Determination of accelerated condition for brush wear of small brush-type DC motor in using Design of Experiment (DOE) based on the Taguchi method

This research was conducted to understand friction and wear due to mechanical and electrical contact between a brush and a commutator, which play an important role in driving brush-type DC motors, and to predict the motor life through brush wear. To identify the influencing factors, the variables used in the experiments were the operating voltage, the current load, the rotational speed, and the environmental temperature. The design of experiment used for the analysis of brush wear was based on the Taguchi method. An independent condition was provided for each factor during the experiment. The results indicate the high contribution of current and temperature to the wear behavior. The operation voltage showed negligible influence on the wear behavior.