Brushless DC Motors:

Introduction:
Electrical equipment often has at least one motor used to rotate or displace an
object from its initial position. There are a variety of motor types available in the market,
including induction motors, servomotors, DC motors (brushed and brushless), etc.
As the name implies, BLDC motors do not use brushes for commutation; instead,
they are electronically commutated. BLDC motors have many advantages over brushed
DC motors and induction motors. A few of these are:
Better speed versus torque characteristics
 High dynamic response
 High efficiency
 Long operating life
 Noiseless operation
 Higher speed ranges
In addition, the ratio of torque delivered to the size of the motor is higher, making it
useful in applications where space and weight are critical factors.

Construction:
BLDC motors have many similarities to AC induction motors and brushed DC
motors in terms of construction and working principles respectively. Like all other
motors, BLDC motors also have a rotor and a stator.
BLDC motors are a type of synchronous motor. This means the magnetic field
generated by the stator and the magnetic field generated by the rotor rotates at the same
frequency. BLDC motors do not experience the "slip" that is normally seen in induction
motors.
BLDC motors come in single-phase, 2-phase and 3-phase configurations.
Corresponding to its type, the stator has the same number of windings. Out of these, 3-
phase motors are the most popular and widely used. This application note focuses on 3-
phase motors.
Stator:
The stator of a BLDC motor consists of stacked steel laminations with windings
placed in the slots that are axially cut along the inner periphery (as shown in Figure 3).
Traditionally, the stator resembles that of an induction motor; however, the windings are
distributed in a different manner. Most BLDC motors have three stator windings
connected in star fashion. Each of these windings are constructed with numerous coils
interconnected to form a winding. One or more coils are placed in the slots and they are
interconnected to make a winding. Each of these windings are distributed over the stator
periphery to form an even numbers of poles.

There are two types of stator windings variants:

Trapezoidal and sinusoidal motors. This differentiation is made on the basis of the
interconnection of coils in the stator windings to give the different types of back
Electromotive Force (EMF).
As their names indicate, the trapezoidal motor gives a back EMF in trapezoidal fashion
and the sinusoidal motor's back EMF is sinusoidal, as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2.
In addition to the back EMF, the phase current also has trapezoidal and sinusoidal
variations in the respective types of motor. This makes the torque output by a sinusoidal
motor smoother than that of a trapezoidal motor. However, this comes with an extra cost,
as the sinusoidal motors take extra winding interconnections because of the coils
distribution on the stator periphery, thereby increasing the copper intake by the stator
windings.
Depending upon the control power supply capability, the motor with the correct voltage
rating of the stator can be chosen. Forty-eight volts, or less voltage rated motors are used
in automotive, robotics, small arm movements and so on. Motors with 100 volts, or higher
ratings, are used in appliances, automation and in industrial applications.
FIGURE 3: STATOR OF A BLDC MOTOR

Rotor:

The rotor is made of permanent magnet and can vary from two to eight pole pairs
with alternate North (N) and South (S) poles.
Based on the required magnetic field density in the rotor, the proper magnetic
material is chosen to make the rotor. Ferrite magnets are traditionally used to make
permanent magnets. As the technology advances, rare earth alloy magnets are gaining
popularity. The ferrite magnets are less expensive but they have the disad- vantage of low
flux density for a given volume. In con- trast, the alloy material has high magnetic density
per volume and enables the rotor to compress further for the same torque. Also, these
alloy magnets improve the size-to-weight ratio and give higher torque for the same size
motor using ferrite magnets.
Neodymium (Nd), Samarium Cobalt (SmCo) and the alloy of Neodymium,
Ferrite and Boron (NdFeB) are some examples of rare earth alloy magnets. Continuous
research is going on to improve the flux density to compress the rotor further.
 Figure 4 shows cross sections of different arrangements of magnets in a rotor.

Working Principles and Operation

The underlying principles for the working of a BLDC motor are the same as for a
brushed DC motor; i.e., internal shaft position feedback. In case of a brushed DC motor,
feedback is implemented using a mechanical commutator and brushes. With a BLDC
motor, it is achieved using multiple feedback sensors.  The most commonly used sensors
are hall sensors and optical encoders.
Hall Sensors
Unlike a brushed DC motor, the commutation of a BLDC motor is controlled
electronically. To rotate the BLDC motor, the stator windings should be energized in a
sequence. It is important to know the rotor position in order to understand which winding
will be energized following the energizing sequence. Rotor position is sensed using Hall
Effect sensors embedded into the stator.
Most BLDC motors have three Hall sensors embedded into the stator on the non-
driving end of the motor.
Whenever the rotor magnetic poles pass near the Hall sensors, they give a high or
low signal, indicating the N or S pole is passing near the sensors. Based on the
combination of these three Hall sensor signals, the exact sequence of commutation can be
determined.
Note:
Hall Effect Theory: If an electric current carrying conductor is kept in a magnetic field,
the magnetic field exerts a trans- verse force on the moving charge carriers which tends
to push them to one side of the conductor. This is most evident in a thin flat conductor.
A buildup of charge at the sides of the conductors will balance this magnetic influence,
producing a measurable voltage between the two sides of the conductor. The presence
of this measurable transverse voltage is called the Hall effect after E. H. Hall who
discovered it in 1879.

