Brushless DC (BLDC) motors

Brushless DC (BLDC) motors are referred to as Brushless Permanent Magnet. Permanent Magnet AC motors, Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors, etc. The confusion arises because a brushless DC motor does not directly operate off a DC voltage source. However, the basic principle of operation is similar to a DC motor.

SIMPLIFIED BLDC MOTOR DIAGRAMS

*
* Halls Sensors sense the
position of the coils

* The Decoder Circuit turns

appropriate switches on and off

* The voltage through the

specific coils turns the motor

A Brushless DC Motor has:

A rotor with permanent magnets and a stator with windings A BLDC motor is essentially a DC motor turned inside out Brushes and commutator have been eliminated and the windings are connected to the control electronics Control electronics replace the function of the commutator and energize the proper winding Windings are energized in a pattern which rotates around the stator The energized stator winding leads the rotor magnet, and switches just as the rotor aligns with the stator

Key Characteristics of the BLDC Motor

There are no sparks Potentially cleaner, faster, more efficient, less noisy and more

reliable Heat is generated in the stator: easier to remove and maintain Rotor has permanent magnets vs. coils thus lighter less inertia: easier to start/stop Linear torque/current relationship smooth acceleration or constant torque Higher torque ripple due to lack of information between sectors Low cost to manufacture Simple, low-cost design for fixed-speed applications Clean, fast and efficient Speed proportionate to line frequency (50 or 60 Hz) Complex control for variable speed and torque Require electronic control

How Does it work?

The Brushless DC Motor does not operate directly off a DC voltage source. The brushless DC motor has a rotor with permanent magnets, a stator with windings and commutation that is performed electronically. Typically three Hall sensors are used to detect the rotor position and commutation is performed based on Hall sensor inputs.

The motor is driven by rectangular or trapezoidal voltage strokes coupled with the given rotor position.
The voltage strokes must be properly applied between the phases, so that the angle between the stator flux and the rotor flux is kept close to 90 to get the maximum generated torque. The position feedback is comprised using three Hall effect sensors aligned with the back-EMF of the motor. In sensorless control, back-EMF zero crossing is used for commutation.

BLDC motor Drive Technique

Input:
Typically torque, speed, position and/or direction Inputs can be analog voltage, potentiometer, switches or digital communications

Feedback:
Hall effect sensors, optical encoder or back-EMF voltage

BLDC Motor Control:

Basic I/O for firmware bit-bang for 6-step #3 phase PWMs for hardware PWM Comparators for speed sensing in sensorless control, over-current detection Capture/Compare/PWM or input captures for speed sensing

Challenges of BLDC motor drive

Starting methods Following the commutation sequence Sensing the back-EMF(During sensorless application) Back-EMF sensing techniques
The things we should have

Fast switching semiconductor devices Very fast microprocessors Very organized algorithm
Free codes and algorithms are available in ti.com and microchip.com

Contents

DC Motor (Brushed DC motor) Brushless DC-Motor(BLDC)

Stepper Motor
AC Induction Motor (ACIM)

Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM)

Switched Reluctance (SR) Motor

Stepper Motor / Electro magnet

Rotor Stator Outside Casing

Coils

Stator
Rotor
1

N
2 2

S
1

Internal components of a Stepper Motor

Cross Section of a Stepper Motor

Stators

S N
2 2

S N
1

Rotor

Full Step Operation

Four Steps per revolution i.e. 90 deg. steps.

Half Step Operation

Eight steps per. revolution i.e. 45 deg. steps.

Winding number 1
1

N
6 pole rotor
2

N S

N
2

One step

S N S

Winding number 2
a b

Six pole rotor, two electro magnets.

How many steps are required for one complete revolution?

Practical Stepper motor operation

The top electromagnet (1) is turned on, attracting the nearest teeth of a gearshaped iron rotor. With the teeth aligned to electromagnet 1, they will be slightly offset from electromagnet 2

The top electromagnet (1) is turned off, and the right electromagnet (2) is energized, pulling the nearest teeth slightly to the right. This results in a rotation of 3.6 in this example.

The bottom electromagnet (3) is energized; another 3.6 rotation occurs.

