Brushless DC electric motor

Brushless vs. Brushed motors

Brushed DC motors were invented in the 19th century and are common. Brushless DC
motors were made possible by the development of solid state electronics in the 1960s.
An electric motor develops torque by alternating the polarity of rotating magnets
attached to the rotor, the turning part of the machine, and stationary magnets on the
stator which surrounds the rotor. One or both sets of magnets are electromagnets, made
of a coil of wire wound around an iron core. DC running through the wire winding
creates the magnetic field, providing the power which runs the motor. However, each
time the rotor rotates by 180° (a half-turn), the position of the north and south poles
on the rotor are reversed. If the magnetic field of the poles remained the same, this
would cause a reversal of the torque on the rotor each halfturn, and so the average
torque would be zero and the rotor would not turn.Therefore, in a DC motor, in order
to create torque in one direction, the direction of electric current through the windings
must be reversed with every 180° turn of the rotor (or turned off during the time that
it is in the wrong direction). This reverses the direction of the magnetic field as the
rotor turns, so the torque on the rotor is always in the same direction.

Commutator
In brushed motors, invented in the 19th century, this is done with a rotary switch on
the motor's shaft called a commutator.1 It consists of a rotating cylinder divided into
multiple metal contact segments on the rotor. The segments are connected to wire
electromagnet windings on the rotor. Two or more stationary contacts called
"brushes", made of a soft conductor like graphite press against the commutator,
making sliding electrical contact with successive segments as the rotor turns, providing
electric current to the windings. Each time the rotor rotates by 180° the commutator
reverses the direction of the electric current applied to a given winding, so the magnetic
field creates a torque in one direction.

Disadvantages of commutator
The commutator has many engineering disadvantages that has led to the decline in use
of brushed motors. These disadvantages are:
The friction of the brushes sliding along the rotating commutator segments causes
power losses that can be significant in a low power moto.r
The soft brush material wears down due to friction, creating dust, and eventually the
brushes must be replaced. This makes commutated motors unsuitable for low
particulate or sealed applications likhard diske motors. The resistance of the sliding
brush contact causes a voltage drop in the motor circuit called brush drop which
consumes energy.
The repeated abrupt switching of the current through the inductance of the windings
causes sparks at the commutator contacts. These are a fire hazard in explosive
atmospheres, and create electronic noise, which can cause electromagnetic
interference in nearby microelectronic circuits.
During the last hundred years high power DC brushed motors, once the mainstay of
industry, were replaced by alternating current (AC) synchronous motors. Today
brushed motors are only used in low power applications or where only DC is available,
but the above drawbacks limit their use even in these applications. Brushless motors
were invented to solve these problems.

Brushless solution
The development of semiconductor electronics in the 1970s allowed the commutator
and brushes to be eliminated in DC motors. In brushless DC motors, an electronic
servo system replaces the mechanical commutator contacts. An electronic sensor
detects the angle of the rotor, and controls semiconductor switches such as transistors
which switch current through the windings, either reversing the direction of the
current, or in some motors turning it off, at the correct time each 180° shaft rotation
so the electromagnets create a torque in one direction. The elimination of the sliding
contact allows brushless motors to have less friction and longer life; their working life
is only limited by the lifetime of their bearings.

Brushed DC motors develop a maximum torque when stationary, linearly decreasing

as velocity increases. Some limitations of brushed motors can be overcome by
brushless motors; they include higher efficiency and a lower susceptibility to
mechanical wear. These benefits come at the cost of potentially less rugged, more
complex, and more expensive control electronics.

A typical brushless motor has permanent magnets which rotate around a fixed
armature, eliminating problems associated with connecting current to the moving
armature. An electronic controller replaces the brush/commutator assembly of the
brushed DC motor, which continually switches the phase to the windings to keep the
motor turning. The controller performs similar timed power distribution by using a
solid-state circuit rather than the brush/commutator system.

Brushless motors offer several advantages over brushed DC motors, including high
torque to weight ratio, more torque per watt (increased efficiency), increased
reliability, reduced noise, longer lifetime (no brush and commutator erosion),
elimination of ionizing sparks from the commutator, and overall reduction
ofelectromagnetic interferenc e (EMI). With no windings on the rotor, they are not
subjected to centrifugal forces, and because the windings are supported by the housing,
they can be cooled by conduction, requiring no airflow inside the motor for cooling.
This in turn means that the motor's internals can be entirely enclosed and protected
from dirt or other foreign matter.