Figure 5 shows a transverse section of a BLDC motor with a rotor that has alternate
N and S permanent magnets. Hall sensors are embedded into the stationary part of the motor.
Embedding the Hall sensors into the stator is a complex process because any misalignment
in these Hall sensors, with respect to the rotor magnets, will generate an error in
determination of the rotor position. To simplify the process of mounting the Hall sensors
onto the stator, some motors may have the Hall sensor magnets on the rotor, in addition to the
main rotor magnets. These are a scaled down replica version of the rotor. Therefore,
whenever the rotor rotates, the Hall sensor magnets give the same effect as the main
magnets. The Hall sensors are normally mounted on a PC board and fixed to the enclosure
cap on the non-driving end. This enables users to adjust the complete assembly of Hall
sensors, to align with the rotor magnets, in order to achieve the best performance.
Based on the physical position of the Hall sensors, there are two versions of output.
The Hall sensors may be at 60° or 120° phase shift to each other. Based on this, the motor
manufacturer defines the commutation sequence, which should be followed when
controlling the motor.

Note:
The Hall sensors require a power supply.
The voltage may range from 4 volts to 24 volts. Required current can range from 5 to 15
mAmps. While designing the con- troller, please refer to the respective motor technical
specification for exact voltage and current ratings of the Hall sensors used. The Hall
sensor output is normally an open-collector type. A pull-up resistor may be required on
the controller side

Theory of Operation
Each commutation sequence has one of the windings energized to positive power (current
enters into the winding), the second winding is negative (current exits the winding) and
the third is in a non-energized condition. Torque is produced because of the interaction
between the magnetic field generated by the stator coils and the permanent magnets.
Ideally, the peak torque occurs when these two fields are at 90° to each other and falls off
as the fields move together. In order to keep the motor running, the magnetic field produced
by the windings should shift position, as the rotor moves to catch up with the stator field.
What is known as "Six-Step Commutation" defines the sequence of energizing the
windings. See the "Commutation Sequence" section for detailed information and an
example on six-step commutation.

In a commutation system – one that is based on the position of the motor

identified using feedback sensors – two of the three electrical windings are energized at a
time , the GREEN winding labeled “001” is energized as the NORTH pole and the BLUE
winding labeled as “010” is energized as the SOUTH pole. Because of this excitation, the
South Pole of the rotor aligns with the GREEN winding and the North Pole aligns with
the RED winding labeled “100”. In order to move the rotor, the “RED” and “BLUE”
windings are energized in the direction shown in figure 4(B). This causes the RED
winding to become the North Pole and the BLUE winding to become the SOUTH pole.
This shifting of the magnetic field in the stator produces torque because of the
development of repulsion (Red winding – NORTH-NORTH alignment) and attraction
forces (BLUE winding – NORTH-SOUTH alignment), which moves the rotor in the
clockwise direction.
This torque is at its maximum when the rotor starts to move, but it reduces as the two
fields align to each other. Thus, to preserve the torque or to build up the rotation, the
magnetic field generated by stator should keep switching. To catch up with the field
generated by the stator, the rotor will keep rotating.  Since the magnetic field of the stator
and rotor both rotate at the same frequency, they come under the category of synchronous
motor.

This switching of the stator to build up the rotation is known as commutation. For 3-
phase windings, there are 6 steps in the commutation; i.e., 6 unique combinations in
which motor windings will be energized. 

TORQUE/SPEED CHARACTERISTICS
Figure 6 shows an example of torque/speed characteristics.

There are two torque parameters used to define a BLDC motor, peak torque (TP)
and rated torque (TR).
During continuous operations, the motor can be loaded up to the rated torque. As
discussed earlier, in a BLDC motor, the torque remains constant for a speed range up to
the rated speed. The motor can be run up to the maximum speed, which can be up to 150%
of the rated speed, but the torque starts dropping.
Applications that have frequent starts and stops and frequent reversals of rotation
with load on the motor, demand more torque than the rated torque. This requirement
comes for a brief period, especially when the motor starts from a standstill and during
accelera- tion. During this period, extra torque is required to over- come the inertia of the
load and the rotor itself. The motor can deliver a higher torque, maximum up to peak
torque, as long as it follows the speed torque curve. Refer to the "Selecting a Suitable
Motor Rating for the Application" section to understand how to select these parameters
for an application.

