Brushless vs.

Brushed DC Motors:
When and Why to Choose
One Over the Other
By Pete Millett, Sr. Technical Marketing Engineer at MPS

Introduction
Many motion control applications use permanent magnet DC motors. Since it is easier to implement
control systems using DC motors compared to AC motors, they are often used when speed, torque, or
position needs to be controlled.
There are two types of commonly used DC motors: brushed motors and brushless motors (also called
BLDC motors). As their names imply, DC brushed motors have brushes, which are used to commutate
the motor to cause it to spin. Brushless motors replace the mechanical commutation function with
electronic control.
In many applications, either a brushed or brushless DC motor can be used. They function based on the
same principles of attraction and repulsion between coils and permanent magnets. Both have advantages
and disadvantages that may lead to choosing one over the other, depending on the application’s
requirements.
Brushed DC Motors

Figure 1: Brushed DC Motor

DC motors use wound coils of wire to create a magnetic field. In a brushed motor, these coils are free to
rotate to drive a shaft — they compose the part of the motor called the rotor (see Figure 1). Typically, the
coils are wound around an iron core, though there are also brushed motors that are “coreless,” where
the winding is self-supported.
The fixed part of the motor is called the stator. Permanent magnets are used to provide a stationary
magnetic field. These magnets are typically positioned on the inner surface of the stator, outside of the
rotor.
In order to create torque, which makes the rotor spin, the magnetic field of the rotor needs to continuously
rotate, so that its field attracts and repels the fixed field of the stator. A sliding electrical switch is used to
make the field rotate. The switch consists of the commutator (which is typically a segmented contact
mounted to the rotor) and fixed brushes that are mounted to the stator (see Figure 2).

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 ARTICLE – BRUSHLESS VS. BRUSHED DC MOTORS:
WHEN AND WHY TO CHOOSE ONE OVER THE OTHER

+ DC Input -
Stator

N
S

Rotor
N

N
Brush Brush

Commutator

S
N

Figure 2: Cross-Sectional View of Brushed DC Motor Functionality

As the rotor turns, different sets of rotor windings are constantly switched on and off by the commutator.
This causes the coils of the rotor to be constantly attracted and repelled from the stator’s fixed magnets,
which makes the rotor spin.
Since there is some mechanical friction between the brushes and the commutator — and given that it is
an electrical contact, it generally cannot be lubricated — mechanical wear occurs to the brushes and
commutator over the lifetime of the motor. This wear eventually reaches a point where the motor no
longer functions. Many brushed motors — especially large ones — have replaceable brushes, typically
made of carbon, that are designed to maintain good contact as they wear. These motors require periodic
maintenance. Even with replaceable brushes, the commutator also eventually wears to the point that the
motor must be replaced.
To drive a brushed motor, a DC voltage is applied across the brushes, which passes current through the
rotor windings to make the motor spin.
In cases where rotation is only needed in one direction, and the speed and torque don’t need to be
controlled, no drive electronics are required for a brushed motor. In applications like this, the DC voltage
is simply switched on and off to make the motor run or stop. This is common in low-cost applications such
as motorized toys. If reversal is needed, it can be accomplished by using a double-pole switch.
To facilitate control of speed, torque, and direction, an “H-bridge” composed of electronic switches —
transistors, IGBTs, or MOSFETs — is used to allow the motor to be driven in either direction. This allows
the voltage to be applied to the motor in either polarity, which makes the motor rotate in opposite
directions (see Figure 3). The motor speed and torque can be controlled by pulse width modulation (PWM)
on one of the switches.

