A brushless motor is a synchronous motor with no brushes that uses a direct current (DC) electric power supply. Read More…
Leading Manufacturers
ElectroCraft, Inc.
Stratham, NH | 844-338-8114We manufacture motors, motion control and rotating products for OEMs. The electric motors obtainable through us include AC motors, AC/DC motors, brushless DC motors, stepper motors.
Carter Motor Company
Monroe, WI | 608-325-9161Since our inception in 1932, Carter Motor manufactures AC universal motors, small motors, DC universal motors, DC permanent magnet motors, DC shunt wound motors and gearmotors, and many others. All of our products are designed and assembled here in the USA. Our team is here to help you determine the best motor to fit your application and to ensure the process is efficient and stress-free. We are ISO 9001:2015 certified.
Hankscraft, Inc.
Reedsburg, WI | 608-524-4341Hankscraft OEM is recognized as a Six Sigma Black Belt-certified, low risk manufacturer. Founded in 1920, Hankscraft has been producing dependable, high-value components and complete turn-key solutions for Fortune 500 companies and others where manufacturability and profitability are key.
Dietz Electric Co., Inc.
Milwaukee, WI | 800-466-6398Dietz Electric is a full-service company specializing in the manufacture of high-quality electric motors, AC and DC motors, brushless motors, special motors, servo motors, hazardous area motors, custom motor designs, modifications and repairs. We also stock several name-brand electric motors. Our experienced staff enables us to deal with difficult and demanding motor applications.
Electric Motor Warehouse
Burton, MI | 877-986-6867Electric Motor Warehouse offers a complete online catalog of electric motors and swimming pool pumps. We carry all the name brand manufacturers you know and trust. All of our products are brand new and we ship 99% of our orders within 24 hours. Our website has hundreds of competitively-priced products listed with more being added all the time and we sell directly to customers. We're here to help!
WEG Electric Corp.
Duluth, GA | 800-275-4934America’s largest electric motor company brings you electric motors built to make your specific agricultural, industrial or commercial processes run with efficiency & reliability. Fractional, explosion proof, NEMA, severe duty, pump & DC motors are just a few of our ISO 14001 certified electric motors.
What Is a Brushless Motor?
A brushless motor is a synchronous motor with no brushes that uses a direct current (DC) electric power supply.
The brushless motor uses an electronic controller for switching DC currents to the motor’s windings, thus producing magnetic fields which effectively rotate in space and are followed by the rotor of the permanent magnet.
The controller adjusts the DC pulses’ phase and amplitude to control the motor’s speed and torque.
Therefore, this control system is an alternative to the mechanical commutator (brushes) used in most electric motors.
How a Brushless Motor Functions
The working principle for the brushed DC motor is the same as the brushless DC motor, including the internal shaft position feedback. However, the brushless DC motor contains only two basic parts: the rotor and the stator.
The rotor refers to the rotating part and holds rotor magnets, whereas the stator is the stationary part and contains stator windings. In a brushless motor, permanent magnets are attached to the rotor and specialize in moving the electromagnets to the stator.
The high-power transistors are used to activate the electromagnets for the shaft turns. The controller performs power distribution by using a circuit that is in a solid state. Because of this DC motor design, there is no need for brushes.
The advantage of a brushless DC motor is removing wear and tear on the brushes since very little heat will result from the rotating magnet. The brushless DC motors are therefore more expensive because of their efficiency.
Types of a Brushless Motor
All the types of brushless motors have the same working principles, but they differ in design according to the area of use. The brushless motor is found in two types: the outer rotor motor and the inner rotor motor.
Inner Rotor Design
This type of rotor is designed in a manner whereby the rotor is located in the center of the motor, and the motor’s stator winding surrounds the rotor. The heat in the motor is dissipated easily because the rotor magnets are unable to insulate heat inside.
This is because the rotor is located in the core. Inner rotor-designed motors, therefore, produce a large amount of torque and are validly used all because of this reason.
This type of rotor can produce excellent acceleration and deceleration responses due to the small rotor diameter and the low moment of inertia.
Because the stator is positioned near the motor surface, there is good heat radiation, allowing for a compact motor with high output power.
Outer Rotor Design
In this design, the rotor surrounds the winding, located in the motor’s core. The duty of the magnets in the rotor is to trap the heat of the motor inside and prevent it from dissipating.
The outer rotor-designed motors operate at a lower-rated current and have low cogging torque. The contained moment of inertia is larger, and the responses in acceleration and deceleration are poor, although this type of design still provides excellent speed stability.
Because of this a cup shaped rotor is not well suited to nimble the movements. More magnets can be installed all because of the rotor’s large diameter and this results in an increased number of magnetic poles thus allowing high output power to be possible in a compact size.
Disk Rotor Type
In this type of brushless motor, the stator is formed by mounting the windings and the magnetic pole sensors on the circuit board. The disk rotor type motor is thin because the tabular permanent magnets are placed on the rotor surface to allow them to face the stator.
The load is installed on the rotor because there is no shaft. This type maintains a stable and fixed speed with a light load. This type is generally used in disk drives for DVDs.
Applications and Uses of Brushless Motors
Brushless motors are used in areas such as for devices like computer hard drives and DVD players. They can also be used to power the small cooling fans found in electronic devices. They are also used for gramophones and can be used in cordless power tools to increase efficiency.
