Homegrown Wizards/Calculators

[Kingfish]

Greetings –

In the process of Doing the Math as part of a journey towards crafting me own mobility, the progress became impeded by the void of simple tools to aid in seemingly simple calculations. Therefore I am resolved to fill that space as time allows with (hopefully) useful wizards and calculators. The first offering is called:

The Archimedes-Winding Calculator

Description:
Given a length and diameter of wire, this application will plot out an Archimedes Spiral and return the number of Turns and the resulting OD. Two additional parameters are optional: ID and AirGap between the windings. These can be remitted in mm, meters, inches, and feet.

Support:
This Silverlight application executes from a webpage, or it can be installed onto your desktop; it lives in the "sandbox" and is quite benign. Please PM me if it misbehaves and I shall work up an FAQ

Example of Use:
If you know the flux density of the potential motor then it’s possible to calculated the length and size of the conductor required to achieve a particular output. If you know the inside perimeter of your potential winding you can math-out a simple circle by the following equation:

Perimeter = Circumference (C) = 2 r π -> C/ π = 2r = ID (theoretical)

Now armed with Length, Diameter, and ID it is possible to quickly determine the number of Turns and the resulting OD in one step, rather than with running a series of calculations.

Target Audience:
The application is perfect for Coreless Motor designers and students of general electromotive understanding. The calculator would not meet the expectations for Iron Core stators as they require more complex modeling.

Why Built It?
Because the other calculators that I found gave me Length after I estimated the ID and OD of the winding, or I had to provide ID and number of Turns, or with ID and OD, the Turns could be calculated based on the wire cross-section. In short – I found the approach of the resolution to be a little hokey and inaccurate.

What’s Next?
I am keen to get 3-Dimensional with the winding calculations in the next version and include other factors to better gauge heat and current effects. Other wizards and calculators are possible. I will announce releases here on this thread.

Enjoy, KF