Viscously coupled inertial damping of stepping motors

The discrete-stepping performance of stepping motors, used with viscously coupled inertial dampers, is studied analytically and numerically. Linear and nonlinear system models are employed, and different criteria for optimum performance are considered. Consideration of the envelope of the time response and the integral-of-time-absoluteerror index show that a quite clearly defined optimum exists for both relative-velocity proportional and absolute-velocity proportional damping. Very simple equations for damper design are presented. The theoretical findings are supported by experimental results.