Figure 3: Driving a Motor via an H-Bridge

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 ARTICLE – BRUSHLESS VS. BRUSHED DC MOTORS:
WHEN AND WHY TO CHOOSE ONE OVER THE OTHER

Brushless DC Motors

Figure 4: BLDC Motor

Brushless DC motors, or BLDC motors, operate on the same principle of magnetic attraction and
repulsion as brushed motors, but are constructed somewhat differently. Instead of a mechanical
commutator and brushes, the magnetic field of the stator is rotated using electronic commutation. This
requires the use of active control electronics.
In a brushless motor, the rotor has permanent magnets affixed to it, and the stator has windings.
Brushless motors can be constructed with the rotor on the inside (see Figure 4), or with the rotor on the
outside of the windings, which is sometimes called an “outrunner” motor.
The number of windings used in a brushless motor is called the number of phases. Though BLDC motors
can be constructed with different numbers of phases, three-phase brushless motors are the most
common. One exception is small cooling fans that may use only one or two phases.
The three windings of a BLDC motor are connected in either a “star” or a “delta” configuration (see Figure
5). In both cases, there are three wires connecting to the motor, and the drive techniques and waveforms
are identical.
V

U W
W

Delta Star

Figure 5: BLDC Motor Configurations

With three phases, motors can be constructed with different magnetic configurations, called poles. The
simplest three-phase motors have two poles: The rotor has only one pair of magnetic poles, one north
and one south. Motors can also be built with more poles, which require more magnetic sections in the
rotor and more windings in the stator (see Figure 6). Higher pole counts can provide improved
performance, though very high speeds are better accomplished with lower pole counts.

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 ARTICLE – BRUSHLESS VS. BRUSHED DC MOTORS:
WHEN AND WHY TO CHOOSE ONE OVER THE OTHER

S S

N N

N S

2 Poles 4 Poles

Figure 6: 2-Pole Motor vs. 4-Pole Motor

To drive a three-phase brushless motor, each of the three phases needs to be able to be driven to either
the input supply voltage or ground. To accomplish this, three half-bridge drive circuits are used, each
consisting of two switches. The switches can be bipolar transistors, IGBTs, or MOSFETs, depending on
the voltage and current required.

Figure 7: Three-Phase BLDC Motor with Three Half-Bridges

There are a number of drive techniques that can be employed for three-phase brushless motors. The
simplest is called trapezoidal commutation (also called block or 120-degree commutation). Trapezoidal
commutation is somewhat similar to the commutation method used in a brushed DC motor. In this scheme,
at any given time, one of the three phases is connected to ground, one is left open, and the other is driven
to the supply voltage. If speed or torque control is needed, the phase connected to the supply is pulse-
width modulated. The phases switch abruptly at each commutation point, which means that while the
rotor’s rotation is constant, there is some torque variation (called torque ripple) as the motor rotates.
For higher performance, other commutation methods can be used. Sine commutation (also called 180-
degree commutation) drives current thorough all three motor phases all of the time. The drive electronics
generate a sinusoidal current though each phase, each shifted 120 degrees from the other. This drive
technique minimizes torque ripple, as well as acoustic noise and vibration, and is often used for high-
performance or high-efficiency drives.
To properly rotate the field, the control electronics need to know the physical position of the magnets on
the rotor relative to the stator. This position information is often obtained using Hall sensors mounted to
the stator. As the magnetic rotor turns, the Hall sensors pick up the rotor’s magnetic field (see Figure 8).
This information is used by the drive electronics to pass current through the stator windings in a sequence
that causes the rotor to spin.

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 ARTICLE – BRUSHLESS VS. BRUSHED DC MOTORS:
WHEN AND WHY TO CHOOSE ONE OVER THE OTHER

