism of a high-speed insect-scale microrobot via electromagnetically induced vibration of two simply supported beams.The microrobot,which has a body length of 12.3 mm and a total mass of 137 mg,can achieve reciprocating lift motion of forelegs without any intermediate linkage mechanisms due to the design of an obliquely upward body tilt angle.The gait study shows that the body tilt angle prevents the forelegs from swinging backward when the feet contact the ground,which results in a forward friction force applied on the feet.During forward movement,the microrobot utilizes the elastic deformation of the simply supported beams as driving force to slide forward and its forelegs and rear legs work as pivots alternatively in a way similar to the movement of soft worms.The gait analysis also indicates that the moving direction of the microrobot is determined by whether its body tilt angle is obliquely upward or downward,and its moving speed is also related to the body tilt angle and as well as the body height.Under an applied AC voltage of 4 V,the microrobot can achieve a moving speed at 23.2 cm s1(18.9 body lengths per second),which is comparable to the fastest speed(20 cm s-1 or 20 body lengths per second)among the published insect-scale microrobots.The high-speed locomotion performance of the microrobot validates the feasibility of the presented actuation scheme and moving mechanism.

Science Letters:A current-differential-based method for improving dynamic characteristics of electromagnetic actuators

This paper presents a new control strategy based on current differential feedback to accelerate the dynamic response of electromagnetic actuators, instead of traditional closed-loop control based on displacement feedback. The method mainly includes a differentiator, proportioner and signal synthesizer. Analysis and simulation on the step characteristics of an electromagnetic actuator were discussed, and all the results show that the approach can improve the actuator's step response greatly. Finally, the control method is applied to a real gravure system which verifies the control performance.