International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Applied Science (IJSEAS) – Volume-2, Issue-4,April 2016

ISSN: 2395-3470
www.ijseas.com

Compact Regenerative Braking Scheme for a

PM BLDC Motor Driven Electric Two-Wheeler
G.J.RATHOD, Prof.R.K.JHA,
PG Student, HOD,
Department of Electrical Engg. S.N.D.COE & RC Department of Electrical Engg. S.N.D.COE& RC
Nasik, Maharashtra, India Nasik, Maharashtra, India

Abstract - This Paper presents compact regenerative mode. In this mode, the battery is seen as a load
braking scheme for a PM BLDC motor driven electric by the machine, thus providing a braking force
two wheeler. Electric vehicles have been attracting on the vehicle.
unprecedented attention in light of the volatile market
prices and prospect of diminishing supplies of fuel.
Advances in battery technology and significant Mechanical braking is still required in EVs for a
improvements in electrical motor efficiency have made number of reasons. At low speeds regenerative
electric vehicles an attractive alternative, especially for braking is not effective and may fail to stop the
short distance commuting. This paper describes the vehicle in the required time, especially in an
application of Brushless DC (BLDC) motor technology emergency. A mechanical braking system is
in an electric vehicle with special operation on also important in the event of an electrical failure.
regenerative braking. BLDC motors are frequently For example, if the battery or the system
used for electric vehicle due to its high efficiency & controlling the regenerative braking failed, then
robustness. In an electric vehicle, regenerative breaking
helps to conserve energy by charging the battery, thus
mechanical braking becomes critical.
extending the driving range of the vehicle.
It is common in electric vehicles to combine
Keywords- Regenerative braking, BLDC Motor,
both mechanical braking and regenerative
Electric vehicle. braking functions into a single foot pedal: the
first part of the foot pedal controls regenerative
braking and the final part controls mechanical
I. INTRODUCTION braking. This is a seamless transition from
regenerative braking to mechanical braking, akin to
A pure electric vehicle (PEV) contains three the practice of ‘putting the brakes on’ in a
major parts: the power battery (usually in series as an conventional ICE vehicle.
energy-storage unit), the driving motor [can be
induction motor (IM), brushless direct-current motor II .PM BLDC MOTOR.
(BLDCM) and switched reluctance machine (SRM),
and the power converter controller. Among all the Principally, a brushless DC (BLDC) motor is an
driving motors, the brushless direct-current (DC) inside-out permanent magnet DC motor, in which the
motor has many advantages over other brush DC conventional multi-segment commutator, which acts
motors, IMs and switch reluctance machines. It has as a mechanical rectifier, is replaced with an
the merits of simple structure, high efficiency, electronic circuit to do the commutation.
electronic commutating device, high starting torque, Consequently, a BLDC motor requires less
noiseless operation and high speed range, etc. Hence, maintenance and is quite robust. A BLDC motor has
the brushless DC motor has been widely used in a higher efficiency than a conventional DC motor
EVs. Conventional EVs use mechanical brakes to with brushes [6].However, a BLDC motor requires
increase the friction of the wheel for deceleration relatively complex electronics for control.
purposes. Thus, the braking kinetic energy is wasted.
With this problem in mind, this paper will discuss
how to convert the kinetic energy into electrical
energy that can be recharged to the battery. As a
result, regenerative braking can realize both electric
braking and energy savings [1].

Regenerative braking can be used in an EV as a

way of recouping energy during braking, which
is not possible to do in conventional ICE vehicles
[1,2,3,4,5]. Regenerative braking is the process of
feeding energy from the drive motor back into the
battery during the braking process, when the
vehicle’s inertia forces the motor into generator Fig. 1 Permanent magnet BLDC Construction

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 International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Applied Science (IJSEAS) – Volume-2, Issue-4,April 2016
ISSN: 2395-3470
www.ijseas.com

In the case of BLDC motor, it is operated in 6 states.