Drive Current U

Hall Sensor A

Position
Feedback
S

Hall Sensor B
H Controller

Hall Sensor C

Drive Current V

Drive Current W

Figure 8: Hall Sensor Functionality

Using three Hall sensors, trapezoidal commutation can be implemented with simple combinational logic,
so no sophisticated control electronics are needed. Other commutation methods, such as sine
commutation, require more sophisticated control electronics and typically employ a microcontroller.
There are also various methods that can be used to determine the rotor position without sensors. The
simplest of these methods is to monitor the back electromotive force (EMF) on an undriven phase to
sense the magnetic field relative to the stator. A more sophisticated control algorithm, called field-oriented
control (FOC), calculates the position based on rotor currents and other parameters. FOC typically
requires a fairly powerful processor, as there are many calculations that must be performed very quickly.
This, of course, is costlier than a simple trapezoidal control method.
Brushed and Brushless Motors: Advantages and Disadvantages
Depending on the application, there are reasons why an engineer might choose to use a brushless motor
over a brushed motor. Table 1 summarizes the main advantages and disadvantages of each motor type.
Table 1: Brushed DC Motor vs. BLDC Motor
Brushed DC Motor Brushless DC Motor
Lifetime Short (brushes wear out) Long (no brushes to wear)
Speed and Acceleration Medium High
Efficiency Medium High
Electrical Noise Noisy (brush arcing) Quiet
Acoustic Noise & Torque
Poor Medium (trapezoidal) or good (sine)
Ripple
Cost Lowest Medium (added electronics)
Lifetime
As previously mentioned, one of the disadvantages of brushed motors is that there is mechanical wear
to the brushes and commutator over time. For example, in many motors carbon brushes are designed to
be replaced periodically as part of a maintenance program. The soft copper of the commutator is also
slowly worn away by the brushes, and eventually reach a point where the motor will no longer operate.
Since brushless motors have no moving contacts, they do not suffer from this wear.

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 ARTICLE – BRUSHLESS VS. BRUSHED DC MOTORS:
WHEN AND WHY TO CHOOSE ONE OVER THE OTHER

Speed and Acceleration

Brushed motors’ rotational speed can be limited by the brushes and commutator, as well as the mass of
the rotor. At very high speeds, the brush-to-commutator contact can become erratic, and brush arcing
increases. Most brushed motors also use a core of laminated iron in the rotor, which gives them large
rotational inertia. This limits the acceleration and deceleration rates of the motor. It is possible to build a
brushless motor with very powerful rare earth magnets on the rotor, which minimizes the rotational inertia.
Of course, that also increases the total solution cost.
Electrical Noise
The brushes and commutator form a kind of electrical switch. As the motor turns, the switches are opened
and closed, while significant current is flowing through the inductive rotor windings. This results in arcing
at the contacts. This generates a large amount of electrical noise, which can get coupled into sensitive
circuits. Arcing can be somewhat mitigated by adding capacitors or RC snubbers across the brushes, but
the instantaneous switching of the commutator always generates some electrical noise.
Acoustic Noise
Brushed motors are “hard switched” — that is, current is abruptly moved from one winding to another.
The torque generated varies over the rotation of the rotor as the windings get switched on and off. With
a brushless motor, it is possible to control the winding currents in a way that gradually transitions current
from one winding to another. This lowers torque ripple, or the mechanical pulsation of energy onto the
rotor. Torque ripple causes vibration and mechanical noise, especially at low rotor speeds.
Cost
Since brushless motors require more sophisticated electronics, the overall cost of a BLDC motor drive is
higher than that of a brushed motor. A brushless motor is simpler to manufacture than a brushed motor
given that it lacks brushes and a commutator, but brushed motor technology is very well-understood and
manufacturing costs are low. However, this is changing as brushless motors become more popular,
especially in high-volume applications like automotive motors. Additionally, as the cost of electronics such
as microcontrollers continues to decline, making brushless motors more attractive.
Summary
Due to declining costs and better performance, brushless DC motors are gaining in popularity in many
applications. But there are still places where brushed motors make more sense.
Much can be learned by looking at the adoption of BLDC motors in automobiles. As of 2020, most motors
that run anytime the car is running — things like pumps and fans — have moved from brushed motors to
brushless motors for their increased reliability. The added cost of the motor and electronics more than
makes up for the lower rate of field failures and decreased maintenance requirements.
On the other hand, motors that are operated infrequently — for example, motors that move power seats
and power windows — have remained predominantly brushed motors. Because the total runtime over
the life of the car is very small, it is very unlikely that the motors will fail over the life of the car. As another
example from the automotive world, seat adjustment motors in high-end cars have been adopting
brushless motors because they generate less acoustic noise.
As the cost of brushless motors and their associated electronics continues to decrease, brushless motors
are finding their way into applications that have traditionally been dominated by brushed motors.
Ultimately, the best motor for a given design is up to the priorities and requirements of the end application.

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