Adaptive mesh generation applied to switched reluctance motor design

The design of switched reluctance motors (SRMs) requires the calculation of the phase flux linkage of the motor, as a function of rotor position and exciting current. A new method of establishing this variation using finite-element techniques is described. The mesh preparation, boundary source and material data, equation solution, and extraction of machine data from the solution are all done completely automatically. The designer is thus removed from the numerical analysis chores that formerly so much reduced effectiveness. The method has also been applied to flux linkage against position determination in permanent magnet machines.<>