Electric motors are found in a wide variety of commercial and industrial applications. By converting electricity into rotational force, electric motors drive machinery and are often found at the heart of industrial processes.
Designed to operate on either alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC), electric motors produce a rotating magnetic field that can propel a device with either rotation or linear force.
In a DC motor, voltage applied to the armature winding within the non-rotating field frame winding induces rotation. In an AC motor, coils in a stator produce a rotating electric field that induces torque around a rotor.
The Energy Information Administration estimates that motors used to power machinery consume nearly half of all the electricity used by the domestic manufacturing segment.
Powering Industry
Originally developed to replace complicated industrial power transmission systems that used belts, line shafts, compressed air or hydraulic pressure, direct current motors, such as supplied by DC motors Toledo OH, are typically found in production units, machinery that requires constant power such as elevators, power tools and small appliances, and industrial sorting equipment.
Direct current motors are favored in certain applications for the following reasons:
- Simpler design reduces installation and maintenance costs.
- Greater startup power and torque.
- Faster response in start and stop times and in acceleration.
- More precise control of power output.
- Manufactured to operate on a variety of voltages allows flexibility in equipment design.
Brushless Motor Durability
Although the expected operating lifecycle of a brush-equipped DC motor is shorter than an AC motor, many brushless DC motor designs have comparable operating hours and greater efficiency. Brushless DC motors include control circuitry to manage speed and direction.
The use of small, 12- and 24-volt DC motors is increasing due to the growth in solar power in marine and RV applications due to solar’s generation of direct current electricity.
Due to their ability to start quickly, reverse and stop while offering precise control of rotation speed, direct current motors will likely remain popular for many years to come.