Design and performance evaluation of a novel 6/10 Switched Reluctance Machine

With an increasing need for energy-efficient automation, majority of applications have sought after innovative solutions that can deliver high-grade performance over a wide range of speeds and can operate under harsh operating conditions. Propulsion and generation systems for vehicular, aerospace, and military applications are some of the typical areas that resent such demands for electric machines. Switched reluctance machines (SRM) fit these requirements, but have often been viewed a noisy alternative with a need to increase efficiency. Conventional applications for the SRM consider geometries in which the number of stator poles is higher than the number of rotor poles. This paper presents a novel set of topologies for the SRM, which have not been explored. Design of the stator-rotor configuration with N_r rotor poles and N_s stator poles is given by a novel pole design (PD) relationship expressed as N_r = 2N_s - 2. Such stator and rotor pole combinations provide SRM designs with minimal torque ripple and better efficiency with comparable thermally rated torque and power densities while also being inherently less expensive for high volume production commensurate with many applications. The concept has been analyzed, simulated, and experimentally verified. Parameters such as thermal performance, torque ripple, efficiency, and power density have been evaluated.