What is the limiting factor for the maximum speed of stepper motors?

[liquidFuzz]

I was discussing stepper motors with a friend. We touched upon different aspects. I showed how the coils in the motor have a limit to how fast they can be fully saturated with current, and how this time can be calculated by the aid of Kirchhoff's and Lentz's law. The theoretical speed calculated is significantly higher than the speed listed in data sheets for standard stepper motors.

Is there anyone here that know what is limiting the speed for stepper motors?

 

[Baluncore]

Is there anyone here that know what is limiting the speed for stepper motors?

It depends on how much power you require.
The peak magnetic field is only needed for full torque.
It is probable that the stepper will miss steps when accelerating or decelerating at speeds higher than the rated maximum step rate.

 

[liquidFuzz]

According to my estimate, or approximation might be a better way of describing it, the current saturation time in the coils is:##t = - \frac{L} {R} \ln \left( \frac{U-iR}{U} \right) ##As seen in the model I only consider the electrical behavior of the circuit, i.e a coil L and a resistor R in series. The reactance of the coil might affect the efficiency but probably not account for the difference between this kind of model and the specs in data sheets.