A surface-charge induction motor

Abstract

A motor that uses an electric field interaction with surface charges induced on the surface of a lossy dielectric rotor as the force mechanism is described. A theory of force generation and efficiency for a transverse-magnetic wave interaction with a moving conducting medium and a space-harmonic analysis of a practical circuit to carry such a wave are presented. A comparison is made between the results of this analysis and test results on a three-phase 60-Hz motor using a Bakelite or a Plexiglas rotor. Satisfactory agreement between theory and experiment is obtained in most respects. Motor operation was observed in both directions of rotation, as a result of interaction with the first backward space harmonic. Generator operation is also theoretically possible and the theory for a single-harmonic-wave generator is presented. Generator operation was not observed, however, in the device that was tested.