The homopolar motor or generator is an old idea, based on the Faraday disc (1) machine as shown in Figure 1. In this machine electric current passes in at the center of the disc, flows radially outward to the edge of the disc and is picked up by a current collector. If a magnet is placed in such a way as to create a field perpendicular to the disc, a force, given by the equation is created which tends to rotate the disc, making an elementary motor. Of course, if the magnetic field is present, forcing the disc to rotate will produce the electric current and we have a generator. It is possible to achieve this basic effect in other geometries, see Figure 2, or in combinations of geometries with multiple rotating elements. However, associated with each rotating element is a pair of current collectors to transfer current to and from the stationary circuit.
(1)
© 1978 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1978
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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