KV rating
#2
A motor's Kv rating is the so-called "back EMF constant". It can be measured by spinning the motor at a known speed and measuring the peak voltage across any two of the output terminals; since the units of Kv are RPM/V, the math is pretty simple. It can also be calculated by using the physical geometry of the motor (stator "shoe" surface area, magnet thickness, stator/rotor airgap width) as well as the magnet material properties. This will get you in the ballpark (within 15% or so); much closer approximations can be made via the use of generic magnetic FEA modeling software or motor-specific software (SPEED is quite a nice tool for this).
The motor Kv does not change when "boosting" (using phase advance), as the Kv parameter is an property of the motor itself. However, the effects can be approximated by dividing the motor Kv by the cosine of the electrical phase advance angle, although there are several flaws with this approach.
Just as an example, a motor with a Kv of, say 5000 RPM/V might be run with 25 degrees of advance, and thus one might assume that it would have roughly the same performance as a motor with a Kv of 5500 RPM/V. But this neglects the fact that the motor with the higher Kv should also have less winding resistance (approximately .82x that of the 5000 Kv motor), and thus would have a substantial advantage in efficiency.
Hope this helps!
The motor Kv does not change when "boosting" (using phase advance), as the Kv parameter is an property of the motor itself. However, the effects can be approximated by dividing the motor Kv by the cosine of the electrical phase advance angle, although there are several flaws with this approach.
Just as an example, a motor with a Kv of, say 5000 RPM/V might be run with 25 degrees of advance, and thus one might assume that it would have roughly the same performance as a motor with a Kv of 5500 RPM/V. But this neglects the fact that the motor with the higher Kv should also have less winding resistance (approximately .82x that of the 5000 Kv motor), and thus would have a substantial advantage in efficiency.
Hope this helps!
#3
Thread Starter
Tech Regular
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 494
From: royal palm bch,fl.
Thanks,if kv is rpm/volts,my 10-5 is about 3300 kv? when it is boosted my motor doesn't turn more rpm's?same gearing with both yet double the acceleration and top end when boosted.You gave a great explanation but my though cognisant ability has diminished over the years
#4
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 15,743
From: RIP 'Chopper', 4/18/13 miss you bud:(
Kv ratings are done at a set and known timing point, this can and will vary by brand though. When you add timing/boost I would think the Kv would change. I don't know that there is way, on paper, to say "If I add 15deg of timing my kv will go from 3500 to 3xxx."
from a racer stand point, your ending Kv/RPM isn't the main concern when adding timing.
from a racer stand point, your ending Kv/RPM isn't the main concern when adding timing.
#5
When you add timing/boost I would think the Kv would change. I don't know that there is way, on paper, to say "If I add 15deg of timing my kv will go from 3500 to 3xxx."
The effects of adding phase advance ("boost" or "timing") is indeed predictable, but to model its effects properly requires some knowledge of motor and controller behavior that is not easily accessible to a hobbyist.
from a racer stand point, your ending Kv/RPM isn't the main concern when adding timing.
#6
Not sure what brand motor that you are using. Different models of LRP 540-size motors range from 3600 RPM/V (Vector and X12 StockSpec) to 4100 RPM/V (Eraser). The difference here is the rotor; the Vector and X12 use a sintered rotor, which typically provides more flux and thus lowers the Kv.
Make no mistake - while phase advance does not alter the Kv of a motor, it can provide huge performance improvements (usually at the cost of efficiency, but not always). It's a great tuning aid, but it's also not an exact substitution for a higher-Kv motor.
when it is boosted my motor doesn't turn more rpm's?same gearing with both yet double the acceleration and top end when boosted.You gave a great explanation but my though cognisant ability has diminished over the years
#7
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 15,743
From: RIP 'Chopper', 4/18/13 miss you bud:(
I was referring to motor timing when companies measure Kv ratings, nothing to do with esc timing.
You seem to know quite a bit about this, so do you have a layman's version of what's going on when you add timing. Not asking how a boosted esc works, I get that but adding timing increases RPM and normally looses torque. The general public seems to think increased RPM means higher kv.
You seem to know quite a bit about this, so do you have a layman's version of what's going on when you add timing. Not asking how a boosted esc works, I get that but adding timing increases RPM and normally looses torque. The general public seems to think increased RPM means higher kv.
#8
Tech Regular
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 317
That's because the general public typically looks at the motor and the battery and thinks there's a direct feed between the two. I think most people may be thinking of "kv" in the wrong way. As the guy said, it's an (indirect) physical property of the motor. In a hopefully non-blowhardical way, you cannot change kv without physically altering the motor itself.
#9
If Kv is calculated by the maximum unloaded speed when driven by an ESC and a supply of fixed voltage, then timing is but one source of measurement error - the various losses in the motor (hysteresis and eddy-current losses in the stator steel, windage and friction losses from the rotor, ohmic losses in the stator winding, etc.) will cause significant variation in this measurement. I would not be satisfied with this type of measurement.
You seem to know quite a bit about this, so do you have a layman's version of what's going on when you add timing. Not asking how a boosted esc works, I get that but adding timing increases RPM and normally looses torque. The general public seems to think increased RPM means higher kv.
Now, as the motor's back EMF increases with higher shaft speed and approaches the battery voltage, less current can be induced in the winding and thus torque decreases. If the phase of the applied voltage is shifted ahead in time ("advanced"), we can get some more current to flow in the winding before the back EMF rises during each cycle. Since this current is not properly timed with the flux linkage, it is not quite as efficient at producing shaft torque - but the net effect is still an increase in overall mechanical output power. This is what makes the motor act like it has a higher Kv constant. It still has the additional winding resistance of a motor with lower Kv, though, and if you combine this with the additional current that we are putting through the winding, the losses can be quite considerable. This is why adding timing is not the same as switching to a motor with higher Kv.
As a side note, this idea of using phase advance has been used in much larger permanent-magnet motors for a least a few decades, and the rotor designs of such motors are actually designed such that the motor speed can be increased more than 2x with large amounts of phase advance.
#10
Thread Starter
Tech Regular
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 494
From: royal palm bch,fl.
So the rating kv/wind size of the brushless motors is not applicable,and the rpm's do not change when the motor is boosted as the older brushed motors dropped in winds.Thanks for the info,albeit over my head.
#11
No, that is not what I am saying - the speed/torque curve of the motor does indeed change as the timing is changed, similar to how a brushed motor responded (the major difference being that brushed motors had only one timing setpoint, where as brushless motors can have a continuously-varying advance curve).




