Hans Behn-Eschenburg (10 January 1864 – 18 May 1938) was born in Obertrass (now Zurich), Switzerland. His work on the AC single-phase motor was important to the electrification of railways. He studied mathematics and physics in Zurich and Berlin between 1886 and 1890. In 1892, Behn-Eschenburg worked at

Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon was a Swiss engineering company based in the Zürich district of Oerlikon known for the early development of electric locomotives. It was founded in 1876 by the industrialist Peter Emil Huber-Werdmüller, and occupied ...

, where he became chief electrician (1897-1911), director (1911–1913), director General Technical (1913-1928) and Administrative Counselor (1919-1938). Oerlikon was prominent in the construction of single-phase motors with commutators for traction. He died on 18 May 1938 in Küsnacht. His work focussed on

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in which ...

technology, including the

asynchronous motor An induction motor or asynchronous motor is an AC electric motor in which the electric current in the rotor needed to produce torque is obtained by electromagnetic induction from the magnetic field of the stator winding. An induction motor c ...

and the AC single-phase motor. which marked a major turning point in the electrification of railways. Behn-Eschenburg gave his name to a vector diagram for synchronous reactance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behn-Eschenburg, Hans 1864 births 1938 deaths Swiss electrical engineers People from Zürich