Brushless DC Motor (BLDC) – Construction,
Working & Applications
Construction, Working & Applications of BLDC (Brushless DC
Motor)
Brushless DC motors (BLDC) have been a much focused area for numerous motor
manufacturers as these motors are increasingly the preferred choice in many
applications, especially in the field of motor control technology. BLDC motors are
superior to brushed DC motors in many ways, such as ability to operate at high
speeds, high efficiency, and better heat dissipation.
They are an indispensable part of modern drive technology, most commonly employed
for actuating drives, machine tools, electric propulsion, robotics, computer peripherals
and also for electrical power generation. With the development of sensorless
technology besides digital control, these motors become so effective in terms of total
system cost, size and reliability
What is a Brushless DC motor (BLDC)?
A brushless DC motor (known as BLDC) is a permanent magnet synchronous electric
motor which is driven by direct current (DC) electricity and it accomplishes
electronically controlled commutation system (commutation is the process of
producing rotational torque in the motor by changing phase currents through it at
appropriate times) instead of a mechanically commutation system. BLDC motors are
also referred as trapezoidal permanent magnet motors.
Unlike conventional brushed type DC motor, wherein the brushes make the
mechanical contact with commutator on the rotor so as to form an electric path
between a DC electric source and rotor armature windings, BLDC motor employs
electrical commutation with permanent magnet rotor and a stator with a sequence of
coils. In this motor, permanent magnet (or field poles) rotates and current carrying
conductors are fixed.
ROTOR DAİMİ
MIKNATISLARI
ROTOR DAİMİ
MIKNATISLARI
ROTOR DAİMİ
MIKNATISLARI ROTOR DAİMİ
MIKNATISLARI
Stator sargiları
Ayrı ayrı zamanlarda DC gerilim kaynağından
Anahtarlanarak enerji Verilir. Enerji edilme anları rotor pozisyonuna
Bağlıdır. Hall sensörler Rotor pozisyonunu belierler ve üretilen sinyal
Stsor stator sargılarını kontrol eden elektronik devreye iletilir oda
enerjilenmesi gereken sargısının anahtarını açarak o sargıya enerji verir (DC
gerilim katnağından)
The armature coils are switched electronically by transistors or silicon controlled
rectifiers at the correct rotor position in such a way that armature field is in space
quadrature with the rotor field poles. Hence the force acting on the rotor causes it to
rotate. Hall sensors or rotary encoders are most commonly used to sense the position
of the rotor and are positioned around the stator. The rotor position feedback from the
sensor helps to determine when to switch the armature current.
This electronic commutation arrangement eliminates the commutator arrangement
and brushes in a DC motor and hence more reliable and less noisy operation is
achieved. Due to the absence of brushes BLDC motors are capable to run at high
speeds. The efficiency of BLDC motors is typically 85 to 90 percent, whereas as
brushed type DC motors are 75 to 80 percent efficient. There are wide varieties of
BLDC motors Construction of BLDC Motor
BLDC motors can be constructed in different physical configurations. Depending on
the stator windings, these can be configured as single-phase, two-phase, or three-
phase motors. However, three-phase BLDC motors with permanent magnet rotor are
most commonly used.
Stator of a BLDC motor made up of stacked steel laminations to carry the windings.
These windings are placed in slots which are axially cut along the inner periphery of
the stator. These windings can be arranged in either star or delta. However, most
BLDC motors have three phase star connected stator.
Each winding is constructed with numerous interconnected coils, where one or more
coils are placed in each slot. In order to form an even number of poles, each of these
windings is distributed over the stator periphery.
STATOR
The stator must be chosen with the correct rating of the voltage depending on the power
supply capability. For robotics, automotive and small actuating applications, 48 V or less
voltage BLDC motors are preferred. For industrial applications and automation systems, 100
V or higher rating motors are used.
Rotor
BLDC motor incorporates a permanent magnet in the rotor. The number of poles in
the rotor can vary from 2 to 8 pole pairs with alternate south and north poles depending
on the application requirement. In order to achieve maximum torque in the motor, the
flux density of the material should be high. A proper magnetic material for the rotor is
needed to produce required magnetic field density.
Hall Sensors
Hall sensor provides the information to synchronize stator armature excitation with
rotor position. Since the commutation of BLDC motor is controlled electronically, the
stator windings should be energized in sequence in order to rotate the motor. Before
energizing a particular stator winding, acknowledgment of rotor position is necessary.
So the Hall Effect sensor embedded in stator senses the rotor position.