Torque and Efficiency

For the study of electric motors, torque is a very important term. By definition,
torque is the tendency of force to rotate an object about its axis.

Thus, to increase the torque, either force has to be increased – which requires
stronger magnets or more current – or distance must be increased – for which bigger
magnets will be required.  Efficiency is critical for motor design because it determines
the amount of power consumed. A higher efficiency motor will also require less material
to generate the required torque.

Where,

Having understood the above provided equations, it becomes important to understand the
speed vs. torque curve.
Following are the takeaways from the graph shown in Figure 5:

With an increase in speed, the torque reduces (considering the input power is
constant).
Maximum power can be delivered when the speed is half of the “no load” speed
and torque is half of the stall torque.

COMMUTATION SEQUENCE
Figure 7 shows an example of Hall sensor signals with respect to back EMF and the phase
current. Figure 8 shows the switching sequence that should be followed with respect to the
Hall sensors. The sequence numbers on Figure 7 correspond to the numbers given in Figure 8.
Every 60 electrical degrees of rotation, one of the Hall sensors changes the state. Given
this, it takes six steps to complete an electrical cycle. In synchronous, with every 60
electrical degrees, the phase current switching should be updated. However, one electrical
cycle may not correspond to a complete mechanical revolution of the rotor. The number
of electrical cycles to be repeated to complete a mechanical rotation is determined by the
rotor pole pairs. For each rotor pole pairs, one electrical cycle is completed. So, the
number of electrical cycles/rotations equals the rotor pole pairs.
Figure 9 shows a block diagram of the controller used to control a BLDC motor. Q0 to
Q5 are the power switches controlled by the PIC18FXX31 microcontroller. Based on
the motor voltage and current ratings, these switches can be MOSFETs, or IGBTs, or
simple bipolar transistors.
FIGURE 8: WINDING ENERGIZING SEQUENCE WITH RESPECT TO THE HALL
SENSOR
Table 3 and Table 4 show the sequence in which these power switches should be switched
based on the Hall sensor inputs, A, B and C. Table 3 is for clockwise rotation of the motor
and Table 4 is for counter clockwise motor rotation. This is an example of Hall sensor
signals having a 60 degree phase shift with respect to each other. As we have previously
discussed in the "Hall Sensors" section, the Hall sensors may be at 60° or 120° phase
shift to each other. When deriving a controller for a particular motor, the sequence defined
by the motor manufacturer should be followed.
 Referring to Figure 9, if the signals marked by PWMx are switched ON or OFF
according to the sequence, the motor will run at the rated speed. This is assuming that the
DC bus voltage is equal to the motor rated volt- age, plus any losses across the switches.
To vary the speed, these signals should be Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) at a much
higher frequency than the motor frequency. As a rule of thumb, the PWM frequency should
be at least 10 times that of the maximum frequency of the motor. When the duty cycle of
PWM is varied within the sequences, the average voltage supplied to the stator reduces, thus
reducing the speed. Another advantage of having PWM is that, if the DC bus voltage is
much higher than the motor rated voltage, the motor can be controlled by limiting the
percentage of PWM duty cycle corresponding to that of the motor rated volt- age. This
adds flexibility to the controller to hook up motors with different rated voltages and
match the average voltage output by the controller, to the motor rated voltage, by
controlling the PWM duty cycle.
There are different approaches of controls. If the PWM signals are limited in the
microcontroller, the upper switches can be turned on for the entire time during the
corresponding sequence and the corresponding lower switch can be controlled by the
required duty cycle on PWM.
The potentiometer, connected to the analog-to-digital converter channel in Figure
9, is for setting a speed reference. Based on this input voltage, the PWM duty cycle
should be calculated.

Closed-Loop Control
The speed can be controlled in a closed loop by measuring the actual speed of
the motor. The error in the set speed and actual speed is calculated. A Proportional plus
Integral plus Derivative (P.I.D.) controller can be used to amplify the speed error and
dynamically adjust the PWM duty cycle.
For low-cost, low-resolution speed requirements, the Hall signals can be used to
measure the speed feed- back. A timer from the PIC18FXX31 can be used to count
between two Hall transitions. With this count, the actual speed of the motor can be
calculated.
For high-resolution speed measurements, an optical encoder can be fitted onto the
motor, which gives two signals with 90 degrees phase difference. Using these signals, both
speed and direction of rotation can be determined. Also, most of the encoders give a third
index signal, which is one pulse per revolution. This can be used for positioning
applications. Optical encoders are available with different choices of Pulse Per
Revolution (PPR), ranging from hundreds to thousands.

