Torque motor is one key component that directly influences the dynamic performance of jet pipe servo valve in aircraft. In this paper, a novel torque motor with hybrid-magnetization pole arrays is proposed. By changing the magnetization patterns of permanent magnets, the torque motor can significantly improve the output torque by range of 47% - 52% compared with traditional designs, while maintaining the system size and mass. The design concept and operating principle of the torque motor is presented. The magnetic field distribution is formulated analytically with equivalent magnetic circuit. Different from conventional study, the flux leakage of the permanent magnets and coils is included to improve the model precision. Subsequently, the output torque is derived mathematically from the air gap flux. Following that, the numerical calculation is conducted to validate the mathematical models of magnetic field and torque output. The design optimization is then carried out. One research prototype that can be mounted with either conventional magnet or the proposed hybrid array has been developed. The test rigs are constructed and experiments are conducted on the prototype. Both numerical computation and experimental results verify the significant improvement of torque generation of the proposed hybrid magnetization torque motor.

Hydraulic torque motors are one key component in electro-hydraulic servo valves that convert the electrical signal into mechanical motions. The systematic characteristics analysis of the hydraulic torque motor has not been found in the previous research, including the distribution of the electromagnetic field and torque output, and particularly the relationship between them. In addition, conventional studies of hydraulic torque motors generally assume an evenly distributed magnetic flux field and ignore the influence of special mechanical geometry in the air gaps, which may compromise the accuracy of analyzing the result and the high-precision motion control performance. Therefore, the objective of this study is to conduct a detailed analysis of the distribution of the magnetic field and torque output; the influence of limiting holes in the air gaps is considered to improve the accuracy of both numerical computation and analytical modeling. The structure and working principle of the torque motor are presented first. The magnetic field distribution in the air gaps and the magnetic saturation in the iron blocks are analyzed by using a numerical approach. Subsequently, the torque generation with respect to the current input and assembly errors is analyzed in detail. This shows that the influence of limiting holes on the magnetic field is consistent with that on torque generation. Following this, a novel modified equivalent magnetic circuit is proposed to formulate the torque output of the hydraulic torque motor analytically. The comparison among the modified equivalent magnetic circuit, the conventional modeling approach and the numerical computation is conducted, and it is found that the proposed method helps to improve the modeling accuracy by taking into account the effect of special geometry inside the air gaps.

The paper reports on the development of a spherical induction actuator with multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs). Based on the previous research, the paper presents the concept design of the multi-DOF spherical induction motor which is applied for the attitude control of microsatellites. The structure and working principle are illustrated in detail, including the designs of the stator and rotor. The rotor can rotate around any axis by the combination of the stators of three DOFs. In order to analyze the three-dimensional distribution of electromagnetic field, a three-dimensional model is built using finite-element analysis tool. Based on the numerical analysis, the influence of different parameters on output torque is also obtained. Moreover, the analyzed results can provide great benefits for the structure optimization.