From there to actually believing that a baby Viper is being considered is a long leap, but one that Hagon was willing to make. While he admitted that “Gilles wouldn’t be drawn on the chances of a baby Viper or how it would come to life,” Hagon speculated on how a smaller, more efficient Viper could help with fuel economy targets (though Viper’s small production numbers are unlikely to harm Chrysler much), and tossed out the Alfa Romeo 4C and next-generation Mazda MX-5 roadster (which Alfa is working on) as possible platforms.

One could also speculate that the upcoming rear-wheel-drive mid-sized platform to be shared by Alfa Romeo and Dodge would be a good potential chassis, but in all likelihood a true “baby Viper” would require either its own custom designed chassis, or one borrowed from Ferrari.

It is also quite possible that Gilles was making a throwaway remark which has been thoroughly blown out of proportion. In past examples of the “echo chamber” nature of some reporting communities, remarks or speculation are picked up by other sources, and each time one or more provisio is dropped, until it reaches the eyes of a high-circulation print publication. Appearing in print — or on the web site of a print publication — often gives the rumor a level of authenticity it does not deserve, and since these publications usually do not credit “lesser” sources, or condescendingly refer to “blogs,” the writers who originated the story then gain confirmation. In the best case, the attention convinces the manufacturer to actually create the rumored object.

(Thanks, Seth Johnson / whfrat)

 Aside from mixing up a brand named after a hood ornament with random-access memory, it is a ringing endorsement of the new Ram pickups.

 1. Date of commencement of SEO Contest "Best Ideal Indonesian Family Car" is October 7, 2010 (Hours 12:00 pm).2. The expiry date SEO Contest "Best Ideal Indonesian Family Car" is January 31, 2011 (12:00 pm Hours).3. Announcement of winners performed in February.4. It is forbidden to any pornographic, discriminatory, or unlawful acts in the execution of the SEO game.5. Target Keyword: "Ideal Family Car Best Indonesia" and create a link to www.toyota.astra.co.id6. Adding Logo Toyota SEO Award 2010.7. SEO Contest "Best Ideal Indonesian Family Car" is the Indonesian language as content relevance.8. Relevance content "Ideal Family Car Best Indonesia" are concerned here, make the appropriate Indonesian language content targeted keywords "Ideal Family Car Best Indonesia" and readable.9. Only registered participants can compete and win prizes provided by the committee.10. Registration is free of charge and open to anyone with no age restrictions.11. Each participant must have an entry page back links which can be seen on www.toyota.astra.co.id12. One person can only win one prize. Participants can register multiple domains, providing your name, email, and address must be the same. Different names but the same person will be disqualified.13. Domain age up to 4 years.14. Contact information must be valid on the website used SEO Friendly Award. Email is preferred15. You are allowed to use an existing domain, but the page / URL entry is submitted must be completely new with no back links and previously cached version.16. Not using domains and subdomains with target keywords in lombakan (do not make 5 keyword phrases that are contested as the domain or subdomain).17. Toyota SEO Award organizers allowed the contest, but was not eligible for any prizes.18. Regulations may be supplemented or amended from time to time in accordance with the feedback received from participants.19. Target Toyota SEO Award 2010 winning form scoring in Google.co.id and Yahoo.co.id. There was also judging the quality of the article and contains. Assessment of quality article is the prerogative of the jury.

As another year winds down, for many people, annual and season-ending chores are in full swing. Rake the leaves. Clean the gutters. Get the furnace prepared for winter. But seasonal chores aren’t limited to homeowners – car owners should also include these winterizing essentials to their end-of-the-year to-do list:

1. Check the tire pressure

As temperatures fall in colder weather, the air pressure in your tires will naturally drop, too. In fact, your tire’s car lose as much as 1 pound per square inch of pressure for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit the temperature drops.

That loss can be significant when temperatures in colder climes plummet to 30 degrees or below. Take five minutes to make sure your tires don’t need a quick recharge. And don’t forget to check all four tires and the spare.

2. Check your tires

While you’re at checking the tire pressure, you should also give your tire treads a thorough inspection, too. Traction is important year-round, but it’s especially crucial during the winter when roads get slick with snow and ice.

