CHITTAGONG UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING &

TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

Stepper Motor & Brushless DC Motor

Submitted by

Name : Sazzad Hossain

Student ID : 1802156
Section : C2
Table of Contents

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 2

1 Objective .................................................................................................................................. 3
2 Stepper Motor .......................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Working Principle ............................................................................................................ 3
2.3 Stepper Motor Types & Construction ............................................................................. 4
2.4 Rotor ................................................................................................................................. 4
2.5 Permanent Magnet Rotor ................................................................................................ 4
2.6 Variable Reluctance Rotor ............................................................................................... 5
2.7 Hybrid Rotor .................................................................................................................... 5
2.8 Stator ................................................................................................................................ 5
2.9 Advantages of Stepper Motor .......................................................................................... 6
2.10 Disadvantages of Stepper Motor...................................................................................... 7
2.11 Applications of Stepper Motor......................................................................................... 7
3 Brushless DC Motor ................................................................................................................ 7
3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 7
3.2 Construction of Brushless DC Motor .............................................................................. 8
3.3 Construction of BLDC Motor .......................................................................................... 8
3.4 Working Principle ............................................................................................................ 9
3.5 Advantages of BLDC Motor ............................................................................................ 9
3.6 Disadvantages of BLDC Motor ...................................................................................... 10
3.7 Applications of BLDC Motor......................................................................................... 10
4 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................. 10

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1 Objective

 Introduction to Brushless DC Motor and Stepper Motor

 Basic Construction of Brushless DC Motor and Stepper Motor
 Working principal of Brushless DC Motor and Stepper Motor
 Types of BLDC Motors and Stepper Motors
 Advantages and disadvantages of BLDC Motors and Stepper Motors
 Applications of Brushless DC Motor and Stepper Motor

2 Stepper Motor

2.1 Introduction
A stepper motor is an electric motor whose main feature is that its shaft rotates by performing
steps, that is, by moving by a fixed amount of degrees. This feature is obtained thanks to the
internal structure of the motor, and allows to know the exact angular position of the shaft by
simply counting how may steps have been performed, with no need for a sensor. This feature
also makes it fit for a wide range of applications.

Figure 2.1-1: Basic Stepper Motor

2.2 Working Principle

The stepper motor rotor is a permanent magnet, when the current flows through the stator
winding, the stator winding to produce a vector magnetic field. The magnetic field drives the
rotor to rotate by an angle so that the pair of magnetic fields of the rotor and the magnetic field
direction of the stator are consistent. When the stator's vector magnetic field is rotated by an
angle, the rotor also rotates with the magnetic field at an angle. Each time an electrical pulse is
input, the motor rotates one degree further. The angular displacement it outputs is proportional
to the number of pulses input and the speed is proportional to the pulse frequency. Change the
order of winding power, the motor will reverse. Therefore, it can control the rotation of the
stepping motor by controlling the number of pulses, the frequency and the electrical sequence
of each phase winding of the motor.

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 Figure 2.2-1: Stepper Motor Steps

2.3 Stepper Motor Types & Construction

The performance of a stepper motor both in terms of resolution (or step size), speed, and
torque is influenced by construction details, which at the same time may also affect how the
motor can be controlled. As a matter of fact, not all stepper motors have the same internal
structure (or construction), as there are different rotor and stator configurations.

2.4 Rotor
For a stepper motor, there are basically three types of rotors:

2.5 Permanent Magnet Rotor

The rotor is a permanent magnet that aligns with the magnetic field generated by the stator
circuit.This solution guarantees a good torque and also a decent torque. This means the motor
will resist, even if not very strongly, to a change of position regardless of whether a coil is
energized. The drawbacks of this solution is that it has a lower speed and a lower resolution
compared to the other types.Figure 3.2-1 shows a representation of a section of a permanent
magnet stepper motor.

Figure 2.5-1:Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor

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2.6 Variable Reluctance Rotor
Variable reluctance (VR) motors have a plain iron rotor and operate based on the principle that
minimum reluctance occurs with minimum gap, hence the rotor points are attracted toward the
stator magnet poles.

Figure 2.6-1: Variable Reluctance Stepper Motor

2.7 Hybrid Rotor

This kind of rotor has a specific construction, and is a hybrid between permanent magnet and
variable reluctance versions. The rotor has two caps with alternating teeth, and is magnetized
axially. This configuration allows the motor to have the advantages of both the permanent
magnet and variable reluctance versions, specifically high resolution, speed, and torque. This
higher performance requires a more complex construction, and therefore a higher cost. Figure
3.4-1 shows a simplified example of the structure of this motor. When coil A is energized, a
tooth of the N-magnetized cap aligns with the S-magnetized tooth of the stator. At the same
time, due to the rotor structure, the S-magnetized tooth aligns with the N-magnetized tooth of
the stator. Real motors have a more complex structure, with a higher number of teeth than the
one shown in the picture, though the working principle of the stepper motor is the same. The
high number of teeth allows the motor to achieve a small step size, down to 0.9°.

Figure 2.7-1: Hybrid Stepper Motor

2.8 Stator
The stator is the part of the motor responsible for creating the magnetic field with which the
rotor is going to align. The main characteristics of the stator circuit include its number of phases
and pole pairs, as well as the wire configuration. The number of phases is the number of

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independent coils, while the number of pole pairs indicates how main pairs of teeth are
occupied by each phase. Two-phase stepper motors are the most commonly used, while three-
phase and five-phase motors are less common (see Figure 5 and Figure 6).

