High Efficiency Single-Pulse Controlled Switched Reluctance Motor Drive for High Speed (48k RPM) Application: Analysis, Design, and Experimental Verification

A high efficiency low cost two-phase switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive system for high speed and large volume applications is developed and presented in this paper. The drive system is realized using a two-phase switched reluctance machine driven by a low cost split AC converter. The machine has self-starting capability at any rotor position and is capable of running at speeds up to 48000 r/min. The power converter has a low cost single-switch-per-phase (SSPP) configuration. Accurate mathematical modeling of the drive system including machine and power electronic converter is described. Based on the derived model, the control system is designed and its optimal control strategy in single-pulse operation mode is investigated. To find the optimal switching angles in the single-pulse operation mode, three dimensional characteristics of the machine efficiency as well as electromagnetic torque in terms of the advance-angle excitation and commutation angles are developed from dynamic simulations. The number of phase winding turns is also studied to find the optimal number of turns that will maximize the efficiency of the total drive system. Experimental verification of the prototype drives system and its correlation with analytical and simulation results at two operating points are presented. The proposed drive can be a strong candidate for a low cost brushless variable (high) speed application in low-cost, mass-production markets, where life cycle and efficiency are valued.