If you don’t have a tire tread depth gauge handy, you can rely on the age-old trick of using a penny to determine tread depth. Insert the penny with the top of Lincoln’s head facing the tire tread into the groove. If Lincoln’s head is covered, you probably have adequate tread depth. But if you can see all of Lincoln’s head, it’s time to get new tires.

Uneven wear, bulging sidewalls, abnormal nicks or holes are all additional signs it may be a good time to purchase new tires.

3. Replace wiper blades

The driver’s ability to see clearly through the windshield is paramount in winter. Quick response time is vital and in colder climates, salt deposits, frost and blowing now can all easily obstruct vision. If your car’s wiper blades aren’t doing a good job of clearing the windshield now, how will they perform against frost, snow and sleet?

Check your blades ahead of time and replace blades that are cracked or don’t cleanly sweep across the windshield.

4. Check the windshield defroster

"Winter usually means that your your vehicle's windshield defrosters will be used on a regular basis," says Ron Montoya, consumer advice editor for automotive tips and advice site Edmunds.com. "It's a good idea to check that they are in working order." He adds it's also a good idea to make sure your heating system is in working order before it gets too cold.

5. Inspect the coolant system

Yes, even though it’s cold out, your car’s coolant system is an important feature during cold-weather driving. If you have had a recent radiator flush, you should be more than prepared for winter. Otherwise, check to make sure that your radiator fluid levels are adequate, that you’re using the proper coolant and that all hoses are in good condition without wear indicators like cracks, bulges or stiffness.

6. Check the battery

Your car’s battery will be one system that will have to work harder during the colder months of the year. Cold-weather starts can quickly deplete an older battery, so check your battery’s condition before temperatures become low.

Check the installation date that may be marked on top of the battery. If your car’s battery is older than two to three years, consider buying a new one. Clean battery terminal connections are important, too, so look for any signs of whitish powder that signals corrosion at the battery posts. You can remove buildup with a solution of baking soda and warm water. After cleaning, make sure all the connections are tight.

7. Get a tune-up

Your car’s engine works harder in the cold, so it’s important to make sure it’s working at an optimum level. An engine that sputters or struggles to start in warm weather will only have more trouble when cold weather arrives. A tune-up by a qualified mechanic or auto service center manes you'll be proactively diagnosing and fixing small problems, as well as adjusting the vehicle's performance to manufacturer’s recommendations, which can help make sure your car has no problem running smoothly throughout the winter.

8. Put an emergency kit in the trunk

Even the best-maintained vehicles can break down or get involved in a slide-off, stranding or accident. A driver left stranded on the side of the road during warm months may be inconvenienced and frustrated, but safety is a serious concern in cold weather.

Be prepared for those circumstances by equipping your vehicle with the supplies and tools you may need to stay safe when stranded with your vehicle in cold weather. Recommended kit supplies include fire extinguisher, a hazard triangle or warning flares, blankets, a tire gauge, a spare tire jack and lug wrench, tire repair kits, jumper cables, a shovel, jumper cables, a flashlight, and gloves.

related sites : http://www.angieslist.com

Permanent magnet brushless synchronous motors have moved beyond traditional applications with higher efficiency than induction machines.

No relation to the Terminator 3 saga, this “rise” refers to the expanding applications and growing physical sizes for today’s permanent magnet (PM) machines—motors, generators, and other devices. Times have changed the notion that PM machines comprise mainly small ac (and dc) motors.

PM brushless synchronous motors have moved well beyond machine tool, CNC, and related traditional applications. Even here sizes have grown, for example, up to 220 kW rated power from Fanuc Ltd. Newer PM machine applications include general-purpose industrial processes, electric hybrid vehicles, magnetic (variable-speed) drives, and generators for giant wind turbines. The objective is high efficiency by cutting rotor losses compared to induction machines.

One notable general-purpose product development is Baldor Electric’s RPM AC line of PM synchronous motors. The design combines a laminated steel frame stator and a salient-pole, interior PM (IPM) rotor for power density and efficiency (see Online Ref. 1). Rich Schaefer, marketing manager for variable speed and specialty motors, explains that RPM AC series ratings are now available up to 700 hp (522 kW) in standard air-cooled version. Still higher ratings apply to water-cooled units, such as a gearmotor developed for the drilling industry, rated at 1,020 hp and able to produce 35,000 lb-ft (47,460 N-m) torque in a very compact space, Schaefer notes.

