12/27/2020 Need for Electrical Braking in Electrical Drives | Electrical Concepts

Electrical Concepts
Tricky but Easy Electrical Engineering!

 Menu 

Need for Electrical Braking in Electrical Drives

July 3, 2016 by admin

There are two types of Braking: i) Mechanical Braking and ii) Electrical Braking.

In Mechanical Braking the speed of the machine is reduced solely by mechanical process but
Electrical Braking is far more interesting than that because the whole process is depended on
the current and torque directions. We can say that it is the process of reducing speed of any
rotating machine. The application of braking is seen at almost every possible area, be it inside
the motor used in factories, industrial areas or be it in locomotives or vehicles. Everywhere the
use of Mechanical and Electrical brakes is inevitable.

The need for Electrical Braking can be visualized by some examples. Therefore I will explain
with some interesting examples. Suppose a loaded hoist is lowered or an unloaded hoist is
lifted, in both the cases the net torque will assist the motion.

https://electricalbaba.com/need-for-electrical-breaking-in-electrical-drives/ 1/6
12/27/2020 Need for Electrical Braking in Electrical Drives | Electrical Concepts

Therefore steady state operation for both the cases can be obtained by adding a mechanical
brake (it is just like when you are driving down a slope by your Bike, you need to apply Break for
having a constant speed else the Bike will accelerate). But unfortunately, Mechanical Brakes
have a number of disadvantages:

It needs frequent maintenance and replacement of Brake Shoes

Lower life of Mechanical Brakes

Braking power is wasted as heat

This calls for some smart method for Braking. Here Electrical Braking helps. The disadvantages
of Mechanical Brakes are overcome by the use Electrical Braking in which Motor is made to
operate as a Generator converting mechanical energy into electrical energy and producing
torque in a direction to oppose the motion.

But for enhancing the reliability, Mechanical Brakes are also provided along with the Electrical
Brakes.

Now coming to next scenario. Suppose we need to decrease the speed of a Motor,so
obviously we need to have deceleration of Motor. As we know that deceleration of Motor occurs
https://electricalbaba.com/need-for-electrical-breaking-in-electrical-drives/ 2/6
12/27/2020 Need for Electrical Braking in Electrical Drives | Electrical Concepts

when the load torque is more than the Motor torque. For applications where Load torque is
always present, simply reducing the Motor current will reduce the Motor torque and thus we can
have Motor torque less than the Load torque and hence deceleration will take place. But
assume an application, where Load torque is not always present, then for Braking we need to
have either Electrical Braking or Mechanical Braking.

Stopping is a special case for deceleration where the speed of Motor is brought to zero. In
application where we need frequent, quick, smooth or emergency stop we need Electrical
Braking as it affects less to the mechanical parts. For example, in suburban Electric Train quick
stops are required. Use of Electric Braking allows a smooth stop which doesn’t cause any
inconvenience to the passenger and increase the life of Track and wheels and thus saving the
cost.

Thank you!

 Electrical Drives
 What will happen if DC Motor run at a Higher RPM than the Rated RPM?
 Regenerative Braking

Leave a Comment

Name *

Email * 

https://electricalbaba.com/need-for-electrical-breaking-in-electrical-drives/ 3/6