A doubly salient doubly excited variable reluctance motor

A variable reluctance motor is introduced to help solve the energy circulation problems which exist during commutation in conventional variable motors (VRMs). The motor enables the energy stored in the magnetic field to be retained and utilized within the motor instead of being returned back to the source. The operating principles of the motor and associated power converters are presented. The analysis shows that, by employing both short pitch and full pitch windings, this new motor can eliminate the problems of current commutation and energy circulation without extra conductors in the slots. This motor has the following advantages over conventional VRMs: it allows a significant improvement in the turn-off process and therefore allows higher speed capacity than conventional VRMS; the machine has higher output because of the improvement of the turn-off performance and the utilization of the trapped energy. It can have higher output with the same converter or the same output with a smaller converter because of the improvement of the energy conversion ratio