Brushless motor commutation can be implemented in software using a microcontroller

or microprocessor computer, or may alternatively be implemented in analogue
hardware, or in digital firmware using an FPGA. Commutation with electronics
instead of brushes allows for greater flexibility and capabilities not available with
brushed DC motors, including speed limiting, "micro stepped" operation for slow
and/or fine motion control, and a holding torque when stationary. Controller software
can be customized to the specific motor being used in the application, resulting in
greater commutation feifciency.

The maximum power that can be applied to a brushless motor is limited almost
exclusively by heat; too much heat weakens the magnets and will damage the
winding's insulation.

When converting electricity into mechanical power, brushless motors are more
efficient than brushed motors. This improvement is largely due to the frequency at
which the electricity is switched determined by the position sensor feedback.
Additional gains are due to the absence of brushes, which reduces mechanical energy
loss due to friction. The enhanced efficiency is greatest in the no-load and low-load
region of the motor's performance curve. Under high mechanical loads, brushless
motors and high-quality brushed motors are comparable in e iciency.

Environments and requirements in which manufacturers use brushless-type DC motors

include maintenance-free operation, high speeds, and operation where sparking is
hazardous (i.e. explosive environments) or could faefct electronically sensitive
equipment.
The construction of a brushless motor may resemble that of a stepper motor. Unlike a
stepper, a brushless motor is usually intended to produce continuous rotation. Stepper
motors generally do not include a shaft position sensor for internal feedback of the
rotor position. Instead a stepper controller will rely on a sensor to detect the position
of the driven device. They are frequently stopped with the rotor in a defined angular
position while still producing torque. A well designed brushless motor system can also
be held at zero rpm and finite torque.

Controller implementations

Because the controller implements the traditional brushes' functionality it needs the
rotor's orientation/position (relative to the stator coils). This is automatic in a brushed
motor due to the fixed geometry of rotor shaft and brushes. Some designs use Hall
effect sensors or a rotary encoder to directly measure the rotor's position. Others
measure the back-EMF in the undriven coils to infer the rotor position, eliminating the
need for separate Hall effect sensors, and therefore are often called sensorless
controllers.

A typical controller contains 3 bi-directional outputs (i.e., frequency controlled three

phase output), which are controlled by a logic circuit. Simple controllers employ
comparators to determine when the output phase should be advanced, while more
advanced controllers employ a microcontroller to manage acceleration, control speed
and fine-tune efficiency.

Controllers that sense rotor position based on back-EMF have extra challenges in
initiating motion because no back-EMF is produce when the rotor is stationary. This
is usually accomplished by beginning rotation from an arbitrary phase, and then
skipping to the correct phase if it is found to be wrong. This can cause the motor to
run briefly backwards, adding even more complexity to the startup sequence. Other
sensorless controllers are capable of measuring winding saturation caused by the
position of the magnets to infer the rotor position.
Two key performance parameters of brushless DC motors are the motor constants KT
(torque constant) and Ke (back-EMF constant also known as speed constant KV = 1/Ke
).

In SI units KT and KV are the same constant:

Variations in construction
Brushless motors can be constructed in several
different physical configurations: In the 'conventional'
(also known as inrunner) configuration, the permanent
magnets are part of the rotor. Three stator windings
surround the rotor. In the outrunner (or external-rotor)
configuration, the radial-relationship between the coils
and magnets is reversed; the stator coils form the
center (core) of the motor, while the permanent
magnets spin within an overhanging rotor which
surrounds the core. The flat or axial
flux type, used where there are space or shape Schematic for delta and
limitations, uses stator and rotor plates, mounted face wye winding styles. (This
to face. Outrunners typically have more poles, set up image does not illustrate the
in triplets to maintain the three groups of windings, motor's inductive and
and have a higher torque at low RPMs. In all generatorlike properties)
brushless motors, the coils are stationary.
There are two common electrical winding configurations; the delta configuration
connects three windings to each other (series circuits) in a triangle-like circuit, and
power is applied at each of the connections. The Wye (Y-shaped) configuration,
sometimes called a star winding, connects all of the windings to a central point
(parallel circuits) and power is applied to the remaining end of each winding.