Indicative of further power growth ahead is a development for electrically driven gas compressors from GE Global Research. GEGR described a 6 MW, high-speed drive motor prototype at a March 2009 workshop staged by the U.S. Dept. of Energy and others (see Online Ref. 2). Efficiency and other benefits make PM machine topology the preferred choice above 15,000 rpm speeds, says GEGR.
Material issues

PM machines rely on so-called rare-earth magnet materials—typically neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B)—for high torque production. Wider applications mean more demand for magnets whether used in small amounts for high volume products or in large quantities for fewer big machines. The latter translates to hundreds of pounds of magnets per unit, even with IPM rotor design that reduces magnet weight needed for a given torque output. IPM design generates an added reluctance torque component.

Synchronous PM generators for multi-megawatt wind turbines also pose large magnet demands. “In a high-speed generator, magnet weight is in the 150-200 kg (330-440 lb) range,” says Anders Troedson, vice president of The Switch Controls & Converters Inc., a manufacturer of large generators. However, magnet weight skyrockets for slow-speed, direct-drive generators due to the large diameter machine and number of poles needed for torque production (see Online Ref. 3). “The lower the shaft speed the higher the torque required for the same output power,” states Troedson. “Mass of magnets in a large direct-drive generator exceeds two metric tons.” That’s more than 4,400 lb!

Growth of PM machine applications has prompted initial concern that a supply-demand crisis may be coming for rare-earth magnets. Experts see a less critical scenario. “We are not running out of raw materials or production capacity,” notes Troedson. He thinks increased demand will spur manufacturing competition so that magnet prices are not likely to accelerate.

“There is an abundance of rare-earth magnet raw material. The need is to ensure consistent production quality and careful supplier selection,” adds Baldor’s Schaefer.

related sites : http://www.controleng.com

Concern for the environment may motivate private individuals and the general public, but it’s a poor reason for making business decisions. Companies buying and installing electric motors have a far better business reason for trying to save electricity— making their operations more cost-efficient. In a rare confluence of factors, reducing electricity usage by installing more energy-efficient electric motors promotes both of these goals. And, it might be a requirement as of Dec. 19, 2010, the next major U.S. motor efficiency compliance deadline.


When one talks about high-efficiency motors, it is important to note that this term really refers to traditionally architected electric motors consisting of armature and field windings. “Induction motors are available in standard-, high- and premium-efficiency models,” said David Hansen, global product manager, Kinetix Motion Control, Rockwell Automation, “whereas permanent magnet motors are not.”


Graphic shows how higher efficiency motors save money. Source: Baldor and Control EngineeringThe reason is that the permanent-magnet electric motor architecture is inherently more efficient, since no power is used to establish the stator magnetic field. John Malinowski, senior product manager - ac motors, Baldor Electric Company, pointed out: “ac induction motors have a family of motors that comply with NEMA Premium Efficiency per NEMA MG 1, tables 12-12 and 12-13, and IEC 60034- 30 [standards] for IE3 efficiency.”

For that reason, we limited this discussion to induction motors having stator coils wound on ferromagnetic cores, and save looking at the energy-efficiency characteristics of permanent magnet motors for a later discussion.

“Premium motors,” Malinowski continued, “are built to closer tolerances than older motors, run cooler, have less vibration, are quieter, and last longer.”


Control Engineering graphic shows how higher efficiency motors save money. Source: Baldor and Control EngineeringHowever, “high efficiency in today’s ac induction motors,” said Peter Fischbach, industry sector manager, Bosch Rexroth Corp., “is achieved by improving the energy conversion paths and physical properties with new slot and winding geometries, advanced magnet and core materials, and the use of copper rotors for ac induction motors.”

What makes a motor efficient?

“The key to higher efficiency is reducing losses,” Malinowski said. “More copper in the winding to reduce stator losses, and higher-grade electrical steel reduces iron-core losses. Lower losses mean fewer watts to cool so smaller fans can be used, [further] reducing losses.”