WHAT IS BACK EMF?

When a BLDC motor rotates, each winding generates a voltage known as back
Electromotive Force or back EMF, which opposes the main voltage supplied to the
windings according to Lenz's Law. The polarity of this back EMF is in opposite direction
of the energized voltage. Back EMF depends mainly on three factors:
• Angular velocity of the rotor
• Magnetic field generated by rotor magnets
• The number of turns in the stator windings

EQUATION 1:
 Back EMF = (E)∝ NlrB

where:
N is the number of winding turns per phase,
l is the length of the rotor,
r is the internal radius of the rotor,
B is the rotor magnetic field density and
 is the motor's angular velocity

Once the motor is designed, the rotor magnetic field and the number of turns in the
stator windings remain constant. The only factor that governs back EMF is the angular
velocity or speed of the rotor and as the speed increases, back EMF also increases. The
motor technical specification gives a parameter called, back EMF constant, that can be
used to estimate back EMF for a given speed.
The potential difference across a winding can be calculated by subtracting the back
EMF value from the supply voltage. The motors are designed with a back EMF constant
in such a way that when the motor is running at the rated speed, the potential difference
between the back EMF and the supply voltage will be sufficient for the motor to draw the
rated current and deliver the rated torque. If the motor is driven beyond the rated speed,
back EMF may increase substantially, thus decreasing the potential difference across the
winding, reducing the current drawn which results in a drooping torque curve. The last
point on the speed curve would be when the supply voltage is equal to the sum of the back
EMF and the losses in the motor, where the current and torque are equal to zero.

Sensor less Control of BLDC Motors:

Until now we have seen commutation based on the rotor position given by the
Hall sensor. BLDC motors can be commutated by monitoring the back EMF sig- nals
instead of the Hall sensors. The relationship between the Hall sensors and back EMF,
with respect to the phase voltage, is shown in Figure 7. As we have seen in earlier sections,
every commutation sequence has one of the windings energized positive, the second
negative and the third left open. As shown in Figure 7, the Hall sensor signal changes the
state when the volt- age polarity of back EMF crosses from a positive to negative or from
negative to positive. In ideal cases, this happens on zero-crossing of back EMF, but
practically, there will be a delay due to the winding char- acteristics. This delay should be
compensated by the microcontroller. Figure 10 shows a block diagram for sensorless
control of a BLDC motor.

Another aspect to be considered is very low speeds. Because back EMF is

proportional to the speed of rotation, at a very low speed, the back EMF would be at very
low amplitude to detect zero-crossing. The motor has to be started in open loop, from
standstill and when sufficient back EMF is built to detect the zero-cross point, the control
should be shifted to the back EMF sensing. The minimum speed at which back EMF can
be sensed is calculated from the back EMF constant of the motor.
With this method of commutation, the Hall sensors can be eliminated and in some
motors, the magnets for Hall sensors also can be eliminated. This simplifies the motor
construction and reduces the cost as well. This is advantageous if the motor is operating in
dusty or oily environments, where occasional cleaning is required in order for the Hall
sensors to sense properly. The same thing applies if the motor is mounted in a less
accessible location.
Applications
Single-speed – For single-speed applications, induction motors are more suitable, but if
the speed has to be maintained with the variation in load, then because of the flat speed-
torque curve of BLDC motor, BLDC motors are a good fit for such applications.

Adjustable speed – BLDC motors become a more suitable fit for such applications
because variable speed induction motors will also need an additional controller, thus
adding to system cost. Brushed DC motors will also be a more expensive solution
because of regular maintenance.

Position control – Precise control is not required applications like an induction cooker
and because of low maintenance; BLDC motors are a winner here too. However, for such
applications, BLDC motors use optical encoders, and complex controllers are required to
monitor torque, speed, and position.

Low-noise applications – Brushed DC motors are known for generating more EMI
noise, so BLDC is a better fit but controlling requirements for BLDC motors also
generate EMI and audible noise. This can, however, be addressed using Field-Oriented
Control (FOC) sinusoidal BLDC motor control.

SUMMARY
In conclusion, BLDC motors have advantages over brushed DC motors and induction
motors. They have better speed versus torque characteristics, high dynamic response,
high efficiency, long operating life, noiseless operation, higher speed ranges, rugged
construction and so on. Also, torque delivered to the motor size is higher, making it useful
in applications where space and weight are critical factors. With these advantages, BLDC
motors find wide spread applications in automotive, appliance, aerospace, consumer,
medical, instrumentation and automation industries.