Customer Reviews

Electric Motor Handbook

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book was a huge disappointment. There is not a useful word in it for the electric motor end-user or designer needing an off-the-shelf electric motor.

If you're looking for information on electric motors, like: lubrication, bearings, seals, cooling, standard mount styles and sizes, common motor abbreviations (TEFC, TEAO, etc.), how to size and choose a motor, energy efficiency, preventative maintenance techniques, or anything that might be even remotely practical, DO NOT waste your time on this book.

McGraw-Hill Publishing would be wise to commission a new book called "Electic Motor Practical Handbook" covering the above mentioned topics. While I own many of McGraw's (usually excellent) "Handbook" series of titles, this is the first that I would rate a utter flop.

I am a degreed electrical engineer with 7 years of experience in the electric motor industry. Even I couldn't understand this book. Extensive portions of the book state equations using calculus. There is little explaination of the equations. The book appears to be a collection of advanced technical papers previously written for IEEE academic symposiums. Unless you are very comfortable with calculus and already know how to design electric motors, this book will be unintelligable. This collection of advanced academic papers demonstrates the authors command of the discipline and got him published. It was not written to educate the reader. A collection of academic papers does not constitute a handbook. I have a more than mild suspicion the five star review by an earlier "reader" may be a ringer.

This is probably a great book for the right audience. It seems to be targeted to the design engineer that specs motors for hard-drives, electric cars, etc. It contains a solid mathematical description of the motor characterics which includes the use a calculus. For the product design engineer, this is a great book.

If your a hands on person, a new undergrad looking for intuitive insight, or an old geezer (like me) just trying to remember how motors work and the basics, this probably isn't the book for you if you have even the slightest inclination towards a social life.

This book does a descent job in providing an overview of many different motor types used in industry. However, I do believe the title is somewhat misleading and should be changed. Most readers would assume a "Handbook" would provide more practical information about the subject for direct industry application. In my opinion, this book does not address a "Handbook" type of issue. It does however offer significant detail in electrical design theory of differing motors. Even in theory it falls short. I only wish the authors would have been more considerate of their readers by including all nomenclature definitions. I found what was presented partially helpful since most equations didn't define the variables. I had to guess, assume and use other references to fully understand variables of most of the equations. The book appears to have been compiled too quickly in order to meet a press deadline. This book would become a good reference for designers if a second edition is published correcting (1) the title - then it would be a first edition of another book, and (2) nomenclature definition.

the only glowing review comes from:James R. Hendershot could be a great books for James, but the rest of us.....

James R. Hendershot Jr. is the president of MOTORSOFT which owns Magna Physics Publishing. He has a B.S. & M.S. in Physics. He has 30 years experience in practical hands-on permanent magnet motor design and development. He has designed hundreds of brushless motors for computer disc drives, servo systems and high speed machine tools spindles. He is also a leader in the development of Switched/Variable Reluctance Motors. He has written numerous technical papers, publications and given tutorials on all motor subjects. Co-author with Professor T Miller of leading text book on Permanent Magnet Brushless Motors and Generators. Consulting services range from motor design, patent exploration, and tutorials.

This electric motor handbook by Kirtley & Beaty is an excellent general textbook on all types of electric motors. The main reason for this endorcement is that they have done an excellent job of covering all major types of motors and they have included most of the new design currently being investigated for new motor applications. These include "slotless" brushless, "imbedded" brushless, switched reluctance, linear machines and solid rotor induction. These types are usually not addressed in other similar books and are currently more important than the old traditional motor types. The reason for this is due to the new machine tools and electric traction for cars and buses as well as other new motor applications.

The authors have provided a clear but short technical overview of each motor type so that they can be understood by many people working in the motor application industries.