Fischbach added: “The majority of the losses are caused by conductive losses in the stator and rotor and core losses, also called iron or hysteric losses.”

Hansen listed a number of design features that give these motors their high efficien

    Winding Resistance—As winding resistance increases, efficiency decreases. To maximize motor efficiency, motor designers minimize resistance by maximizing slot fill (amount of copper windings in the stator slots) and minimizing end-turn radius (amount of copper windings outside the stator slots).
    Lamination Material—Core losses are directly influenced by the material properties and quality of the steel used in the stator laminations. In addition, thinner laminations will lead to lower core losses in the stator than thicker laminations.
    Lamination Tooth Geometry—Lamination tooth geometry impacts concentration of the magnetic flux inside the motor. Geometries that provide higher magnetic flux concentration will have lower stray losses and therefore higher efficiency.

It’s the system that counts


“The goal in most factory automation and industrial applications,” Fischbach suggesteded, “is efficient use of energy with the highest productivity. Therefore it is essential to analyze, model, and optimize the complete system before investing in individual components, like new motors.”

Table shows details of European motor efficiency deadlines. Source Lenze and Control EngineeringMalinowski agreed: “Better motors are easy to do as drop-in replacements [for less efficient units] but efficiency gains are limited. Using a 95% efficient motor is good but not when connected to a double-reduction [geartrain] that is 50% to 60% efficient, when a helical or bevel speed reducer may be 90% to 95% efficient.”

Fischbach also concurred: “Higher efficiency is a relative term there since we also have to consider other factors [that] affect the overall system efficiency, like cycle time or product output. For example, a direct drive torque motor with 80% efficiency could save more energy than a 95% efficient servo motor by eliminating inefficient drive train elements like gear boxes—and significantly increase production, too.”

What not to do

“The biggest mistakes,” Fischbach warned, “are made by engineers just focusing on the name plate efficiency of the motor, and expecting similar percentage energy savings in their specific application.

Different motors have different characteristics, which have to be matched to the application to benefit from the investment in a higher efficiency motor. For example, a more expensive premium efficiency ac induction motor will not save much energy if it’s run at partial load or idling for long periods of time.”

Malinowski provided the example of replacing a much older motor with a new premium motor on a centrifugal pump. The impeller would have been sized for the old motor’s speed. However, the new, more efficient, motor likely will run faster under the same load, leading to more overall power use. The system might be more energy-efficient, but the additional work it does may not provide any benefit.

“Designers who are truly interested in increasing efficiency,” advised Hansen, “will not simply look to replace a motor, but will take a holistic view of the overall machine design. Even a perfectly efficient motor, if connected to a poorly designed mechanical system, will not produce significant benefits with respect to energy savings. Any mechanical power transmission device between the motor and the load will have inherent inefficiency. The highest precision helical planetary gear heads, brand new out of the box, are at best 90% to 95% efficient. Worm gear boxes can be as little as 50% to 60% efficient.”

“The ultimate solution in terms of machine efficiency,” he concluded, “would be to eliminate the mechanical power transmission devices altogether through the use of direct drive permanent magnet servo motors.”

Do you buy or specify energy-efficient motors? How does the Dec. 19 motor efficiency deadline affect you? Take the Control Engineering Energy-Efficient Motors Survey, and share advice, as the Dec. 19, 2010, compliance deadline for the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) approaches.

Other resources:

NEMA HE motor standard: www.nema.org/stds/mg1.cfm

IEC HE motor standard: http://bit.ly/aHxTy6

U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Industrial Technologies www.eere.energy.gov/industry/

www.baldor.com/products/ ac_motors.asp

www.boschrexroth-us.com

www.lenzeamericas.com

www.rockwellautomation.com.au

More energy efficient motor reading

High-inertia servomotors for high, variable loads - Siemens Industry Inc. 1FK7 servomotor provides highly robust control response suitable for high- and variable-load inertia applications, such as feed and auxiliary axes on machine tools, and winders and unwinders on converting, packaging and printing equipment.