Figure 2.8-1: Two-Phase Stator Winding (Left), Three-Phase Stator Winding (Right)

Figure 2.9-2: Two-Phase, Single-Pole Pair Stator (Left) and Two-Phase, Dipole Pair Stator (Right). The Letters Show the
Magnetic Field Generated when Positive Voltage is Applied between A+ and A-.

2.9 Advantages of Stepper Motor

I. Due to their internal structure, stepper motors do not require a sensor to detect the
motor position. Since the motor moves by performing “steps,” by simply counting
these steps, you can obtain the motor position at a given time.
II. In addition, stepper motor control is pretty simple. The motor does need a driver, but
does not need complex calculations or tuning to work properly. In general, the
control effort is lower compared to other motors. With microstepping, you can reach
high position accuracy, up to approximately 0.007°.
III. Stepper motors offer good torque at low speeds, are great for holding position, and
also tend to have a long lifespan.

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2.10 Disadvantages of Stepper Motor

I. They can miss a step if the load torque is too high. This negatively impacts the
control, since there is no way to know the real position of the motor. Using
microstepping makes stepper motors even more likely to experience this issue.
II. These motors always drain maximum current even when still, which makes
efficiency worse and can cause overheating.
III. Stepper motors have low torque and become pretty noisy at high speeds.
IV. Finally, stepper motors have low power density and a low torque-to-inertia ratio.

2.11 Applications of Stepper Motor

Stepper motors are diverse in their uses, but some of the most common include:

I. Textile machines
II. Printing presses
III. Gaming machines
IV. Medical imaging machinery
V. Small robotics
VI. CNC milling machines

3 Brushless DC Motor

3.1 Introduction
Brushless DC motors are common in industrial applications across the world. At the most basic
level, there are brushed and brushless motors and there are DC and AC motors. Brushless DC
motors, as you may imagine, do not contain brushes and use a DC current.

Figure 2.8-1: Basic Brushless DC Motor

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3.2 Construction of Brushless DC Motor

The main design difference between a brushed and brushless motors is the replacement of
mechanical commutator with an electric switch circuit. Keeping that in mind, a BLDC Motor
is a type of synchronous motor in the sense that the magnetic field generated by the stator and
the rotor revolve at the same frequency.

Brushless Motors are available in three configurations: single phase, two phase and three phase.
Out of these, the three phase BLDC is the most common one.

Figure 3.2-1 shows the cross-section of a BLDC Motor.

Figure 3.2-1: Cross Section of BLDC Motor

3.3 Construction of BLDC Motor

The main design difference between a brushed and brushless motors is the replacement of
mechanical commutator with an electric switch circuit.

Brushless Motors are available in three configurations: single phase, two phase and three phase.
Out of these, the three phase BLDC is the most common one.

A BLDC Motor mainly consists of three parts:

I. Stator
II. Rotor
III. Position Sensors (Hall effect sensor/MOSFET/Other controllers

The following images show the normal and cross-section views of a BLDC Motor:

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 Figure 3.3-1: BLDC Motor (Side View) Figure 3.3-1: BLDC Motor (Cross Section)

3.4 Working Principle

It often helps to explain how a brushed DC motor works first, as they were used for some time
before brushless DC motors were available. A brushed DC motor has permanent magnets on
the outside of its structure, with a spinning armature on the inside. The permanent magnets,
which are stationary on the outside, are called the stator. The armature, which rotates and
contains an electromagnet, is called the rotor.

In a brushed DC motor, the rotor spins 180-degrees when an electric current is run to the
armature. To go any further, the poles of the electromagnet must flip. The brushes, as the rotor
spins, make contact with the stator, flipping the magnetic field and allowing the rotor to spin a
full 360-degrees.

A brushless DC motor is essentially flipped inside out, eliminating the need for brushes to flip
the electromagnetic field. In brushless DC motors, the permanent magnets are on the rotor, and
the electromagnets are on the stator. A computer then charges the electromagnets in the stator
to rotate the rotor a full 360-degrees.

3.5 Advantages of BLDC Motor

I. Less overall maintenance due to absence of brushes
II. Reduced size with far superior thermal characteristics
III. Higher speed range and lower electric noise generation.
IV. It has no mechanical commutator and associated problems.
V. High efficiency and high output power to size ratio due to the use of permanent
magnet rotor
VI. High speed of operation even in loaded and unloaded conditions due to the absence
of brushes that limits the speed.
VII. Smaller motor geometry and lighter in weight than both brushed type DC and
induction AC motors.
VIII. Long life as no inspection and maintenance is required for commutator system
IX. Higher dynamic response due to low inertia and carrying windings in the stator

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3.6 Disadvantages of BLDC Motor

I. These motors are costly

II. Electronic controller required control this motor is expensive
III. Requires complex drive circuitry
IV. Need of additional sensors
V. BLDC motor cost more than a brushed DC motor.
VI. The limited high power could be supplied to BLDC motor, otherwise, too much heat
weakens the magnets and the insulation of winding may get damaged.

3.7 Applications of BLDC Motor

Brushless DC motors (BLDC) use for a wide variety of application requirements such as
varying loads, constant loads and positioning applications in the fields of industrial control,
automotive, aviation, automation systems, health care equipments etc.

I. Computer hard drives and DVD/CD players

II. Electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and electric bicycles
III. Industrial robots, CNC machine tools, and simple belt driven systems
IV. Washing machines, compressors and dryers
V. Fans, pumps and blowers.

4 Conclusion

In this report we discussed about the brushless DC motor and stepper motor. We discussed
about their construction and working principle. We also discussed their advantages,
disadvantages and applications. Both of these motors are very useful for different purposes.

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