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Brushless DC Motors
Brushless DC Motors
powered by direct-current (DC) electricity and having electronic commutation systems, rather than mechanical commutators and brushes. The current-to-torque and frequency-to-speed relationships of BLDC motors are linear. BLDC motors may be described as stepper motors, with fixed permanent magnets and possibly more poles on the rotor than the stator, or reluctance motors. The latter may be without permanent magnets, just poles that are induced on the rotor then pulled into alignment by timed stator windings. However, the term stepper motor tends to be used for motors that are designed specifically to be operated in a mode where they are frequently stopped with the rotor in a defined angular position; this page describes more general BLDC motor principles, though there is overlap.
Brushless DC Electric Motor Torque-Speed Characteristics A BLDC motor has permanent magnets which rotate and a fixed armature, eliminating the problems of 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.
The interface circuitry between a digital controller and motor. The waveforms show multiple transitions between high and low voltage levels, approximations to a trapezoid or sinusoid which reduce harmonic losses. The circuit compensates for the induction of the windings, regulates power and monitors temperature. BLDC motors offer several advantages over brushed DC motors, including more torque per weight, 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 of electromagnetic interference (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. The maximum power that can be applied to a BLDC motor is exceptionally high, limited almost exclusively by heat, which can weaken the magnets. (Magnets demagnetize at high temperatures, the Curie point, and for neodymium-iron-boron magnets this temperature is lower than for other types.) A BLDC motor's main disadvantage is higher cost, which arises from two issues. First, BLDC motors require complex electronic speed controllers to run. Brushed DC motors can be regulated by a comparatively simple controller, such as a rheostat (variable resistor). However, this reduces efficiency because power is wasted in the rheostat. Second, some practical uses have not been well developed in the commercial sector. For example, in the Radio Control (RC) hobby arena, brushless motors are often hand-wound while brushed motors are usually machinewound. (Nevertheless, see "Applications", below.) BLDC motors are often more efficient at converting electricity into mechanical power than brushed DC motors. This improvement is largely due to the absence of electrical and friction losses due to brushes. The enhanced efficiency is greatest in the no-load and low-load region of
the motor's performance curve. Under high mechanical loads, BLDC motors and high-quality brushed motors are comparable in efficiency. AC induction motors require induction of magnetic field in the rotor by the rotating field of the stator; this results in the magnetic and electric fields being out of phase. The phase difference requires greater current and current losses to achieve power. BLDC motors are microprocessorcontrolled to keep the stator current in phase with the permanent magnets of the rotor, requiring less current for the same effect and therefore resulting in greater efficiency. In general, manufacturers use brush-type DC motors when low system cost is a priority but brushless motors to fulfill requirements such as maintenance-free operation, high speeds, and operation in explosive environments where sparking could be hazardous.
The four poles on the stator of a two-phase BLDC motor. This is part of a computer cooling fan; the rotor has been removed.
Schematic for delta and wye winding styles. (This image does not illustrate the motor's inductive and generator-like properties) BLDC 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 type, used where there are space or shape limitations, uses stator and rotor plates, mounted face to face. Outrunners typically have more poles, set up in triplets to maintain the three groups of windings, and have a higher torque at low RPMs. In all BLDC motors, the coils are stationary. There are also two electrical configurations having to do with how the wires from the windings are connected to each other (not their physical shape or location). The delta configuration connects the 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 rpm, but can give higher top rpm. Wye configuration gives high torque at low rpm, but not as high top rpm.[5] 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 undriven 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, although some less expensive controllers are designed to read voltage from the common center of the wye winding.
Spindle motor from a 3.5" floppy disk drive. The coils are copper wire coated with green film insulation. The rotor (upper right) has been removed and turned upside-down. The gray ring just inside its cup is a multi-pole permanent magnet. See Also:Programmable Magnets
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Direct current (DC) motor: DC applied to both the stator and the rotor (via brushes and commutator), or else a permanent magnet stator. A BLDC motor has switched DC fed to the stator, and a permanent magnet rotor. Synchronous (or stepping) motor (AC): AC in one, DC in the other (i.e., rotor or stator). If it has a permanent-magnet rotor, it is much like a BLDC motor. Induction motor (AC): AC in both stator and rotor (mentioned for completeness).
Although BLDC motors are practically identical to permanent magnet AC motors, the controller implementation is what makes them DC. While AC motors feed sinusoidal current simultaneously to each of the legs (with an equal phase distribution), DC controllers only approximate this by feeding full positive and negative voltage to two of the legs at a time. The major advantage of this is that both the logic controllers and battery power sources also operate on DC, such as in computers and electric cars. In addition, the approximated sine wave leaves one leg undriven at all times, allowing for back-EMF-based sensorless feedback. Vector drives are DC controllers that take the extra step of converting back to AC for the motor; they are sophisticated inverters. The DC-to-AC conversion circuitry is usually expensive and less
efficient, but these have the advantage of being able to run smoothly at very low speeds or completely stop (and provide torque) in a position not directly aligned with a pole. Motors used with a vector drive are typically called AC motors. When running at low speeds and under load, they don't cool themselves significantly; temperature rise has to be allowed for. A motor can be optimized for AC (i.e. vector control) or it can be optimized for DC (i.e. block commutation). A motor which is optimized for block commutation will typically generate trapezoidal EMF. One can easily observe the shape of the EMF by connecting the motor wires (at least two of them) to an oscilloscope and then hand-cranking/spinning the shaft. Another very important issue, at least for some applications like automotive vehicles, is the constant power speed ratio of a motor (CPSR). The CPSR has direct impact on needed size of the inverter. Example: A motor with a high CPSR in a vehicle can deliver the desired power (e.g. 40 kW) from 3,000 rpm to 12,000 rpm, while using a 100 A inverter. A motor with low CPSR would need a 400 A inverter in order to do the same. Stepping motors can also operate as AC synchronous motors (for instance, the Slo-Syn by Superior Electric), or the unusual battery-powered quartz-timed micropower clock that has a continuous-motion sweep second hand.
[edit] KM rating
"KM" is the motor constant, it can be measured in Nm torque per square root of W resistive loss. KM is sometimes called the "motor size constant". The motor constant is winding independent; e.g. winding a motor with 6 turns with 2 parallel wires in stead of 12 turns single wire will double the Kv velocity constant, but the KM remains unchanged. KM can be used for selecting the size of a motor to use in an application. Kv can be used for selecting the winding to use in the motor.
[edit] Kv rating
"Kv" is the motor velocity constant, measured in RPM per Volt (not to be confused with "kV," the abbreviation for "kilovolt")[6] . The Kv rating of a brushless motor is the ratio of the motor's unloaded RPM to the peak (not RMS) voltage on the wires connected to the coils (the "backEMF"). For example, a 5,700 Kv motor, supplied with 11.1 V, will run at a nominal 63,270 rpm (=5700 * 11.1). By Lenz's law, a running motor will create a back-EMF proportional to the RPM. Once a motor is spinning so fast that the back-EMF is equal to the battery voltage (also called DC line voltage), then the motor has reached its "base speed". It is impossible for the ESCs to "speed up" that motor, even with no load, beyond the base speed without resorting to "field weakening". For some applications (e.g. automotive traction and high speed spindle motors) it is normal to exceed the base speed with a factor of 200 to 600%.
[edit] Applications
[edit] Consumer electronics
BLDC motors fulfill many functions originally performed by brushed DC motors, but cost and control complexity prevents BLDC motors from replacing brushed motors completely in lowest cost areas. Nevertheless, BLDC 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 BLDC 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 BLDC motors are used in direct-drive turntables for "analog" audio discs.