Design indicators and structure optimisation of switched reluctance machine for electric vehicles

Switched reluctance machine (SRM) has the features of high efficiency, high power density and high reliability, which are appropriate for electric vehicles (EVs). First, the design indicators of SRM are proposed according to the requirements of electric drive system and inherent characteristics of SRM. The non-linear dynamic simulation models are built with finite element analysis, and the optimisation approaches of every indicator are put forward based on the simulation models. Then the structure parameters of SRM are optimised to maximise the developed multi-objective function and the indicators have different weight factors on the basic of comprehensive requirements of EVs. At last, an optimised SRM prototype is built. The simulation and experimental results have demonstrated the correctness of the design indicators and optimisation methods. Therefore this paper offers a valuable technological improvement for the design of SRM drives for EVs.