Most BLDC motors incorporate three Hall sensors which are embedded into the stator.
Each sensor generates Low and High signals whenever the rotor poles pass near to
it. The exact commutation sequence to the stator winding can be determined based
on the combination of these three sensor’s response.
Working Principle and Operation of BLDC Motor
BLDC motor works on the principle similar to that of a conventional DC motor, i.e., the
Lorentz force law which states that whenever a current carrying conductor placed in a
magnetic field it experiences a force. As a consequence of reaction force, the magnet
will experience an equal and opposite force. In case BLDC motor, the current carrying
conductor is stationary while the permanent magnet moves.
When the stator coils are electrically switched by a supply source, it becomes
electromagnet and starts producing the uniform field in the air gap. Though the source
of supply is DC, switching makes to generate an AC voltage waveform with trapezoidal
shape. Due to the force of interaction between electromagnet stator and permanent
magnet rotor, the rotor continues to rotate.
Consider the figure below in which motor stator is excited based on different switching
states. With the switching of windings as High and Low signals, corresponding winding
energized as North and South poles. The permanent magnet rotor with North and
South poles align with stator poles causing motor to rotate.
Observe that motor produces torque because of the development of attraction forces
(when North-South or South-North alignment) and repulsion forces (when North-North
or South-South alignment). By this way motor moves in a clockwise direction.
Here, one might get a question that how we know which stator coil should be energized
and when to do. This is because; the motor continuous rotation depends on the
switching sequence around the coils. As discussed above that Hall sensors give shaft
position feedback to the electronic controller unit.
Based on this signal from sensor, the controller decides particular coils to energize.
Hall-effect sensors generate Low and High level signals whenever rotor poles pass
near to it. These signals determine the position of the shaft.
• You may also read: Terms and Definitions related to Motor Control and Protection
Brushless DC Motor Drive
As described above that the electronic controller circuit energizes appropriate motor
winding by turning transistor or other solid state switches to rotate the motor
continuously. The figure below shows the simple BLDC motor drive circuit which
consists of MOSFET bridge (also called as inverter bridge), electronic controller, hall
effect sensor and BLDC motor.
Here, Hall-effect sensors are used for position and speed feedback. The electronic
controller can be a microcontroller unit or microprocessor or DSP processor or FPGA
unit or any other controller. This controller receives these signals, processes them and
sends the control signals to the MOSFET driver circuit.
Stator sargılarının her birine uygulanacak gerilim (enerjilendirme) hall effect
sensörünün bildirdği rortor posisyonuna göre olur. pozisyondan sonraki pozisyona
gidilecek pozisyona göre enenrjilendirme yapılır.
In addition to the switching for a rated speed of the motor, additional electronic circuitry
changes the motor speed based on required application. These speed control units
are generally implemented with PID controllers to have precise control. It is also
possible to produce four-quadrant operation from the motor whilst maintaining good
efficiency throughout the speed variations using modern drives.
Related Electrical Drives Articles
• DC Drives – Construction, Working & Classification of Electrical DC Drives
• Electrical Drives & – Classification of AC Drives & VFD
Advantages of BLDC Motor
BLDC motor has several advantages over conventional DC motors and some of these
are
• It has no mechanical commutator and associated problems
• High efficiency due to the use of permanent magnet rotor
• High speed of operation even in loaded and unloaded conditions due to the
absence of brushes that limits the speed
• Smaller motor geometry and lighter in weight than both brushed type DC and
induction AC motors
• Long life as no inspection and maintenance is required for commutator system
• Higher dynamic response due to low inertia and carrying windings in the stator
• Less electromagnetic interference
• Quite operation (or low noise) due to absence of brushes
Disadvantages of Brushless Motor
• These motors are costly
• Electronic controller required control this motor is expensive
• Not much availability of many integrated electronic control solutions, especially for tiny
BLDC motors
• Requires complex drive circuitry
• Need of additional sensors
You may also read: Three Phase Motor Connection Star/Delta (Y-Δ) Reverse /
Forward with Timer Power & Control Diagram
Applications of Brushless DC Motors (BLDC)
Brushless DC Motors (BLDC) are used for a wide variety of application
requirements such as varying loads, constant loads and positioning applications in the
fields of industrial control, automotive, aviation, automation systems, health care
equipments, etc. Some specific applications of BLDC motors are
• Computer hard drives and DVD/CD players
• Electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and electric bicycles
• Industrial robots, CNC machine tools, and simple belt driven systems
• Washing machines, compressors and dryers
• Fans, pumps and blowers
