Sinusoidal Commutation of BLDC Motors

Joey Tomlinson
OSU DRL
30
7/14/10

Assuming coils are

wound such that
current in the arrow
direction causes the
pole orientation
shown.

S U N

Terminal Voltage Coil

Current Relationships:
Iu = (Vn Vl)/Rcoil
Iv = (Vl - Vm)/Rcoil
Iw = (Vm - Vn)/Rcoil

Rotor Position
Reference

L
A, B, C and D are
permanent
magnets on the
rotor

S A N

90

CCW
Rotation

S B N

S D N

60

S C N

At any rotor position, the ratio between

current in coils U, V and W should match the
graph below in order to maximize motor
efficiency. Motor torque is proportional to
total current through the coils. The coil
current sequence repeats every 120

Rotor Position 0

120

30

U, V and W are
stationary coils in
a delta
configuration
L, M and N are
motor terminals

M
Positive current in graph below
corresponds to current in the direction of
the arrows and formation of magnetic
fields oriented shown in figure above.

60

90

120

Coil
Current
0A

Terminal
Voltage

Supply/2

The coil currents in the top graph can be achieved by a variety of terminal voltages. Fixing terminal L
to supply/2, and applying the voltages shown in the bottom graph to the M and N is the way we are
achieving the desired currents.