Analysis of a 12/16 switched reluctance machine using combined circuit and field computation

Field analysis in conjunction with circuit model has been used to predict the performance of a switched reluctance machine. This paper describes the procedure to model a 3 phase 12/16 Switched Reluctance (SR) machine. Its operation as a generator is analyzed. An accurate representation of machine requires good representation of its magnetic characteristics. With the advent of high speed computing, numerical method is used to take into account its nonlinear characteristics. In this research, a 2D Finite Element Method (FEM) is used to determine the magnetic characteristics of the machine. Results from FEM are used as Look Up Table (LUT) for simulation using MATLAB/SIMULINK. Using the same machine parameters and current density, the influence of winding arrangements on the performance of a SR machine operating as a generator under single phase excitation is observed. Optimum performance/high efficiency is influenced by flux path as a result of phase winding arrangement.