In a BLDC motor permanent magnets are Hence the complete commutation cycle of 360 will
mounted on the rotor with the armature windings have six equal intervals.
being hosed on the stator with a laminated Generally, the switches S1 to S6 are operated in a
steel core, as illustrated in Figure 1. Rotation is particular sequence based on the position feedbacks
initiated and maintained by sequentially energising received from the rotor position sensors such as hall-
opposite pairs of pole windings, which effect sensors. And to control the torque developed
are said to form phases. Knowledge of rotor position by motor, pulse width modulation scheme is used.
is critical to correctly energising the In the case of a BLDC motor with three pairs of
windings to sustain motion. The rotor position stator windings, a pair of switches must be turned on
information is obtained either from Hall Effect sequentially in the correct order to energise a pair of
sensors or from coil EMF measurements. windings.
A number of switching devices can be used in the
III PM BLDC MOTOR OPERATION inverter circuit; however MOSFET and IGBT
devices are the most common in high power
Two separate modules (stages) are required in applications due to their low output impedance.
order to control a BLDC motor: a power module and A microcontroller is commonly used to read rotor
a control module. position information from the Hall Effect sensors and
A BLDC motor requires a DC source voltage to determine which phase to energise. Alternatively,
be applied to the stator windings in a sequence so as phase EMFs can be monitored to determine the rotor
to sustain rotation. This is done by electronic position in sensor less applications.
switching using an inverter as shown in Figure 2.
The inverter circuit employs a half H-Bridge for each
stator winding.

Fig. 2 Equivalent circuit of an inverter driven 3-

phase PM BLDC motor

In Fig.2 Ra,Rb,Rc are the phase resistances,La,Lb,Lc (a) When S1 and S4 are closed with PWM-ON
are the phase inductances & ea,eb,ec are the phase (State-I) for motoring mode
back-EMFs in the phases A,B,C respectively.S1 to
S6 are the switching devices & D1 to D6 are
freewheeling diodes. Cp is the dc-link capacitor used
for maintaining the dc link voltage.

(b) When S4 only is closed (State-I) for free-

wheeling mode

Fig. 4. Equivalent circuit of the 3-phase PM BLDC

motor during the motoring mode and free-wheeling
Fig. 3. Ideal back-EMF, phase current and developed modes
torque profiles in a 3-phase PM BLDC motor

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 International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Applied Science (IJSEAS) – Volume-2, Issue-4,April 2016
ISSN: 2395-3470
www.ijseas.com

During the normal mode, the switches S1, and S4 are

operated in pulse width modulation ON condition, When the motor is forward braking in half bridge
feeding power to the phases A & B of the motor. modulation mode, only three power devices (S2 ,S4
(PWM) switching mode; the high side switches S1, ,S6 ) at the low bridge arm are switched on and off at
S3, and S5 are operated in normal high or low. To a controlled duty cycle for 120 electrical degrees
the contrary, lower leg switches are operated in respectively while the other three power devices ( S1
PWM switching mode during the energy- , S3 , S5 ) at the high bridge arm are always switched
regenerative mode. off, and the conductive time of S2 ,S4 ,S6 is that of
S5 ,S1 ,S3 (forward driving) respectively[7].
III.A. Normal Mode:-
During state I, the conduction mode represents that Fig.6 gives the operating condition in regenerative
the switches S1 and S4 are turned on simultaneously. mode of operation of the motor.Fig.6 (a) shows the
The inductor current would be increased by the switches S2 & S3 in PWM On condition, feeding
energized current loop ion of the winding. At this power to the phases A & B of the motor from the
time, since the magnetic field of the winding is battery. This feeding power is in opposite direction,
increased due to increase, a reverse induction hence fast braking is achieved. And Fig.6 (b) shows
switches S2 & S3 are in OFF condition. So that
voltage has to resist the variation of the motor feeds power back to the battery through
magnetic field according to Lenz’s Law. That is the Diodes D1 & D4.
so-called the armature back EMF of the motor.
During another mode (freewheeling mode), the
switch S1 is turned off, and S4 is still on such that
the inductor current will flow into the freewheeling
diode D6 and the switch S2, which makes a
discharging current path . Accordingly, the
corresponding sequences of S1, S4, input current Iin
and phase current are shown in Fig. 4.

