A digital method for the determination of the magnetic characteristic of variable reluctance motors

A digital method is proposed for the measurement of the magnetic flux, starting from the digital integration of the induced electromotive force (EMF). The method features sensitivity and accuracy greater than, or at least as high as, that of other methods, and is applied to the determination of the flux-linkage-versus-current diagrams of a variable-reluctance (VR) motor. Two different methods are proposed to determine flux variations in the motor magnetic circuit, and the results of the experimental work carried out on a typical 4-kW switched reluctance (SR) motor, show that the methods are in good agreement. The methods allow quicker and more accurate determination of the flux-linkage characteristics than other proposed methods, and allow the measurement of flux-linkage values for any value of the excitation current and of the rotor position. For this reason, the methods are useful for the determination of flux-linkage characteristics to be used in the analytical prediction of VR motor performance