The left electromagnet (4) is enabled, rotating again by 3.6. When the top electromagnet (1) is again enabled, the teeth in the sprocket will have rotated by one tooth position; since there are 25 teeth, it will take 100 steps to make a full rotation in this example.

Stepper motor applications

Stepping Motor to move read-write head

Stepper motor applications

Paper feeder on printers

Stepper motors

CNC lathes

Stator coils

Rotor

CNC Stepping Motor

Advantages / Disadvantages
Advantages:-

Low cost for control achieved

Ruggedness Simplicity of construction Can operate in an open loop control system Low maintenance Less likely to stall or slip Will work in any environment Disadvantages:Require a dedicated control circuit

Use more current than D.C. motors

High torque output achieved at low speeds

Control sequence to turn a stepper motor

+

Step 1
CW Step 2

0
1

0
0

1
1

1
0

CCW

Step 3
Step 4

1
0

1
1

0
0

0
1

stepper motor drive

The rotor of a permanent magnet stepper motor consists of permanent magnets and the stator which has two pairs of windings. Just as the rotor aligns with one of the stator poles, the second phase is energized. The two phases alternate on and off and also reverse polarity.

There are four steps:

One phase lags the other phase by one step. This is equivalent to one-forth of an electrical cycle or 90 Poles are formed using a single magnet mounted in-line with the rotor axis and two pole pieces with many teeth The teeth are staggered to produce many poles The stator poles of a real stepper motor also have many teeth. The teeth are arranged so that the two phases are still 90 out of phase

Key Characteristics of the Stepper Motor

Easy to position moves in steps based on pulses supplied to the stator windings Direction of rotation is changed by reversing the pulse sequence Speed is controlled by the frequency of pulses or pulse rate

Stepper Control
Input:
Inputs are typically pulses digital communications speed

Feedback:
Limits switches for homing and safety

Control:
Basic I/O for full-step and half-step control Comparators for over-current detection Capture/Compare/PWM for micro stepping (or half stepping)

Driver:
Multiple Switches (MOSFETS)

ULN2075B

Micro Stepping Details

Each stepper motor will have a defined step angle associated with it.

Increases step resolution

Divides a full step into sub-steps

Smoother transitions between Limits noise Reduces antisteps resonance problems Maximum torque Low step rates High step rates

Applications
Idle speed adjust Exhaust gas re-circulation Duct airflow vanes Mirror control Telescopes Antennas

Contents

DC Motor (Brushed DC motor) Brushless DC-Motor(BLDC) Stepper Motor

AC Induction Motor (ACIM)

AC Induction Motor (ACIM)

The ACIM is comprised of a simple cage-like rotor and a stator containing three windings The changing field produced by the AC line current in the stator induces a current in the rotor which interacts with the field and causes the rotor to rotate The rotor does not have any moving contacts, which eliminates sparking

Key Characteristics of the AC Induction Motor

Low cost to manufacture and maintain Simple, low-cost design for fixed-speed applications Lower efficiency than other motor types Speed proportionate to line frequency (50 or 60 Hz) Complex control for variable speed and torque

Input:
Speed, frequency, torque, position, direction

Feedback:
Quadrature encoder, phase current

Control:
Smooth control at low speeds Efficient control at high speeds Complex control for variable speed and torque Must know rotor position (velocity) for slip and vector control Rotor position sensor is eliminated for sensorless vector control strategies Sensorless control does not work at low motor speeds

Driver:
H-bridge for single phase 3-phase inverter for 3-phase motors

Induction motor drive techniques

1. Vector control
Vector control, also called field-oriented control (FOC), is a variable frequency drive (VFD) control method which controls three-phase AC electric motor output by means of three controllable VFD inverter output variables: I. Voltage magnitude II. Voltage angle III. Freque control method which controls three-phase AC electric motor output by means.

2. V/Hz control
This type of controller is easy to apply in microcontroller based control systems. And is useful in drive systems where torque is required to be constant.

Refer the attached slide.

END OF: INTRODUCTION TO POWER ELECTRONICS

AND ELECTRIC DRIVE

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