III.B.ENERGY REGENERATION MODE:-

In this paper we uses the line back EMFs which is

induced in phase windings of motor & Hall signals,
to generate switching pulses to the inverter.
Ultra capacitor as an energy storage with very
high power delivery and capability to encounter the
fast dynamic changes without any damages is the (a) When S2 and S3 are closed with PWM-ON
best substitute for battery in acceleration times. (State-I) for regenerative mode

(b) When S2 and S3 are open with PWM-OFF (state-

I) for regenerative mode

Fig. 6. Equivalent circuit of the 3-phase PM BLDC

motor during the regenerative mode
Fig. 5. Regenerative braking strategy in a 3-phase
PM BLDC motor using the line back-EMF

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 International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Applied Science (IJSEAS) – Volume-2, Issue-4,April 2016
ISSN: 2395-3470
www.ijseas.com

IV. SIMULATION OF REGENERATIVE Fig. 8. Drive cycle with maximum vehicle

BRAKING BASED ON LINE BACK-EMF speed of 25 kmph (corresponding motor speed 330
METHOD rpm)

The simulation results are given in Figures 9 and

10. From the Fig. 9, it can be observed that the
vehicle is exactly following the drive-cycle given by
the user. The regenerative braking regions are
indicated in circles. If the speed of the vehicle is such
that the motor speed is below 100 rpm, the
regenerative braking is not that effective and only the
mechanical braking is employed. In other regions,
where speed of the vehicle is such that the motor
speed is more than 100 rpm and less than 330 rpm,
then the regenerative braking is effective and feeds
the regenerative power to the battery.

Fig. 7. Simulink model of the 3-phase PM BLDC

motor during the regenerative mode.

In this Paper, both concept of mechanical braking &

regenerative braking is studied.
Generally drive cycle has three modes of operation
1. Acceleration mode Fig. 9. Battery power and current during combination
2. Deacceleration mode of regenerative braking and mechanical braking.
3. Constant speed mode
Fig.10. indicates the Acceleration signal, brake
The maximum vehicle speed considered is 25 signal, speed of the vehicle and the distance travelled
kmph corresponding to the motor speed of 330 rpm. in the given drive cycle. Driver model used in this
work is exactly following the user input and during
acceleration regions, the brake signal is zero.
Similarly, during the braking regions, the
acceleration signal is zero. At constant speeds
vehicle is taking minimum current.
Fig.11. represents the state of charge (SOC)
during the mechanical braking as well as the
regenerative braking so that a clear distinction can be
understood that, the proposed regenerative method of
braking leaves a far better SOC than the mechanical
braking.

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 International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Applied Science (IJSEAS) – Volume-2, Issue-4,April 2016
ISSN: 2395-3470
www.ijseas.com

battery, thus extending the driving range of the

vehicle.

APPENDIX

Vehicle parameters
Rolling friction = C roll=0.018
Aero dynamic drag co-efficient = Cd = 0.92
Af= frontal area of the vehicle = 0.6 m2
Vw = wind velocity = 0 m/s
Gross vehicle weight = 175 kg
Gradient = 0°
Maximum vehicle Speed = 25 kmph.

Battery Parameters
Battery voltage = 48V
Battery internal resistance = 0.056 ohms
Initial state of charge (SOC) = 80%

Fig.10. Acceleration signal, brake signal, vehicle PM BLDC hub motor Parameters
speed and distance travelled. Number of poles = 46
Stator phase resistance = 0.18 ohms
Maximum peak current = 50 A
Study state current = 20 A
Power rating = 350 W

Driver model
Driver model is a simple PI – controller
KP = 5
Ki = 1.1

Current controller
Current controller is a simple PI – controller
KP = 0.1
Ki = 0.1
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School of Electrical and Information Engineering.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
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