A Study on the Detent Torque and Holding Torque of a Micro-Claw Pole Stepper Motor

The micro-claw pole stepper motor is widely used in the field of camera modules and VR focusing. The influence of torque ripple on positioning accuracy becomes more obvious with a decrease in motor volume. In order to reduce the torque ripple of the micro-claw stepper motor and increase the load capacity of the motor, the torque of the motor is simulated by using finite element software. Firstly, the influences of four parameters, namely air gap, magnet thickness, claw thickness and claw height, on the detent torque and holding torque of the claw permanent magnet stepper motor are obtained through the Taguchi experiment. The Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of each factor to the response was calculated and the degree of influence of the four parameters on the detent torque and holding torque of the micro-claw pole permanent magnet stepper motor was determined. Then, the optimal value of each factor to reduce the detent torque and increase the holding torque was obtained through optimization analysis. Finally, experiments were carried out to test the holding torque of the motor, and the accuracy of the results was verified by comparing the test values with the simulation values. According to the analysis of the paper, the response delta of air gap to detent torque is the largest, reaching 5.99, and that to holding torque is 0.73. The response delta of the magnet thickness to the detent torque is 5.87, and the response delta to the holding torque is 1.52. The optimized parameters obtained by optimization analysis reduce the detent torque of the motor by 26.74% and increase the holding torque by 18.35%. It is found that air gap and permanent magnet thickness have the greatest influence on the detent torque and holding torque of a micro-claw permanent magnet stepper motor, followed by claw thickness and claw height. Among them, the air gap has more influence on the detent torque than on the holding torque, and the thickness of the permanent magnet has more influence on the holding torque than on the detent torque.