Severe duty motors deliver operational performance, lower GHG emissions - GE Energy X$D Ultra 841 IEC extra severe duty motors deliver operational performance and lower GHG emissions, the company said.

Brushless PM Torque Motors - Electric motors come in a rich variety of configurations to suit different purposes. One specialty motor type—known as a direct-drive, permanent-magnet (PM) torque motor—is characterized by a large diameter-to-length ratio and large number of magnetic poles to optimize torque production.
related sites : http://www.controleng.com

Electric motors are the mechanical muscle power that drives fans, blowers, pumps, printers, disk drives, ATMs, and industrial and medical machines, along with automobiles, busses, aircraft control surfaces, and hundreds of other applications. Generators who convert mechanical motion into electrical power generation use the same basic rotors, stators, bearings and support structure. Today’s engineering challenges usually include optimizing motor/generator torque, power, efficiency, size, weight, and other performance parameters.
Motor, drive, controls

For electric motors, the specific applications determine the parameters to be optimized. Almost all motors are driven at constant speed, variable speed, or start-stop motion. The increasing emphasis on higher power efficiency leads to variable speed electronic drives being used to achieve higher power efficiency across a wider range than constant speed applications. Developing motion systems that achieve precise positioning capability usually requires motors with high peak torques and smooth velocity and torque motion down to zero speed. The power and control electronics provides a key component to the overall motion control or mechatronics system that includes motor, drive, and control elements.

South Korea’s Electric Research Institute (KERI) has been building various transverse flux motors for more than 10 years.Five popular generic types of electric motors are the universal brush dc, variable or switched reluctance, ac induction, and electronically controlled brushless synchronous or permanent magnet (PM) synchronous motor. The mature universal motor is a wound field motor that can be driven with ac or dc input voltage. It suffers from lower power efficiency. The brush dc motor in wound field and PM configurations has a limited operating life due to its mechanical commutation system.

New technology developments are primarily limited to the reluctance, induction, and brushless PM synchronous motor systems. More recently, combinations of these three motor technologies have also emerged.





Permanent magnet motor

The permanent magnet electric motor has the highest intrinsic power efficiency and leads the other motor technologies in its wide range of new technology candidates. The brushless permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) has many names, including brushless dc motor, brushless PMAC motor, and electronic controlled motor (ECM).

Today’s PMSMs used in a wide range of applications have their magnets located on the cylindrical rotor surface. The latest new products in the servo positioning world have moved toward buried magnets in cylindrical spoke and interior permanent magnet (IPM) configurations. These buried magnet products incrementally increase torque or reduce size and weight in various precision positioning motion systems. Theses servo motors are finding use in machine tool, robots, and semiconductor equipment.

Axial flux motors

The transportation industry in the form of electric bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, and automobile is the target for new PMSM technology. Two excellent examples of new magnet locations are embodied in the axial flux and transverse flux PMSMs.

The axial flux PMSM (figure) has a unique disk shape that develops more torque than conventional cylindrical-shaped radial flux PMSMs. Its unique configuration fits into the center of drive wheels of most types of vehicles.

Axial flux motor provides high torque and low motor shaft speeds that eliminate the need for expensive gear boxes in many applications. The re-emergence of hybrid or electric driven vehicles has fostered a technical reassessment of axial flux motors for use in traction applications.

There are two major axial flux configurations: the internal PM rotor between two stator windings and the Torus that uses two rotors surrounding the nonmoving stator. The internal PM rotor is its most popular configuration. Transportation companies lead the research efforts along with many treatises created by university professors from around the world in evaluating, designing, and using these motor types. Chinese motor companies are making high volumes of hub axial flux motors for electric bicycles.

Our recent recession killed many of these start-up companies using in hub axial flux motors, but KLD Energy Technologies of Austin, Texas, is providing its 5 kw version axial flux in hub motors to scooter manufacturers. YASA Motors of Abington, UK, has developed its axial flux motors for larger vehicles using a slotless or yokeless stator to produce over 60 Nm (44 lb-ft) @ 3600 rpm (25 kw) and achieve a peak power efficiency of 96%. Almost all axial flux motors use the high-energy Neodymium-Iron-Boron magnets.