A motor with windings in delta configuration gives low torque at low speed, but can
give higher top speed. Wye configuration gives high torque at low speed, but not as
high top speed.

Although efficiency is greatly affected by the motor's construction, the Wye winding
is normally more efficient. In delta-connected windings, half voltage is applied across
the windings adjacent to the driven lead (compared to the winding directly between
the driven leads), increasing resistive losses. In addition, windings can allow high-
frequency parasitic electrical currents to circulate entirely within the motor. A Wye-
connected winding does not contain a closed loop in which parasitic currents can flow,
preventing such losses.

From a controller standpoint, the two styles of windings are treated exactly the same.
Applications

Brushless motors fulfill many functions originally performed by brushed DC motors,

but cost and control complexity prevents brushless motors from replacing brushed
motors completely in the lowest-cost areas. Nevertheless, brushless motors have come
to dominate many applications, particularly devices such as computer hard drives and
CD/DVD players. Small cooling fans in electronic equipment are powered exclusively
by brushless motors. They can be found in cordless power tools where the increased
efficiency of the motor leads to longer periods of use before the battery needs to be
charged. Low speed, low power brushless motors are used in direct-drive turntables
for gramophone records.

Motion control systems

Brushless motors are commonly used as pump, fan and spindle drives in adjustable or
variable speed applications as they are capable of developing high torque with good
speed response. In addition, they can be easily automated for remote control. Due to
their construction, they have good thermal characteristics and high energy efficiency.
To obtain a variable speed response, brushless motors operate in an electromechanical
system that includes an electronimotor controllec r and a rotor position feedback
senso.r

Brushless DC motors are widely used as servomotors for machine tool servo drives.
Servomotors are used for mechanical displacement, positioning or precision motion
control. DC stepper motors can also be used as servomotors; however, since they are
operated with open loop control, they typically exhibit torque pulsations. Brushless
DC motors are more suitable as servomotors since their precise motion is based upon
a closedloop control system that provides tightly controlled and stable operation.

Positioning and actuation systems

Brushless motors are used in industrial positioning and actuation applications. For
assembly robots, brushless stepper or servo motors are used to position a part for
assembly or a tool for a manufacturing process, such as welding or painting. Brushless
motors can also be used to drive linear actuators.

Motors that directly produce linear motion are called linear motors. The advantage of
linear motors is that they can produce linear motion without the need of a transmission
system, such as ballscrews, leadscrew, rack-and-pinion, cam, gears or belts, that would
be necessary for rotary motors. Transmission systems are known to introduce less
responsiveness and reduced accuracy. Direct drive, brushless DC linear motors consist
of a slotted stator with magnetic teeth and a moving actuator, which has permanent
magnets and coil windings. To obtain linear motion, a motor controller excites the coil
windings in the actuator causing an interaction of the magnetic fields resulting in linear
motion. Tubular linear motors are another form of linear motor design operated in a
similar way.

Aeromodelling
Brushless motors have become a popular motor choice
for model aircraft including helicopters and drones. Their
favorable power-to-weight ratios and wide range of
available sizes, from under 5 grams to large motors rated
at well into the kilowatt output range, have revolutionized
the market for electric-powered model flight, displacing
virtually all brushed electric motors, except for low
powered inexpensive A microprocessor-controlled BLDC motor powering a micro
radiocontrolled airplane. This external rotor motor weighs 5 g and consumes
approximately 11 W.

often toy grade aircraft. They have also encouraged a growth of simple, lightweight
electric model aircraft, rather than the previous internal combustion engines
powering larger and heavier models. The increased power-to-weight ratio of modern
batteries and brushless motors allows models to ascend vertically, rather than climb
gradually. The low noise and lack of mass compared to small glow fuel internal
combustion engines is another reason for their popularit.y
Legal restrictions for the use of combustion engine driven model aircraft in some
countries, most often due to potential for noise pollution—even with purpose-designed
mufflers for almost all model engines being available over the most recent decades—
have also supported the shift to high-power electric systems.