When a motor is switched off it ‘coasts’ to rest under the action of frictional forces. Braking is employed when rapid stopping is required. In many cases mechanical braking is adopted.

The electric braking may be done for various reasons such as those mentioned below:

a. To augment the brake power of the mechanical brakes.

b. To save the life of the mechanical brakes.

c. To regenerate the electrical power and improve the energy efficiency.

d. In the case of emergencies to step the machine instantly.

e. To improve the through put in many production process by reducing the stopping time.

In many cases electric braking makes more brake power available to the braking process where mechanical brakes are applied. This reduces the wear and tear of the mechanical brakes and reduces the frequency of the replacement of these parts.

By recovering the mechanical energy stored in the rotating parts and pumping it into the supply lines the overall energy efficiency is improved. This is called regeneration. Where the safety of the personnel or the equipment is at stake the machine may be required to stop instantly. Extremely large brake power is needed under those conditions. Electric braking can help in these situations also.

In processes where frequent starting and stopping is involved the process time requirement can be reduced if braking time is reduced. The reduction of the process time improves the throughput.

Basically the electric braking involved is fairly simple. The electric motor can be made to work as a generator by suitable terminal conditions and absorb mechanical energy. This converted mechanical power is dissipated/used on the electrical network suitably.

Braking can be broadly classified into:

a) Dynamic

b) Regenerative

c) Reverse voltage braking or plugging