When it comes to DC motor, you may consider what is a DC motor and how does it work. A DC (Direct Current) Motor is an electric motor that supplies power to machines as it uses electrical energy to perform its main function. In other words, it is a rotating electrical device that converts direct current of electrical energy, into mechanical energy. It is commonly divided into two types, brush DC motor and brushless DC motor(BLDC). No matter which kind of DC motor, ZHAOWEI provides you options with gearboxes.
Basically, just as the name shows, their main difference is whether the motor owns the brush. Today, brushless motors are far more common than the brushed. However, both can be found in a wide range of applications. Brushed DC motors are still commonly used in home appliances and automobiles. They also maintain a strong industrial niche because of the ability to change the torque to speed ratio belonging to brushed motors.
Brushless DC motors have been extended to many applications due to their reliability and longevity. It is common throughout a broad spectrum of industries: manufacturing, computing, and so on. The new generation of electric vehicles and even some power tools are using them. Due to vastly different needs and environments, motion control projects can benefit from either motor.
How does a DC Motor work?
Whether it is brushed DC motor or brushless DC motor(BLDC), the principle behind the internal working of both are essentially the same. Its basic working principle of a DC motor is: “whenever a current-carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field, it experiences a mechanical force”. However, nowadays, DC motors adopt permanent magnets, which perform better in safety, energy-efficiency, simple control of motor speed and low cost. This is why more and more people prefer to choose Permanent Magnet DC Motors. During operation, there are still some similarities and differences between how does a brush motor work and how does a brushless DC motor work.
Similarities:
1) For constructing any DC motor, it is essential to establish a magnetic field. The magnetic field is established by using a magnet. You can use different types of magnets – it can be a permanent magnet. A Permanent Magnet DC motor (or PMDC motor) is a type of DC motor that uses a permanent magnet to create the magnetic field required for the operation of a DC motor.
2) In such two types of DC motor, an armature rotates inside a magnetic field. Both of them follow the basic working principle which is based on the fact that whenever a current carrying-conductor is placed inside a magnetic field, there will be mechanical force experienced by that conductor.
Differences:
1) The working principle of the brushless DC permanent magnet motor is still based on the force exerted by the current conductor in the magnetic field, while the working principle of the brushless DC permanent magnet motor is different, which is pulled by the force between the stator magnetic field and the rotor magnetic field.
2) In brush PMDC motor, the current is transferred to the coils of the commutator by metallic brushes which rotate along with the rotor. However, how does a brushless DC motor controller work? BLDC motor doesn’t use carbon brushes or a mechanical commutator (may reduce losses), which may require an electronic controller or microprocessor to coordinate the application of current.
3) In contrast to the brush PMDC motor, for the brushless PMDC motor, the permanent magnet is mounted on the rotor.
DC Motor: To Gear or Not to Gear
When is it necessary to choose the DC motor with gears? A DC motor without a mechanical gearbox is a viable power source in a wide range of applications where the shaft speed of motor is not an issue. Take the fan in our daily life as an example, in most cases, the faster a fan can spin, the better it is at accomplishing its task (moving air to cool a space or components). Thus, the shaft speed of a DC motor does not cause an issue. But in other applications where shaft speed must be controlled, a DC motor alone may not be an ideal choice. Applications such as automatic sliding doors, or turntables in microwave ovens will require a mechanical gearbox to reduce the shaft speed of the motor to a value that is easy to manage and easy to control.
The question of whether a DC motor with or without gears is optimal obviously varies from application to application. Compared with common DC motors, those with gearboxes not only provide essential benefits when it comes to creating goods, they also aid in the maintenance of your systems. Using a gearbox to multiply torque, match inertia, and reduce speed facilitates to cut systems operations by allowing smaller motors and drives to be utilized.
ZHAOWEI manufactures gears for both brush motors and brushless motors to reduce speed and increase torque and provides custom service according to requirements of customers.
