Effect of BLDC motor commutation schemes on inverter power loss

With the increase in power dissipation requirements from electronic devices, thermal management becomes a significant constraint for the inverter design. Square wave current generation, using only one current sensor in the dc bus link, is a low cost and reliable current control strategy for brushless dc motor drives. This paper analyzes and compares various different commutation techniques and the associated power losses in the inverter. Relative effects of various commutation techniques on the inverter power loss have been analyzed. Computer simulation and experiments with a 500 W motor-inverter system have been performed to compare the thermal performance of the inverter under different commutation techniques.