A more unique configuration of an axial flux PMSM is the NovaTorque (Sunnyvale, CA) PMSM. This axial flux PMSM has an axial length longer than its radial diameter. The NovaTorque rotor has a pair of conical hub assemblies consisting of ferrite magnets embedded in soft magnetic material in an IPM configuration. This configuration allows the low-cost ferrite magnets to achieve motor performance that matches or exceeds rare earth (Neodymium) magnets.

The rotor hub assemblies are positioned at each end of the rotor, and the motor flux flows straight (parallel to the shaft) through the axially oriented field poles of the stator. The conical-shaped rotor hub surfaces create a larger air gap area and resultant improved torque. NovaTorque’s first product, a 3 hp PMSM axial flux motor under the brand name Premium Plus+, develops 159 lb-in (18 Nm) @ 1800 rpm. NovaTorque’s industry focus is the fans, pumps, and compressors used in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning refrigeration (HVACR) products.

Transverse flux motors

The transverse flux motor possesses a complex magnetic circuit. While both radial flux and axial flux motors can be simulated with two-dimensional FEA and more direct mathematic models, the transverse flux motor requires three-dimensional FEA models due to its three-dimensional (3D) magnetic circuits. A ring-shaped stator winding is surrounded by a number of U-shaped magnetic elements. While the transverse flux motor was invented in 1896 by W.M. Morday, the applications that need its enhanced performance capability are emerging slowly due to its complicated structure and extra cost. The development of Neodymium magnets and soft magnetic composite materials has allowed Landert Motoren of Biilach, Switzerland, to develop a family of smaller transverse flux motors, the MDD1 series, with rated torque ranging from 3.3 Nm to 10 Nm @ 300 rpm (100 watts to 300 watts). Applications include rotary tables and other industrial machines.

South Korea’s Electric Research Institute (KERI) has been building various transverse flux motors for more than 10 years. Its mechatronics group has developed rotary and linear versions. Material transport systems were developed up to 1120 lbs-force (5000 N). The transverse flux motor can achieve a very high torque and power density along with a higher manufacturing cost. Its use is currently limited to special applications.

Hybrid cylindrical motors

The radial flux cylindrical motors are also developing new motor technologies by integrating permanent magnet (PM) with variable reluctance and PM with ac induction motors.

QM Power is the best example of a combination of motor technologies. The new QM Power Parallel Path Magnetic Technology (PPMT) combines VR and PM technology. There are two flux patterns developed and sharing the same motor magnetic elements, one from the two PMs and the other from the VR rotor-stator winding configuration. QM Power reports that magnetic force can typically be tripled resulting in a 30% increase in power density and a similar boost in peak efficiency. It is a scalable from 100 watts to hundreds of kilowatts.

The PPMT is aimed at both constant speed and variable speed applications including traction drives. PPMT retains higher power efficiency in higher load conditions. It can achieve excellent performance with ferrite magnets.

Another example of hybrid motor technology is the line start ac induction motor that combines a squirrel cage rotor with a PM magnet cage (usually ferrite type) to significantly improve the ac motor’s power efficiency. Lafert Corp. of Venice, Italy, has a family of industrial and commercial line start ac motors ranging from 1 kw to 15 kw with peak efficiency ratings boosted by 5% to 8%.

Simulation tools

Many of these “new” motor technologies awaited the development of new drive and control electronics, new magnets, and new insulation materials. New simulation tools aid the design of these new motor technologies.

The need for higher torque density, power density, and energy-efficiency motors and generators matches the need for new hybrid and electric vehicle drive motors, new more efficient generators, and smaller and more efficient smart HVACR products. Product cost versus motor and generator performance must be carefully matched to applications needs.

For more info, see:

www.keri.re.kr/keri/english/main/main.php

www.kldenergy.com

www.lafert.com

www.landert.com

www.novatorque.com

www.oxfordyasamotors.com

www.qmpower.com

Also read:

Cover story: Energy-Efficient Electric Motors

Rise of the PM Machines - Permanent magnet brushless synchronous motors have moved beyond traditional applications with higher efficiency than induction machines.

Browse the Control Engineering Motors and Drives channel.
related sites : http://www.controleng.com