Page 11 - Industrial Technology EXTRA 24th May 2021

Selecting the most appropriate motor to drive these
miniature pumps requires the design engineer to focus not only
on the key parameters of pressure and flow, but also the often
conflicting requirements for lifetime, noise, temperature,
current draw, feedback and weight. And balancing all of these
performance considerations is, of course, cost.
The design engineer has a number of miniature motor
technologies to choose from – including brushed DC motors,
brushless DC motors, stepper motors, and the various sub-
categories within each one. These different technologies each
offer distinct advantages and disadvantages with regard to the
basic pump variables. And it is the individual pump application FAULHABER Precision Gearheads
Expand your
which will dictate the importance of these criteria. So let’s look
at how this guides the design engineer’s decision on the choice
possibilities
of motor.

The new family of planetary
Flow and pressure
gearheads FAULHABER GPT.
The flow or pressure of a pump is the key driver of the output
Move up a gear where others
for the application. Maximising the flow or pressure in the downshift.
smallest package leads to the optimum end product. The key faulhaber.com/GPT/en
variables for the motor are the torque and speed, directly
affecting the pump flow or pressure. Steppers and DC motors
NEW
have lower top end speeds than brushless DC motors, but sub-
technologies can offer different performance gains. For
example, disc magnet steppers can run at higher speeds while
NEU
slotted brushless DC motors can offer increased torque.
The flow or pressure dictates the working point – the torque
requirement at a particular speed. A chemical pump
application may require a different flow depending on the
specific chemical being pumped. The working point required
may cross several motor technologies, so the other

May 2021 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXTRA • p11 WE CREATE MOTION